Chapter 19: Who Wants to Take the Bait?

Later that same afternoon, Renee wandered into the billiards room.  She found Schlegel, cue in hand, staring longingly at the pool table.  “Want to play?” she asked.

“What?  Oh, sure,” said Schlegel.  “Do you know how?”

Renee nodded.  “I’ve seen it a few times before.  Could you set it up?”

“Sure,” said Schlegel, reaching for the various balls and arranging them on the green canvas tabletop.  “How are you enjoying your vacation?”

“It’s fun,” said Renee.  “We’ve been exploring a bit and enjoying this nice mansion.  We also went to see the town a couple times.  It’s got a lot of neat spots.”

“California tourist towns are nice places, from what I’ve seen,” said Schlegel.  “There’s something about them that makes them unique.  Malibu’s got great beaches, breathtaking scenery, fun for the whole family, and a whole lot of other great stuff.  It’s a very nice place—well, most of it.  There’s a restaurant you should avoid.”

“Which one?” asked Renee.

“I can’t remember the name,” said Schlegel, removing a ball from a corner pocket, “but I’ve heard bad things about it.  It’s on the waterfront, so if you avoid any in that area, you’ll be fine.”

“What kind of bad things?” asked Renee.  “Do people get murdered there?”

“Not if they avoid it,” said Schlegel.  “But enough of that morbid subject.  Let’s see how many I can knock in.”

Schlegel set the cue ball, chalked up the edge of his cue, aimed and fired.  The little white ball plunged into the center, dispersing fifteen balls across the table.  None fell in.

“Drat,” said Schlegel.  “Your turn, Miss Renee.”

“Thank you,” said Renee, taking the cue.  “One ball in the corner pocket.  Mr. Schlegel, have you ever been to Graz?”

“Graz?  In Austria?”

“That’s the one.”

“Why do you ask?”

“I had a friend that went there once.  She says it’s really pretty there, but she rarely tells the truth about anything.  I didn’t know whether I should believe it or not.  Two ball in the side pocket.”

“Oh,” said Schlegel.  “I’ve been there a few times.  You can believe her in this case.  It’s in the middle of the Alps, with snow-covered mountains standing all around.  Quite lovely, especially in the winter, despite the cold.”

“Three ball in the corner pocket.  How’s the ambassador business going?”

“It’s been slow,” said Schlegel, “part of the reason I’m out here.  I was supposed to meet a Japanese ambassador a week ago to discuss trade relations, but he’s been delayed.  He won’t tell me when he’s coming.  So, in the meantime, I’m here.”

“I see,” said Renee.  “Five ball in the side pocket.  Have you ever been to Camden, New Jersey?”

“No, I haven’t,” said Schlegel.  “What’s in Camden?”

“An old battleship,” said Renee.  “The USS New Jersey.  I went on a tour of it once.  It served in World War II.”

“Is it still in service?”

“Seven ball in the side pocket.  No, it’s just docked in New Jersey.  For thirty bucks, you can tour it.”

“What ball are you on?”

“Eight ball,” said Renee.  “Let’s see, I’ll put that one in the corner pocket.”

“That corner?” said Schlegel.  “That’s on the other side of the table.  You’d have a much easier time—”

Ignoring the German’s advice, Renee knocked the cue ball into the eleven ball.  That ball rolled a few inches, sideswiping the fourteen ball, which ticked the eight ball.  Slowly, the black ball rolled down the table.  It had nearly come to a stop when it finally dropped into the corner Renee had picked out.

Schlegel didn’t say a whole lot after that.  He simply stared in astonishment at Renee.  “Nine ball in the side.  Ten in the corner.  Eleven in the corner.  Twelve to the side. Thirteen in the corner.”  Before he knew it, she’d dunked the fifteen in, without ever giving him another shot.

“Good game,” she said, coming over to him.  Schlegel was gaping at the board.

“How…did you…”

“I have too much spare time,” she explained, shaking hands.  “It was fun playing with you!”

She left Schlegel shaking his head in the billiard room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Around four that afternoon, the Lawrences went for another drive.  This time, they headed inland, opting to avoid the underwater route.  Again, their main purpose was to chat.

“Blaine slipped me a note an hour ago,” said Drew.  “We’re all set for tonight.  As you remember, there was a commotion last night—”

“What happened?” asked Carol.  “Something about a snake?”

“Mr. Hallett killed one in his room,” said Drew.  “A rattler with no rattle.”

“The death threat,” said Renee.

“Exactly,” said Drew.  “Plus, that drink at dinner was doped.  We’ve got to hurry up before something happens to the Halletts.”

“I like them,” said Edward.  “They’re the perfect people for this job.  They’ve done nothing to hurt our cover.”

“They are really sweet,” agreed Carol.  “They almost could be our parents.”

“All the more reason to keep them alive,” said Drew, “so make sure nothing happens to them.  Anyway, what was in that room?  I didn’t get a chance to come back and look.”

“There are two computers in it,” said Carol, “as well as a table in the middle.  One of the computers controls the gate at the front of the house.”

“The gate?” said Drew.  “It can open and close it?”

“Yes,” said Carol.  “Edward saw me do it, right?”

“She did,” said Edward.

“Wait,” said Drew.  “Is that the only control to open and close the gate?”

“No,” said Carol.  “Mr. Blaine has one in his office.”

“I see,” said Drew.  “Anything else?”

“I also managed to lift fingerprints off the keyboards,” said Carol.

“Good work!” said Drew.  “And?”

“One set,” said Carol, “and it’s not Blaine’s.  They’re checking on it back in Washington as we speak.”

“Very good,” said Drew.  “What about the other computer?”

“The other one, as far as I can tell, is just a normal computer,” Carol replied.  “It doesn’t seem to have been used much.  The only files on it are the standard ones new computers come with.”

“Too bad,” said Drew.  “Hopefully the fingerprints will tell us who uses it.  How about the table?”

“That was weird,” Carol said.  “It had only one thing on it.”

“What?”

“A mirror.”

“A mirror?” said Drew.  “What did it show?”

“Just your face and the ceiling when you looked in,” said Carol.  “I studied the ceiling, but I couldn’t find anything unusual on it.  I’m not sure why the mirror’s in there.  It had the same set of fingerprints on everything else in the room.”

“I see,” said Drew.  “Is that all?”

“Not quite,” said Edward.  “She’s been saving the best for last.”

“Oh, yes,” said Carol.  “When you run your hand across the back wall of the closet, there’s a little spring towards the top.  If you touch it, the wall slides open, revealing Mr. Blaine’s secret room.”

“Ah-ha,” said Drew.  “Now, that part makes sense.  If someone tries to use that door tonight, we’ll be waiting for them.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By 11:00 that night, the traps were set.  Everyone had gone to bed—except for some of the visitors.  Drew was hidden in Hodgson’s secret room, waiting to see if his guest would arrive.  Edward was in the piano room, watching for Bourdon.  Renee was in Mr. Blaine’s secret room, just in case someone tried to enter a different way.  Carol had gotten the hiccups after dinner and been ruled out for the surveillance.

A couple hours passed.  Nothing happened.  Upstairs, the Lawrences guessed, someone had a soft alarm on, waiting for the right moment to go nab the plans.  That person could sleep until he/she was ready.  The spies had no such option.

Something beeped upstairs, but it wasn’t an alarm.  It was Carol’s compact.  On the third beep, she noticed and rolled over.  As she picked it up, she saw it was 12:59.  She flipped it open, activated it with her fingerprint, and read the screen.  A surprised expression came over her face.  After skimming whatever was on the screen for fifteen seconds, she quickly started typing.

In the music room, Edward was just standing up to stretch when the doorknob turned.  He ducked as the door slowly opened.

There was hardly any light, and whoever entered didn’t bother to use a flashlight, preventing Edward from getting a good look.  The prowler crept across the room, stretching out his hands in front of him every few seconds to make sure he didn’t bump into anything.  Finally, he was even with the piano.

He opened the lid and peeked inside.  Edward was crouched on the ground, but he knew the figure was staring at a large folder full of papers with a rubber band around it.  He’d put it there himself, earlier that evening.  The figure stared at them for a few seconds.

Then, he closed the lid, crept back across the room, and left.

Puzzled, Edward stared after the door as it slowly shut.  He waited about five minutes, got up, and opened the piano lid himself.  There were the papers, still lying there, undisturbed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One hour and twenty three minutes later, Drew was trying not to fall asleep when he heard footsteps from the library.  He stiffened.  The footsteps grew louder, until Drew could tell they were right outside the room.  There was a click, and the shelf swung open.

It was Hodgson.  He walked into the room and guided the bookcase shut.  Then, he switched on a light.  Somehow, he didn’t notice Drew, crouched in a corner under one of the computers.  His sole interest was the mirror on the table.  He gazed at himself in it for several seconds.

Then, he turned his head to the right, a look of contemplation in his eyes, as if he wasn’t really paying attention.  He stared at the computer, lost in thought.  Suddenly, his eyes focused.

“Hold it right there,” said Drew.  “Care to explain what you’re doing?”

“You!” yelled Hodgson.  “Rascal!  What are you doing spying on an old man like me?”

“Cut the old man business,” said Drew.  “I know you’re not really Hodgson—”

“Preposterous!”

“I don’t think so.  The real Walt Hodgson passed away six months ago from Lou Gehrig’s disease.  I saw his obituary.  Now, would you care to explain who you are and what you’re doing in this secret room?”

To his surprise, the fake Hodgson nodded.  “I guess I don’t have any choice,” he said, in a younger, stronger sounding voice.  “You might as well see.”

With that, he reached up and pulled off a wig, revealing a nice, thick head of jet black hair.  He removed some fake skin, causing all his wrinkles to vanish.  Lastly, he took out some fake contacts, revealing a pair of brown eyes.

Drew stared back at the man in front of him and suddenly realized who he was.

“You’re Elliot Goldwell!” he exclaimed.

Sadly, the man nodded.  “You’ve found out,” he said.  “What are you going to do about it?”

“Do about it?” asked Drew.  “I don’t understand.”

Now the actor looked slightly surprised.  “You’re here about the death threat, right?”

Drew hadn’t heard of this, but he put two and two together.  “You’ve been receiving death threats since Day of the Dinosaurs 3?”

The actor nodded.  “I knew it wasn’t that great a movie, but I’ve been struggling to get roles lately.  I thought I could do something with it.”  He hung his head in shame.  “After the premiere, I got a death threat in the mail.  It wasn’t my first one, but this one was so well-written, so elaborate in its description, I just couldn’t ignore it.  The movie was receiving terrible reviews, and I thought it would be best if I went into hiding for a while.  I’m friends with Steve Blaine, and I asked if I could hide here.  He agreed and suggested that I pose as his old friend Hodgson, who—well, you found out about him somehow.”

“I see,” said Drew.  “Does anyone else know about this?”

“Godfrey does,” said Hodgson.  “He and Blaine are the only ones.  I’m staying here until the movie goes out of the theaters and people start forgetting about it.”

“Okay,” said Drew, “but what about this secret room?”

Hodgson shrugged.  “I found it one day when I was looking through the library,” he said.  “When you’re masquerading as an invalid, there’s only so much you can do.  I saw a book that looked interesting, and it turned out to be the one that opened this bookcase.  The computers and the table were already here.  I had Godfrey bring the mirror and snuck it in one night when no one was around.  Every now and then, when I get depressed, I come in here and take off my disguise.”

“That’s all you’ve been doing with this room?” said Drew.

The actor nodded.  “I suppose you’re going to tell your parents about this.”

“No,” said Drew.  He smiled.  “No, I’m not.  I saw you walk in here the other day, and I wondered what you were up to.  Now that I know, I’ll keep it quiet.”

“You will?”

“Sure,” said Drew.  “I went to see your movie the other day.  You need to stay in hiding for a while longer.  I won’t tell a soul.”