Joe fell back onto the sofa with a groan. "We've looked everywhere!" He rubbed his eyes. "It feels like Mr. Mead is taunting us with that secret room!"

Frank let out a breath as he sat down in an armchair. "It might feel like that now, but I think he's just annoyed that we haven't noticed what he knows."

"Well, it certainly would be nice if he could give us a clue," muttered Chet as he slouched in another armchair.

"You do realize what you're asking for, right?" asked Tony.

Chet blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

"You're asking for some paranormal activity, that's what you're doing, Chet."

Chet's mouth dropped. "O-oh, n-never mind then! I-I take back what I said! No clues, thank you!" The others laughed.

"Good save there, Chet," quipped Joe. "I'm with you, I wouldn't want any paranormal activity either. We figured out the front door, we can figure out the entrance to that secret room." He let out a huff. "Even if it takes all night."

Frank glanced at his watch. "Unfortunately, we only have an hour left before we have to get back home. We are going to have to get up early tomorrow to practice for the party."

Pete nodded. "Yup, so if you can't figure it out today, you'll have to come back to it on Monday."

Joe groaned. "That's not exactly going to give us too much time."

Frank shrugged. "All we need is to get into that secret room and get that invention. We have three whole days left to figure it out. Besides, I'm sure Mr. John wouldn't mind if we take a little longer on it. His uncle's puzzles are supposed to be hard."

"Yeah, but what are we going to do in the next hour? I'm tired of looking for keys," grumbled Phil.

Frank huffed as he glanced at his watch again. "Maybe check for secret rooms in the rest of the house? I think a break from looking for keys is a good idea. We have been at it all day."

"No duh," said Slim as he sprawled out on the floor.

"And it feels like it," quipped Pete as he stretched.

"Alright then, we'll take a five minute break and then split up to search the house," said Frank.

"Maybe we could find something hidden behind the bookshelf," quipped Joe.

"Or someone," muttered Chet with a slight shudder.

"And hope they don't have blasters!" Pete and Slim grinned at each other and high-fived each other.

Chet groaned. "What is it with you guys and dropping quotes at every chance you get?"

"Because references are cool," the two quipped before high-fiving each other again.

Chet groaned and rolled his eyes. "Oh brother."

Frank chuckled. "Alright you guys, come on, let's get this search over with."

The group split up and searched the house yet again. Frank took Slim and Pete with him to search upstairs while Joe took Chet and Phil to search through the first floor.

However, Chet had worked himself into such a jumpy mess as spooky scenario after spooky scenario played through his mind like a broken record. Joe was getting tired of the boy jumping at the slightest sound, which was usually made by Joe and Phil. Phil bumped into a chair as he was looking for a hidden opening in the exposed floorboards and Chet let out a shriek.

Joe let out a very frustrated, "Chet! Come on man! There are no ghosts here!"

"It was just me!" Phil exclaimed.

"S-sorry fellows, I'm just on edge!"

Joe threw up his hands. "Because you walked yourself to the edge!"

Phil snorted. "Basically."

"What's going on down here? What's with the yelling?" Frank, Slim, and Pete walked into the room.

"You guys were making so much noise you could wake the dead," quipped Pete.

Chet let out a squeak as Joe and Phil rolled their eyes and groaned.

"I almost wish the dead would rise, then Chet might actually have something to be worried about." Joe pointed at him. "Because right now, he's just been hollering every single time Phil or I make even the slightest noise!"

"I'm sorry, fellows, honest."

Frank sighed. "Chet, do you need a snack to calm your nerves?"

Chet sighed. "I don't know if a snack will help."

Pete walked up to him. "Who are you and what have you done with Chet Morton?"

Chet rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm still Chet, I just scared the hunger out of me, I guess."

Pete scoffed. "Well that's a first."

"Could you do it more often?" quipped Slim. Joe and Phil started snickering at that.

"Har har, very funny. Now I'm starting to feel hungry." The others groaned. Chet glanced at them. "What?"

Frank chuckled and patted the stout boy's back. "It's good to have you back, Chet."

"Provided he's calmed down enough to finish this search," grumbled Joe.

Chet pouted. "But I wanted a snack first."

Frank glanced at his phone. "It's fine, we need to start heading back to the van. You want to take a couple of the fellows with you and I'll help Joe look around here one more time?"

"By yourselves?" asked Chet.

"Phil could stay with us." Frank glanced at him. "Unless Phil would rather head out to the van."

Phil shrugged. "It's fine with me. I can stay here and look a bit longer."

Frank nodded. "Alright." He turned to Pete and Slim. "Could you two go with Chet then to the van and get it ready to go?"

Slim pulled keys out of his pocket. "Can do."

"If you need us, holler," said Pete.

"Chet's more likely to holler than we are," quipped Joe.

"Come on man, I said I was sorry!"

Frank raised his hands. "Alright, you two, knock it off. We'll discuss this later." He turned to his brother. "Let's just concentrate on finishing our search."

"Hey, wait, you guys hear that?"

Joe rolled his eyes and groaned. "Chet …"

"No, seriously, no one moved and I heard a noise! I'm sure of it!"

"Listen …"

"No, wait, everyone be quiet, and don't move," said Frank. An eerie silence descended on the group, all ears straining to hear anything. But a few minutes passed and no sound came.

Joe sighed. "I tell you, he's still so worked up that he's hearing things."

"But I swear I heard something!" Then, as if in answer to his outburst, a thump was heard. The boys jumped at the sound. "See, see, that was it!"

"Frank, I think it's coming from behind one of these walls!" exclaimed Joe.

"Y-you're not going to investigate!"

"Chet, we came all this way to investigate. Now we have something that for sure tells us there is a secret passage around here," said Frank.

"Yeah, and who knows who the other guy who knows about it is," stated Pete.

"Yeah, yeah, Pete's right. We don't know who, or wh-what, is making that sound. We-we should tell the police. Can't be too careful!"

"No good telling them about it if we can't even tell them how to get in," snapped Joe. He quickly went to the wall near the fireplace and began feeling around for a button or a spring of some kind. Another thump came, a little louder this time.

"Well, let them take a crack at it. You can't be the ones solving every puzzle," quipped Chet.

"Besides, we need to go," said Pete, eyeing the walls suspiciously. "And I don't know about you, but I would feel safer if the boys in blue were here to deal with whoever's making that thumping sound."

"Oh come on, we can handle it," said Joe with a scoff.

"And if they have a gun?" asked Slim.

Frank paused in his search and looked at each boy in turn. Another thump. He glanced at the wall. "Maybe we should leave …"

"Frank!"

Frank held up his hand. "We have to come back Joe, but we should let Chief Collig know about this. If someone's been using this house as a hangout, well, we could be dealing with some nasty characters. Since we can't be here, maybe we can ask the Chief to have a guy watch the place for the weekend, to see if anyone is coming in and out as they please." Frank pursed his lips and knotted his eyebrows. "And if someone is, then that means someone else is either looking for the invention, or has already found it."

Joe let out a hiss. "I hope they're just looking for it, because if they already found it ..." He gritted his teeth. "We have got to get inside that secret room! It's all in there, I just know it!"

Frank placed a reassuring hand on Joe's shoulder. "It most likely is, but we've run out of time today. Here, while I call the Chief and ask him to have a guy posted here, you and Phil search the living room some more. Like you said, it has to be here. We all heard that noise."

"It was hard to miss, especially once Chet stopped freaking out about every other noise."

"Joe."

"What? It was getting on my nerves!"

Frank sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You just have to remember that we need to calm him down, not put him more on edge."

"He does that quite well all on his own," quipped Joe.

"I know, which is why we have to help him calm down. Yelling at him isn't going to do anything." Frank let out another sigh and glanced at his watch. "Listen, we'll continue this discussion later, you and Phil better get looking."

Phil's head popped up from behind a chair. "I have been looking. You two have been slacking off."

Frank grinned. "Right, sorry." He nodded at Joe. "Go on."

Joe sighed. "Alright, I'm going, I'm going." He joined Phil in the search while Frank pulled his phone out of his pocket and placed the call.

"Collig speaking."

"Hi Chief, it's Frank. We need a guy watching the Mead Mansion."

"Whatever for?" Frank quickly filled him in on what they had found so far, and what they had just heard. Collig let out a low whistle. "Sounds like you boys are digging into something a little bigger than we thought. I'll send a guy over right away. You get out of that house and stay in your van until he arrives. Understand?"

"Yes sir. We were just looking for a secret …"

"No, get out now. You boys are unarmed. I would rather this secret room stays secret to us a little longer than have to tell your folks you got murdered because you cornered a dangerous man in that house."

Frank blinked. "O-oh, u-um, r-right." Joe and Phil glanced up from their search to look at him quizzically.

Collig sighed. "Joe is still looking for a way in, isn't he?"

Frank shot a glance at Joe, who raised an eyebrow. "Um, y-yeah …"

"If you have to drag him out of there kicking and screaming, do it. I don't want to take any chances. Do as I say, get out now and wait for the officer, or I will pull you off this case. Understand?"

"Y-yes sir."

"Good, now go." Collig hung up. Frank let out a breath as he hung up and pocketed his phone.

Joe slowly stood up. "He wants us out, doesn't he?"

Frank nodded. "And now, or we're off the case."

"But, we're not sure of what made the noise. It could be just some poor animal that got stuck."

"Yeah, but he doesn't want to take a chance."

"To be honest, neither do I," quipped Phil as he started towards the door.

Joe groaned and rolled his eyes. "Listen, we can't just …" The three jumped as a particularly loud thump resonated in the room. The three glanced around the room slowly.

"Wh-where did that come from?" whispered Phil.

Frank glanced at Joe. "I don't think that was an animal."

"Y-yeah, I don't think so either." Joe glanced at Frank. "I think Chet might have been on to something."

Frank nodded slowly. "He might have." He glanced at Joe and used his thumb to point behind him. "Go, I got the lights." Joe nodded as he and Phil quickly left the room. Frank took one last glance around before flicking off the switch and dashing after them out the house.

A minute later, a panel slid open noiselessly and a figure came out, sliding the panel close behind him.

(Author's Note: Hello my rosy readers! Welcome back to another chapter! Is it getting exciting? Well, maybe, but this is supposed to start out slow, like it does in the original book. But things will be picking up shortly. Provided I can sit and type fast enough to get it all out, lol. Also provided I don't nod off at my desk, as I do most nights. I also want to get my YouTube channel back up and going again with Sims builds and quite possibly some videos about the lore I'm creating for my universe. But am uncertain as there are some things that are bound to change, a few worlds have gone through multiple changes already, so, not entirely sure about that, but I do want to show off my Sims builds and maybe a read a few books. Maybe lesser known books? We shall see. I have first got to find the time and a noiseless room to do it in. Or at least, make sure my sister's dog isn't barking his head off at the slightest noise or movement outside the house every five minutes. Oh well, we shall see. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these chapters, and thank you so much for being so patient! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a blessed day!)