Chapter 10
Joseph opened his huge toolbox and pulled out his halogen flashlight from his ear. The room shone brightly. Joseph looked at the light-bulbs on the posts at the foot of the stairs. They were still lit, but they were not bright enough to effectively light the entire foyer. Joseph took a wrench out of his huge toolbox and threw it at the light-bulbs. They shattered and shut off. Then, Joseph took a long anti-gravity metal platform from his huge toolbox and hooked some long chains from his huge toolbox. Then, he attached the chains to the floor tightly. Joseph got his huge toolbox and himself onto the platform. He pressed a button on the stand on the platform.
The platform lifted and so did Joseph and his toolbox. At last, the platform reached the top of the room. The chains were just the right length to hold the platform at just the right area for Joseph to work. Then, Joseph turned around and bent down. He pulled out some long, new fluorescent light fixtures and attached them to the ceiling. All of them surrounded the space between the stained glass door and the foot of the stairs in a circular way. There was no light hovering in the space between the stained glass door and the stairs. Joseph then got several fluorescent light-bulbs and inserted them into the light fixtures. Then, Joseph took some wiring and attached it to one of the fixtures by the stained-glass door. All of the fixtures were electrically connected and didn't need to be wired. Joseph moved his platform slightly closer to the door, and then, he began nailing the wire to the ceiling.
Then, Joseph got to the top of the wall and then lowered his platform as he nailed the wires to the framing of the stained-glass door. At last, Joseph landed, and he had his wiring all the way to the ground. Then, Joseph pulled out a battery from his huge toolbox and hooked it up to the wiring. Then, a rotary dimmer switch was attached to the wiring and battery. Joseph tested it. With all of his experience with electricity, he should have gotten it right.
It worked right! The fluorescent lighting lit up the room. The areas in the left and right alcoves were dark, but at least the room didn't have the old dim lights like it used to have. At least now the room had better lighting, and people would feel more comfortable. Joseph turned the dimmer on full blast, set his huge toolbox down on the floor, and then walked away from the stained-glass door. He headed into the dark right alcove and headed to the door that led to the room where the piano was.
He opened the double doors and immediately ran to the piano. Joseph sat down and then realized that this was another one of Stauf's puzzles. One of the piano keys pressed down by itself, and Joseph pressed it back. Then, the same key pressed down again, and then, another piano key pressed down by itself. Joseph was a bit confused by this activity, so he decided to have the book solve it for him.
Joseph got off the piano bench and went back through the double doors. Joseph hurried to the library because he wanted to get the puzzle over with and to get some sleep. Joseph went into the library and stopped at the coffee table. Then, Joseph turned the page. Magically, it displayed the clues to the puzzle Joseph was solving. "Simon says, 'This tune sounds familiar.'" Clue number 2 was, "Repeat the notes by playing the correct piano keys in the proper sequence."
Joseph turned the page, and then, he saw the same pop-up doorway. Joseph was pulled through and was back in the music room. Joseph approached the piano and began doing what the clue book said. It was easy in one way because all Joseph had to do was repeat what the piano did. However, it was also somewhat difficult because there were keys to memorize, and it took a long time to repeat. Thirty minutes later, Joseph completed the puzzle, and then, he saw a scary drama.
The ghosts in the room were Tad, Mr. Knox, Dutton, and Martine Burden. Mr. Knox and Dutton were fighting for Tad. They wanted to capture him so they could turn him over to Stauf and get the reward. Mr. Knox took a knife from Burden and stabbed Dutton in the chest.
The ghosts disappeared, and then, Joseph turned around and walked towards the door. Joseph opened the door and walked into the foyer. What was strange was that the fluorescent lighting that had been turned on earlier was now turned off. Joseph ran quickly to the dimmer switch so that evil ghostly characters could not lurk in the foyer. Joseph turned the knob on the dimmer switch, but no lighting came on. Just then, Joseph saw that the wire had been cut. It looked like it was cut with a knife, because the place where the wire was cut was perfectly straight. Actually, it was cut so straight that even a knife couldn't cut as straight as the wire had been. Joseph got some aluminum foil and pieces of electric tape from his toolbox and secured them to both ends of the wires. The lights immediately came on. Then, Joseph turned around and started heading for the stairs. Just then, he was pulled into a rug that was on the floor, and it was now spinning. As he was being pulled, he saw Stauf's face spinning around.
Then, Joseph found himself in an art gallery. Joseph looked around and saw the pictures. He even saw a picture of the music room that captured a view of the grand piano from the double doors. Joseph turned left, and he saw the scariest thing he could imagine!