Foreword: Congrats to those who have cracked the second code! Even though I received a message from one person, I'm sure that there are many more people who had the wits to crack the code. So, if you still haven't sent me your answer yet, don't hesitate to do so! Or, if you don't have an account yet, then... Well, you'll need to get one:-)

Anyway, I won't be able to tell you the answer to the code just yet, but I'll be continuing the mystery for the next few chapters. There will be plenty of clues lying around, and your detective skills will be tested. In this chapter and the next, there will be quite a few clues (but can you find them?). Well, here is the newest chapter, and I guarantee that some of you will be anxious to read more when you read the end of this chapter!

Chapter 9

Secrets to Hide

Ned looked out the window as well. "Do you think we should search outside now? If the storm starts again, we'll never be able to get out!"

His girlfriend looked at her watch. "We still got plenty of time left. I need to check out many things, if you don't mind."

"Like what?"

Nancy shrugged. "Anything. This mystery is more challenging than the last three combined! Besides," she added, turning to Ned, "no human being is perfect. It's nearly impossible for a person to commit a crime and not leave any evidence behind."

The two went to the next room. Derek opened the door when the detectives knocked. "Hi, guys!" he said, grinning. "Enjoying the morning?" He was brushing his teeth before the detectives came, for in his mouth was a toothbrush.

Nancy smiled. "I just need to check a few things. If possible, I need to talk to you about your connection with the dead photographer."

Derek took the toothbrush out of his mouth and looked grim. "No, I've never seen her in my life. I mean, not personally. I've seen her on TV a lot, considering how famous she is…"

Nancy nodded. "Well, what do you know about her?"

"She's been in the news a lot lately. It seems like she had been making a scandal about one of the pictures she took. Said there was a ghost in some of them."

"And do you believe her?"

Derek laughed out loud. "Me? Of course not! The only thing that frightens me is Xavier's face. You should take a look when he's angry and all. I can swear you've never seen anything scarier."

Ned asked, "How well do you know Xavier, then?"

"I worked here for only a month. That old man was here for ages, it seems. He was hired as a gardener when the last owner was in this house."

"Last owner?"

"Yeah. The lady who was here before died, and he changed from a gardener to a caretaker. I'm not sure why he did that. I mean, caretaking isn't the most high-paying jobs out there."

Nancy giggled. "Well, thanks for your time."

The detectives then went to Xavier's room. He seemed very cross when he opened the door. "What?"

"Oh, Mr. Churchill," Nancy started, "I'd like to know if you've met the victim before."

"Met?" Xavier asked. He then grimaced. "No. Never seen her."

"Oh. Okay," said Nancy. She wasn't convinced at all. "So could you tell us about…"

"Look, I have nothing to tell you. Good day."

The man then shut the door. Nancy and Ned looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess he's not a people-person," said Ned. Nancy agreed.

The last person they interviewed was Gary Friedrich. The writer answered the knock. As he saw Nancy, his smile suddenly disappeared, and he asked, "What do you want?"

Nancy and Ned asked if Gary knew June from before. He hesitated for a moment, as if thinking about something. "No, I haven't. I have never seen her before."

"But did you even hear about her before?" asked Nancy.

"No." He turned around. "Please leave. I must finish the eighth chapter by tonight."

Nancy and Ned nodded and left. As the door was closed, Gary turned around and stared at the door. He suddenly grunted and tossed his cell phone onto his bed.

Frank and Callie went to the front desk to talk to Edna. "Edna," started Callie, "have you ever seen the victim before now?"

Edna nodded. "Sure. She was very famous, and I often saw her on TV."

"No," said Frank. "We mean if you have actually met her before."

"Well, come to think of it, no."

"Then why do you think she came to stay in this hotel?" asked Callie.

Edna thought for a moment and shook her head. "I have no idea. I think it was because of the haunting that made to the local newspaper and to some of the websites online. I guess she saw those articles and decided to stay in a real haunted house for a change."

Frank grinned. "Well, thanks for your help."

"Any time," Edna returned. "Please tell me the news and whether you've found the murderer or not. I don't want to stay in this hotel with a killer for another minute!"

Callie nodded. "You'll be the first one to know."

The couple then visited Henri after that. They asked the usual questions to him. For the one about his meeting June before, the reporter answered yes.

"Really?" asked Callie, surprised.

"I'm a reporter," said Henri. "I once went to her house to interview her for a certain article that talked about her recent photographs."

"What article?" asked Frank.

"The article said that an anonymous caller was calling the publishing company, saying how June stole his photographs and entered them into the national contest in which she got a grand prize."

Callie was intrigued. "Could that person have killed June for her stealing his photograph?"

"I doubt it," answered Henri. "The money which she won was only six thousand dollars. I'm not sure if people are willing to kill a person just for that amount of money."

"I see…" muttered the blond girl. Henri stood up and closed the laptop.

"Hm?" Frank thought. He glimpsed a file that was on the desktop. The file was named: "Drew."

"Could this file be about Nancy?" the detective thought. But he didn't want to tell Henri that. He might raise a suspicion. After all, Henri was just a suspect.

The next and the last person was Norma. She welcomed the detectives inside when they went to her room.

"I'm so glad you could pass by," she said. "So did you find any clue? I want to help as much as possible, since I don't like to be trapped in a creepy old hotel for too long. In fact, I try not to think about it."

"So did you meet the victim before yesterday?" asked Frank, taking out his pen.

"No, she's a total stranger. I'm not really into the photography thing, you know. I'd rather read a thriller than see a picture."

"Okay," muttered Frank, writing that into the notebook as well. "Well, I think that's it." As he got ready to get up, he noticed a framed photograph placed next to the bed on the nightstand. The photograph had a young girl, an older boy, a man, and a woman in it. "Is that…"

Norma suddenly stood up and picked the photograph up. "This is my most prized picture… These people are my parents. This boy is my brother, and this girl is me. My mother and father divorced when my brother and I were very young, and I was raised by my father while my brother was raised by our mother. I have talked to them for a long time…" She suddenly looked at the clock and placed the picture facedown onto the stand. "Well, look at the time! I have to finish my work now. Bye!"

As the detectives left the room, they decided to meet Nancy and Ned. "I hope they got more clues than we did," muttered Callie.

However, they didn't. Both teams were in a dead end, and the handful of leads was nearly useless.

"So what should we do now?" asked Frank.

Nancy brainstormed on the facts. "We should see the roof," she finally stated.

"The roof?" asked Callie.

"Yeah. We might get a clue there, since that's the only place where we didn't search. Maybe there might still be a footprint or two, if the killer did use the roof to go from room to room."

The detectives went to the roof. Nancy was amazed to see how beautiful the view was. Even though most of the world outside was covered with thick fogs, the white blanket made it look as though she was in a dream. The mist was very thick, but the sound of birds chirping could be heard from a few hundred yards away. The place was just like a dreamland, with fogs covering every square foot of the outside world, blanketing and protecting the mansion with the mighty fist.

"Wow!" muttered Callie. "This is beautiful!"

Ned groaned. "This is just a fog. What's so beautiful about it?"

The detectives started searching. Each of the four members searched each corner for clues. Because the fog was so thick, they needed to crouch down in order to find traces of dirt on the roof.

After nearly thirty minutes of searching, they concluded that there was nothing on the roof.

"I guess your hypothesis was wrong," said Callie, facing Nancy.

Nancy shrugged. "Oh, well. We'll just need to search somewhere else."

As the detectives got ready to leave, Callie stepped on a rock that was on the roof and lost her balance.

"Ah!" she screamed.

"What the…" Frank muttered. He turned around and tried to see if Callie was alright. But it was useless; the fog prevented him to see something that was even a foot away from him. "Darn it! Callie!"

Then, there was a sudden bump. Callie had fallen and hit her head on the roof. Now, there was the sound of something slipping.

"Callie!" shouted Frank.

It was no use. Callie didn't answer, and he knew that she was unconscious and slipping from the roof.

"Where are you?"

Nancy noticed that something was wrong and went toward Frank. Callie was nowhere in sight. Then, Frank closed his eyes and concentrated on where the slipping sound came from.

"There!"

The dark-haired detective went to the part of the roof that faced north. He saw Callie's shirt and reached out for her.

He made it. He had found her hand and grabbed it. Frank was not a second too soon, for at that instant, Callie's body fell from the roof.

Things didn't seem very well. Frank was holding Callie's hand with his left hand, which was his weaker one. Because of the sweat, his hand was slippery, and Callie's hand started slipping by the second.

"Frank!" Nancy shouted, helping Frank. She reached out and grabbed Callie's wrist. Then, Frank lost the grip, and the girl detective was holding the blond girl by her self, only with her right hand.

At that instant, Nancy, too, lost her grip, and Callie started to fall.

"No!"

Frank shouted and reached out with his right hand as far as he could, hoping to catch Callie's hand.

He missed.

Foreword: Oh no! Another Callie-might-die situation! Will she survive? How will she live?

Next chapter: Return of the Detective...

As you might have guessed from the title, the certain someone who disappeared in the first few chapters of the novel will reappear! Do you know who that is...?