Foreword: At last, after sixteen long chapters, the answer is beginning to be unveiled! This chapter covers who the killer was, what the evidence is, and where the treasure was hidden! The next chapter will cover how the first murder was done and who the second killer is (and yes, there are two killers in this story!). So, please enjoy this chapter and REVIEW, please!

Chapter 16

Disclosure 1: Unveiled

"I think we should call all the guests in this hotel to the dining room. Help me tell everyone," Frank said, looking at the clock.

When everyone was gathered at the dining hall, Frank looked at them and smiled. "I'm glad you could come," he said. "The reason we called you here was because we figured out the entire mystery."

The guests couldn't hide their surprise. "Really?" murmured Edna. Henri looked at Frank with curiosity.

Frank nodded. "But first of all, I want to announce that the treasure which was rumored to be hidden somewhere in this hotel really exists."

Xavier clenched his fist. "Don't be ridiculous! I lived in this mansion for five years but didn't find a treasure!"

Ned grinned. "That's because you didn't look at the right place. But according to the coded message, if you rotate the painting of Piermont that is placed in this room," Ned said, walking toward the painting and rotating it, "the secret door will be opened."

Suddenly, a loud creak made the guests jump with surprise. Ned went into the kitchen and motioned the others to follow him.

Once inside the kitchen, he said, "Now, the door is located right behind this cabinet that holds food. If you take all the shelves out, you'll see that there's an opening between the board and the cabinet. Pulling on that space allows you to open the door leading to a secret passageway that remained hidden for decades!"

Ned opened the door to the passage and entered. The others followed, but then they faced a wall. Ned turned to the stairs. "And if you climb up the ladder over there, you can get to the dead end on the second floor."

Edna gasped. "So that's how the phantom disappeared after I followed him to the corner!"

Ned nodded. "That's right. When the mysterious guest made you notice him, he led you to the corner. When you couldn't see him as he turned around the corner, he quickly went down the panel on the floor. As you turned around the corner, you didn't see him anymore because he was right beneath you. He then escaped to the kitchen and hid there until you went into your room."

Ned then turned to the wall. "But there's one more door. You wouldn't know if you just looked at it, but this wall is actually made of wood. When you put your finger between the wall and the edge of the wooden board, you can take the board out." He did so, and the guests were amazed to find that there was a hidden door that was made of steel. Ned turned the knob, and the door opened. Inside, there was a pile of gold bullions stacked on top of teach other. The guests looked in awe.

"So this is the treasure that was hidden for decades!" Callie murmured, obviously astonished. "This treasure is worth a small fortune!"

Norma murmured, "But why did the person made Edna think that the hotel was haunted?"

"That's because he didn't want Edna to stay in this mansion any longer. He wanted her to be gone so he could search for treasure in peace." Ned then turned toward the guests. He pointed to one of them and said, "Am I correct, Mr. Xavier Churchill?"

Everyone's attention was turned toward the caretaker. "Wh…What are you talking about?" he hastily said. "I don't know anything about the treasure! Honest!"

"Yes, you did know about the treasure. The treasure was the reason you chose to stay in this mansion. The other reason you wanted Edna to be gone was because you knew that even if you found the treasure, it would still not be yours. In other words, by sending Edna away, you could have anything you found in this house!"

Edna turned to Xavier with astounded expression. "I-Is that true, Xavier?"

Xavier didn't answer anything for a minute, but he then grinned. "That's right," he said bitterly. "I wanted that treasure ever since I heard about it from my father, who was the first owner of the house after Alphonse Piermont died. He dreamed about finding the treasure, but he died twenty years ago. Because he was gone, the house was sold to another man. But I didn't want him to find the treasure, so I forced him out by making the house look as if it was haunted. Of course, it wasn't, but he was scared enough to pack up and go.

"And when that girl named Voorhees came, I couldn't force myself to force her out, so I became her gardener. After a while, however, she died also. Then, the mansion went to Edna Kempton." He glared at Edna. "I didn't want you to find the treasure, so I became a caretaker. The reason I became a caretaker was because I didn't want to leave this house. The other reason was that I could then keep an eye on you just in case."

Edna couldn't say anything. She stared at Xavier with shock.

"Heh, can't answer, can you?" he said bitterly. "Well, when you found the coded message, I began to be nervous. I was afraid you might get to the treasure before me. That's why I made you to believe that the hotel was haunted."

Derek interrupted, "But how did you find the passageway?"

Xavier laughed. "I knew it because I used the passageway as my hideout when I was still small. I used to explore the mansion. As a result of it, I found out that by turning the painting, I could open a secret door leading to a hidden room."

Norma was curious. "So you were the one who murdered June and Gary Friedrich? Did you kill them because they found the treasure before you could?"

Suddenly, Xavier had a frightened expression on his face. "No!" he shouted. "I didn't do it! I didn't do anything to those two! I've never even met them before, and they didn't even know about the treasure!"

"He isn't the one," someone said. Now, everybody turned toward the person who just spoke. It was Callie.

"Then who was it?" asked Derek, impatiently. "Who else could have committed two murders?"

"But first," said Callie, "let's get out of here. I'd rather talk somewhere else. This place is too stuffy."

When everyone got out of the passageway, Callie smiled. "I know who the killers are," she said. "And I know the way to make them confess!"

Callie then said, "The clue I found for the first murder came from Nancy."

Nancy looked confused. "Me? How? I don't remember giving you any clue."

The blond girl grinned. "You didn't know it, but you gave me the most important clue; where the evidence might be."

Frank remembered the time when Nancy spilled some ink on Callie's black T-shirt. "Do you mean when she spilled some ink on you just a while ago?"

Callie nodded. "But not only that. She also scratched Ned with her pen. That gave me a clue as well. If a person got some blood on his shirt, he would change it right away, right? But if he wore it later, the red blood would turn black over time. But I'll explain that later. First, I must unveil the killer."

She then went on. "As you all know, the first murder occurred when most of us were downstairs in the dining room. The only three people who were not there when the murder took place were Henri, Gary, and Norma."

The guests looked nervously at Henri and Norma.

"But Gary was killed in the second murder. That means we can narrow the suspects to Henri and Norma."

Norma gasped, "Do you say that you think that one of us is the killer?"

Callie nodded. "And to see who the killers might be, let's think about who actually went to Nancy's room when we all found out that Nancy was missing after we saw that there was nobody in June's room. Everybody except Henri and Norma got to the room. And according to my memory, one of the two didn't appear until a few minutes after the rest of us got to the room."

Turning around, Callie stared at Henri and Norma. Raising one hand, she pointed toward one of the two suspects. "You are the first Magician!" she said.

The person whom she was pointing was Norma. Everyone in the room turned to her, and she stood with a surprised expression on her face.

"Y-You think that I'm the killer?" she finally managed to say. She then said, "That's ludicrous! How do you think I committed such a crime? I know that I was the last one to get to Nancy's room, but that doesn't mean I killed June!"

Callie nodded. "I don't know how you did it, but Frank does. What I found out was your sweater. When we first saw you, you were wearing a black sweater, but after the murder, you changed your clothes. Why? That's because you got wet when you shattered the windows."

Norma bit her lips but remained quiet.

"Because you thought that being wet would make you seem suspicious, you quickly went into your room and changed your clothes. And I see that you are wearing that same black sweater that you have been wearing before."

Norma looked down. Sure enough, she was wearing the sweater which she had worn on the night of the first murder.

"Of course I'm wearing it!" said Norma. "It's beginning to be chilly in here, and this is the only sweater that I have! Besides, you have mentioned a single proof that can say that I killed June."

Callie said, "Sure, I haven't mentioned a single thing about evidence, but you might be surprised to hear that the evidence is still on your body."

"Huh?" Norma looked at Callie with an astounded expression. "What do you mean by that?"

The girl detective pointed toward the sweater. "You were lucky because you wore a black sweater, but it will be quite unlucky when they do a test on your sweater. Because June was stabbed, it's quite likely that her murderer got some of her blood on the clothes which she was wearing.

"And from seeing how you only changed your sweater, I think that the blood got on your sweater but stayed unnoticed because its color is black. I'm sure even you didn't realize that you had blood on it your, since if you did, then you wouldn't be wearing this right now."

Norma grimaced. "But what about the crime itself? How could I commit such an absurd murder without entering the room or being found by Frank, who searched the place right after the door was opened?"

"That I can explain," said Frank. Now, everybody's gaze turned to Frank. He held a grin on his face.

"It's quite a simple trick, really. But you made an illusion by using a simple trick."

Frank looked squarely into Norma's eyes. "You were truly a magician. The main job of a magician is to make a situation seem impossible, while it's not impossible at all. In a sense, you were just like a magician. Even though the murder itself was possible, you made it into a complex case that people would think was done using pure magic."

Frank went to the stairs. "Come upstairs! I'll show you that nothing is impossible!"

Postscript: As you can see, Ned and Callie, the two characters who you don't see solving mysteries everyday, have solved two of the baffling mysteries. And in the next chapter, Frank and Nancy will be the ones unveiling the truth. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and am waiting to hear from you. If you have any comment, please say it in your review. Thanks for reading!