Tintin and the Will of Hartley Manor

by crayonsruletheworld

Tintin is given a new assignment - the will of Mr. Hartley. His money and estate was supposed to have gone almost entirely to charity, but distant cousins are now the sole inheritants. Is there a later will? Why are there men tailing Tintin? And what does the beautiful girl who just moved in across the hall have to do with this?

15. Chapter 15

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Chapter 15 – The Will

Snowy trotted forward, and Tintin's resolve returned. No one is going to die today. We can still do this.

"Snowy, can you chew through these ropes?" The dog immediately went to Eva, and in a minute she was free. Standing, she rubbed her wrists and moved to help the journalist. She untied his hands as Snowy chewed through the ropes holding one of his ankles.

Eva moved to undo the other ankle, at the same time Tintin's did. "It's alright, I've got it," he said quietly as their hands tangled. After a moment she pulled away, and in a second Tintin was standing as well.

"What are we going to do?" Eva asked, starting to pace.

Tintin stopped her, gently putting his hands on her shoulders. After she had silenced, he put a finger to his lips then pointed to the door. "The guards are still out there." He whispered.

Eva nodded. "We're free now. But how do we get out? We have enough time to look for the will if we can get out of this room undetected."

Tintin glanced around. "This is Mr. Hartley's study, if I'm not mistaken. You already searched it – but I came across something interesting in the floor plan." He turned, and strode towards the desk.

"What did you find?" Eva's footsteps moved to follow his, her voice equally as hushed.

Tintin turned, and again they were face to face. "You were searching the study when you were caught, so it would be assumed that there was only one door. And it would appear that there is only one. But in the original plans for the house, there were two – a second that led to an adjoining room. The door would have been on that wall." He gestured to the wall behind the desk.

Eva shook her head. "But there was never a door there – not for as long as I remember!"

Tintin crossed to the wall, and began to feel the panelling. "But you did find the way through the fence and the hedge. I think that if you found that, it's reasonable that there are other secrets in this house." Pressing his ear to a section of panelling, the journalist quietly knocked. "We just need to find where the hollow space is, and –"

He stopped short as Eva came around the desk slowly, and with purpose. After a second, she turned to a plain lamp on a small table that Tintin hadn't previously noticed.

"This lamp has never worked, but my father would never let us throw it away. I always thought it was strange." As she spoke, Eva ran her hands over the surface of the lamp. Finding the knob, she turned it once. The lamp stayed unlit. She turned it again, and a third time.

Suddenly and silently, a piece of the wall opened on invisible hinges.