To go further, there had been a son, Harold Danver, of whom we knew very little except that he had quarreled with his father, nor had the quarrel been patched up at the time of the younger one’s death. Married to a woman who was “much too big for her shoes,” to use the housekeeper’s words, the son had left a daughter named Ruth, or, as the housekeeper had respectfully expressed it, “Miss Ruth.” The daughter-in-law with the big feet had kept up the family quarrel, even telling the granddaughter that she couldn’t go to the funeral when the head of the house died. At the death, which had been sudden—and this hinted at mystery!—all of the relatives had flocked in, of whom none were more hopeful of getting a handful than “Ma” and “Pa.” Disappointment!—the will wasn’t to be read for a year. On this occasion “Ma” had gone snooping, to the awful discovery that the casket had a “queer” smell—a drug-store smell. Evidently after the funeral the house had been closed up and the keys sent to the granddaughter. Since then the better part of a year had passed. And now, when it was almost time to open and read the will, the granddaughter had made mysterious plans to have the house opened for her. She was to come quietly and secretly on the seventh of the month, which was two days before the time set for the reading of the will. Coming to the house at the granddaughter’s secret request, “Ma” and “Pa” had found “queer smells,” slamming doors, creaking windows, and the like.
We spread out the dope like this:
(1) Had Corbin Danver died naturally? Or if certain life secrets had something to do with his sudden death, what were those secrets? Was it possible for Poppy and I to get wise to them?
(2) Why had the grandfather given the granddaughter the keys of his home? Why did he want his will shut up for a year?
(3) Was the will going to be a big surprise to the relatives?
(4) Were certain people secretly posted on the will doing stuff ahead of time to make themselves safe when the will was read?—the granddaughter, for instance. (The “queer smell,” door slamming, and so on, came in here.)
(5) What was the connection, if any, between the granddaughter’s disappearance and the spotted gander? Where had “Pa” been during the earlier part of the evening?
(6) What was liable to happen to Poppy and I if hidden eyes caught on that we were trying to untangle the mystery, as we wanted to do, if the chance came our way?
Well, as I say, with the door wide open and so much “ghost” talk in my head, I had no idea of going to sleep. It didn’t seem possible to me that I could drop off. Yet I did. And so did Poppy.
Suddenly I was lifted ten feet into the air by an old gee-whacker of a thunderclap. And when I came down to earth again, and realized where I was, maybe you think I didn’t do some quick neck-stretching to see if there was anything white in the room with us. But we were safe.