Hidden Talents

be the imaginative type except when it came to business. Outside of business, imagination was a dangerous thing. It fed on emotion.
    “Something about this house gives me the creeps now,” Serenity whispered as she studied the cabin. “Every time I come here, I remember finding Ambrose's body at the foot of those basement stairs.”
    “I'm not surprised. That kind of memory tends to stick with you.”
    Caleb led the way around to the back porch. He climbed the steps and tried the door. The knob did not turn.
    “Is it locked?” Serenity asked softly.
    “Yeah.” Caleb moved along the porch to the nearest window. He pushed tentatively and felt it give. “Looks like Jessie didn't bother to check the windows when she closed the place.”
    “Maybe she forgot.”
    “Either that or the lock is broken.” Caleb shoved the window open. A musty smell assailed his nostrils. “It's pretty stale in there.”
    “I'm not surprised.” Serenity watched anxiously as he slipped into the dark interior of the kitchen.
    “Okay, your turn.” Caleb reached out to help her.
    Serenity scrambled over the sill and peered around. “I can't see a thing.”
    “We'll have to find our way to the basement stairs by touch. I don't want to use the flashlight while we're inside this place. Someone might notice.”
    “This way, I think.” Serenity took a few tentative steps into the inky shadows.
    Caleb ran his fingers along the bottom of the window before he followed her. “I was right about the lock. It's broken.”
    “Probably has been for years. Ambrose was never what you'd call a handyman. Oooph.”
    “What's wrong?”
    “I've found the basement door. Just walked into it. Good thing it's closed.”
    “For God's sake be careful. I don't want you taking a header down those stairs.”
    “Don't worry. Ah, here we go.”
    The squeak of old hinges told Caleb that Serenity had the door open. He moved toward the sound. His eyes were adjusting to the deeper darkness of the cabin now. He could make out Serenity's shape near the basement entrance. “As I recall, there's a handrail on the left.”
    “I know. I've already got one hand on it.”
    Caleb found the rail and the first step. He reached back to pull the door shut. Then he found the light switch on the wall and snapped it on. The stark glow of the bare ceiling bulb lit the room with a gloomy light.
    “That's better.” Serenity paused briefly on the step below Caleb and then started down into the basement.
    Caleb followed. “You said that he filed by date, and within that, by name. We'll start with the most recent years and work back.”
    “What are we looking for?”
    “I don't know. Anything that doesn't look right,” Caleb said. He pulled open the first drawer.

    Her spirits had been high when they began their venture, but thirty minutes and three drawers later, Serenity was losing hope. She was in the middle of a drawer marked P, and thus far had found nothing unusual.
    “These files are incredible,” Caleb said as he opened a drawer marked “T thru V.” “I'm starting to change my mind about Asterley. Not only was he a hell of a photographer, he knew how to keep decent files. Do you realize how rare good record keeping is? I can't tell you how many businesses I've seen get into trouble because of lousy filing systems.”
    Serenity froze. “What did you say?”
    “I said Asterley kept excellent records.” Caleb frowned intently as he peered into an open file.
    “Not that.” Serenity was so elated that she lost her place in the row of manila folders. The only examples of Ambrose's work that Caleb had ever seen were the photos that had been taken of her. “What did you mean when you said that he was a hell of a good photographer?”
    Caleb didn't look up from his methodical examination of the files. “Judging by those shots he took of you he…Damn.”
    “What's wrong? What did you find?” Serenity glanced over his shoulder.
    “I should have started with this drawer. I guess it just seemed too obvious.”
    Serenity stared at the folder in his hand. The name Ventress was written on the tab. “Uh-oh.”
    “That sort of sums it up, doesn't it?”
    “Ventress isn't a very common name, is it?”
    “No.” Caleb jerked the folder out of the file and opened it wide. He stared down at the single item filed inside. “Damn it to hell.”
    “It's a record of sale,” Serenity whispered.
    “For a set of photos to Franklin Ventress. For the sum of five thousand