The Ghost and The Haunted Mansion: A Haunted Bookshop Mystery

explained.
    “That’s a pair of two 240-volt lines in there. That’s a lot of juice. This folly must have some pretty powerful floodlights.”
    “That doesn’t sound right,” Seymour said.
    Leo frowned. “If you don’t have floodlights out there, then your neighbor could be leeching power. Let me fix the fuse. Then we’ll check out this folly thing.”
     
    “SEE, NO FLOODLIGHTS,” Seymour said.
    Even with Todd Mansion’s lights now blazing away, things were pretty gloomy out here among the overgrown lawn and tall weeds. I watched Leo carefully as he inspected the faux gothic archway and the artfully tumbled-down walls.
    “What’s the point of this place?” Leo said. “It doesn’t even have a roof.”
    “It’s decorative,” Seymour replied.
    Leo grunted and pushed his way through the brush, to the opposite side of the structure. Seymour followed in his wake—and so did I, still tightly gripping the Maglite.
    My handbag and cell were with me, too, and I glanced toward the road far away, anticipating Eddie’s wailing siren, but I didn’t hear a thing, just quiet night sounds, crickets chirping, and a dark sedan driving by—and then I realized, it wasn’t driving by; it was slowing down and stopping.
    A figure climbed out. I couldn’t tell who he was from his dark silhouette, just that it was a leanly built man in street clothes. This was no cop in uniform. He stood there staring in our direction, but then, it would have been easy to notice us with our flashlights.
    Meanwhile, Leo Rollins was gazing at Seymour’s nearest neighbor. The house was half the size of Todd Mansion. It sat at the bottom of the low hill, at least a quarter mile away and separated by a stretch of overgrown grounds.
    “Your neighbor’s pretty darn far away to steal power,” Leo concluded.
    “Mrs. Fromsette lives there,” Seymour replied. “She’s too nice to steal electricity.”
    “Mrs. Fromsette lives next door to you?” I said.
    “Yeah,” Seymour said.
    “I can see a clear trail here,” Leo said, pointing. “Leads from the Fromsette place right up to this folly thing. Come on, Seymour, let’s have a look inside, get to the bottom of this power mystery.”
    Leo moved through the shattered arch to the folly’s interior. Seymour started to follow.
    “No, Seymour!” I hissed. “Don’t follow him in there!”
    Just then I noticed the dark figure that climbed out of the parked sedan wasn’t standing by the side of the road any longer. He was moving across the mansion’s grounds, heading right for us.
    “Seymour!” I whispered. “Listen to me!”
    “Pen, what the heck’s the matter?”
    “Look!” I pointed at the figure of the man now running full speed toward us.
    At last, Seymour appeared alarmed. “Stop!” he shouted. “Who are you?!”
    The man shined a flashlight on us. The bright light blinded me. I screamed.
    “Freeze! Everyone freeze!” shouted the man. “Hands where I can see them!”
    “ Eddie ?” I called, holding my hand against the bright light beam. “Is that you?”
    “Of course, Pen. You called me, said Seymour was in danger!”
    “I thought you’d be in uniform! I thought you were coming in a patrol car with a siren!”
    “You caught me off-duty. And from the sound of your call I figured a siren might put you and Seymour in jeopardy.”
    “What the hell’s going on?” Leo demanded, finally coming back out of the folly.
    “You tell us,” Eddie said. His gun was now trained on Leo.
    I closed my eyes, took a breath, and began to explain. When I finished, Eddie lowered his weapon and said—
    “Leo didn’t sabotage Seymour’s brakes, Pen. I know that for a fact.”
    “I know something else for a fact,” Leo said before I could ask how Eddie knew. “Something that looks criminal. You want to see?”
    Eddie nodded. “Show me.”
    The grounds were a mess inside the tumbled-down walls of the folly. Leaves, debris, dirt, and dried vegetation lay in heaps and gathered in corners. Then Leo’s heavy boots clunked hollowly and he played his beam on the ground at his feet.
    “There’s a trapdoor here,” he said and pulled the metal handle. The door opened easily on well-oiled hinges. Behind it was a flight of worn stone steps, which led to an underground tunnel.
    “Holy hidden cave!” Seymour cried.
    We followed Leo down the steps and into the underground tunnel, which led to a secret room under the mansion. It was a cramped space, no bigger than a walk-in