“Winter Creek?” asks Aspen.
“The name of the settlement before it became Winter Falls,” I tell her.
“The Winter Creek Bulletin was a weekly newsletter,” Mercury explains as he rifles through the pile. “Clifton kept copies of each bulletin. When he passed away, I boxed them up and kept them.”
He pulls several newspapers out. “Here are all the issues for February and March of 1955.”
“Let’s divide and conquer,” I say and grab the top newspaper.
“What are we searching for?” Aspen asks.
“We’ll know it when we find it,” I mumble as I scan the document. I flip through the pages until I reach the last one. Lost and found. Yes! This is it! “Check the lost and found items on the back page.”
I don’t find anything interesting in the newspaper I’m reading – unless you consider losing sheep is interesting – and toss it aside for another issue. I flip to the back page and glide my finger down the list of found items. I pause when an item catches my attention. It reads like a puzzle.
“Found Item,” I read aloud. “Where one might find a date at the imposing residence.” I pause for dramatic purpose – I did study drama after all – before squealing, “This is it!”
“But what does it mean?” Aspen asks.
“Imposing residence obviously refers to the old mansion,” I say. “But what does where one might find a date mean?”
“Hold on.” Aspen fishes out her phone. “I know a website for crossword clues.”
Mercury clears his throat. “I don’t need no dang phone to tell you it means cornerstone.”
“What’s a cornerstone?”
“An important quality or feature on which a particular thing depends or is based,” Aspen reads off her phone. “I’m confused. Wait. There’s a second definition. A stone that forms the base of a corner of a building, joining two walls.”
“But what does it have to do with dates?” I ask.
“The cornerstoneisthefirst stone setin theconstruction of a masonry foundation,” Mercury explains. “The stone often indicates the construction dates of the building.”
“Do you think the Black Hat Bandit hid the money in the cornerstone? It doesn’t make sense. The mansion was already built in 1955.”
Aspen snaps a picture of the found ad. “I don’t know, but we’re going to find out.”
“Thanks for your help, Mercury,” I tell him as we stand to leave.
Aspen rushes around to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”
“Ellery is not going to be amused if we dig up the lawn at the inn,” I say once we’re in the golf cart traveling back to town.
“It’s a struggle for another day. I need to drop you off and get back to the store. My lunch break is nearly over.”
Lucky for me, I don’t need Aspen to continue on my quest.
She shakes her finger at me. “Nuh-uh. You aren’t going to the inn without me.”
What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.
She holds out her pinky. “Sister pinky swear.”
Damnit. I can’t break a sister pinky swear. I sigh before looping my pinky with hers.
“Say it,” she demands.
“I sister pinky swear I won’t go to the inn without you.”
When she stops in front of Rowan’s house, I hop out and wave as I make my way toward the door.
“By the way, Sandra stopped by the bakery and got into a fight with Rowan this morning.” She beeps her horn and drives off as if she didn’t just drop a bomb while I stand there with my mouth hanging open.
I snap my mouth shut before stomping toward the house. Stupid Sandra. How the hell am I going to convince Rowan to give me a chance when the woman he’s hung up on won’t leave town?
But is he really hung up on her? As far as I know, he hasn’t gone to visit her since she’s been in Winter Falls. And he claims he doesn’t love her anymore. Time to find out the truth.