Paint the Town Red (Fox & Oakby Murder Mysteries Book II)

Emptier Than a Barrister's Heart

Imogen slowly descended into the small space at the bottom of the stairs, clutching the torch in her hand. Just as the Mayor predicted it was indeed properly dusty. To Imogen it looked like the most perfect hiding spot for a boy of about twelve: it had shelves of books, a few crates that could serve as a table and a chair. All sorts of curiosities and trinkets were arranged on the tallest crates creating the atmosphere of a pirate's cave or an explorer's study. There was a portrait of a beautiful red haired woman on the floor, propped against the wall. Imogen pointed the torch at it. The woman's face seemed vaguely familiar to her, and she catalogued it in her memory to research it later. She carefully looked around and then checked in a few crates. The ones that she managed to open and rummage in had nothing but the packing straw in them.

"Imogen, is everything alright?" she heard the Mayor's voice from upstairs.

"Yes, yes, I'm alright!" She coughed. "I don't see— There's nothing here!" she said.

She looked down at her mobile at the picture of the reliquary Petra had sent her. It was said to stand 12 inch tall and weigh around 4 pounds. There seemed to be very few places where the object could be hidden.

"There has to be a safe somewhere there," Imogen heard the Titan. "A Samuel Withers strongbox, to be precise. Every Oakby is given one for their tenth birthday."

"Oh right, I forgot!" the Mayor chimed in. "Just like the one I had in my bedroom in the Mayor's House!" he shouted to Imogen.

A pause hung upstairs, and Imogen shook her head in amusement. She could just imagine the blush spilling on the Mayor's high cheekbones - the man was adorably proper for this day and age. The Titan's face probably expressed absolutely nothing, or perhaps he raised an eyebrow. Petra either giggled, or if she remembered that she'd just been caught in a much more compromising position, she could throw the Mayor a sympathetic look.

It took a bit of searching and moving crates and trying not to cough her lungs out - but Imogen finally found the safe. It was - of course - locked.

"I need the combination!" Imogen shouted.

She could hear a small debate taking place upstairs, so she just waited and idly gawked around her.

"Imogen, we don't know it!" Petra hollered. "There were a few clues in this Oakby's diary as well. I've gotten my hands on it recently, and it's even more fascinating! He said nothing about the safe, but there is the discussion of Titanic of course, and—"

Imogen could hear the Titan interrupt the archeologist in a soft low voice.

"Sorry!" Petra yelled. "I keep forgetting you're stuck in a dark cellar while I'm here having a cuppa in comfort."

Imogen rolled her eyes and sneezed.

"The only thing the diary said about the safe was the phrase 'shower of gold!'" Petra added. "I thought he meant it was full of treasures!"

Imogen did the most obvious thing. She googled 'shower of gold.' She scrolled through several pages of the search results but nothing seemed to fit. Surely, the disturbing story of Zeus impregnating Danae had nothing to do with the safe. A few books of this title popped up as well, but most of them were written after the time of this Oakby.

"What are you thinking?" Petra asked.

"I don't know!" Imogen once again studied the space surrounding her. "There's something that— It sort of scrapes at my mind— Let me think!" she shouted back.

"Maybe you should go up and think here!" the Mayor's called to her, and she smiled.

"I'm alright. It's really not that scary here. It's just sort of a typical boy's hideout!"