We all trooped in the direction of the inn. Mac wanted to be sure the tunnel connected to the hotel. We passed through the hallway that held over a century’s worth of cast-off junk. Old baby cribs and strollers sat next to chairs with broken legs and assorted sporting equipment. It seemed that the members of the Carlisle family didn’t like to throw anything away.

We finally got to the area where the staff rooms had been built. The paint was clean and new looking and there was a small room with a freezer and a large refrigerator. Next to that room, we peeked into the utility room, where the generator hummed next to the furnace.

Satisfied that the tunnel did connect all the way from the cottage to the hotel, we went back the way we had come to get to the cottage trapdoor.

When I reached the top of the ladder I was almost knocked back down into the passageway by an exuberant Baxter. Fortunately, Seth was already at the top and pulled him away from the opening. Baxter was so excited to see me that he ran rings around me while hopping up and down. Tuffy shivered in Seth’s arms.

I helped Vi climb out of the hole. Mac was the last one up and he and Seth closed the trapdoor.

Mom and Dad were waiting for us.

“We were so worried about you two,” Mom said. She rushed forward to hug Seth and me.

“That was amazing!” Vi said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I love this castle.”

“I could do with a few less secrets,” I said.

“What do you think they used that room for?” Seth asked.

“It has to be where they kept the alcohol during Prohibition,” Vi said. She slung an arm over Seth’s shoulder and they walked into the living room chatting about gangsters and bootleggers.

“I’d better go call off the outdoor search party,” Mac said. He walked to the front door, turned, and pointed at us. “No one goes anywhere.”

“He’s kind of bossy,” Vi said after he was gone.

“He was really worried, Vi,” Mom said. “You saw him. I thought he was going to tear the place apart, stone by stone.”

We had settled in the small living room of the cottage to await Mac’s return.

“I would have helped him,” Dad said. He’d been left behind with Mom to coordinate with the other searchers.

“I knew you were fine,” Vi said. She waved her hand dismissively, and put her feet up on the coffee table.

“You did not.” Dad swiveled in his chair to look at her. “You were just as frantic as the rest of us.”

Vi scowled at him and crossed her arms.

Mom paced in front of the window, watching for Mac, I assumed.

“Is there anything to eat in this place?” Seth asked.

“I’ll check the cupboards, Seth,” Mom said. “There’s probably some snacks in there.”

Mom and Seth went into the small kitchenette together and we heard doors opening and closing. Then we heard bags rustling.

Mom returned with a plate of cookies and set it on the coffee table. She sat next to Dad and he slipped an arm over her shoulders.

“Are we just going to sit here, or are we going to make a plan?” Vi said.

“I think we should wait for Mac,” Mom said. “Besides, I thought you and Clyde had a contest going . . .”

I glanced at Vi. “So everyone knows?” I said to the room.

“I don’t like to root against my own daughter, but you really need a job,” Mom said. “This business with Vi might be just the thing.”

I looked at Dad, who was carefully avoiding my eyes. “You, too, Dad?”

He was saved from having to answer by a blustery gust of wind that blew Mac back into the room.

He stomped on the rug by the door and shed snowflakes.

“It’s getting really bad out there again,” he said. “I’m glad they hadn’t gotten far, it would be horrible if someone got caught outside in this for very long.”

He came and sat next to me and carefully took my hand. I thought it was a nice gesture until he squeezed a little tighter and said, “Tell us why you were stuck in an underground dungeon and hadn’t told anyone where you were going.”

Fortunately, Seth wandered in crunching on potato chips just as Mac asked his question.

“It’s not Clyde’s fault,” he said through a mouthful of chips. “It’s Baxter’s.”

Baxter lifted his head off his paws at the sound of his name. He’d calmed down once everyone had reappeared from the scary hole and lay curled in front of the fire. Tuffy was glued to Seth’s leg and watched every move of his hand from bag to mouth, hoping Seth would miss.

“How was it Baxter’s fault?” Mac asked. “He seemed to be the only sensible one—he stayed here in the cottage, where it was safe.”

Baxter put his head down and closed his eyes. He, like the rest of us, could probably sense that Mac was winding up for a safety lecture. I would have closed my eyes, but Mac’s death grip on my hand kept me vigilant.

Seth, self-appointed as my backup in almost every situation, sat on the floor near Dad. “Baxter had been acting weird since yesterday,” he said. “He didn’t like the room and acted like there was something wrong with the rug. I told Clyde about it and we decided to check it out.”

Vi picked up her knitting and scowled at us. Mom passed a plate of cookies around the room to dispel the tension.

“We didn’t think we needed a whole gang to just check out the trapdoor,” I said. “We got stuck in the room by accident. I didn’t know the door would lock from the outside.”

Mac’s grip was loosening; I hoped that meant he had calmed down.

“I think we should make a pact—nobody goes into unknown secret tunnels without leaving a lookout behind, like we did with Frank,” Vi said.

I cast a “told you so” look in Seth’s direction. He looked away.

“That’s a very good idea, Vi,” Mom said. She smiled at the rest of us to encourage agreement.

“Okay, that’s a good idea,” Mac said. “As much as possible we need to be safe. Something is going on at the castle and now that Seth and Clyde have discovered the cell phones, I’m worried we’ve stumbled onto a bigger problem than a disgruntled employee.”

“What cell phones?” Dad said.

We explained about the boxes of cell phones and how they could be connected to a black-market ring.

Dad whistled. “I read about that happening in Detroit. You think they’re linked? When they said there was a connection, I just figured one of the suspect’s families lived here or something.”

Mac let go of my hand, finally, and I surreptitiously rubbed the sensation back into it. He leaned forward and glowered at everyone. “This information stays here, in this room. If someone at the castle is involved in selling stolen goods, he or she could be dangerous.” He waited until we had all nodded consent.

“I’d been working on the assumption that Clarissa had been killed because she seemed to make enemies everywhere she went; maybe it was simpler than that,” Mac said. “Maybe she knew about the phones or was involved somehow and that put her in danger. Now that we know about the phones, we could be in danger as well. So we all keep quiet, right?”

We murmured agreement. I took a cookie and crunched it quietly.

“This mystery is getting very twisty,” Vi said. “Maybe we should all list our theories and figure out which one is best.”

I was already shaking my head. “No, you said we can’t work together,” I said.

“We shouldn’t put a small wager between solving the mystery and not . . .”

“What wager?” Mac said.

“I’ll tell you later,” I said.

Mac held my gaze for a moment, but backed off. He probably was still feeling guilty for the AAPD file he had stashed in his room. I was not above using his guilt to avoid a full-fledged fight right in front of my family. And I knew the last thing Mac wanted was my family even more involved in our relationship. I was good as long as I stayed near them.

Mac stood up and pulled me to a stand beside him. “Clyde and I are going to go talk through a few things. We’ll see you all at dinner.”