Blackvine Manor Mystery by Wendy Meadows Page A

the wood. There’s a metallic click and she opens a small panel. Maxwell shines the light on her hand as it slips inside the secret compartment and comes out with a delicate white envelope.
    “What are you doing?” he demands and comes over to snatch the envelope from her hand.
    “What? Wait, this opens?” Alexis rubs the back of her head as she tries to remember the last few minutes.
    “Please,” he growls, “spare me the act. How did you know these were in there?”
    Maxwell starts thumbing through the old photographs. As he studies the worn and obviously cherished photographs he notices his smiling grandparents. Otto is smiling, always smiling when Delia is near him. And his grandmother is radiant; the same soft, glowing smile of his memories. He thumbs through the stack until he sees a group snapshot.
    Otto is manning the grill, waving at Delia. She is smiling to him from a checkered blanket near the fountain. A 4th of July picnic they hosted for the residents of Blackvine Manor. Maxwell stares at himself, an eight-year-old boy playing with a patriotic pinwheel. Sitting on the bench behind him is the same woman he suddenly remembered during Alexis’ failed séance.
    “My mother,” Alexis says softly, peeking over his arm at the photograph.
    “Who?”
    She points to the woman he is starting to remember. “My mother. Amelia Tennon. She must have lived here when your grandmother was murdered.”
    Maxwell throws down the photographs as if electrified. “What do you think you’re doing? Why are you doing this to me?”
    “What?” Alexis stumbles back.
    “You set up this whole charade just to jog my memory. Just to get me to remember your mother. That’s why you’re here. That’s why you’re going on and on about figuring out what happened to Delia. Be honest, now, Alexis; you’re doing all this just to find your mother.”
    The words choke her but she finally whispers, “Yes, but—”
    He leaves her standing alone in the dark and she sees him through the bay window driving away as if chased by a demon.

Chapter Fourteen
    T HE NEXT MORNING ALEXIS IS awakened by the sound of hammering. Rolling over in preparation to be indignant, she realizes it is already 9 a.m. Quietly agreeing with her father’s voice in her head, she decides to spend the day thinking about the future. Her severance package runs out in two weeks and Maxwell already thinks she’s a con artist. She’d hate for him to turn out to be right.
    Sleep is now impossible so she gets up and goes to the window. “No. Oh no!”
    She watches Maxwell finish pounding a “For Sale” sign into the lawn of Blackvine Manor Apartments before flinging the sledgehammer in his trunk and slamming it shut. He then leans on the trunk with his back to the building and waits.
    He’s still waiting, refusing to set foot inside, when Alexis finishes getting dressed. She’s about to charge outside and confront him when she sees a town car slide up to the curb behind Maxwell’s car. A man gets out and shakes his hand before they both proceed towards the front door.
    Her worst fears are confirmed when she opens her door a crack and hears them coming up the stairwell. “Most of the apartments are currently rented, a new roof was put on three years ago, and the neighborhood is very desirable. I’ll show you the penthouse apartment first. It really is the crown of Blackvine Manor.”
    Alexis panics and steps out into the hallway, pretending to be on her way somewhere. “Oh, good morning.”
    Maxwell clenches his jaw but manages, “Mr. Wells, this is Alexis Cole, our newest resident. She hasn’t let the foolish ghost stories scare her off. Those kind of rumors and make believe aren’t really a factor in real life here.”
    “Nice to meet you, Miss Cole,” the man says awkwardly.
    “Mr. Wells is thinking of buying the building.” Maxwell slides a hand out and, using his forearm, gently pushes her aside so Mr. Wells can pass.
    The potential buyer looks like