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“It’s push, champ. Not pull,” Pringle explained, giving it a swift karate kick. Sure enough, the mahogany trim collapsed to reveal a dark hole.

I gulped down my nerves and reached my hand into the mysterious space.

Nothing.

“I already cleaned it out,” the raccoon revealed. “Nothing left. Not in there at least.”

“Then what are we even doing up here?” Octo-Cat demanded with a huff. It was only then I realized he was pacing the length of the room.

“Look.” Pringle pointed toward a stack of cardboard boxes nearby. “There are some new things here since I last searched.”

“Nan’s Marie Kondo-ing,” I whispered. “She wasn’t just throwing things out. She was hiding them here, too.”

Pringle rubbed his hands together in excitement.“Oooh, fun. Let’s go see what new secrets we can find.”

I opened each of the three boxes and set them side by side on the floor. Pringle immediately dove into the biggest one while I decided to start with the smallest.

“It’s times like this I think it might be nice to have fingers, even though they look so… yuck.” Octo-Cat shuddered at the thought, then stalked over to lie in the sunbeam coming from the window, leaving us to do all the snooping.

The first box I tried held a delicate collection of Christmas ornaments, all lovingly kept. Not one thing even remotely suspicious.

I moved to the next box and found Nan’s favorite summer looks tucked away for safe keeping now that it was getting cold. Also nothing that helped with our search into the hidden past.

“What have you found?” I asked Pringle when I realized he still hadn’t emerged from the giant box.

“Huh? What?” He popped his head over the cardboard flap with a sheepish grin. One of Nan’s silk patterned scarves had been tied over his ears, and several pieces of costume jewelry lay against his furry chest. “Oh, nothing about the case. Just a small part of my P.I. fee.”

Octo-Cat sighed heavily but remained blessedly quiet.

“No, no more stealing,” I hissed, feeling a bit like an animal myself. The more human they became, the less like a person I felt myself. “Put it all back.”

“You’re no fun. You know that?” The dejected raccoon at least followed orders without arguing my instructions any further. He made sad, disparaging noises as he removed each piece of glittering finery.

“Okay, well. That didn’t exactly help anything,” I said once I was sure every last item had been returned to the boxes from which they came.

We each exited through the floor hatch and stood together in the guest room discussing next steps.

“What about Nan’s room?” Octo-Cat suggested. “Should we search there?”

Pringle clapped and did a happy little jump.“Oh, yes, yes, yes. Let’s do that!”

Normally, I’d hate to invade my nan’s privacy, but desperate times and all that… and I was very, very desperate to finally learn the truth that had eluded me since long before I’d even been born. “Let’s give it a try,” I acquiesced.

We marched in a single-file line down the hall toward Nan’s bedroom, but when I reached the door, it was still locked up tight.

“Want me to break in?” Pringle offered, making grippy-grabby gestures with his hands. I wondered, not for the first time, whether I’d be able to find a vet to prescribe my raccoon neighbor a daily dose of Ritalin for his obvious ADHD. Mmm, probably not.

“I shouldn’t have any problem jimmying the lock on the window,” he continued, bouncing on all four legs now.

“No,” I said, feeling both guilty and disappointed in equal measures. “Nan will be back eventually. Let me try to talk to her first. Maybe she’s had enough time to cool down. Maybe tonight she’ll be ready to talk.”

“Hey, now wait just a minute here!” Pringle cried in distress. “Even if that happens, you still owe me my payment. Remember, I’m a legitimate business animal now, and we made an unbreakable deal when you hired me earlier today.”

“That’s it. I’ve had enough,” Octo-Cat said, heading upstairs toward our tower bedroom, and I had to agree with him there. So much time in the raccoon’s company had me feeling like I’d just run three marathons back-to-back… but with my patience instead of my muscles.

“I’ll come get you when we’re ready for the next steps,” I told him as I guided him back outside. As soon as he exited the house, I shut the door tight and took a deep breath.

Oh, Nan. Please put me out of my misery. All you need to do is talk to me, and we can put an end to all of this.

Chapter Thirteen

Despite many fervent prayers sent Heavenward, Nan didn’t talk to me that night. In fact, she didn’t even come back home. How do I know? Because I set up camp in the living room and waited all night, that’s how.

Of course, now I only had more questions than before.

Was she out doing damage control or simply hiding from me to avoid a confrontation? And where had she even gone?

Desperate for answers, I called my mom the next morning.

“Angie, good morning! It’s so good to hear from you!” my mom chirped in such a delighted tone that I instantly knew Nan hadn’t turned up at her place.