“I’m going to give you that one, my friend,” Annie whispered. “The fact that this door is open tells me someone other than Bell was here and didn’t care about locking the door when they left. Damn it, Myra, someone beat us here.” Annie stepped into the dimly lit office. “Yoo-hoo!” she trilled. “Anyone here?”

“I don’t think anyone is here, Annie. Look, there are wet footprints leading across the reception area and, it looks like, across the hall to that office where the door is half open. Some light would be a good thing.”

“Turn on the lights, but be sure to lock the door. I don’t have any bad feelings about this little break-in, Myra. The weather is in our favor today, and I for one don’t know how we got so lucky. Try calling Charles or the boys while I check out this huge safe.”

Annie dropped to her knees and flexed her fingers as she roll-called everything Tee had taught her. “Someone was definitely here, Myra. The carpet is wet where I’m kneeling, and whoever it was opened this safe.”

When there was no response from the reception area, Annie pressed her ear to the safe and twirled the knob. It took her three tries before the massive door creaked open. She blinked at the jumble of papers shoved onto the shelves. Folders were scrunched, with corners sticking out every which way. It took her only seconds to see that the contents of the huge safe were years old. She twirled the knob to read zero and closed the heavy door, using her shoulder.

Off in the reception area, Annie could hear Myra talking to someone. That’s good, she thought. She’s made contact with someone. She moved over to Baron Bell’s tidy desk and again dropped to her knees. She pushed the swivel chair aside and was about to slide the heavy sheet of plastic that protected the floor from the rollers on the chair when her hands touched cold water. Someone had been here also, and not that long ago.