Detective Rez Chamba in... The Case of the Restless Shovel

Chapter 7: The Ancient Tunnel

The face of the boy who seemed to be soaked in water and very exhausted, abruptly recovered as he saw the basement's door being forced through by a  screaming man outside. Another loud thud and sound of gunshot were heard and the door was about to give way.

"Come on! Quickly!" The boy in the secret doorway urged them. 'Follow me!"

They all knew the boy, but no one dared to speak, yet. Their lives were at stake. They hurriedly followed him inside, all six of them squeezed themselves in the tight space, as he pulled a lever, and the hollow square metal and the generator above began to move downward like an elevator, till they, and the hollow square metal post disappeared, and the engine was back into its original position inside of the Caridad's basement.

Rez imagined that if ever Hugo had finally forced his way in, he would  be puzzled where they did all go.

The familiar boy switched on a mini-flashlight in his hand, which looked like a waterproof one, and he flashed it around the chamber to illuminate a seemingly ancient dungeon.

The sisters, still in shock, shone their flashlights on the face of the boy.

"You are the Shadow?" They said in unison and in disbelief. "How was it possible?"

Fred was amazed too and had forgotten his promise for revenge. "How did you know this  place, Dacúmog?" He asked.

"Y-you know him?" Doc Caridad.

"We met him a while ago,' Rez explained, "before we have reached your house. When you described him, we immediately thought it was the same kid, but we didn't say anything."

"You can't be the Ghost?" The sisters, still in unison, were no longer terrified.

Dacúmog sighed and sat down on a boulder of rock. "You are right. I am not really the Shadow or the Ghost. I only just discovered this underground tunnel this morning while I was diving and fishing. I followed a big fish inside an underwater cavern, which I found out later to be the secret entrance of a cave. I miscalculated my air in my lungs, so when I was almost out of air, I desperately searched for any immediate space above that might contain an air pocket.

"That was when I found a big cave above it and as I explored the place, I saw an obvious man-made tunnel. I was so curious, so I entered it to find where it might lead. I eventually found this chamber, that rock stairs upward, the metal box, and the lever. When I pulled it down, the metal floor beneath my feet began to move upward, until I saw you all, terrified in that basement.

"The so-called Shadow has been spotted here for many years now, therefore, if it really exists, I can't be it. By the way, who was that mad man?"

Rez gazed around once again, and ignored Dacúmog's query. "Who built this tunnel?" He asked, basically to no one.

Doctor Caridad cleared his throat. "I think the previous owner of our house knew this secret place."

"We think they don't know, Papa," the girls interrupted. "The owners bought the house from other previous owners, too, and they also bought it from another, and so on. The real estate agent told us so."

"I think I know."

Everyone looked at Dacúmog.

"This was built by our ancestors," he said.