Teen Detective Club

The New Lead

The attic was filled with an excited, almost electric energy as the Teen Detective Club huddled around the scratched, paint-chipped table in their HQ. Outside, the evening had settled into a dusky blue, casting long shadows across the attic floor. It was the perfect setting to dig into one of Willow Creek's most famous mysteries: Talbot Manor.

Alex held up his phone, where a dimly lit photo of Talbot Manor glowed on the screen. The towering mansion was draped in ivy and surrounded by a thick wall of trees that seemed to lean toward it, as though even nature kept its distance. The manor's windows were dark, empty, and looked out like soulless eyes. The whole place exuded an eerie, intimidating air.

"So," Alex began, "before we all freak ourselves out, I just want to say: we've tackled creepy cases before. Remember the 'Swamp Creature' mystery last summer?"

Lila laughed, rolling her eyes. "The 'Swamp Creature' turned out to be old Mr. Hennessey using a smoke machine for his fishing videos, remember?"

Eli smirked. "And his 'secret' ingredient was just dry ice. Definitely not as legendary as Talbot Manor."

Jenna glanced over at the open laptop where she had queued up articles, blog posts, and town records. "Talbot Manor's a different story," she said, her voice low with excitement. "This isn't just some rumor or urban legend. It's an actual mystery. And a cold case that's been unsolved for over a hundred years."

The others leaned in closer, each feeling the thrill of a good story beginning to unfold. Jenna clicked on the first article, a scanned newspaper clipping from 1912 with the headline: "Talbot Family Vanishes Without a Trace."

She read aloud: "'In a shocking turn of events, the entire Talbot family—Henry Talbot, his wife Eliza, and their young son Thomas—disappeared from their home on the night of March 12, 1912. Neighbors reported seeing strange lights flickering inside the house late into the night. When the authorities arrived the next morning, the family was gone, leaving behind their possessions and a house filled with eerie silence.'"

Lila shivered. "That's... spooky. They just disappeared? No leads at all?"

Jenna shook her head. "Nothing concrete. Apparently, some valuables were missing from the house, but the police couldn't tell if the family took them, or if someone else stole them after they were gone."

Eli pulled a worn notebook from his backpack and began scribbling notes. "Okay, so the whole family vanishes in the middle of the night. Was there any sign of a struggle?"

Jenna nodded. "There were some strange things noted in the police report—overturned chairs, a few broken items, but nothing that pointed directly to a fight. And here's where it gets weird: there was a rumor that one of the neighbors saw a hooded figure lurking around the property a few nights before."

Alex's eyes widened. "Like a burglar? Or... something else?"

Jenna shrugged. "No one knows. But what really made people believe there was something more going on is what happened afterward."

She pulled up another article from a local blog that specialized in creepy historical tales. "In the weeks after the Talbots disappeared, strange things started happening in the manor. People reported seeing lights flickering in the windows, and some said they heard voices and laughter coming from inside."

Lila shuddered, hugging her arms. "So, it really is haunted."

Eli shook his head, skeptical. "Or maybe people just freaked themselves out. A huge, empty house like that—your imagination could run wild."

"True," Jenna admitted. "But it didn't stop there. For years, anyone who tried to buy or restore the manor faced problems—accidents, weird noises, and more than a few of them claimed they saw shadows moving when no one was there. Even a few handymen and painters quit after experiencing... strange incidents."