Blood-Lines

Part 6

Poe sat alone in the grand dining room of the Charlemonte mansion with the contents of the small satchel that had been given to Pandora spread out across the table, with absolutely nothing to show for their efforts.

Dark curved oak set the mood highlighted by the grand chandelier designed by Tiffany.

Sconces along the wall would have filled in nicely during the larger dinner parties, where servers stood ready behind blinds that concealed hidden passageways to the kitchens through paneled, well oiled, doors.

He followed the fish-eye mirrors that were set on walls around the room that would have allowed guests a view of the entire table party without much extended effort.

Once he'd retrieved his pipe from his pocket, he tapped the tobacco tight and lit it, wondering as he patiently waited for it to catch, where they'd could have possibly gone so wrong and somehow been discovered a they clearly must have been.

Or, for that matter, if there'd even been someone on lookout who'd managed to catch wind of their plans or if there'd even been anything to their various theories on the matter to have made it worth their while even have keep track of in the first place.

The mysteries of that tragic day had proven as well hidden as servers might have been just behind their blinds nearby.

For their efforts, he's discovered an intricately hand carved tube for pencils, several packets of business papers having to do with various bank transfers and other legal missives for customers of the bank now located on the west coast.

He'd even examined the satchel itself for any hidden compartments and found nothing of note. With a pair of jewelers glasses perched upon his nose, he'd taken his time to follow each stitch from end to end; having found few if any faults for his trouble.

Even the pencils from the tube seemed to mock him with their plainness.

Perhaps, he realized, it may have helped if they'd known what they were looking for; but as it was he knew for certain that they hadn't found anything of apparent value that might have otherwise caused the manager of the bank to go to what lengths that he'd apparently had gone to and the violence that had resulted from his actions.

To say that he was utterly disappointed would have put it mildly; Poe dreaded having to let Pandora know that he'd indeed been proven wrong and once again let his fallen deputy down.

The click and soft hiss of the door as it slid open meant Abby was now proving polite as she'd let him know that she'd arrived while she gently pulled it closed behind her.

"This is all of it, and nothing more?" She asked, the clear disappointment he felt echoed in her tone.

Oddly enough she hadn't even bothered with the paperwork, instead she'd looked first at the plain satchel and then the pencil tube and its contents.

Carefully she picked up the tube and replaced the pencils and the cap.

"Does this tube strike you as odd." she asked, as she removed the cap and dumped the pencils back out on the table.

"What do you mean." he offered, his curiosity having been piqued at the nature ofher question.

"Plain satchel, plain business papers and plain pencils; what isn't so plain is right here like one of your sore thumbs."

"I've looked it over, several times; nice work and all but no gold bullion or silver trinkets of note that might have fit in there and last I checked pencil lead is not the most valuable of commodities these days, but who knows ... that could change in time I suppose."