We all made our way into Mister Valentine's kitchen where Penny pulled out a few items from the fridge and started making us sandwiches to eat and boy, could I use one. All of this excitement gave me an appetite.
While Penny was preparing food for us, Mister Valentine asked us all to sit at his kitchen table while he gave us a short history of the secret passageway.
"If Simon hasn't told you already, my name is Robert Valentine and I am or should I say was Merton Blink's best friend. We have been best friends since our first day of high school and the fact that we live next door to each other should attest to our friendship.
What you discovered underground was a sort of bunker the two of us had created almost thirty years ago in case doomsday were to happen in our lifetime. I must say, we are both a bit paranoid, but the rich usually are. "
Genoa stopped him in his history story and asked, "If you were both so paranoid, then why didn't you two keep the stock certificates behind the painting down there with you?"
Valentine told us all that even though he and Uncle Merton were best friends, there was still a lack of trust between the two, which is why Uncle Merton kept the painting in his library.
"But you still had access to get it," Genoa pointed out.
He confessed that he did, but he never would. "The moment Merton discovered the painting was missing, he would immediately blame me for its disappearance."
"So you admit that you would be a suspect?" Genoa asked.
"I would, but I even though I had every opportunity to take it, I wouldn't."
"Why not?" Genoa asked.
Valentine told the group something I always suspected, but never believed, "Because the painting is cursed."
YOU ARE READING
The Case of The Perplexed Painting
Mystère / Thriller17-year-old Simon Blink hires a private eye to help him find who murdered his uncle. It is soon discovered that his death was linked to a mysterious painting.
