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Lew frowned. “I know that, but what else can we do?”
I gave Ben an uncertain look. “I guess we could watch the place?”
Lew scoffed. “A couple of grownups watching a card shop? You’d be spotted a mile away, while we kids wouldn’t even be noticed.”
“You do have a point,” I agreed.
Ben sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. However-” He knelt so he was about eye-level with the trio, “-I want you to swear to me on the noble names of your houses that you will be as careful as you can manage, and you won’t follow whoever you see. Just get a good look at him and return to me. Do you understand?” The kids bobbed their heads.
Lew even crossed his finger over his chest. “We swear on the crests of our families that we’ll be as careful as we can.”
Ben didn’t look too convinced as he stood. “Very well. Report to us when you’ve found something.”
Lew saluted him, and the other two followed suit. “We will, sir!” And with that they dashed through the door Tully had opened and disappeared into the night.
I turned to Ben and folded my arms over my chest. “At least they’re eager.”
He kept his eyes focused on the closed door as he nodded. “Perhaps too eager.”
A small smile slipped onto my lips. “Even if you told them they couldn’t help, I think they’d find a way to weasel themselves into the trouble.”
Ben sighed, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. “I believe you’re right, and I must admit I would have done the same at their age.”
“What was all that racket?” a voice spoke up, and Fox shambled out of the study with a frown on his pale lips. “Are you running a revolving door of chaos, Count Castle?”
Ben laughed and turned to our rotten friend. “Often, Mr. Fox, and we have a tale to tell you in the comforts of the study.”
We moved into the aforementioned room where Fox and I seated ourselves in the chairs and Ben took command of the room as he stood in front of the crackling fire. He recounted our adventure of the evening to our companion, and by the time he had finished, there was a pensive look on the corpse’s face.
Fox folded his grimy arms over his hollow chest and wrinkled his rotten brow. “The catacombs, eh? I recall in my youth using that place as a meeting ground for the fellows who attended the academy. Those of us from Validen would congregate there on our holidays and dare each other to venture into the unknown tunnels.”
“Where did you enter them?” Ben questioned him.
Fox lifted his dark eyes to Ben. “If I’m not mistaken, through the same mausoleum you did this night. You said there was a hidden access underneath the altar, correct?”
I nodded. “That’s right.”
“That was one of the more popular entrances we used, though some of us snuck into those dank tunnels through other cemeteries,” Fox revealed as a smile touched the corners of his cracked lips. “I recall a rather unusual entrance in the Totten. There was an old shack there occupied by a rather cantankerous caregiver, and the entrance was hidden underneath his bed. Much was his and our surprise when we popped up just a few inches shy of his rather well-used boots.”
I frowned and cast a curious look at Ben. “The guy we followed didn’t use that one. He went from the Totten to the Court.”
Ben folded his arms and cupped his chin in one hand. “Yes. That does hint that while he knows some of the catacombs, some of its entrances are unknown to him. Or perhaps we may have been an obstacle to his taking that entrance.”
“But why was the guy there in the first place?” I pointed out. “He’d already hit that cemetery.”
Ben sighed and draped his arm across the mantel. “I wish I knew.” He furrowed his brow and cast a curious look at me. “I also wonder about what you sensed while we were down there.”
Fox perked up at the mention. “Sensed what?”
I shrugged. “It was probably nothing. The mold was wreaking havoc on my nose.”
“Where did you sense this strange feeling?” he inquired.
“At an intersection about a half mile into the entrance through the Court,” Ben informed him. “There were four paths to take, and Millie’s attention lay on the left-hand tunnel.”
Fox rubbed his chin. “Interesting. . .”
“What is?” I asked him.
