Chapter 11

I decided that the first point of action was to find out who had been the caretaker of the house prior to my ownership.  It was in far too perfect a condition not to have been tended to.  Besides, someone had to notice the loose floorboards and  arrange to have them repaired.

I determined that the best person to provide such information to me would be the lawyer who Lance used to arrange for the estate transfer from him to me.  I’d placed the papers in the top drawer of a large mahogany desk in the study, so I hurried to get them.  To my surprise and dismay, they weren’t where I’d left them.

“Of course not,” I complained aloud to an empty room. “That would make things far too easy.”

I sat in the oversized leather office chair while I thought on whether I’d moved them and forgotten.  I’d admired the chair when I first toured the house.  It was in such fine condition that I th