The Case of the Forgotten Path & Invisible Thief

Chapter 11: The secrets behind the unclosed doors

Inside, the room was dark, with only the faint light of a desk lamp illuminating the space. The security footage monitor was in the corner of the room. Mallory could barely breathe, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Okay, let's find out what's really going on here," she whispered to Max, who gave her a nervous nod.

They moved toward the desk and sat down in front of the computer. Mallory quickly opened the security footage files. Her eyes scanned the footage, heart racing, but there was nothing immediately unusual. Then, she spotted something—a flicker on the screen that caught her attention. It was a moment, barely noticeable, but it was enough.

A shadowy figure in the footage appeared to be tampering with something in the study. Mallory zoomed in and gasped. It was her dad, but there was something strange about the way he was acting—like he was hiding something. As she paused the footage, she could feel her stomach knot.

"What is this? Why is he doing this?" she muttered, her thoughts racing.

Max leaned in to get a better look. "Wait, is that... your dad? What's he hiding?"

Mallory stood up abruptly, pushing the footage aside. "I don't know, but we have to find out more. This is just the beginning."

As they crept out of the study, Mallory couldn't shake the feeling that they were getting closer to the truth—closer to uncovering something that could change everything.

Mallory and Max crept down the hallway, their footsteps barely making a sound on the plush carpet. Mallory kept her eyes trained on the door at the end of the hall—the one her dad always kept locked. She'd been curious about it for months, and now, with her suspicions growing, she was determined to get inside.

"Max, are you sure this is a good idea?" Mallory whispered, her voice low but full of excitement.

Max, ever the optimist (or maybe just a little too eager), grinned and nudged her shoulder. "Of course! What's the worst that could happen? We get caught, and your dad probably gives us a lecture about not respecting boundaries or something..."

Mallory shot him a look. "He's a lot scarier than that."

Max simply shrugged, totally unfazed. "He wouldn't really do anything, right?"

Before Mallory could respond, Max, ever the curious one, had already begun fiddling with the strange, ornate vase on a nearby pedestal. "What if this does something?" he muttered, as he gently nudged the vase with his elbow.

The vase wobbled slightly—then, to Mallory's shock, it clicked. A hidden panel in the wall slid open with a quiet whoosh.

Max grinned like he'd just discovered a treasure chest full of gold. "See? I told you it was a good idea. I'm basically a genius." He motioned for Mallory to follow him into the narrow space that had just revealed itself.

Mallory stared at the opening. It was a tight squeeze, but she couldn't resist. "That's... impossible," she whispered. "It's like something out of a spy movie."

Max, completely oblivious to the situation's seriousness, stepped into the dark room first, his voice echoing with excitement. "This is goanna be so cool. I'm going to find all the answers and probably some random old junk, like a dusty chair or a rug."

The door snapped shut behind them with a soft click as Mallory followed Max into the room, her heart pounding in her chest. The space was even cooler than she expected—a hidden library or study, filled with old books, piles of paperwork, and a giant desk that looked like it had been untouched for years. A single lamp hanging from the ceiling cast eerie shadows, making it look like something out of a mystery novel.

Max immediately started digging through the papers on the desk, flipping them with wild abandon. "Hey, Mallory, look! It's like someone's been planning a treasure hunt for years!"

"Stop touching everything!" Mallory hissed, but she couldn't help the grin tugging at her lips. "What if this is like... Dad's secret study or something?"

Max held up a yellowed map he'd pulled out of a drawer, his face lighting up. "Aha! Treasure map!" he exclaimed.

Mallory rolled her eyes. "That's a blueprint for the house. Not treasure."

But before she could stop him, Max shoved the blueprint back in the drawer, and his hand brushed over a wooden panel near the far wall.

To their shock, the panel shifted, revealing yet another hidden compartment with an old safe inside.

Mallory's heart skipped a beat. "Max... What is all this? Why is this room even here?"

Max, unfazed, plopped down on the dusty armchair beside the safe, clearly amused by how the mystery was unfolding. "Maybe your dad's hiding his comic book collection or something. Or maybe—" He stopped, eyeing the safe with exaggerated seriousness, "...Or maybe he's secretly a spy, and this is his top-secret lair."

Mallory bit her lip, trying to ignore how Max was making light of the situation. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were uncovering something important—something that could explain everything, including the strange behavior she'd been noticing.

"I don't think this is for comics, Max," Mallory said softly, a chill running down her spine. "We need to figure out what's really going on."

Max gave her a lopsided grin. "Well, we'll start with figuring out how to open this thing." He reached over to fiddle with the safe's lock, as though it was the most normal thing in the world.

Mallory stood silently for a moment, looking around the room. The old, worn books, the half-open drawers, the map that Max had tossed aside—it was as if this space held the remnants of some long-lost secret. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized this wasn't just some random hidden room.

Something was off.

But what?

And how far was Mallory willing to go to find the answers?