Read Online Bulldog (Dev Haskell - Private Investigator Book 9) by Mike Faricy - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Mike Faricy
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it mattered, I planned on giving her a short tour of the house, we’d wolf down the takeout dinner, then get down to the real business, my immediate needs.
“Oh my God, this place is so cool,” she said when I opened the door. Then she brushed past me and wandered into the front parlor. “Oh I love it, and the wood work, the turned spindles. Did you notice the design pattern on the cedar shakes outside on the second floor?”
“What?”
“That figures,” she said and just shook her head.
I poured her a glass of wine in the paneled dining room with the sliding doors and built-in breakfront and we proceeded with our tour. From the dining room we went back into the front parlor with the fireplace and the stained-glass windows. We checked out the den where I’d been sleeping on the couch next to the three boxes of glazed fireplace tiles.
“I think it’s so cool they’re going to reinstall these tiles, they’re gorgeous. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah sure, whatever.”
“God, you are so completely hopeless. All your laundry piled up on that chair and scattered around the floor adds a nice, homey touch. Here, get me another glass of wine and let’s check out the second floor.”
She spent ten minutes getting up close and personal with the staircase, “Get out of the way, Dev, here hold my wine glass I want to take some more pictures,” she said handing me the glass and then shooing me out of the way.
It dawned on me that I’d only been upstairs a couple of times and that was just to carry clothes out to Casey’s car. “I think there are four bedrooms up here,” I said leading the way. Heidi wandered into the master bedroom, took about a dozen more pictures of that fireplace, then more pictures of the small dressing room next to that.
“Look at this, Dev, you can still see where there was some sort of stove in here for heat that’s what that round plate is up on the wall. The chimney’s behind that and the stove pipe used to connect right up there.”
I nodded, sipped some more beer and said, “Amazing.”
Heidi just shook her head like she couldn’t believe it. We walked down the hallway, to a back bedroom. Two steps led down into the room.
“This would have been the servants’ room, that’s probably why the steps are here,” she said. The room was smaller, less grand than the other three bedrooms, the ceiling maybe a foot lower. “Yeah, this closet area was probably a staircase down into the kitchen originally. The help could go down there early in the morning, get things going for the family.”
“Gee, just like today,” I said.
“It was a different time, Dev. If you lived in the area when this was built and didn’t have live-in help, you would have been viewed as socially irresponsible, for starters. Oh wow, look at this, the cabinet, kind of a funny place for a built-in. I wonder why they went to the trouble to put that in here.”
“Hey, what about some dinner, are you hungry? Looks like you could use some more wine, too.”
“Just wait a minute. Look at this cabinet, Dev, it can’t be original to the house, it probably was built in the twenties or thirties. It’s so cute,” she said backing up and taking more pictures with her phone.
“Okay.”
“Not okay, it’s beautiful, but it’s really strange that it’s here, in the back of a large closet. I’m sure they pulled out the back staircase. What’s below this?” she asked and knocked on the wall around the cabinet, it sounded hollow.
“Below this closet? It’s the bathroom off the kitchen, just a sink and toilet, no shower or tub.”
She nodded. “Has this always been single family?” she asked then knocked on the wall again.
“No, when Casey and Dermot bought it, the place had been converted to apartments, I don’t know how many, I think someone mentioned maybe five or six units. I talked to the woman across the street and she referred to it as the worst house on the block once that happened. I’d say
“Oh my God, this place is so cool,” she said when I opened the door. Then she brushed past me and wandered into the front parlor. “Oh I love it, and the wood work, the turned spindles. Did you notice the design pattern on the cedar shakes outside on the second floor?”
“What?”
“That figures,” she said and just shook her head.
I poured her a glass of wine in the paneled dining room with the sliding doors and built-in breakfront and we proceeded with our tour. From the dining room we went back into the front parlor with the fireplace and the stained-glass windows. We checked out the den where I’d been sleeping on the couch next to the three boxes of glazed fireplace tiles.
“I think it’s so cool they’re going to reinstall these tiles, they’re gorgeous. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah sure, whatever.”
“God, you are so completely hopeless. All your laundry piled up on that chair and scattered around the floor adds a nice, homey touch. Here, get me another glass of wine and let’s check out the second floor.”
She spent ten minutes getting up close and personal with the staircase, “Get out of the way, Dev, here hold my wine glass I want to take some more pictures,” she said handing me the glass and then shooing me out of the way.
It dawned on me that I’d only been upstairs a couple of times and that was just to carry clothes out to Casey’s car. “I think there are four bedrooms up here,” I said leading the way. Heidi wandered into the master bedroom, took about a dozen more pictures of that fireplace, then more pictures of the small dressing room next to that.
“Look at this, Dev, you can still see where there was some sort of stove in here for heat that’s what that round plate is up on the wall. The chimney’s behind that and the stove pipe used to connect right up there.”
I nodded, sipped some more beer and said, “Amazing.”
Heidi just shook her head like she couldn’t believe it. We walked down the hallway, to a back bedroom. Two steps led down into the room.
“This would have been the servants’ room, that’s probably why the steps are here,” she said. The room was smaller, less grand than the other three bedrooms, the ceiling maybe a foot lower. “Yeah, this closet area was probably a staircase down into the kitchen originally. The help could go down there early in the morning, get things going for the family.”
“Gee, just like today,” I said.
“It was a different time, Dev. If you lived in the area when this was built and didn’t have live-in help, you would have been viewed as socially irresponsible, for starters. Oh wow, look at this, the cabinet, kind of a funny place for a built-in. I wonder why they went to the trouble to put that in here.”
“Hey, what about some dinner, are you hungry? Looks like you could use some more wine, too.”
“Just wait a minute. Look at this cabinet, Dev, it can’t be original to the house, it probably was built in the twenties or thirties. It’s so cute,” she said backing up and taking more pictures with her phone.
“Okay.”
“Not okay, it’s beautiful, but it’s really strange that it’s here, in the back of a large closet. I’m sure they pulled out the back staircase. What’s below this?” she asked and knocked on the wall around the cabinet, it sounded hollow.
“Below this closet? It’s the bathroom off the kitchen, just a sink and toilet, no shower or tub.”
She nodded. “Has this always been single family?” she asked then knocked on the wall again.
“No, when Casey and Dermot bought it, the place had been converted to apartments, I don’t know how many, I think someone mentioned maybe five or six units. I talked to the woman across the street and she referred to it as the worst house on the block once that happened. I’d say
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