Harry rubbed his chin. "The electrician and plumber didn't mention finding anything unusual?"
Parsons shook his head. "They were only working in the two finished rooms."
"Are you still working down there?"
"Lucas refuses to go down there, says it gives him the creeps. He thinks the masks possess the souls of dead people and he feels like he's being watched." Parsons breathed deeply. "I can't blame him. There's something strange about them... he won't go down there again until I get rid of them."
"What do you mean by strange?"
"It's hard to explain. It's a feeling... like they know they're out of place and... they want to go back to where they belong. They look old and they could be valuable." He paused a moment. "I don't believe in ghosts but I'm afraid that someone will come looking for them."
"How does your wife feel about all this?" Bertie asked.
Parsons laughed. "She makes fun of us, and says we're imagining things. But she does think that we should try to find out anything we can about them."
"And you want us to do... what, exactly?" Harry asked.
"See if you can find out where they came from, how they got there, and why they were left there."
"Okay, we'll see what we can do. I'll need to get someone familiar with these things to examine them."
"That's fine. Just let me know when and I'll make sure I'm home." Parsons stood up to leave. "I need this solved so I can get on with the work."
"The first step will be tracking previous owners, or descendants," Harry said. "We'll start on that now."
As the door closed behind Parsons, Bertie looked up from her computer. "When are you going to check out those masks?"
"As soon as Professor Jones is available, you want to go with us?" Harry asked, with a chuckle.
"I'm curious," she said. "If they're valuable, why did the owner leave them behind?"
"Good point." Harry frowned. "We need to contact any descendants we can find, but... if the house was vacant for a while, maybe it wasn't the owner who left them."
What are you thinking?"
"As you said, if they were valuable enough to keep in a locked room, the owner wouldn't leave them behind intentionally." Harry rubbed his chin. "But, what if someone thought a vacant house was a good place to hide stolen goods?"
Bertie's frowned. "Wouldn't there be some sign of a break-in?"
"Not necessarily. Arrange a viewing with the real estate agent, as a potential buyer, and simply unlock a window during the process."
Bertie's eyes widened. "There'd be no evidence of a break-in, and he could come and go anytime."
Harry nodded. "But that still doesn't explain why the masks were left there. If they're valuable,
wouldn't he have moved them when he knew the house was sold?" He glanced at his watch as he stood up and shrugged into his jacket. "I'll check with Joe and Silas after lunch while you try to track some family members. We'll compare notes later."
"Sounds good." She nodded, and reached for her coat on the rack.
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