Page 89 of Secrets in the Dark
“Oh, my God! No, no, we have security cameras! They’re manned through a central station where someone is always on duty,” the girl informed her.
Della nodded. “Is there a cellar here?” she asked.
“A cellar?”
“Basement, cellar.”
“Um, yes. We store ingredients down there and my boss, the manager, has his office down there.”
“Would it be possible for me to see it?” Della asked.
The girl frowned, confused. “I—I don’t know. He isn’t here right now. And... I mean, you really have jurisdiction here?”
She smiled. She should have called Edmund.
“I’m not looking to arrest anyone here or cause any problem or hardship for the business. I’m just trying to see the layout of the underground.”
“We would never help such a monster!” the girl protested.
“I’m not suggesting you would,” Della said. “We’re looking for any anomaly in the ground, in the buildings, in the size of the space beneath the ground floors.”
“I, uh... I will make a phone call,” she said. “Excuse me.”
Della smiled and waited. She looked around the shop, fascinated. She’d been a few places where there might be one candy-making station, but this was exceptional. The walls were freshly painted, chrome and glass were everywhere. It was light and bright.
Which made her wonder about the entrance to the cellar; she couldn’t see where it was.
“Miss...sorry, Miss Agent, I’ve spoken with Mr. MacFarland and he says that of course, I must show you anything you need to see. Let me just get Vickie to watch the register and we’ll go on down.”
“Thank you. And please convey my thanks to Mr. MacFarland.”
The girl nodded and waved to a friend, explaining briefly that they needed to go below.
Della discovered where the stairs to the cellar were—behind another set of giant candy canes.
The candy canes were in fact a modern addition to the handrail that followed the stairs to the ground beneath.
The flooring here was brick. Della thought that it was brick that had been there for two centuries or more.
The manager’s office was to the left and in the center and to the right were rows of shelving that contained supplies for the store. The walls appeared to be naked brick as well, even in the office. But someone did sweep and clean down here and the cellar seemed to be well ventilated.
“Well, here we are,” the girl said.
Della frowned suddenly. Just as in the pub, there was a closed door toward the rear of the basement.
“What’s in there?” she asked.
It was in alignment with the little room in the back of the pub. Did that mean anything? Did it just mean that the builders had liked little rooms at the back of a cellar?
“Cleaning supplies,” the girl said. “We carefully keep them separate from any of our edible materials!”
“Of course,” Della said. “May I?”
“I—sure.”
Della walked across to the little room.
Like the supply room in the cellar of the pub, it was paneled.
