The Secret (Seacliff High Mystery Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

and necessities to him once a week, and he never ventured out on his own.”
    “There are rumors of people in boats seeing someone walking along the cliffs near the house at night. Most people think it was him.” Mac wadded up her greasy hamburger wrapper and tossed it toward the trash can, making a perfect basket.
    “Pretty much would have to be because the old guy was a total kook who’d shoot at anyone who dared venture onto his property.” Chelsea closed her compact and smoothed her hair.
    “What happened to him?” Alyson asked. “He must have experienced some type of tragedy to turn him into such a loner.”
    “Story is,” Trevor began, “his father, Jacob Cutter, was married to some rich society woman from San Francisco. She was never able to have children, but old Jacob had an illegitimate son by a bar maid in town. I guess he figured this child was the only one he was likely to have because his wife couldn’t conceive, so he paid the woman a bunch of money and brought the son home to raise himself.”
    “I’m sure his wife was thrilled with that arrangement,” Chelsea muttered under her breath as she picked up her books and walked away.
    “I’ve heard she was abusive to the boy,” Trevor continued. “To make matters worse, Jacob died when Barkley was only ten. He left his entire estate to him. The one stipulation was that his wife was to act as the boy’s legal guardian until he reached the age of eighteen, and she was allowed to live in the house as long as she wanted.
    “After that,” Trevor elaborated, “the abuse got worse and worse. Most people think the lady lost her mind completely at some point. Anyway, on the night of Barkley’s eighteenth birthday she fell to her death from the third-floor balcony.”
    “How awful.” Alyson gasped. “Do you think Barkley killed her?”
    “People around here think he pushed her, but it was never proven,” Trevor answered. “Whatever happened that night must have been intense, though, because it was the last time anyone ever saw Barkley Cutter. He holed himself up in that great big house of his and never came out again.”
    “How odd,” Alyson marveled.
    “Some people think whatever happened that night left Barkley badly scarred or deformed,” Mac explained, “but no one really knows for sure.”
    “The delivery people from town must have seen him,” Alyson retorted.
    “No, they didn’t.” Mac leaned forward. “Every week someone would take supplies out to him and leave them on the porch. There would be an envelope with payment for the previous week’s supplies and a list of what was to be delivered the next week.”
    “That’s how they realized he was dead,” Trevor explained. “When the delivery people went out to his place the previous week’s supplies hadn’t been picked up, so they went to get the sheriff.”
    “He was found dead in his bed.” Mac shuddered. “He’d been dead for over a week.”
    “That’s so sad,” Alyson sympathized. “To live your whole life without any human contact whatsoever.”
    “There was a rumor,” Mac whispered, as if sharing some deep, dark secret, “that Barkley did form a relationship with one of the delivery women, and the relationship resulted in the birth of a child. But it might just be a story.”
    “If there was a child there might be an heir,” Alyson realized. “Has anyone tried to confirm the story? There should be hospital records, and probably a birth certificate. At the very least someone in town must have known the woman.”
    “As far as I know, no one’s really done much to look for a possible heir,” Trevor responded. “There were the usual announcements in the paper, but otherwise I doubt it.”
    “I wonder how hard it would be to do a little digging on our own,” Alyson mused. “It doesn’t seem right there might be a legal heir out there, but no one really tried to find him or her. Besides, what happens to the inheritance if no one comes forward? I mean,