“How do you gain access to the attic?” He wondered if a squirrel might have got in somehow.
“There’s a hatch with a pull-down ladder in the hall but when you’re up there, you can’t stand up straight. You have to crawl around,” Phoebe said.
Harry rubbed his chin. “That means I can’t get up there… knee trouble. Do you know anyone who can get up there?”
She shook her head.
“Never mind, I’ll take care of it,” Harry said. “I’ll be back after lunch.”
“But… your knee…” She stopped talking when she saw him grin.
“I know someone,” he said, with a grin. He walked out and got into the truck. Then he called Black’s Farm and left a message for Joe.
“This won’t take long,” Harry said as he and Joe were on the way to Phoebe’s house. “But I cannot do it and you were the first one I thought of.”
“Your knee…” Joe said.
Harry nodded. “I’m trying to avoid surgery as long as possible. It’s not the surgery that bothers me… it’s the recovery time.”
Joe laughed. “Older you are… longer it takes,” he said.
“Don’t remind me.” Harry stopped the truck at the end of Phoebe’s driveway.
“Place never changes… never did,” Joe said.
Phoebe must have been watching for them. She opened the door as they walked up onto the bridge. “You know, I think I could actually use part of that space up there. Sometimes I have more supplies on hand than I have room for. But there’s a ton of space up there and I might as well put some of it to use. Don’t you agree?”
“It’s your house,” Harry said, with a chuckle. “You can do whatever you want.”
“I’ve just never had this much space before and I find it… oddly exciting,” she said. “But you’re here to check the attic. Go ahead. The ladder is already down.”
Harry and Joe followed her down the hallway. “Okay Joe, you know what to do.”
Joe nodded, went up the ladder, and quickly disappeared out of sight.
“Can you see anything up there? Maybe something in line with the air vent?”
“Pieces of glass,” Joe called back.
“Broken glass?”
“Not broken… long pieces… teardrops… hanging down.”
“Anything else?”
“Nope.”
Harry shook his head as he caught the puzzled look on Phoebe’s face. “You have to know him to understand. He’s a man of few words… but he’s well-versed on local history. “Come on down,” he called up to Joe.
Partway down the ladder, Joe paused to replace the hatch before coming all the way down.
“Tell me about these pieces of glass,” Harry said. “What do you mean by teardrops?”
“Shapes… from old chandelier.”
“Tell me exactly where they are.”
“Hanging from roof centre.”
“So they’re pretty much in line with the air vent?” Harry asked and Joe nodded. “And if the wind was blowing into the vent, these glass teardrops would move enough to strike against each other and cause a musical tinkling.”
Joe shrugged. “Guess so.”
