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By Root 205 0

’s room first. As ilex unlocked the door, he had to fight the urge not to sneak inside. He had every right to be there, had even been invited by Steven himself. That didn’t stop him from feeling guilty as he scanned the room while he cleaned, searching for any sign that Steven was not what he seemed. In the bathroom, Alex found a medication he wasn’t familiar with. There were a few pills in the bottom of the small brown description bottle with Steven Trask’s name on it. After a quick check with Doc Drake’s wife and nurse, Madge, Alex discovered it was indeed meant for the treatment of depression. There had been no similar bottle in Ashley’s room. So, was that proof that Ashley had been telling the truth, or that Steven had? If Ashley was undergoing treatment for depression, she was skipping her doses at Hatteras West, and if Steven had his medication with him, wouldn’t that imply that he was level and steady? In the end, Alex wasn’t sure what the presence or absence of medications meant.

The only other thing Alex found in the room was an open book about famous forgeries in history. Alex studied the legal pad beside it for a few minutes, then decided the notes were simply different methods of attacking Julie Hart’s claim on Mathias’s fortune by trying to disprove the letter that served as the only proof that Mathias had believed he was his own. Perhaps Steven wasn’t as welcoming as he wanted the world to believe.

In Cynthia’s room, Alex found another mess. As an apple, Ashley hadn’t fallen far from her mother’s tree. As Alex cleaned, he found one of the Hatteras West Inn’s notepads, stocked in every room, now filled with scribbles, telephone numbers, and exclamation points peppered throughout. No doubt it represented her search for legal representation outside the confines of Elkton Falls. Alex also found a curious item that had rolled under the bed. It was a complete envelope with Jase’s return address across the back flap. Alex grabbed the paper and turned it over. Cynthia’s name and address were typed there, but the envelope itself was empty. The postmark was blurred, and Alex couldn’t make out a date other than the current year. So what could it mean? Was it from the letter that had brought the Trasks to Hatteras West, or was it a different, perhaps newer communication from Jase? Alex started to put it back where he’d found it, but he had the right, even the obligation to take it in his role as housekeeper. After all, anyone else would have considered it nothing more than trash.

He tucked the envelope into his shirt pocket, then rapidly finished cleaning the room.

Alex had found a number of things in the rooms of the Trask family, but he’d be whipped if he knew what they meant. Analyzing his finds would have to wait for another, less frantic time.

For the moment, Alex had one more place to snoop.

Alex retrieved the suitcase key collection from the front desk and headed back to Tony’s room. It took Alex just two minutes to find the proper key to Tony’s suitcase; he’d become rather adept at it over the years, and it didn’t hurt that most luggage keys were well-marked. As the lock clicked open, Alex decided to hurry his examination of the contents of his brother’s bag. Ashley’s early entrance had startled him, and he couldn’t just explain away breaking into his own brother’s bag.

Alex didn’t need much time to find something in his brother’s room after all. Hidden among Tony’s clothes was Jase’s personal journal, a book that by all rights belonged to Alex, given the contents of the will. But what should he do about it? He certainly didn’t have time to read it all, and if he took it, Tony would know Alex had been in his bag. Alex scanned the last few entries, but Jase’s handwriting was worse than a doctor’s. It would take time to decipher the scrawls.

Alex tucked the book under his arm, then headed back downstairs. He’d make a copy of the last few weeks’ worth of entries, then return the book to Tony’s bag. That way his brother would never know he’d been in there.

Alex was just copying the last page when a familiar