Paper Treasure by Anne Stephenson Read Free Book Online Page B

head.”
    As long as nothing dire happened in the meantime, thought Charlie. The screen door closed behind them as they stepped back into the head of high summer.
    “So what do you think?” asked Lisa.
    “I think whoever is after those shares is getting more and more aggressive.”
    They were halfway down the block when Mrs. Lovell hailed them. “Yoohoo, kids!”
    Joey scampered ahead, but Charlie and Lisa turned back. Essie Lovell was walking down her front walk. “I just remembered something. He said his name was Reid.”
     
    Using Weirdo’s room at the Colville Nursing Home as command central, they set out to reach all the remaining shareholders by the end of the afternoon.
    Charlie called Louis Gagnon first.
    His daughter answered. Her father was home, she said, but there was no point in talking to him. He had Alzheimer’s disease. “He doesn’t even remember me from one minute to the next,” she added.
    As far as she knew no one had come to the house.
    “Ask her if she knows where his papers are,” prompted Weirdo.
    Charlie relayed the question and listened to the answer. He turned to Weirdo. “He has boxes of old bills and things but every time anyone goes near them he gets upset.”
    “So do I,” barked Weirdo.
    Charlie asked Louis’s daughter to call if anyone named Reid appeared, then said goodbye.
    “Well now,” said Weirdo, counting off on his fingers, “Malcolm’s dead and his certificates can’t be found. Essie has hers locked up in the bank. It sounds like Louis has his. That leaves Archie and Fraser.”
    After half a dozen phone calls, they tracked down Archie Spencer. In a cemetery in Timmins. He’d been dead for six years. As for his belongings, nobody could tell them anything.
    “I think he got married after the war,” said Weirdo, “but I’m not sure. Maybe Essie knows. Give me the number for Fraser.” He picked up the phone.
    Lisa read out the number. It seemed to take forever for someone to pick up at the other end.
    The old man didn’t waste any time on small talk. “Remember that gold mine we all invested in? Yeah, that’s the one. Someone’s trying to buy up all the shares. Yeah. Uh huh. You what!” Weirdo shrieked into the phone. “You old fool! That mine’s probably worth a fortune!”
    Charlie and Lisa could hear Fraser Hamilton angrily shouting back at Weirdo from where they sat across the room.
    The old soldier’s face was mottled with rage.
    “The same to you!” he shouted and slammed down the receiver.
    He fixed a steely gaze on the two youngsters. “This means war.
     

Chapter Eight
    Paper Chase
     
    Charlie and Lisa were rounding the corner of Rosewood on their way back from the nursing home when the police cruiser pulled up beside them.
    Sergeant Punkari leaned across the seat and rolled down the passenger window. “Get in the back,” he said to Charlie. “I want to talk to you.”
    “Who me?” Charlie’s voice cracked.
    “Yes, you. And bring your friend.”
    Charlie opened the back door of the cruiser for Lisa and then slid in beside her. He had a sinking feeling that the officer’s presence had something to do with last night.
    He reached across the seat and took Lisa’s hand. She smiled at him reassuringly.
    Sergeant Punkari put on his blinker and eased into the street “Been keeping busy?” he asked.
    “Uh huh.”
    Charlie felt his face heat up as they motored down the street towards his grandfather’s house. Coming home in a police cruiser was not going to improve his standing in the neighbourhood.
    “I see you’ve got the house up for sale,” said the policeman as he turned into the laneway.
    “The sign went up yesterday,” mumbled Charlie.
    He groaned as he caught sight of the reception committee on the front porch. His mother, Mrs. Kowalski and Lisa’s mom.
    “Don’t worry,” whispered Lisa, “we haven’t done anything wrong.”
    That depends, on what the Colville Police consider a crime, thought Charlie.
    Sergeant Punkari