for a steal because nobody ever bothered to take the jail part out of the basement when they turned the house into a regular home . I was worried about ghosts when I heard that , but there ’ s been anything spooky here as far as I know .”
That explains the lockup down below , Grey thought . I thought it was something like what the Syracuse Dungeon Master or that guy from the James Patterson novel had , homemade dungeons they built for their victims . Turns out Old Man was just taking advantage of lazy contractors . And from what Tabitha says , she must think it ’ s common knowledge her home was once a jail and police station .
That thought caused Grey to realize something . “ Um , Tabitha , is your dad … is your daddy this tall and have Grey hair ?” He placed his hand around Old Man ’ s height and swept his hand through his hair to give a basic impression of the way Old Man styled his hair .
Tabitha nodded and her pillow crackled again . Grey glanced at Lita and Knives and saw their faces were masks of shock . If he had to guess , they had probably never considered that Old Man might be a father . And while he hadn ’ t considered the possibility either , he wasn ’ t surprised : plenty of serial killers , both real and imaginary , had spouses and families . A few had even been exposed as killers by their kids during or after their lifetimes .
Clearing his throat , Grey asked her what today ’ s date was . Her answer solicited more surprise from them than the revelation of her father . Apparently they ’ d only been trapped in that jailhouse basement for eight days . It felt much , much longer . Had anyone noticed they were gone and notified the police ? Grey doubted it .
“ Daddy ’ s been keeping you in the basement , hasn ’ t he ?” Tabitha asked .
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