Whispering Walls

An 11-year-old puzzle lover discovers whispered clues hidden inside the walls of a creaky Victorian house and uncovers a decades-old mystery about the family who lived there before.

Riley Chen had always been the kind of kid who noticed things other people missed — a loose floorboard, a pattern in the clouds, the way a teacher's eyebrow twitched right before a pop quiz. At eleven years old, Riley had already won three puzzle competitions and could solve a Rubik's cube in under two minutes.

Today, though, Riley wasn't solving puzzles. Riley was standing on the front porch of a massive Victorian house on Hemlock Street, watching the movers carry boxes through the enormous oak door. The house was over a hundred years old, with towers and gables and windows that seemed to stare down like sleepy eyes.

'This place is incredible,' Riley whispered, craning to see the top of the tallest tower. 'How many rooms does it even have?'

'Fourteen, if you count the attic,' Mom called from the doorway. 'And no exploring until we get the kitchen unpacked!'

'Sure, Mom,' Riley said, already cataloging the details — the carved trim around the windows, the iron weathervane in the shape of an eye, the way the front steps sagged slightly to the left. 'Fourteen rooms. That is a lot of places to hide something.' The thought sent a tingle down Riley's spine.