Jade tossed the books and magazines onto the pile of clothing.
"Nothing will surprise me now," she said, and started on the closet.
I stood back, still stunned. What did all this mean? "Get in here," Jade called.
I entered the closet. She was standing in the corner. She had pulled away most of the garments and there, well hidden behind them, was a small safe.
"I don't suppose you know the combination," she asked me.
"I didn't even know it was here."
"This isn't going to be easy to open," she said. She knelt down and searched around the safe. I drew closer. "Go back and search that night stand drawer. Look for numbers written on anything," she ordered. "Since she kept it locked, we might have a shot."
I took everything out of the drawer slowly and inspected it. There was a small flashlight, some overthe-counter medicines for colds and headaches, a box of cough drops, a pen, a pair of reading glasses, a small pair of scissors and a back scratcher, but no slips of paper, and no pads. There was nothing written on the pad by the phone either. I returned to the contents of her pocketbook and sifted through it all carefully..
"Nothing," I told Jade when she emerged from the closet.
She stood there with her hands on her hips, thinking. "We've got to find the combination," she said.
"It's going to be like searching for a needle in the haystack," I told her.
"Maybe. We've got to think like her. I saw this movie once where the detective tried to become the killer, get into his mind, to track him down," she said.
I smiled. She was sounding more like Misty, but at least the search had inspired her and washed away her expressions of gloom- and doom.
"She was confident that you would never come in here. That door doesn't even lock," she said, nodding at the bedroom door. "Once it was shut, it was as good as locked, though. Yet, she did lock the nightstand. Why? Maybe because your adoptive father slept here," she answered herself, just like Geraldine used to do. "Chances are he never knew the combination to that safe either."
"Do you think he knew about the other stuff?" I asked, nodding at the sexy undergarments and the books and magazines. She thought a moment and shook her head.
"No, I don't, especially after what you've told us about both of them and their relationship." She gazed around the room and shook her head. "You're right," she said. "If she wrote it down on something, it could be anywhere, maybe even in a different room. Still, we should give it a try," she concluded, and started to inspect behind furniture and under the bed. She even pulled out the drawers and looked behind them as well. I did as much searching as I could and after about a half hour of ripping things apart, we both stopped and sat on the mattress, discouraged.
"It's got to be someplace really obvious," she thought. She gazed up at the light fixture and then looked at the windows and ran her eyes over the walls. "Once, at school, when I was afraid I might forget my locker combination, I went into the girls' room and I wrote it in tiny numbers on the wall in the first stall. Let's inspect the walls," she decided and rose. I took the opposite wall. We practically had our noses to them.
"What are you two weirdos doing?" Star asked from the doorway.
We had both been concentrating so hard, neither of us heard her and Misty come in and up the stairs. They both stood there gaping at us, bags in hand.
"We're looking for the combination to the secret safe I discovered in the closet. I thought Geraldine might have scribbled it on a wall."
"Secret safe?" Misty asked.
"I discovered a few other surprises too' Jade said, nodding at the second pile on the floor.
Star approached it slowly and then knelt down and examined the garments. She picked up the books and magazines, too.
"Are these what I think they are?" she asked Jade.
"None other:' Jade said. "Geraldine was Madame X-rated herself, apparently. Behind closed doors, of course."
"Wow," Misty said gaping. She looked at me.
"I never knew any of it' I said.
"What would make you think she wrote a combination to the safe on the walls?" Star asked
Jade explained her theory and the next thing I knew, all four of us were going over every inch of the room, searching for numbers. After about twenty minutes or so we stopped, Star declaring it was stupid.
"Can't we just break it open?" she asked.