Beneath the Estate, page 9
“All the moving pieces had to be recut on the saw over there,” he explained. “I have reassembled everything, and it should work. If you look down here,” he pointed as he knelt with a knee on the ground and spoke, “I have attached a small variable-speed electric motor, and I can operate it from this toggle on the cord. I need to do this, as ordering a spring from a manufacturer would take a few days.” Jackson, with arms crossed, spoke up and asked a question.
“After working with this for so long, do you now understand what this motor does?”
“I don’t. But the hope is that if we see it move, maybe something will come from it,” he explained. Daniel walked over to the workbench and picked up a fragile dowel rod. “This dowel rod is supposed to be in the middle of the cylinder and held in place by a series of supports,” he said, pointing to the top of the cylinder. “My guess is that the components inside move this dowel up high into the air.”
“But will we get to see it function?” asked Lewis Kent.
“Well,” Daniel chuckled, “I think so. I haven’t actually turned the motor on and made all the parts move yet,” he explained. “I think it’s ready, but just know this is my first time making this work. Not exactly sure how this is gonna go.” Daniel smiled, and everyone could see he was nervous. Paul Allenby spoke up as he removed his reading glasses.
“I was wondering, Dr. Garrison, if you could explain it as it operates. This way, I can communicate better with the rest of the board.”
“Of course,” replied Daniel. He removed his phone from his pocket and showed the group a photo of the bottom of the cylinder. “Before I turn it on, this is where the spring motor is supposed to be located. In its place, I have the variable-speed electric motor that will act like a spring. If the spring were in place, we would simply wind it like a watch, and the spring would power the machine for a period of time.”
“So, this cylinder would perform a function without any use of electricity?” asked Paul.
“Correct. All these components work together to perform one function. You all might want to come closer and watch through the carved-out sections of the cylinder to see the movement. This will move about as fast as a cuckoo clock,” he said. They all shuffled over and peered inside. “Cross your fingers. I am going to start slow.” Daniel turned the motor on. Kay had seen this part before, although it had been very brief when he had turned it by hand. With a little more power, as the motor turned, it sounded like a cuckoo clock without a bird cuckooing. The intricate components inside the cylinder rotated, shifted, and turned. Everyone looked on as Daniel continued to explain. “You can see that the motor is functioning, but the dowel rod is missing. If I were to put it inside the cylinder, it would rise up and into the ceiling of this room, possibly damaging the machine.” The lights were aimed at Daniel, and his shadow on the wall made him look commanding and powerful, but his glasses, disheveled button-up shirt, and dirty, wrinkled pants conveyed otherwise. He pointed to a page of vellum he had pinned up on the musty wall of plank boards. It was covered in scribbles, sketches, and calculations. He pointed to a formula written out in pencil.
“This here is how torque is calculated, and the output of this cylinder could have been as high as 450 pounds by one foot in one second, which is close to one mechanical horsepower.” He flipped the switch, and the motor slowed to a stop. “This is the most interesting thing about this machine,” he said, pointing to the mechanical components inside. “This machine completes one task, then it pushes a grooved dowel rod up into the air. Then a lever flips right here,” he said, pointing at a lever inside the cylinder with a big smile. “See? Right here,” he said as he used his finger to move it back and forth. “Once this switch is mechanically flipped, the second spring at the bottom, I believe, would completely reverse the operation.”
“So, what does that mean?” Paul asked.
“It completes an operation and then reverses the operation. Imagine driving a car in a circle, then putting it in reverse and driving the exact same circle, but in reverse.”
“Is that it?” Jackson asked.
“Yes. What do you mean?” replied Daniel.
Don Segretti gestured toward the machine with a single nod as he spoke. “Well, I am sure this is very interesting, but what does it ultimately do?”
“It completes a task. I just don’t know what,” Daniel said as he smiled. “It might take more time to figure it out.”
“So, this is nothing more than a motor?” Don asked. “I’m not certain a motor is significant enough to proceed any further with this.”
“I wouldn’t classify this as just a motor. This could’ve all been done with a real internal combustion motor when this was made. Combustion technology was available nearly everywhere. However, this cylinder here,” said Daniel as he pointed with his finger, “has cut, sanded, and stained components. The components of this motor spin and flutter, making it pleasant and interesting to look at. This is just as artisanal as it is functional. The creator could have used straight, simple mechanics just as easily, but they didn’t. Also, they could have used metal for the gears and push arms. Instead, they used wood, and it was stained wood at that.”
“So, it is more of an artistic construct rather than an engineering one?” asked Lewis Kent.
“Well, this is in line with what Leonardo da Vinci would have created,” said Daniel as he pointed at the brass band at the top of the cylinder. “Remember, this entire cylinder spins. Right? This brass band has 365 notches on it. This means it either measures or perhaps calculates. This machine, whatever it is, has both form and function.”
Jackson looked at Kay and nodded toward the opening into the basement.
“Excuse me for a moment,” said Kay as she followed Jackson out into the Halloween Room. Paul and Don followed. Natalie approached Daniel, while Gary spoke with the other staff members.
“Not bad,” Natalie said.
“Thanks. I don’t think they are impressed.”
“Well, between you and me, Kay loves this thing.”
“She does?”
“She loves everything about this estate. To use her words, she believes that this contraption is a continuing affirmation of the magic of this place.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“You getting your food when you want it?”
“Yep. It is really good food; but I am so busy, I can’t really take the time to enjoy it.”
“Sounds like me every day.”
While Daniel spoke with Natalie, he kept an eye on Kay, Paul, and Jackson speaking out in the Halloween Room. Kay appeared to be upset.
“Have you had any time to tour the house?” asked Natalie.
Daniel looked back at her. “I haven’t. I was hoping to soon,” he replied, looking back through the opening. Kay was pleading with Paul, and she appeared concerned.
Natalie said “I still go through the house from time to time. It’s incredible at Christmas.”
“They decorate the home?” he asked as he turned his attention back to Natalie in the hopes of not being impolite.
“They do, and it is breathtaking,” she replied as he looked back.
Paul was explaining something to Kay, and she wasn’t having it. He watched Jackson uncross his arms, head to the opening, and stick his head inside.
“Dr. Garrison?”
“Uh-oh,” Daniel said under his breath. Natalie heard him. He walked over to the opening and climbed out. Once in the basement, Jackson again crossed his arms as he spoke.
“I have decided to move this to a large, fully enclosed metal barn on the back side of the property.”
“I see,” replied Daniel as he took notice of Kay’s disapproval written all over her face.
“We thank you for your services, but they will no longer be required,” added Jackson.
“Oh. Does that mean I can no longer help on this project?”
“Correct. I have identified a team of engineers to look this machine over and give us their opinion on what significance it might hold for the estate,” Jackson explained as he uncrossed his arms and reached into his pocket for a key fob. He had all but turned away to head upstairs.
“What if they don’t find out what it was originally intended for?” asked Daniel. Jackson had started walking, but now he was looking over his shoulder.
“I am sure they will.” He turned fully toward the exit and began to walk.
“I know I can figure this out,” pleaded Daniel. Kay shot a glance at Paul, which he didn’t see. Jackson continued out of the Halloween Room, ignoring Daniel. Kay exhaled the breath she was subconsciously holding in.
“I had envisioned you helping us through the process of uncovering what this is, but it is out of my hands,” she explained.
Paul spoke up, speaking more to Kay than Daniel. “Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we are board members, and we are not in charge of the day-to-day operations, and we must put trust in those we have asked to oversee this estate.”
“I don’t agree with this,” said Kay, speaking more to Daniel than to Paul.
“It isn’t our place to,” Paul said in the tone of a mentor.
“Well, he could at least have been nice about it.”
“We all have our faults, but I might suggest it is my fault for not allowing him to coordinate this entirely.”
“I’d say that he doesn’t feel in control, and now he’s acting like a child who didn’t get his way,” said Kay as she walked over to the opening and looked for Natalie.
“Nat?” she said. “Could you come out here?”
“Dr. Garrison,” Paul said, “you have been invaluable to us, and we thank you for your assistance.”
“I am very glad to help,” he answered as Natalie and Kay now faced him.
“I’ll book your flight for tomorrow and email you your itinerary. The driver will take you to the airport,” explained Natalie.
“Yes. Thank you.”
“I will keep you in the loop as to what is uncovered, and maybe we could have you back again in the future?” Kay said, hoping Jackson’s demeanor hadn’t put him off.
“Please. I would like that.”
Kay, Natalie, and Paul shook hands with Daniel and thanked him as they left the Halloween Room. Gary and Don offered their own goodbye with a firm handshake before they followed the other staff members toward the first floor. Daniel returned inside the opening and turned to the machine under the bright lights. He took a deep breath, toggled off the lights, and left.
CHAPTER 19
Present Day
In his hotel room the night before his flight back home, Daniel looked at himself in the bathroom mirror as he brushed his teeth, asking questions aloud.
“Could the motor have been rolled out of the basement?” He continued brushing. His brow furrowed as he thought about the doors in the basement. “How big were the doors in the Halloween Room?” He stopped brushing for a second. “Why else would the motor be on wheels?” He took a mouthful of water from the faucet, spat it into the sink, and wiped his mouth on his shirt sleeve before turning on the TV. He flipped channels from a basketball game to a game show and finally landed on a movie about a man who had inherited a winery. He climbed in between the sheets and watched the movie for less than ten minutes before turning it off. Unable to fall asleep right away, he recalled an image in his memory from the photos of the machine. The image was one of the wheels attached to the wooden frame. A slow sinking feeling that the wheels had flanges came over him. Wheels similar to a train car. Could the wheels have been placed on tracks? Daniel snapped the covers back and whipped himself upright as he reached for his glasses on the nightstand and reached for his backpack. He slid the laptop out and opened it. He scrolled through the photos until he saw one that showed the entirety of the machine. He zoomed in on a wheel and saw a flange. A flange that would keep a train or railcar of any size on a rail.
Natalie Anselmo picked up a to-go order from an Italian restaurant near her apartment in Asheville. Sitting on the couch in front of the TV, her husband had already commandeered the remote and begun watching a basketball game. Sweatpants, baked ziti, and sweet tea were the ingredients of another typical weeknight for the both of them.
“Can you believe they have this high a turnover percentage?” he asked her as he pointed at the TV with his fork. Watching a basketball game for Natalie might as well have been a show about grass growing.
“I know, right?” she replied, never looking at the television. Instead, she looked at terra-cotta pots on her phone, thinking she might buy one. Then her phone rang. It was Dr. Garrison.
What in the world could he want? she thought. She answered as she stood up and walked into the kitchen.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Anselmo, I need inside the house.”
“The main house? Now?”
“Yes, please.”
“Could you tell me why?” she asked as she stared up at the ceiling.
“This machine is going to be moved tomorrow. I fly out in the morning and need to see something. It cannot wait,” he explained. Natalie held her phone away from her and looked at the time.
“Okay. I can be there soon.”
“Yes. Please. I really need this.”
“I hear you. No need to call the driver: I’ll pick you up. I’ll be in touch.”
Daniel paced back and forth in his room. From time to time he would look over the photos and zoom in on the wheels.
He changed out of his shorts and T-shirt and put on khakis and a button-up. When he got a text, he had his phone in his hand and read it immediately:
I’m fifteen minutes away.
Thanks.
I called Kay and told her what was going on. She had to call the guards and maintenance and clear it with them.
I see.
Also, she wants a phone call afterward.
Of course.
When the guards at the front gate saw Natalie’s gray Jeep Grand Cherokee, they opened it and let her pass. She drove straight to the Biltmore Inn. Daniel jumped into her SUV.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he said.
“Gotta admit, I am a little excited as to what this is all about.”
“I think I might have found something.”
Upon reaching the house, they both quickly exited the vehicle. A burly man with a salt-and-pepper beard dressed in khakis and an untucked navy-blue button-up shirt waited for them to come up to the front door.
“It’ll take me a second. I had to wait until you arrived to do this. It’s kind of a process,” the maintenance man said as he unlocked the bolt. He then used his cell phone and spoke to the other end: “Let me know when. It’s now unlocked.” Daniel and Natalie waited, and then a loud beep sounded. “There it goes,” the maintenance man said to whoever was on the phone. “I appreciate it.” He hung up and turned to Natalie. “Alarm is off. I will be out here the entire time. The first floor has a few lights on, and they turned them all on in the basement.”
“Okay. Thank you,” said Natalie.
The lights in the main hall of the home were illuminated, and the lights in the music room, hallways, and the Winter Garden were dark. They walked to the staircase, reached the bottom step, and headed through the stone corridor. Daniel was caught up in the excitement and was hurrying. Natalie tried to keep up. Once outside the hole in the wall, she stopped.
“I’ll wait out here if you’d prefer.”
“Come on in if you want.”
“I’d like that. Thank you,” she replied. They ducked and stepped inside the hole. He switched on the lights on the light stands. She watched as he turned on the flashlight on his phone and got down on his hands and knees. His fingers gripped the flanges on the wheels.
“Hmmm.…”
“What is it?”
“These wheels. I think they go on a track,” he said.
“They do? A track?”
“Yes, a railroad-type track. Do you know if there is—or at least was—a track of any kind in the basement?”
“No. I have never heard of such a thing,” she said. Daniel stood up, put his phone back in his pocket, and grabbed a six-foot light stand and leaned it down to the ground. Natalie watched as he looked at the dirt floor and began rubbing his hand along the surface. He felt something. Metal. He turned his head as he looked at her.
“Oh, my God!” he said. “Could you hold this?”
She grabbed the light stand and kept the light aimed at where he was looking. His fingers dug alongside a recessed metal bar in the floor, sliding them along the rail, kicking up more than a century of dirt, grime, and dust.
“What is it?” she asked.
“A rail, I think. But there’ll be another one parallel if …” he said while scooting over to where a parallel rail would be, running his fingers along the edge, digging out the dust and dirt. “Here’s the other one. It was here the whole time, and I never felt it under my feet! This rail is flush with the floor instead of a rail just sitting on top of the ground like railroad tracks. These are like the tracks for a streetcar or trolley car.”
“Where does it go?”
“I suppose there were tracks in the basement, at least at one time,” he said as he continued digging out loose dirt, eventually uncovering a flush, grooved rail. He kept digging toward the Halloween Room. Removing more dust and grime, he soon discovered that the rails ended well before they reached the hole in the wall.
“Hmmm … they stop.”
“The tracks?”
“Yep. Hang on,” he said, still with both knees on the ground, his fingertips black from filth. He looked at the back wall of the hidden room and stood up. Natalie held the light stand and directed the light where he was looking. She watched him walk to the back wall, and he stopped. With a knuckle of his middle finger, he knocked on the board wall and took a deep breath when he heard the hollow sound behind it. He turned and looked at Natalie.
