It blows my mind to find that some forgotten love poems could have sent me on an exciting, sometimes confusing, wild chase around the campus library and into a mysterious past. 

My brother once told me, "Deanna, your curiosity and need for specific details by probing will get you in trouble some day." Well, so be it. It is just the way I am.

I love the old library on the university campus and spend Saturdays there from the time they open till it closes. I am a very inquisitive person and often wonder what this beautiful old Victorian house once looked like before it was turned into a library. 

The library has three stories, a tower extending above the attic, and a full basement. The basement had been turned into an eatery called The Cellar. 

My Saturday routine is always the same. I am very consistent. My doctor thinks I am obsessive, maybe have OCD because I always feel the need to count things, like the pictures on his wall in the exam room, or how many glass containers are on the counter. Well, does he know there are six exam rooms and the nurse always takes me to the farthest one away? That's sixty-seven steps I have to take to get there!

Maybe I do have OCD because my mind wanders a lot.

Anyway, I start my Saturday at the university in The Cellar with a breakfast sandwich, coffee and a cinnamon roll. After eating I use the restroom then I like to go up to the third floor and begin my studies and homework. That floor is the least populated one because the subject matter of books is not very interesting to most students. I am not antisocial but prefer to be alone in a quiet atmosphere and that's why I hate parties so never go even though I am often invited.

My phenomenal journey really started when I signed up for classes back in September and now it is March. So, here I am at my usual table on the third floor with my gaze and thoughts straying to an elderly lady.

Hmm! That elderly lady over there seems to be the only regular visitor up here besides me. She intrigues me and I love to watch her. I noticed her the first Saturday I came here. I wonder if she comes any other day?

I gaze over at the poetry section and long to spend hours there. My love for poetry could keep me from my purpose here, however, since this is late March and the start of the exam season I need to focus on my studies and not get caught up in my wandering thoughts. 

She arrives exactly at 12:00 PM, just as I start to go down for lunch. She sits in the same chair which faces a section called Beyond The Veil Alcove which is really a small room. She is still there when I come back. 

She never takes a book to read, just sits there staring into the alcove, sometimes dozing off for a few minutes, then jerks awake to look around as if she is embarrassed and hopes no one saw her dozing. The lady always leaves at exactly 4:00 PM. And she always wears all black except for a red rose pinned to her lapel.

My gosh! She must be all of eighty years old. I wonder if she is a student or a professor? No, she is obviously too old to be either, but one never knows. The library is open to the public so maybe she is just a local resident. Hmmm ... I find it difficult sometimes to return to studies because my interest in that lady is getting stronger.

After several Saturdays of watching the lady my curiosity has got the better of me. I'm going over there and pretend to look for a book, then start a conversation with the lady. 

As I started to enter the alcove, the lady spoke up, "It used to be bigger, you know."

I turned back to face the her. "Pardon me?"

"That room," the lady motioned with her chin. "It was once a bedroom and much larger."

"Oh?" I look around the room. "That is interesting. How long ago was it a bedroom?"

"I thought they were all for me," the lady kept gazing into the alcove.

"I'm sorry, you thought what were for you?"

"Forgotten love poems," tears filled the lady's eyes.

"Forgotten love poems?" Her reply confused me.

The lady looked at her watch. "Dear me, it is 4:00. I must go now." She got up and left in a hurry.

Well, she is quite spry for her age, if not a little daffy. It seems she is haunted or sad about something in her past. I looked around the room and, because I am inquisitive, had to figure out how big that 'bedroom' might have been so I started taking steps. The alcove is eight feet across and fifteen feet deep. On the right side is a wall and another book section called The Poetry Room and it looks like it could have been a smaller bedroom or nursery.

On the left side of the alcove is a twenty foot long wall. I followed the wall and turned right to see what is there. Hmmm! Just more bookshelves, not a room or alcove. So, that bedroom the old lady referred to would have been twenty-eight feet long, and fifteen feet wide minus the space of two walls on the long side. Wow! That is a big bedroom!

I walked fifteen feet to see what is at the end. Hmm! A locked door with a sign: Employees Only. Really? Well, that puts an end to my curiosity. I thought maybe, just maybe, I would figure there is a secret room here. I have read a lot of mystery stories about mansions and castles with hidden or secret rooms. 

A thought sparked my mind and I went over to the poetry room. It took me over an hour but I found it! Forgotten love poems the lady said and I took the book to my table. The author was Evan C. Parker. The dedication read: "To the one I truly love." I read several of the poems. They were beautiful and the love expressed was so emotive I nearly cried. 

Damn it! I forgot to use the restroom after lunch now I gotta pee!

I might as well pack up, use the restroom then go home. I'll check out this poetry book and read it later. 

Ahh! I got here just in time without peeing my pants! Ow! My bracelet is stuck on the hand dryer handle. Damn! My bracelet broke and the beads bounced on the floor then rolled under the brick wall!  

I got out my cell phone and clicked on the flashlight. Getting down on my knees I peeked under the brick and did not see my beads. I looked under the rest of the bricks and could not find them. I lay down on my stomach and searched again. Then I realized the space under the bricks went back really far and I saw my beads scattered way back there.

Good grief! Why does it go back that far? Oh, my gosh! Oh my gosh! Why was all that space bricked in? Is that a room in there? Did I find a hidden room?

I rolled onto my back and sat up. I felt excited and wanted to know more. I got up and took steps to measure the bathroom then went out to measure the eatery by eyeballing it, both the width and length.

Then a thought occurred to me and I hurried upstairs to the computer room. I was lucky for there was no one in line so I signed up and a librarian directed me to the computer I could 

use. I searched for Victorian houses in this city. It was not long before I found this house which is now a library.

A photograph shows a beautiful home called Parker Mansion surrounded by rose gardens and a well manicured lawn. I read the article about the house.

The house was built by Evan C. Parker in 1920 as a wedding gift for his wife, Madeline. The newlyweds lived there for five years till Evan went missing in 1925. His whereabouts was never discovered. When it became a cold case, Mrs. Parker regretfully sold the house to the university for a library and she moved into a smaller house near the town. She was so sad and devastated she always wore black since her husband disappeared.

Mrs. Parker still lives near town and always wears a red rose pinned to her lapel in honor of the rose gardens she so loved at Parker Mansion.

I was stunned! It is her! The lady I see every Saturday. I wanted to read more but it was too close to closing time, so I went to the front desk and asked a librarian if there is a book about The Parker Mansion. He searched on his computer and found three, one about the house, one about Evan C. Parker, and Forgotten Love Poems by Evan C. Parker. I already had the poetry book so found the other two and checked them all out then headed for home.

The rest of my weekend was filled with the history of the Victorian house and the Parkers. I wanted to get back to the library and figure out how to get the hidden room open but will have to wait till after my Monday classes. 

I pondered a long time and finally decided how to get into the hidden room! I first thought of taking my gopher which is a reaching aid. My kitchen cupboards are high so I bought a gopher when I moved into my apartment. Then I thought it would not work because the beads are too far away and I would have to knock out one or two bricks to get the gopher and my arm inside the space. Now I have a better plan. I can get to bed now and wait till tomorrow to put my plan to work. Gosh! I will have to get back to studying for upcoming exams, but I'm so sleepy.

...

Morning came and I rushed to get to the campus as soon as the library opened. I went down to The Cellar and ordered my usual breakfast. While I ate I studied all the windows. They are high and not too big, but then neither am I. The bathrooms are in the back of the shop which is the back of the building. There are no windows in the bathroom, which means they could be outside.

I had just three classes today and did my best to focus on the lectures and quizzes. When my classes were over I went back to the library and walked around to the back of the building. There was a tall hedge close to the building all the way across, but enough room for me to get behind the hedge and check. I was right! The windows to the basement are still there. 

I tried to open the first one but it was stuck. The second one did open with a little nudge from the screwdriver I had put in my backpack last night. I also packed a flashlight and pulled it out then pushed the window in far enough for me to get through. When I was half way in I turned on the flashlight and shined the light around. There are my beads! I shined the light all around. It was a huge room!

When I directed the light to the other end I saw a bed and stared for what seemed like several minutes because I could not focus right away. Then I saw them and screamed, nearly falling into the room.

I turned the flashlight back to the bed and stared at two skeletons sitting up at the head of the bed! I kept staring with my mouth open and screamed again. Then someone pulled me back out of the window. I was hysterical and the security guard had a difficult time understanding me.

"Hidden room ...Beads ... bed ... skeletons ... scared," I got some other words out and he finally understood something was very wrong. He leaned in the window, shined his flashlight around and I heard him cuss. He backed out and called the police.

The police brought in high powered lights and investigated the entire room. I was questioned thoroughly and after hours was allowed to go home. I took a long shower and fell into bed without drying off or dressing. I passed out in minutes but had nightmares.

...

Journalists are quick to grab sensational stories. The next morning I saw the headlines and read the article:

SIXTY YEAR OLD COLD CASE REOPENED

Evan C. Parker disappeared sixty years ago and his whereabouts have never been found ... until last night. Police Detective Wilson believes the remains of Parker and another person may have been at the University Library in a secret room in the basement all these years. The Coroner will release a report after examinations. A DNA sample will be taken and that report will be released when received back by the Coroner.

Pictures taken of the hidden room and the two skeletons reveal they both had been shot in the head.

It is very interesting to know one of the skeletons was holding a book titled Forgotten Love Poems, which was written by Evan C. Parker.

Mrs. Evan C. Parker has been questioned and is on House Arrest with a guard. Her personal physician is in attendance and has given Mrs. Parker a sedative for she is very agitated and emotional.

No other details are available at this time.

...

The evening news on the television stated that Mrs. Evan C. Parker died earlier today from a heart attack.

They repeated the whole story and the anchor said, "No other details are available at this time. We will keep you posted with any updates."

...

Oh, my gosh! What a sad life and a sad ending for Madeline Parker.

Thank goodness they did not mention me and how I found the hidden room. However, this is not over yet. I can hear again what my brother once said to me.

"Deanna, your curiosity and need for specific details by probing will get you in trouble some day."