Word to Death Page 19

  When he stopped to flex his fingers, I figured it was safe to interrupt the master at work. “Are you getting anywhere?”

  Harris shook his head, but his gaze never left the computer monitor. “I’m getting nowhere fast. The hacker has forwarded all of your relevant messages using a remote-control Trojan virus installed on a zombie PC somewhere in the Ukraine. That means this guy needs to be handled with extra special care.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and punched in a few numbers. He spoke for a just a couple minutes before disconnecting. “Mergens and Erlandsen will be here soon. We need to talk about this.”

  “Yikes!” I said. “This doesn’t sound good.” Aaron placed his arm over my shoulder. “Let’s all go and sit in the workroom.”

  “Right now, the most important thing is to not give away that we’re on to him. We’re going to walk softly and carry a big stick, as Teddy Roosevelt once said,” Detective Harris said.

  “A strong cup of coffee sounds good right about now, it would calm my nerves,” I said. “I’d go to Luke’s, but I’m scared to leave the store by myself.”

  “I could go for it, since we’re out of coffee grounds, but don’t want to leave you,” Aaron said, placing his arm over my shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m with her. Get a cup for us all.” Detective Harris gave Aaron a stern look. “Make sure you say nothing.

  Nothing…to anyone.”

  “Right. I’m a cop, remember?” Aaron squeezed my shoulder before releasing his hand and walking away.

  “Liv? While we’re waiting, why not give me a tour of your dollhouses? Maybe you can talk me into buying one for my wife,” Harris said. He strolled over toward the displays. “Where’s the TR house? Teddy’s my favorite.”

  “Right over here.” My anxiety ebbed while I explained about the Roosevelt family. “Did you know this? TR, his brother, Elliot, and his wife, Edith, watched from a window as President Lincoln’s body traveled through in New York City on its way to Illinois.”

  “Interesting.”

  Aaron came back through the back door, and we heard the slamming of car doors. “The detectives have arrived, so we’re all here,” he announced. “Let’s lock the doors. I’ll get the back.”

  “I’ll get the front,” I said as the detectives came in. “Erlandsen and Mergens, here. Work room?”

  “Yes, go on in. We have some coffee waiting for you. I’m going to lock the front door.” I turned the Open sign around, locked the door, and followed the detectives into the workroom. Aaron rearranged the chairs. I noted that a chair was left for me, with Aaron perched right beside it. I sat.

  “This speech… what’s this thing worth, in your estimation, if found?” Harris asked.

  “Could be millions,” I said.

  “Boy, that would pay our mortgage and our neighbors’ too, plus set us up for life,” Aaron replied. “Money is the motive. Has to be.”

  “He’d have to sell it on the black market,” Harris said, sipping his cup of steaming coffee. “That’s why this guy is elusive and leaves soft footprints.”

  “I’ll have to speak with the department people to figure out how to proceed, but we have to leave bread crumbs for him.” Erlandsen looked at Harris. “Any suggestions?”

  “Throughout all of this, there haven’t been any clues, have there?”

  “Few. Very few. Frankly, not worth much.”

  “Has anyone found one of these things?” Harris pulled a memory stick from his pocket and held it up. “It can be plugged into any computer and download all its files in minutes.”

  “That may be why our home was invaded. We have seen one of those. It’s in our drawer. I picked it up from the ground outside our shop shortly after Blanche was murdered. It’s so small — well— it almost looked like a key. It was in my pocket for a few days before I dropped it in a kitchen drawer. Oh, my gosh.”

  “Now that we know the computer is involved, we need that memory stick,” Erlandsen said.

  “What next? What comes after this memory stick?”

  “We’re going to come up with a plan that will pull the hacker out of hiding.” Mergens scratched his chin again. Maybe he was past due for a shave. “I want to take a look around your store, especially that desk.”

  “Do what you need to do.” I took another sip of coffee. “What can Aaron and I do? How can we help?”

  “You two go home and look for that memory stick. We’ll stop by later and pick it up,” Mergens instructed. “Don’t worry, we’ll lock up.”

  “I’ll shut down the computer, just as you normally would,” Harris stated.

  Within a few minutes, Aaron and I had finished our coffee and were heading for home.

  Aaron easily found the memory stick and tried plugging it into my laptop.

  A skull and crossbow lit up the screen. The caption in bold letters read:

  Death to all.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  The minutes ticked by as we nervously waited for the detectives to arrive. “I’m scared half to death.” We sat in the living room with the TV on low.

  “I’m going to make sure the house is secure,” Aaron said. “You stay right here.”

  “Not on your life.” I stood. “I’m going with you. Let’s check the bedroom and the acorn, first.”

  “Okay, good place as any to begin.”

  As we stepped inside our bedroom, it seemed chilly. “It’s locked,” Aaron said after checking the window.

  The hidden box holding the necklace and results of our investigation was still locked. Even then, we were careful and opened it to ensure everything was in place.

  “On to the other rooms,” Aaron said.

  We checked every room in the house. When we returned to the living room, at last, I plopped onto the couch, gathered the crocheted afghan and flung it over myself. I glanced at Aaron.

  “Honey, I’m calling your grandparents. You’d feel better.” He cuddled beside me. “I’m keeping you close.”

  “Thank you. The detectives should soon be here,” I said. I listened as he talked to Grandma on the telephone.

  “Honey, they are on their way over here. Don’t worry.” Glancing out the front window, he said, “They’re here.”

  “Who, my grandparents? That’s not possible.”

  “The detectives. Harris just drove in, too. I’ll let them in,” Aaron said. “You look like you could use some rest.”

  “This case just keeps rolling out of control, doesn’t it?” I asked as they all entered.

  “It’ll be wrapped up soon,” Mergens said.

  “The pieces are slowly coming together,” Erlandsen said.

  “Yes, but too slow for my taste.”

  “Here.” Aaron handed the memory stick over.

  “Just what I needed.” Harris held it up for inspection before sliding it into a bag. He pushed it into his pocket. “Thanks.”

  “I hate to admit it, but we slid it into our laptop,” Aaron said. “I knew better, but this case has me stymied and my wife scared half to death.”

  “You over stepped, Reynolds. What did you find?” Harris asked.

  “A skull with words that read, ‘death to all’.” “You didn’t open it, did you?”

  “No. It was immediately ejected.”

  “It points to our man,” Harris said. “You better not have screwed things up, or I’ll have you reported,” he warned.

  “Understood,” Aaron said, and then clamped his jaw tight.

  “Maybe this belonged to the killer, so hopefully we can tie up the loose strings. You never know.” Harris stared at Aaron then looked at me. “I’ll keep you all posted.” We watched as he let himself out the door.

  “Mind if we sit? It’s been a long day,” Erlandsen asked.

  “Go ahead,” I said.

  “We examined the desk completely,” Mergens said as he leaned back in his chair. “We tipped it upside down and were just about ready to give up our search for a hidden slot when we accidentally found it. It was right under
our noses, but we didn’t see it.” He tapped his nose. “Right under our noses.”

  “Which is where, exactly?” I asked.

  “The upper right corner twists off and exposes a small shelf.

  “Was there anything there?” I was bursting with excitement.

  How could he be so blasé about it?

  “Nope, clean as a whistle.”

  Oh, that was why. Darn!

  “I suppose the desk’s former owners didn’t realize the value of it at the time,” Erlandsen said. “Interesting, eh? Lincoln could have hidden the speech in there, couldn’t he?” He massaged his chin. “Unbelievable, isn’t it?”

  “I’d do anything to get this over with and settled,” I said. “Let’s take a walk around the outside and check things out before we leave,” Mergens suggested to Erlandsen. “Just to be on the safe side.”

  I watched as Aaron and the detectives zipped up their coats. I stayed on the couch as the detectives headed out the door. Better they than me.

  “Go ahead,” I said. “No one’s going to come in now, not with the house full of police,”

  “I’ll be back in five,” Aaron called.

  As they walked out, I reached for the remote and had barely turned on the TV when car doors slammed nearby. I looked out and saw our neighbors parked and climbing from their cars. It wasn’t much longer before the back door opened.

  “Grand Central Station,” I grumbled ungraciously. Getting up, I joined the men in the kitchen and sat down at the table. “Have you heard anything from Harris yet?”

  “No. We’re leaving now.”

  Like a revolving door, the two detectives left, and my grandparents arrived shortly after. They carried another huge pot of chicken soup along with a fragrant loaf of homemade bread, right out of the oven. Grandpa also brought in a chocolate cake that I wanted to instantly devour.

  “The cake looks delish!”

  “It’s Mary Lincoln’s cake. Six eggs in it,” Grandpa said. “I ought to know—I cracked ’em myself to help your grandmother out. Only the best for our granddaughter, you know.”

  “Ahh…you’re so sweet.” I gave him a big hug; then gave another to Grandma as she set the pot on the stove and turned on the burner. I figured that standing and stirring the pot would keep her out of the conversation that was about to happen. But no such luck.

  We hiked back into the living room.

  “Don’t worry.” I tried to make her feel better. “The police are all over this.” In an effort to focus and calm my own anxiety, I changed the subject. “What about Max?”

  “He’s doing fine. We think we have narrowed down the motive and what the person, or persons, were after. It’s almost as bad as the search for the Star Spangled Banner manuscript.”

  Grandma gasped and covered her mouth.

  “Yep. This time it’s the search for Abraham Lincoln’s Lost Speech.”

  “Just as suspected.” Grandpa slapped his knee with his right hand.

  “Let’s read the scientific results from the acorn necklace.” I retrieved the necklace and the result information. “Let’s go through this completely before we decide on our next move.”

  “We’re all ears.”

  “An oak tree dated from the mid-1800’s, in the area around the Appalachians, like maybe central or southern Kentucky.” I held the nut and rolled it around with my fingertips. “Unbelievable.” I frowned. “I’ve got to discover the speech, so Doctor William’s death won’t be in vain.”

  “Let’s locate some old maps for Springfield, Lexington, and…what town was he born in?” I glanced at Aaron, who shook his head.

  “Look it up,” he said. “There must be maps somewhere in this town that are large enough to show the location of his birthplace in Kentucky, as well as these other places. We’ll try to connect the dots by using the pentacle points.”

  “What is the center?” I asked.

  “How about if August and I try to locate the maps?” Aaron asked.

  “Nope. Grandma and Grandpa can check the bookstores. We’re going to tackle these concentric puzzle pages.”

  “Marie?” Grandpa stood, holding his hand out to Grandma. “Looks like we have our work cut out for us. Let’s go. Finally, we have a way to help our little girl.”

  “Yes. We won’t return until we find the maps. We’ll certainly try to find them for Springfield and Lexington—plus one of Lincoln’s birthplace. Look it up quick, will you?”

  “Sure.” I grabbed my iPad and searched Lincoln’s birthplace. “A cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky.” I hesitated and said, “Go to the library first and search for the old maps on a computer. You can then ask to have them printed.”

  As they went out the door, I was happy there was a way they could help. Knowing they’d return with the maps in hand, I turned my attention back to the puzzles. We needed silence and time to think without interruption, exactly my motive for sending them to the library.

  “Let’s get started.” I got up and found the puzzles, then sat back down. “Here’s your copies.” I handed a set to Aaron.

  Again, I started by writing all the letters down in order on a separate sheet of paper, in an effort to try to make sense of them. I tried copying every other letter, every third, and so on, but it always ended the same, with a jumble of letters without any apparent meaning. Next, I tried doing the same in reverse, but that didn’t work, either.

  “These are tough to decipher.” Aaron frowned, and his shoulders slumped.

  “They’re impossible.” A different tactic was in order. “Let’s paper punch them and attach some fasteners. Then, they’ll turn like a wheel.” I stood. “Sounds good, doesn’t it?” I started for the kitchen.

  “That’s a great idea. Even Einstein couldn’t make heads or tails out of this.”

  I returned to the living room, setting the small box between us containing office supplies, including the paper punch and scissors. “Let’s hope we don’t need more copies of these pages before we figure this godforsaken thing out.” I cut out the three pages, lined them up, punched out the center and put in the little brass paper fastener. The task made for an easy turn of the wheel. “This will go much better now.” I smiled confidently.

  “Why do you suppose some letters are capitalized while others are not?” Aaron frowned.

  “I don’t know. This is hard because nothing is sequential.” I turned the pages on the fastener, around and around, lining up letters, but that wasn’t the key either. I was about ready to fling the whole thing across the room in frustration when another thought came to mind. I tried placing the clip through the first letters, rather than turning the pages and trying to fit the letters. “This is ridiculous!”

  “Exactly.” Aaron turned his pages, frowning.

  “One more thought.” I placed the pin in another location and wrote down only the capital letters. Suddenly the words began falling into place. “How could I be so stupid?” I dropped the puzzle onto the table. “Look.” I quickly transcribed the correct letters and stared at the page. “It reads: Father’s birthplace. But is that the location of the speech? Or the center of what has all happened?”

  “How could she have transferred the manuscript to Hodgenville? She never went there after leaving the White House. The president never returned. Once he left, he was gone.”

  “We know that this mystery is centered around the Masons. All of the clues are symbols really.” I stared out the window. “I’m not sure where to go next, are you?”

  “No, but let’s be sure to put the acorn, plus the test results, in a safe place.” Aaron frowned. “I don’t feel safe having anything like this in the house anymore.”

  “Banks still open?”

  “Another hour before they close. It’s already getting late.”

  “Quick, take the necklace, results, and what I’ve written to the bank safety box.”

  Alone, I stared out of the window and watched him drive away.

  Death to all?

  “We
ll, mister or sister or whoever you are—you haven’t won yet! I’m going to beat you at your game!”

  Chapter Twenty-three

  My grandparents returned with the maps in a short length of time.

  “I sure hope these help.” Grandpa handed me the copied maps.

  “The librarian was a sweet little old lady who helped us out.” Grandma’s eyes twinkled. “Actually, I think I’m older than she is.”

  “It’s just that her hair was grayer and she walked slower than your grandmother.” Grandpa chuckled. “Let’s get busy.”

  “Okay. This part of the equation needs figuring out.” I grabbed the rolled up maps in one hand, the puzzle with my other hand, and set them all down on the kitchen table. Grandpa unrolled the maps. Would the center of the pentacle be Hodgenville?

  I considered the Mary Todd Lincoln House. Was anyone in Mary’s family a Mason? That could be a viable explanation as to how the document could have been placed in Hodgenville.

  I laid out the maps and drew circles around Springfield, Lexington, Bloomington, and Hodgenville. As an afterthought, I drew one around Washington D.C., just in case it would fit the parameters of the pentacle. With a ruler in hand, I set about drawing lines from point to point. Unfortunately, the points were uneven, which made for a lopsided pentacle. That blew that idea, it was time to come up with another. My mind jumped back to the puzzle… his father’s birthplace. Could it possibly be that easy?

  By now, Aaron had returned from the bank. He joined Grandma and Grandpa as I poured over the drawn lines.

  “Hmm… Doesn’t line up,” Grandpa said and tugged an earlobe.

  “Not at all.”

  “Honey? We need to do more research, don’t you think?”

  “Probably. First off, we’re going to find out more about Mary’s family and whether any of her relatives were in the Masons. Once that’s determined, it’ll be easier for me to believe that the speech could be located in Hodgenville. It’s too bad the store computer isn’t hooked up here. We do have a router that it could connect to. It’s easier than trying to type this stuff in with the iPad or this little laptop.”