by Dana Mentink
“No, thank you, Ruth. I’m not ingesting caffeine anymore and you shouldn’t, either.”
“It’s decaf,” Ruth said, too tired to defend herself properly. “Please sit down.”
“Ahh. Well, I happened to be at the police department this morning and I heard about your burglar. What is the world coming to these days?” She drummed stubby fingers on the table top. “I brought you some cookies.”
“Oh, thank you. How considerate. What kind?”
“No fat, high fiber, soy bran cookies.”
Ruth tried to look enthusiastic as she put them on the kitchen counter. “Er, thank you. I’ll have some later.”
Maude looked around and picked at a scratch on the wood. “Ruth, um, I need to ask your advice.”
She swallowed her surprise. In all the years she’d known Maude, the woman was vastly more experienced at giving advice than asking for it. “Sure. Go ahead.”
“I was wondering, if, you know, I should dye my hair.”
Ruth eyed Maude’s black bun. “Whatever for?”
“Well, I’ve got a few grays, you see, and anyway, somebody told me blond is more flattering on an experienced face.”
Experienced face? Ruth tried to hide her smile. “Maude, is there by any chance a certain dentist you are trying to impress?”
“Me? Trying to impress Dr. Soloski? Of course not.” A pink stain crept into her face. “He’s not the kind you could impress easily, anyway. He’s old money.”
“I thought he was a dentist.”
“Funny, Ruth,” Maude said with a face that indicated she didn’t think it was at all amusing. “Dr. Soloski is from the Soloskis. His parents made a bundle in the oil business.”
“If he’s from wealthy stock, why did he settle here?”
She raised an eyebrow. “To be near his sister, of course. She’s an invalid.”
“Yes, he told me. He said it’s expensive to care for her.”
Maude snorted. “He’s just being modest. I admire that in a person, don’t you? Taking care not to make anyone feel inferior?”
“Oh yes.” Ruth looked up to find Alva chomping a cookie he’d taken from Maude’s platter.
“Bleccch,” he said, spitting it into the sink. “Whaddya call these? Shoe leather cookies? You could use ’em for coasters.”
Ruth intervened before Maude could get her hackles up. “Alva, thanks for staying with me. You were a big help last night.”
He nodded. “No trouble at all, ma’am. Just doing my job. I’m gonna go home now. Mrs. Hodges will expect me for breakfast.”
Alva and Maude exchanged a glare before he left.
“Well, anyway, Maude, I think your hair is fine. It suits you.”
“I’ve always thought so, but everyone needs a change now and then, don’t you think?”
“I suppose.”
“Maybe auburn instead of blond.”
Ruth tried to make her expression encouraging. “Maybe. So have you been spending much time with Dr. Soloski these days?”
“Oh, not really. We chat a little when we can. I heard from Gene, I mean Dr. Soloski, that Roxie has some sort of health problem. Kidneys or something?”
“Yes. I heard that, too.”
Maude lowered her voice. “She’s not exactly lily white, you know. I heard her son was a thief and stole from her clients. She tried to take the fall for him and it ruined her. Sad, isn’t it? Raising a no-goodnik?”
Ruth thought back to her earlier conversations with Roxie. “Her son died, Maude. I don’t think anything he did while he was living would make that loss any easier.”
She sniffed. “Maybe, but the whole thing certainly left her penniless. She’s a renter, you know.”
Maude said the word as if it was a profanity.
Bryce came hesitantly into the kitchen. “Just looking for some breakfast.”
Ruth resisted the urge to jump up and make it for him. If she was ever going to get this mothering thing straight for the twins, she’d have to be strong with Bryce. Don’t smother.
Maude excused herself with a parting shot. “Make sure you keep moisturizing your belly. The stretch marks will be insane with two in there.”
Ruth sighed and saw Maude to the door.
Bryce did not seem inclined toward conversation as he fixed himself toast and two fried eggs. The smell drove her from the kitchen along with a sudden recollection that it was the first Wednesday of the month and she needed to take Royland his worm delivery. Burglars or no burglars, she had a business to run. She pulled on some clothes and waddled out into the backyard.
The birds were happy to be released from their fenced area and promptly swarmed around her as she scattered bread cubes and protein pellets onto the ground. That would keep them busy and away from the worms. She added a few of Maude’s cookies for good measure, noticing that the birds scrupulously avoided the bits.
The mash she applied to the top of the worm beds sent them into wiggly ecstasy. When they crept to the surface to feed, she scooped up a generous quantity of the squirming soil and put it in the spinner. A few cranks and the drum whirled off most of the dirt, leaving a pile of disgruntled worms at the bottom. She packed them into a breathable plastic bag and covered them with a thin layer of soil to keep them happy on the journey.
Bryce was watching her with a cup of coffee in one hand and a corner of toast in the other. Milton stared at him, dancing up and down on impatient bird feet. Bryce ignored him and finished the toast. “Making a delivery?”
“Yes, it’s Royland’s day.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do. Monk wouldn’t want you to go by yourself, and he’s not a man I’d want to make unhappy.”
She laughed. “Me neither. You should have seen what happened when our summer help decided Monk’s chowder needed more pepper.”
Bryce smiled. “I’ll bet he’s not your summer help anymore.”
“Exactly.” Ruth walked slowly through the gaggle of birds to the gate, and they began their walk.
The sun shone through pockets of clouds, the ground saturated by the storm the night before. Sunshine warmed her back as they strolled along. She wanted to ask how his trip to San Francisco had gone, but she wasn’t sure he’d welcome the inquiry. Instead she filled him in on the burglary attempt.
“Wow, Mom. You sure are attracting someone’s attention and not in a good way. What did Monk say about the latest problem?”
She flushed. “He doesn’t know yet.”
“Oh, I see. If he did, he’d be on the next flight out.”
“Or rent a car and get all kinds of tickets driving home at breakneck speed.”
“Nice to have somebody love you that much.” Bryce kicked at a stone on the sidewalk as they headed out of town.
They both shot an occasional look over their shoulders for oncoming cars. A welcome coolness in the air made the temperature just right for walking. The long winding drive to Royland’s farm was damp when they arrived, so they had to pick their way carefully to avoid the sticky spots.
The silence lengthened until she couldn’t stand it anymore. “How was your trip to San Francisco?”
“Okay, I guess. I signed the papers Roslyn is so anxious to get. The house can be sold any time. She probably has it up on the market by now.” He jammed his hands into his pockets. “I also spoke to an employment agency but that led nowhere. It’s so blasted unfair. I ran a company, I don’t need to work for somebody and take orders like a high school kid. I’ve got a degree.”
She looked at the petulant jut of his chin. Oh Bryce. You’ve got so much to learn.
He looked at her. “You think I’m being arrogant, don’t you?”
Stay quiet, Ruth. Keep your opinions to yourself. “Yes, I do.”
His mouth tightened. “I’ve got skills. I’m a smart guy. Why should I have to start out doing a bunch of grunt work? One trucking outfit wanted me to tidy the office in between assignmen
ts.”
Now that she’d gone ahead and opened her big mouth, might as well finish it off. “These people don’t know you, and they won’t until you can prove yourself. Your father started out sweeping and cleaning clinic floors until he got his own office. Nothing is owed to you, Bryce, just because you’re intelligent and college educated.” She waited for the inevitable fallout of her criticism. Why couldn’t she have kept her mouth firmly closed?
Bryce’s look gradually changed. A smile crept onto his face. “I thought you were going to say I was so smart I should hold out for something better.”
“I wanted to, but I thought the other advice was more helpful.”
He laughed. “Sometimes bitter medicine works best, as Dad would have said.”
She joined in the laughter until it struck her. “Bryce, are you looking for a job. . .around here? In California?” It couldn’t be true after so many years of distance.
Bryce looked up at the ramshackle farm as they approached. “I’ve got no reason to stay in Chicago. I thought I might stick around for a while, get to know my new brother and sister, or brothers, or sisters.”
“That sounds like a great idea to me.” Ruth’s heart felt lighter than it had in a very long time as they walked together in the sun.
Chapter Nineteen
Monk was more than perturbed. He about jumped through the phone line when Ruth told him late that afternoon about the break-in.
“What is going on there?” he roared. “You’ve got to go immediately to the police station and stay there until I get back. I’ll book the earliest flight I can find.”
She waited for his tirade to wind down. “Honey, I’m not going to go sit in the police station. Bryce is here and Jack is coming over later to talk to me about something. I’m perfectly fine, safe as can be.”
“What about the babies? Are they okay? Did the shock of the break-in stunt their growth or anything?”
“Not that I can tell from the kicks to my kidneys. Did you get the crop in?”
“Most of it. Dave can finish it up. Look, Ruthy, I’m going to hang up now and call the airport. Don’t go anywhere by yourself, not even out to get the newspaper from the driveway. Those college people are trying to do you in, I just know it. The whole thing makes my skin crawl.”
“I’m going to tell Jack all about the White Queens and leave the whole thing up to him. How’s that?”
“You promise to stay out of the investigation?”
“I will do my best to keep my nosy tendencies in check.”
Monk grumbled. “Well, I guess that will have to do for now, but I’ll feel much better when I’m back home.”
Ruth hung up thinking the very same thing.
A scant half hour later, Jack arrived. Instead of staying for a visit, he took Ruth on a ride back toward town. “Nate’s meeting me at the Finny Hotel. We’re going to take Ethan and Sandra in for questioning. I wanted you to stick around and add your two cents on this White Queens thing Bobby told me you figured out. How does that sound?”
“Great, I’d be happy to help. Monk will be relieved that I’ve got a temporary police escort. He thinks I should be living at the station until he returns.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t recommend it. The coffee is terrible. Can I buy you some dinner after?” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “There’s, er, something I want to talk to you about.”
“Of course.” Ruth took a moment to call Bryce and tell him about her plans.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll fill Monk in when he calls every half hour. I’m going to go for a run on the beach, but I’ll take the cell phone with me.”
They pulled up to the Finny Hotel and she waited in the car while Jack and Nate headed inside. Jack returned a few minutes later, a frown on his face. “They checked out this morning.”
Nate blew into his mustache. “Yeah, but the clerk said they were carrying dive gear, almost as if they were going to take one last dip before they skipped town.”
Jack arched an eyebrow. “Surely they wouldn’t do that. I called and told them to wait for me this morning. They know something is up. Why go diving?”
Nate considered. “Maybe they’re desperate to find something. Desperate people do desperately stupid things, as we are daily reminded.”
“Maybe,” Jack said as he got into the car. “How about a quick trip to the beach, Ruth?”
Sandra and Ethan were just headed into the choppy water when Jack and Nate pulled up. They stood there, frozen for a moment, the waves lapping around their shins, before exchanging a hurried conversation as the officers approached. Ruth stayed a safe distance behind, but not so far that she couldn’t hear every word.
Jack’s tone was like iron. “I told you to wait at the hotel.”
“Oh, uh, is that what you said? We weren’t sure.” Sandra’s face was milk white where it was framed by the black of her wet suit. They shuffled up to dry ground to meet the officers.
Jack did not return Sandra’s smile. “You need to come to the station now.”
“Right now?” Ethan said.
“Right now,” Jack assured them.
The young man straightened. “Why? What exactly is the reason for this? Are we being arrested?”
“Not yet.” Jack smiled at them.
It didn’t look like a friendly grin to Ruth.
“Just wanted to chat about a couple of Queens. You have time for that, don’t you?”
Sandra and Ethan looked at each other again before they followed Nate to his car, Ruth and Jack a few steps behind.
They must have been granted time to change their clothes after they arrived at the station, Ruth noted, because Sandra joined them in the conference room wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt. She sat rigid in the chair, fingers laced, knees pressed together. Her throat worked convulsively as she darted a glance around the room. “Where’s Ethan?”
Jack offered a cup of coffee, which the woman declined. “He’s waiting with Mary. We thought it would be nice to chat with you both separately.”
“Um, I’d rather not.”
Though his tone was light, Jack’s words left no room for compromise. “I think you don’t have much choice. I can arrest you, if you’d like, and we can take it from there.”
Her eyes rounded in terror. “No, no. I didn’t do anything. I didn’t commit any crime.”
“I asked you before why you were here in Finny and you only told me half the truth. Now tell me the real reason.” Jack stared at her from behind his desk. “All of it.”
She didn’t answer.
Nate gave her a smile. “You’d be better off going along with him, ma’am, otherwise he’s going to be stuck to you like duct tape until you come clean. I’ve seen it before and it’s not pretty.”
Ruth held her breath to see if the woman would talk.
Sandra cleared her throat. “We didn’t do anything wrong. Well, we maybe didn’t exactly tell the whole truth, but that’s it. We were following the clues from the journal.”
“Are you sure Indigo’s writing is factual?” Ruth said.
“All the details check out. The life of Indigo Orson is traceable, and believe me, we know because we spent months doing just that.”
For some reason which she could not understand, Ruth was relieved that Indigo really did exist.
“Why are you here in Finny?” Jack repeated.
“We really did come to do a reenactment of Indigo’s life, but we sort of had another goal in mind, too.”
“The White Queens?” Ruth said.
She nodded. “I guess we didn’t cover our tracks very well.”
“So there really is a set of priceless pearls right under Finny’s nose?”
“We believe so. I told you I stumbled on Indigo’s journal in an old box in the university basement when we were researching for our project. We did some more checking and all the facts came together. Orson was carrying the pearls when he boarded the Triton, as far as we can ascertain.”
Jack snorted. “But that was more than 150 years ago.”
“As far as history records, the boat was supposedly only carrying coal so it hasn’t had a whole lot of attention. Plus it settled at an awkward angle so the lower cabins, where the Orsons stayed, were pretty much inaccessible.”
Jack stared at her, with his elbows on the table. “So you decided to recover the pearls yourselves?”
“It was a long shot, but Ethan is a great diver. He talked the Skylar Foundation into giving us some money up front, providing they got their cut of the treasure. They sent Reggie to help, but I really think it was more to keep an eye on us.”
As little as she’d seen of Reggie, Ruth was not surprised to hear he was more than just a cameraman.
Jack nodded. “People dove that wreck before. How do you know they didn’t recover the pearls and keep it on the lowdown?”
“They didn’t know what to look for, for one thing, and the big storm you had last year caused the wreck to shift. According to Ethan’s preliminary dive, the movement opened up the under decking for exploration.” She toyed with a thread on her pants. “He was sure we would find the pearls.”
“What made him so certain?”
Her face crumpled. “Desperation, I think, same as me. The university didn’t renew his scholarship for next term, and his family couldn’t help him with the tuition. He figured we’d give the research project a good effort and hopefully find the pearls, too. I never could snag a scholarship in the first place, so the idea of finding something that would fund my education seemed like a reasonable gamble.”
Nate tapped a pencil on his knee. “Correct me here, but wouldn’t the pearls belong to the state government since that wreck is within a three-mile distance of the coast?”
Sandra clamped her lips shut, her face coloring. “It doesn’t matter anyway, does it? We didn’t find the pearls.”
“Did Reggie?”
She started. “Reggie?”
Jack cocked his head. “It would fit. Maybe he found the pearls and decided to take them for himself. One of you strangled him and dumped his body in the ocean.”