A Treacherous Treasure

by Leighann Dobbs

  “Yep. We had a big argument about it. You see, we’d invested a lot in equipment and borrowed from the investor. Some members felt they wanted to recoup that from the find. In the end we decided to find out how much it was worth before we made a decision.”

  “And was it worth a lot?”

  “Nope. But turns out it wasn’t worth being in a museum either. So we split the money—it was only a couple hundred each—and that was that.”

  “So the silent partner took it to the collector, who purchased the items, then Billy brought you each an equal share?” Claire asked.

  Ben squinted and looked up at the ceiling. “No, that wasn’t how it went. Billy got the name of the collector from the silent partner. But the silent partner didn’t go with him. I think he was on a trip or something. Anyway, Elbert and Quentin took the treasure to the collector and came back with the money.”

  “Elbert and Quentin? What about Billy?” Claire asked.

  “Billy got sick with the flu, and I had a work emergency at the last minute, so I couldn’t go. Back then I was still building my investments and had to act quick with market fluctuations,” Ben said.

  “They took the trunk and contents?” The trunk was quite large, and Dom wondered how they would have gotten it to the mainland.

  “Oh, no. Not the trunk. It was too big, and we didn’t think it was worth much. They took the contents and stored the trunk in the storage unit … or so I thought,” Ben said. “Then we filled in the hole so no one else would dig there. Didn’t know if there would be more treasure. We always planned on going back, but after Elbert disappeared, we didn’t have the heart, especially since the first treasure wasn’t worth much.”

  Dom was skeptical. It did seem like Ben was telling the truth, and it would be odd for him to admit all this now if he had something to hide, but his behavior at the dig had been curious. “If you thought the trunk was in the storage unit and had no idea Elbert was buried at the pharmacy dig site, then why did you protest the dig so vehemently?”

  Ben shook his head and looked at the floor. “I guess I still had illusions that there might be real treasure there. After Elbert disappeared, the treasure club kind of fell apart. We never did dig there again. Not to mention I really don’t want an ugly square-box pharmacy to muck up the landscape.”

  “But why did you lie about the treasure in the first place?” Claire asked.

  Ben’s cheeks turned pink. “I know it was stupid now, but we made a pact not to tell anyone, and I guess I still wanted to honor that pact. Initially it was because we didn’t want others digging around there, but also we were a little embarrassed that we dug up a big treasure chest that wasn’t worth anything.” He shrugged. “It just didn’t seem important to tell anyone.”

  “So you each got an equal share … but then how did Elbert end up inside the trunk?” Claire asked.

  “Beats me. I always thought he had drowned in the storm, just like they said.”

  Allen made a strangled noise and shot Ben a surprised look. Ben turned to face him, his eyes growing wide. “You thought I killed him, boy?”

  “I … no, I mean, I …” Allen stammered.

  “You should have more faith in me than that. Of course I didn’t kill him! Elbert was a good friend. His family was good people. Which is why it confounds me that his granddaughter killed Mari. She seemed like such a nice girl.”

  “You knew her?” Claire sounded shocked. “I thought Elbert’s widow moved off the island shortly after his disappearance. How did you know his granddaughter?”

  “They did move. The kids were young, and I never even knew he had a granddaughter until she came to visit me the other day. Said she was visiting Elbert’s old friends. Wanted to learn about her grandpa. You see, her grandma had just died, and she’d found a lot of Elbert’s things in her attic. She let on that the family never accepted that he drowned at sea. I think she might’ve been investigating, but I had no idea she came here to kill people. And to think she killed Mari that very night … it could have been me she killed.”

  “That night?” Dom asked.

  Ben’s face turned serious. “Yes, she was at my house the night of the downpour. The night Mari was killed.”

  Claire’s forehead creased. “What time did she visit you?”

  “She came just before supper. We eat at six precisely. I have to keep regular eating hours or my digestion is off. Then she stayed until the night ferry.”

  “But the night ferry leaves at eight,” Claire said.

  Ben nodded. “That’s right. She left around seven forty-five to catch it. Otherwise she’d be stuck on the island.”

  Dom pressed his finger to his tingling eyebrow. “But she wasn’t stuck on the island ... which means she couldn’t have killed Mari.”

  “Wait a minute.” Claire pulled out her phone, scrolling through the pictures. “Did you say the silent partner couldn’t go to the collector because he was out of town?”

  “Yes. If I remember correctly, that’s why Elbert and Quentin went. You see, Elbert didn’t trust—”

  Claire thrust her phone at Dom, interrupting Benjamin. “Look! Charlie couldn’t have killed Elbert. This is one of the pictures I took of his journal. Look past the journal page, though, underneath it at the bottom of the box. It’s a plane ticket to Germany dated the day before Elbert disappeared. Lila said Charlie was always on his trips, and this time she was right. He was out of the country when Elbert disappeared.”

  Ben looked at her with confusion. “Charlie? Charlie who? What are you talking about?”

  “Never mind that,” Claire said. “When did Elbert and Quentin give you the money?”

  Benjamin pursed his lips. “Funny thing, it was actually the day Elbert went missing. Least I think it was, since we found his boat adrift the next morning.”

  “So you were one of the last people to see Elbert?” Dom asked.

  “Me? Oh no. I didn’t see him that day, only Quentin. Quentin gave me my share. Elbert was busy.”

  “So, then, Quentin was possibly the last one to see Elbert …” Claire said slowly.

  “And Quentin is quite wealthy,” Dom added.

  Claire’s face took on a troubled look. “Quentin missed his doctor’s appointment the day Mari was killed. When we were in the garden with Lila, I overheard the nurse say he was gone all evening …”

  “Quentin could have easily taken the umbrella from Lila’s room. In fact, Lila said he picked a bouquet, though at the time I thought she was talking about something in the past. Then when Zambuco took the umbrella, she thought it was a bouquet of flowers,” Dom said.

  “We may have made a terrible mistake. Quentin had means, motive, and opportunity for both murders!” Claire shot up from the table. “He must have known Mari had some evidence … maybe even something she didn’t realize she had. It was no problem when everyone still thought Elbert had been lost at sea, but now that he’s been dug up and there’s an ongoing investigation, he would have to silence her.”

  “Not just her.” Dom’s stomach turned to lead. “At Greenbriar yesterday, Lila was about to blurt out the name of the person she saw at Elbert’s boat the day he supposedly disappeared at sea. You stopped her, thinking she was going to name Charlie, but …”

  “… It couldn’t have been Charlie since he was in Germany, and if that person was Quentin, then he’ll try to silence Lila next.”

  20

  Dom’s phone dinged just as they rushed into Greenbriar Manor. He whipped it out of his pocket and looked at the display. “It’s Zambuco. Says Diane isn’t the killer. She has an alibi.”

  Claire looked at him incredulously. “No kidding.”

  Dom’s thumbs flew over the screen as they hurtled toward Lila’s room. “I’ll tell him to meet us here.”

  “Hurry!” Claire turned the corner and barreled into Jane.

  “Claire! What the heck?” Jane’s face was etched with worry.

  “Is something wrong? Where’s your mom?” Claire
asked.

  “I can’t find her. She’s not in her room or the sitting area. But why are you running down the hall?”

  Claire and Dom exchanged a glance.

  “What?” Jane demanded.

  Claire took her friend by the shoulders. “Don’t panic. We’ve reason to believe Quentin killed Elbert, and he might want to harm your mom.”

  “What? Why?” Jane sucked in a breath. “Oh, yesterday she said she saw someone by Elbert’s boat that day …”

  “Right. We’ve no time to waste. Where else could she be?” Dom asked.

  “Maybe in the meditation garden?”

  Dom and Claire had already turned and were sprinting in that direction before the last word was out of Jane’s mouth. But before they even got there, Claire could see Lila wasn’t out there. The garden was empty.

  “Now what?” Claire rushed down the hall, looking into the sitting room where they’d spoken to Quentin the other day, peering into the bathroom. No Lila was to be found.

  Dom grabbed a nurse. “Excuse me. Have you seen Lila Kuhn or Quentin Crane?”

  “No, I don’t think I have …”

  “I saw them,” an aide interrupted from inside the library room. “I was wheeling Lila to breakfast, and Quentin came up and took over. Said they were having breakfast together. ’Course that was a few hours ago.”

  Claire didn’t need to ask where the cafeteria was; Jane had already taken off down the hall, presumably in that direction. They followed Jane through the interior maze of Greenbriar Manor only to find a disappointingly empty cafeteria.

  Jane grabbed one of the workers by the arm. “Emmy, did you see my mom?”

  “Yes, she was here with Mr. Crane, but—”

  “Did you see where they went?” Jane pleaded.

  Emmy made a face. “No. They did leave together, though. Mr. Crane was pushing her in the chair. It was sweet. And Mrs. Kuhn was remembering her husband, Charlie. She said she was going to meet him, that he was waiting. She must have been having one of her memory episodes.”

  Jane sighed heavily, panic dancing in her eyes. “Well, that doesn’t help us … what direction did they go?”

  “Wait a minute.” Claire shot her arm out to stop Jane from running off. Something niggled at her brain. Lila had mentioned something about Charlie waiting for her the other day. Something Quentin had told her … what was it? Oh yes! Golden doors.

  Claire flicked her eyes to the entrance. White doors. The side door was also white. “Do you have any gold doors here?”

  The cafeteria worker looked at her like she was crazy. “Gold doors? No, we have a more sophisticated look going. All the doors are painted white or natural wood.”

  “I know where there’s some gold doors.” They spun around to see a man in blue scrubs mopping the floor.

  “Where?” Dom asked.

  “Down in storage. That’s where they keep all the older furniture, and there’s an old television armoire down there from the Oriental decor we used to have. It’s got a lot of gold on it.” He shrugged. “Is that what you’re looking for?”

  “How do we get down there?” Claire asked.

  The man thrust his chin toward the hall. “Take the elevator to floor G.”

  In the elevator, Jane stabbed the button repeatedly. “Come on, come on.”

  Dom gently moved her finger away. “Jane, we can’t go rushing in. We may need the element of surprise on our side, and if we startle him, your mom might get hurt. Maybe you should stay upstairs.”

  “What? No way.” Jane’s eyes darted from Dom to Claire. Then she took a deep breath. “Okay, fine. I’ll be quiet and follow your lead.”

  The elevator stopped and the doors whooshed open. Dom held his index finger to his lips as they stared out at a cavernous, dimly lit room filled with hulking shadows of furniture, shelving, and boxes.

  “I don’t see Charlie in there.” Lila’s voice, laced with suspicion, drifted over to them from an unseen corner of the room.

  Jane lurched toward the voice, but Claire grabbed her elbow and pulled her back.

  “Not yet,” she whispered in Jane’s ear. “Let’s sneak around the edges. That way we’ll have a better chance of disarming him.”

  Jane nodded, and Dom indicated for Claire and Jane to go left while he went right. Claire knew he meant to surround Quentin or at least surprise him from different directions.

  Claire kept Jane beside her as she skirted shelving and ducked behind bureaus. They came to the corner of the room, and Claire gestured for Jane to be quiet as she peered around the corner of a stack of boxes.

  Thirty feet away, Quentin had Lila out of her wheelchair. The poor woman stood on shaky legs, her hand clutching the door of a gigantic red-and-gold armoire with a bamboo motif on the side.

  “Let her go, Quentin.” Dom’s voice sounded from Claire’s left.

  Quentin spun around to face Dom, snapping his cane up as if to hold him at bay. Alarm shot through Claire as she noticed the large handle. It was thick and looked heavy … could that be the murder weapon?

  “What are you doing here?” Quentin demanded.

  “What are you doing to Lila? Let her go,” Dom persisted.

  From Claire’s vantage point, she could see the change in Quentin’s face. His beady eyes softened, and he relaxed.

  “Hey, we were just reminiscing about old times,” Quentin said. “We come down here because it gets boring sitting in the same old sitting rooms up there.”

  “You said Charlie was waiting.” Lila poked her head into the armoire then pulled it back out and looked at Quentin. “I don’t see him.”

  Claire’s stomach churned. Just what had Quentin been planning to do to Lila? Was he going to stuff her into the armoire and leave her in there to die, or kill her first? Beat her with the cane like he’d done to Mari? Her body probably wouldn’t be found for days down here.

  “Put her back in the chair and step away,” Dom said.

  “What are you getting all riled up for?” Quentin gently helped Lila back into the chair then started inching away from Dom. Claire wondered if he was trying to make a getaway. Well, not on her watch. She motioned for Jane to stay put as she circled around to head Quentin off should he try to run away.

  “Well, if you’re going to sit with Lila, I guess I’ll go to my room.” Quentin took a tentative step.

  “Not so fast. You’re not going to get away with this. We know what you’re up to.” Dom had been inching his way toward Quentin and Lila and was now merely a few feet away.

  “What?” Quentin was still playing dumb. “Lila and I are old friends.”

  Dom held up his phone. “It’s over, Quentin. Police are on their way. Come peacefully, with some dignity.”

  Quentin glanced over his shoulder. Probably scouting out which direction to head to make his getaway.

  “What? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Quentin pivoted and took a running step toward the back of the room. Luckily Claire had anticipated the exact direction he would head. She stepped out from her hiding spot behind a tall china cabinet and blocked his exit.

  “Admit defeat, Quentin. You wouldn’t have gotten away with this. This body wouldn’t stay buried for sixty years like the last one,” she said.

  Jane burst out of her hiding spot and ran to Lila. “Mom! Are you okay?”

  “Janey, how nice to see you. I’m fine, just fine. Why wouldn’t I be? But Daddy’s waiting.” Lila cast a tentative glance at the armoire.

  “No, Mom, he’s not waiting.” Jane crouched down to hug Lila then glared up at Quentin. “I’m afraid your friend Quentin wasn’t telling the truth.”

  “That’s right, Quentin, what exactly is the truth?” Dom asked. “Time to come clean, and maybe I’ll be able to persuade Zambuco to go easy on you.”

  Quentin looked around. With his exits blocked, he must have realized he was caught. His shoulders sagged in defeat, and he suddenly looked very tired.

  “I had to try to stop her. S
he could have ruined everything,” he said.

  Dom nodded. “We guessed as much. We have proof that you killed Elbert. We don’t need Lila’s testimony on that. Zambuco is on his way to bring you in. And we know Diane Randall didn’t kill Mari Wilkinson. You did. But why?”

  “Why do you think? She had proof that would make everything come out in the open.”

  “The brooch?”

  “Yes, that damn brooch. The one I gave to Billy Wilkinson to give to the silent partner wasn’t actually one of the brooches from the treasure chest. I switched them and kept the good stuff for myself. Truth was I almost forgot about that darn thing. Didn’t realize Mari still had it. But then Diane Randall mentioned that Mari had showed it to her, and I knew I had to try to get it back.

  “I figured if she started waving that brooch around, things might start to come out, and people might put two and two together. Especially if that blabbermouth Benjamin Hill saw it. He’d know it wasn’t the real brooch, and then people would start asking questions.”

  “So you killed her? Why couldn’t you have just broken in and taken the brooch?” Claire asked.

  “I was going to! I just wanted to sneak into her room and look for the brooch. But she wouldn’t give it up. She was stubborn. I didn’t want to kill her, but she left me no choice … turns out killing is easier the second time around.”

  A chill ran up Claire’s spine as she glanced at Lila. And even easier the third, apparently.

  “You took quite a risk all these years leaving Elbert buried there in that lot. Weren’t you afraid someone would dig him up?” Dom said.

  “At first I was. But I can be pretty persuasive, and it was easy to come up with reasons not to dig there again. No one but the treasure club was ever interested in that lot. As the years went by, I became more and more certain that no one ever would be,” Quentin said.

  “But then they bought it for the pharmacy. Why didn’t you just go and dig the trunk up and move it before the groundbreaking?” Claire asked.

  “Damn old age,” Quentin snarled. “It’s not that I couldn’t have done it, physically. I’m pretty strong, you know. It’s just that being here in this place, I’m not as connected to the happenings on the island. I had no idea they were even thinking about digging there.”