“She’s not seeking attention. She’s trying to avoid it. After all, she’s lived in seclusion for years and years. It took the murder of her great-grandson to draw her outside her home.”
“You’ve got a point there.” He stroked a finger along his jaw and mulled it over. “She doesn’t sound like someone who craves the limelight.”
“Nevertheless, the next time I go there, you can come ,too. My historical research into the medicinal use of plants is finished anyway. Yesterday I helped Francesca mix some herbs that she couldn’t manage by herself. As to my sick spell…”
“Spells,” he said. “Spells. Twice now something hasn’t been right when you come back from that place.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. I don’t think it was heat exhaustion. I believe the aroma from the plants, the naturally high carbon dioxide content in that room gets to me, whereas Francesca is immune to them.”
“All I ask is that you don’t go there alone anymore.”
“I won’t.”
“I hope you don’t put too much stock in what that old woman is telling you.”
“I don’t. I take it all with a grain of salt.” I think.
He gathered me up and hugged me against his chest. “Sleep,” he said. “That’s an order.”
“Okay.”
He closed the door behind him and I sank exhausted against the pillows. Angie came in carrying a breakfast tray containing scrambled eggs, toast, a glass of orange juice, and coffee.
“You’re looking so much better, Angie.”
“That’s more than I can say for you. Dad was worried sick. Mrs. Diaz had to talk hard to keep him from taking you right to the emergency room.”
Watching Angie work, I knew Elizabeth had made the right call when she insisted her sister would be the happiest working with children. She was a natural caretaker.
Elizabeth! I had just told Keith I wouldn’t go to the Diaz Compound again without him. But what if Elizabeth needed a copy of the map for her purposes? Francesca hadn’t shown it to her. I was the only one who knew the location of the real map. However, the copy would certainly be enough for Elizabeth’s investigative purposes until she decided to move forward in a court of law.
I poured a cup of coffee and thought about it. No. Unless a clear link to Victor’s murder emerged, it was Elizabeth’s job, not mine, to persuade Francesca Diaz to give her a copy of the map to make her case. Good luck with that.
Did I have a duty to tell the KBI about any evidence I thought had some connection to Victor’s murder? No siree. Dimon had made that clear. Not if it was just speculation. In Keith’s opinion, Francesca might be attaching too much importance to family myths. I didn’t think so, but it was a possibility. I wasn’t going to rule it out.
I would take Sam Abbott’s “speculations” over Dimon’s hard-wired hotshots anytime.
Thus, I argued myself back to sleep.
***
Elizabeth called two days later. “Bad news, I’m afraid, Lottie. There is no mysterious Diaz claim and brace yourself for even worse news. They don’t even own the land they are living on now.”
“That’s impossible,” I stammered. “That can’t be true.”
“It is. I hired a researcher to go through the Territorial records, all sixty-one boxes and sixty-five volumes. Six reels of microfilm too.”
“From the time Colorado was part of Kansas Territory?”
“Yes, and then I had my researchers look into a special National Archives collection held at Atlanta, Georgia.”
Who had paid for all this? Who had this kind of time? I wondered.
“You said it yourself early on. We just didn’t understand what Francesca’s claims really meant. There was no record of any deeds. No proof of land ownership whatsoever. There were a couple of lawsuits mentioned in various Kansas Territorial newspapers but they were all presented as a joke. Sort of along the lines of ‘it’s spring again and time for a certain Spanish family to do battle over a land claim.’”
“But you, Zola, everyone seemed to know about these lawsuits.”
“I know. But we were kids. Come to think of it, it wouldn’t make sense that we knew about any kind of lawsuits at all, but we did.”
I was sick. Just sick.
“What are you going to do?” I asked finally.
“Nothing. I’m not going to a file a suit because there’s no case here. If I were going to be her attorney, I wouldn’t be talking to you. I just wanted you to know that for some reason Francesca might be making a lot of stuff up. I’m going to make a flying trip back to Kansas to tell her in person she has no basis for pursuing litigation. I also promised to take care of another unrelated bit of business.”
“Will you stop by?”
“Just long enough to say hello.”
We hung up.
***
This changed everything. Although I had seen a copy of the alleged map, now I suspected it didn’t mean anything. As for the reason why Francesca might be making it all up, I suspected that was to con me into helping her mix her herbs. She had started innocently enough, just wanting to me to know this map might be the reason was Victor was killed. Then after I talked her into letting me record the healing uses of all her plants, she sensed I was the ideal apprentice. She had lured me in deeper by hinting that her family had a secret heritage. Something that would change their lives. And I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
I opened my desk and started sorting thumbtacks into different colors. Josie says I have compulsive tendencies, but I see no sense in putting much stock in the opinion of a smoker.
When I settled down and could think again, I was less cynical. Francesca didn’t fit the profile of a scheming hustler. She was simply a deluded old woman. There was no doubt in my mind that Francesca Diaz thought the family owned more property. Ownership would never become an issue unless they tried to sell it and an abstract company started looking into it.
I paced and hoped the phone didn’t ring. At the end of the day, I decided I didn’t go around challenging the property rights of other people in the county, so why should the Diaz family be an exception? A lot of the families in Northwest Kansas had acquired land where boundaries were fuzzy. Old abstracts had disappeared. Especially during the Territorial period. During the organization of various counties, some of the county clerks had been incompetent—to put it mildly. There had been vicious county-seat fights in over half the counties in Kansas. Old wooden courthouses had burned down. Sometimes county records had been taken at gunpoint.
But if the Diazes ever tried to sell their land, all hell would break loose. In the meantime, the only thing that was actually my business was if anyone in that compound knew anything about a murder. And I was beginning to think that no one did, and that included Doña Francesca Bianco Loisel Montoya Diaz.
Thank God for thinking. For cold logic. Having decided to do absolutely nothing about anything, I swept the thumbtacks off the desk into their little plastic container and locked up for the day.
***
Cecilia called the next morning and said Francesca wanted to give me some compounds for Angie. She sounded weary, disapproving, tired of taking orders from her great-grandmother. I was sure whatever Francesca thought might help Angie would be safe and effective.
I had told my husband I would never go there alone again.
Keith had just headed out the door. I caught him at the end of the sidewalk. “We need to make a quick trip to the Diaz Compound. If you don’t want me to go without you, that means you’re going to be at her beck and call too.”
I was glad he was going. I wanted his impression of the place.
Keith didn’t say a word for several miles. “Just because it has always rained again doesn’t mean it will this time.” He said finally. He scowled and I laughed. He reached over and pinched my thigh.
When we reached the road that would take us into the compound, he let out a slow whistle. “I’ve heard about this place, but I don’t believe it. Just can’t believe it. It’s like Brigadoon. A place that has come up out of the mists.”
“It’s literally out of this world.” I remembered how I felt when I saw it the first time.
“Look at those trees. And that pasture. Look at the height of that grass.”
He stopped the car for a minute. “This beats anything I’ve ever seen. Elizabeth tried to tell me about it, but I guess I thought she was exaggerating.”
“There’s other surprises. Wait until you have a chance to really look things over.”
We picked up Francesca and drove her to the workroom. All the while Keith looked like he had stumbled into Oz.
Francesca surprised me by turning on the charm.
“I’m so sorry we had to meet under such strange circumstances the other night, Mr. Fiene. I’m delighted to see Lottie so hearty and hale now. Do you accompany her often?”
He started to say only when he was on official business, but checked himself. “Only when she asks me to come along.” He gave me a wicked grin. He drove, Francesca was in the front seat beside him. I sat in the back and was at the ideal angle for him to see me stick out my tongue in the rearview mirror.
“I hope your daughter, Angie, is doing well. I have some compounds I think might help her. I hope Lottie told you I have some compounds that will help her, too.”
We went inside, she showed him her workroom and the Spanish books. By the lively exchange of questions and answers, I knew he was quite impressed with her understanding of medicine.
“Would you like to look around outside while I talk to Lottie about getting some material translated? All the houses are empty except mine and the Spanish bungalow, so feel free to go inside them.”
“I would love to. This is quite a place you have here.” Keith went off to inspect the property.
Francesca waved toward the wall of books. “They are rare and precious. I need a sensitive scholar to do the translating. Not an amateur who thinks this abominable modern-day Mexican mixture can be substituted for ancient Castilian. I would like you to recommend someone who is worthy of the task.”
“The Kansas State Historical Society has a list of linguistic consultants. I’ll talk to them tomorrow.”
“Now help me mix the compounds for Angie.”
We walked over to a worktable and I took pinches of herbs from various jars and funneled them into a little bottle.
“She should be fine now. Mix these in tea twice a day. Call on me when she wants to become pregnant again.”
Startled, I looked at her face. How had she known that Angie had just lost a child? I doubted this extremely private daughter would have volunteered the information to Francesca the night she and Cecilia brought me home.
“It’s a very simple compound,” she said. “It builds back the blood. And will help her spirits.”
Dr. Golbert had said she was slightly anemic. Apparently with just a glance, Francesca thought the same. It would be very interesting to have the two practitioners get together.
“I appreciate it, Francesca. Now, let me find my husband and we’ll take you back to the main house.”
“One final mixture, please, before you leave. A mixture to accompany the seeing herbs.”
I smiled and glanced at the red crystal jar. “You haven’t taken them yet, I see.”
“No.”
“Have you changed your mind?”
“No. I’ve delayed. It is a grave thing to see and then act on the seeing. Even if one has spent half a lifetime preparing for just such a moment.”
I was uneasy. “Well, let’s finish the compound right away. My husband will want to go as soon as we’re done.”
***
Keith was right outside the door, staring up at the roof where it joined with the exterior wall.
“All through?” He looked at Francesca curiously, then thanked her for taking the time to mix the herbs for Angie.
“I didn’t. I can’t because of my hands.” She held them up. He winced, then his eyes traveled up to her ancient face. “These are medicines I usually keep around for my own family and some of their friends. For years now I’ve lacked the ability to compound the ordinary mixtures I need to have on hand. The supply is replenished now. Your wife has been very helpful. I’ve become quite fond of her, you know.”
***
“Well, what do you think of the place?” I asked Keith on the way home.
“You mean other than the incredible waste of good pastureland?”
“Yes.”
“I think the whole place is weird as hell, if you want to know the truth. I did quite a bit of poking around. And every single house I had time to check was built with the techniques that would have been used during the time period the houses represent.”
“Why? There’s a Sears house. So I understand that. But why emulate old construction methods? It’s not like the place is a living museum that attracts tourists.”
“The strangest thing of all is the workroom building. What you call the Old House. There were no nails. I mean none. Metal nails have been around since the Bronze Age. These people used wooden pegs. What would be the point of doing that? ”
“The main house is furnished with a hodgepodge of period furniture. It all looks like it was actually used at one time.”
“I measured that cottonwood. It’s actually thirty-five feet around.”
“Guestimating?”
“No, for real. There’s a tape measure in the console in the Suburban.”
“That’s surely the largest cottonwood in Kansas.”
“And there is something else that is even more peculiar.” The evening sun lighted his profile. “You said there were four kids living here. Right?”
“George’s kids. But I make it point to leave before George or his wife gets home from work. So I’ve never seen the kids.”
“There were no animals on the place. Not a single one that I could see. Not even a dog.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
It was a rare happy morning. I buzzed around the kitchen like a fifties housewife who measured her self-worth by the quantity of food she could produce. Elizabeth had called last night. She and Bettina were coming home. She had devised some goofy plan to have a grown girls’ slumber party to cheer up Angie. She twisted her little sister’s arm to get her to ditch her kids and husband for the weekend.
Elizabeth was determined to find an instrument for Angie and was bringing a set of drums and a tambourine. She had decided music was good for the soul, and Angie would, by God, become an active participant in her own mental-health rehabilitation.
Then early this morning, Josie had called and said she would be driving back to Western Kansas because she wanted to see Tom. “I need to talk to him in person.”
Keith was thrilled that all of his family would be here and his pleasure was contagious. I had made a truce with the heat. I simply stayed inside every day of the week, whether at home or working in the historical society or at the sheriff’s office. I played like that was the normal thing to do. The heat, the dust would pass. I was sure it would. The trick was to wait it out.
Margaret called before nine.
“You might as well take another full day off. Jane has been cut back to three days a week at the abstract office, so she wants to put in more time here.”
“I’m sorry to see her lose the work, but it’s sure our gain.”
“She’s priceless. Right now, she’s out crisscrossing the county returning donations. She loves visiting families. In fact, she’s so good at this that I want her reimbursed for her gas.”
“Maybe we can wangle full mileage from the county commissioners instead of taking it out of the general budget.”
“She’s going to the Diaz Compound today. She found a tiny penciled name on the back of the Klan poster she brought in. It’s faded. We could hardly make it out. But it was Diaz. I’m sure of it. We both looked at with a magnifying glass.” She sniffed. “I’m surprised you didn’t see it.”
“I’m sorry. That was certainly an oversight.”
“No problem. She’s going to take it and a little collar out there. It’s for a cat, I think. Anyway, it has a Spanish label. It was in with some of the items no one has had time to return. I have no idea where most of it came from. It’s from long before we started a formal record system. There’s five boxes in all.”
There was a sudden stab in my head. I pressed my palm against my forehead. There was something I should remember about Francesca and the Klan. And a cat. There was something about a cat.
“I’m glad you and Jane are getting on so well.”
“I don’t know what I ever did without her.”
Zola came into the kitchen and said she was sorry that she would have to shortchange my cleaning day. “Blame your husband,” she said as she hurried out the door. “He’s the one who keeps messing things up. After I help Keith for a couple of hours, I’ll barely have time to shower and start supper before the girls get here.”
“Actually, I’m the one who derailed him. I dragged him over to the Diaz Compound yesterday and that put him behind.”
“Whatever. Anyway, feeding livestock takes precedence over dusting furniture.”
“Don’t I know!”
I waved her outside and went into Keith’s office. He is a tidy man, and it isn’t much of a chore to flick around with a feather duster. I got to the shelf with the madstone and smiled. He hadn’t even asked why it was sitting there.
Light reflected off Keith’s tiny voice recorder on the floor at the edge of the desk. I remembered accidentally putting it inside my briefcase instead of my own cassette player one day when I went to Francesca’s. The day that had disappeared from my mind. One of the two days when I had ended up in bed. It must have fallen out of my briefcase when I took out the madstone.
Hidden Heritage Page 22