Treasure Uncovered (Bellingwood #3)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  She picked up a small box and dropped the two books and other items into it, then began gathering the paperwork from Harry Bern's life into another box. When it was full, she flapped it shut and marked "Recycle - Paperwork" on the top. She'd kept the last copy of his statement and the latest bills out so that she could work with Ken Wallers to close the accounts. When that was finished, she gathered all of his unused office supplies into a box, filled it, labeled it and set it outside the office door. Finally, she pulled paintings off the wall and stacked them on the floor. There were a few knick knacks and candles around that she set on the desk.

  "I'm going to wander around the rest of the house, boys. When Andy comes back in, tell her what's going on. You can set any other books you find like these two on the desk."

  She walked into the main room and saw that boxes were beginning to fill the lawn outside. Henry's truck was parked on the lawn and several of the boys were filling the bed with junk. Polly moved around the room, lifting paintings down to the floor. She went into the bedroom and found several more and carried them into the living room, stacking them all together.

  "How are we doing, Polly?" Henry asked as he entered the front door.

  "I think we're doing great. We've had some good help today."

  "My truck is full and I'm going to run this load to the dump. I should be back in about forty-five minutes. Will you still be here?"

  "Thanks," she said. "Yeah. I think I'll still be here. Hopefully most everything will be done by then, though."

  "See you in a bit," he said and left.

  "Yeah," she muttered, "see you."

  She turned back to the hallway, walking toward the kitchen. She was surprised to see that it had been cleared out completely and heard voices coming up from the basement. Polly followed the sound of the voices and found Andy down there with several young people.

  "He collected weird junk, Polly," Andy said. "This looks like an old carburetor and I know that this is part of a flue from an old coal stove." She turned on the kids who were standing there. "Don't you dare ask me how I know that either. I'm not that old."

  They laughed and one of them took it out of her hand.

  "I think we'll box this up and take it out to the Homer Brothers junkyard. Brandon here says he goes out there all the time with his brother to get parts for his brother's truck. He'll take it for us."

  "That sounds great. So, there's nothing interesting down here?"

  "All of this stuff was tossed around, so if they found anything interesting, they took it," Andy responded.

  "Have you been in the garage?"

  "There's an old mower and a nice snowblower out there. I found a tent and a bunch of camping supplies," said one of the kids. "You should totally put that stuff up for sale. It would go really fast. So would the furniture."

  "That's a good idea," Polly said. "A one day, take it all sale. Maybe we could donate the money to the library for their computer lab. What do you think about that?"

  The kid shrugged, "Their computers suck. Anything would be an upgrade."

  "I'll call Ken Wallers and if he says it's okay, we might do that next weekend. Maybe you should drag all the stuff that can be sold into the garage."

  "If that's what you're doing with the furniture and household things, we're pretty close to done," Andy said.

  "Great. I'll go back into the office and help Jason and Andrew finish up and we'll be out of here. Remember, food at Sycamore House."

  Doug Randall came down the steps, "Did I hear someone talking about food?"

  "But, don't you think it's a bit early?"

  "What if you bought pizza for us on Friday night instead of tonight," he said.

  The kids in the room nodded their heads. "That would totally work."

  One of the girls piped up, "Mom thinks I should be home anyway. She says I've been gone too much this week and I need to clean my room. Seriously, why does she care? It's not like anyone is ever in there but me. If she goes in there, it's only to nag me about cleaning it."

  "Kelly, if you clean your room it makes her happy. If she's happy she lets you go out and do things." Doug popped himself in the forehead. "I don't understand why it is so hard to figure this out."

  Andy gestured at the junk in the basement, "Let's get this upstairs and we can call this part of the house finished."

  Polly ran up the steps and made her way back into the office. Jason and Andrew had found another book and placed it on the desk.

  "Did you open this?" she asked.

  "Yeah. We peeked. There's more money in there," Jason said.

  "How close are you to being finished?"

  "We've gone through every book except what's in this box," he said, pointing to a box Andy had taped shut. "We were just getting to it."

  Andrew ripped the tape off and opened the box. "Whoa," he said, "The mother lode."

  "What?" Polly asked.

  "Check this out!" he exclaimed.

  She looked down and chuckled to herself. His idea of the mother lode was a series of Time Life books about ancient civilizations. She had the same set in one of her boxes at the storage unit in Story City. It had seemed like such a great idea, but after the first book arrived and she had spent time looking through it, with the arrival of each new book, she simply unwrapped them and placed them on the shelf.

  "Would you like to keep this set of books, Andrew?"

  "Wow, could I?" he said.

  "I tell you what. We'll take them back to my place and then we'll ask your mom about them. If she doesn't want to store them in your apartment, you can keep them on my bookshelves. They're yours, though, not mine. Okay?"

  "Thank you! Mom will let me have them, won't she, Jase?" he asked.

  "You already have a million books. Where are you going to put them?"

  "Well, we could move some of your junk off the shelves."

  "Hey. That’s not junk, it's important stuff."

  "Really, boys. We'll talk to Sylvie and if she says yes, they go to your apartment. If it stresses her out at all, they come to my place. It's not like you aren't there all the time anyway, right?"

  "Right!" Andrew said. He picked up the book on Egyptian Pharaohs and sat down again.

  "See?" Jason said. "Useless."

  Polly laughed. "Let's finish this box and then we'll head back to my place."

  They didn't find any more books that contained currency or articles, so she repacked the box. The only thing in it other than the series of books was a hard copy of a world atlas. The maps were beautifully printed and she figured Andrew would enjoy that as much as the books, so she tucked it in and flapped the box shut.

  Polly dropped the last travel guide into the small box with the other items they'd recovered and shut it as well.

  "Andrew, would you carry this box out to the truck and put it in the back seat?” she asked. "You can hang there for a few minutes while I close things up here. Jason, can you get this box?"

  "Sure, Polly. I've got it." he said.

  The two boys left and she gathered up the folders filled with items she wanted to spend more time with. She flipped the light off and walked into the main room. The two cars out front had gone and Doug and Billy were talking to Andy on the front lawn.

  "Is everyone done in here?" she called out.

  "I think so," Andy replied.

  "Cool." Polly closed the door behind her and joined them.

  "Doug, your friends were a great help today. You know that means I owe you all a lot now."

  "Oh, we figure it's payback, but as long as you want to feel that way, we'll keep using the computer room. We love it there."

  Polly smiled. "That's great then. I'm glad you're using it."

  She reached in and hugged Andy, "I couldn’t have done this without you today. I didn't even think about packing paper. You're so organized. This wouldn't have happened if I'd been in charge."

  "It went faster than I expected," Andy acknowledged. "But, I don't think he had as much stuff as I
thought he would."

  "He hasn't been here that long," Polly said. "If you move around a lot, you don't have time to accumulate much."

  "It's a pity they damaged so much of the house when those thieves were tearing through here. It's a cute little place for a single person. I'm glad I don't have to fix it up."

  "Hopefully the owner has insurance and once we get everything out he can gut it and fix it," Polly said.

  "Maybe we should rent it," Billy said to Doug. "We could totally live in a place like this if it was all fixed up."

  "Dude! That's a great idea! We could have great parties here too."

  Billy looked sideways at Polly. "He didn't mean anything by that. Don't tell our moms."

  She laughed. "I wouldn't tell your moms anything anyway. But, do me a favor. Don't be renting anything anywhere for a while, okay? Give me a couple of months. I might have something even better for you."

  Doug wrinkled his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

  "Seriously," she said. "But, I don't want to talk about it until I know for sure that it's going to work out. Do you think you can wait two or three months?"

  Doug shrugged, "I've waited this long and hadn't even thought about when I was going to move out. I think I can wait three more months. But, seriously?"

  "Seriously," she laughed.

  "High five!" Billy said and the two boys jumped in the air, bumping their chests and clapping their hands together.

  "We'll see you later! Remember, Polly. You're serious. Right?" Doug said.

  "Right," she acknowledged and watched as they got in his car and backed out, then drove away.

  "Thanks again, Andy," she said. "You were a lifesaver today."

  "No problem. Do you want help with the sale this weekend?"

  "You know I do. I might make Lydia help us out with that too."

  Andy got in her car and Polly walked over to her truck. She pulled her phone out and texted Henry. "We're done. If you want pizza you can come to my apartment. The boys and I are headed there now."

  Polly pulled into the parking lot at Sycamore House and saw that Henry's truck was already there. He met her as she opened her door, "Surprise!" he said. "I was driving into town when you texted, so I just came here. Can I help with anything?"

  Andrew smirked from the back seat. "He can carry this."

  Everyone laughed and Polly took it out of his hand, "It appears we have a little bit more mystery surrounding Harry Bern."

  "Really!" Henry replied. "I can't wait to hear about it."

  He watched Jason pull the box of books out of the front seat. "I can get that, Jason," he said.

  "I got it," Jason assured him.

  Henry looked at Polly and she shrugged. "Alright then, I'm feeling a little useless," he said. "Should I go get pizza?"

  "Nah, it's only four thirty," Polly said. "Come on up and we'll show you our treasures."

  "I got some great books," Andrew said. "You're gonna love 'em!"

  They went up the steps and by the second level, Henry took the box from Jason who was struggling a bit.

  "I've got it," he said and then dropped his arms as he felt the weight. "Jason, these are heavy. You should have said something, but good for you!"

  "They weren't that bad until the steps," Jason said.

  "Well, I'll get them in the apartment. There must be bricks in here."

  "Just my books. Polly says I can keep them here if Mom won't let me bring them home."

  "Well, Polly has plenty of room for books. I made sure of that," Henry smiled.

  When they got into the apartment, he put the box on the coffee table and Andrew pulled the flaps open. "Look at these," he exclaimed.

  "Those look great, Andrew. You'll have fun with them." Henry turned to Polly. "I think I had a set of those at one time."

  "Me too!" she said. "Mine are in a box somewhere. Did you ever read them?"

  "Just the first one," he laughed, "but it would be great if Andrew could enjoy them. So, what do you have in there?" Henry pointed at her box.

  "Come on over and see," she said.

  Polly, Jason and Henry sat down at the dining room table and she began pulling items out of the box. Jason gathered the US currency into a stack in front of him and began counting. Henry sorted through the foreign currency. Polly put her hand over her mouth as she read the words in English.

  "That's Iraqi," she said.

  "And that's Hussein." Henry pointed at the picture on the currency.

  Jason was ignoring them and then looked up, "There are forty-three of these," he said. Polly picked one up and looked at the date on the bill. Nineteen eighty-nine. She looked at two others. They were from nineteen ninety-one.

  "This is strange, Henry."

  "What's strange, Polly?" Andrew asked. He was carrying one of the books and set it down beside her as he took a seat at the table. Polly glanced at the opened book and stopped breathing.

  "What's strange, Polly?" Henry asked again.

  "This," and she pointed to a picture on the page. "This is strange."

  Everyone looked at her.

  "What's going on Polly?" Henry asked.

  "Remember what I talked to you about last night?"

  "Yes. Why?"

  "Look at this picture. See that image in the left there?"

  "Okay."

  "It's the same image on that thing."

  Henry pulled the book closer and looked at it again, then he shut the book and read the title out loud, "Ancient Mesopotamia."

  "Polly," he said.

  "I know. Now what do I do?" she asked.

  Then, she started scrabbling through the other items that had been hidden in the books. There were a few pictures and some newspaper articles. She set them out in front of her.

  The articles were about a few soldiers who had been arrested for stealing antiquities from Saddam Hussein's palace. Other articles talked about how many of the museums in Iraq had been looted. She pushed those over in front of Henry.

  "What in the hell?" she asked, then clamped her hand over her mouth when she realized the boys were watching her. "Sorry."

  "It's okay, Mom has said a lot worse," Jason assured her.

  "Polly, I think you need to call Aaron right now. If this is what you think it is, he needs to know."

  "They're over in Dayton. Do you think that I should bother him?"

  "Do you have Ken Wallers' number?"

  "Yeah. In fact, I think this is his case instead of Aaron's. They were talking about it at the restaurant last week."

  Polly pulled out her phone and scrolled through her calls, landed on the right one and pressed the send key.

  "Polly Giller, I don’t know if you should consider it an honor that you are now a contact in my phone. Please tell me you don't have a body."

  "No, I call Aaron with those, but I think I need you to come over to my place if you have time."

  "What's up today, Polly? I was enjoying a nice relaxing afternoon."

  "Well, I found something in my barn and I found something in some books at Harry Bern's house and you might want to know about those things. But, if you want to wait until tomorrow, that will be fine."

  "You're a cruel woman, Polly Giller. Let me get changed and I'll be over. Do I need to bring anyone with me?"

  "I don't think so. None of this is particularly heavy, but then again, there's a lot of money involved."

  "Money?" he asked. "Never mind. I'll be there soon."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  As they all sat at Polly's table waiting for the police chief to come over, Polly’s mind began whirring.

  Suddenly she jumped up and said, "I'm going to the barn to get the vase. That way it will be here when Ken arrives." She opened a cupboard in the kitchen and grabbed a large brown paper shopping bag with handles, then dug around in a drawer and came up with several towels.

  "I'll be back in a few minutes," she said, heading for the front door.

  "Do you want any help?" Henry asked.

&nbs
p; "No, it's nothing. Stay here and wait for Ken. There are ice cream treats in the freezer from last night. Have one and we'll get supper after he leaves."

  She headed out to the barn. When she opened the door, she ran back to the feed room and up the ladder to the haymow and began digging for the vase. It was exactly where she'd left it. She drew it out and looked at the designs. Now that she knew what she was looking at, it was obvious that it had come from an ancient Mideast civilization. She wrapped it in the towels and gently set it in the bag, then wrapped her hand around the handles and headed for the ladder. As long as she didn't drop it, she'd be set.

  Polly clambered back down the ladder and took a breath. Now, to get this into Ken Wallers' hands. She should have called him when she found it, but honestly, until today, she hadn't been ready to accuse Eliseo of stealing something like this. However, with all the information she had, it looked as if Harry had been the one to hide the vase in her hayloft. Eliseo probably hadn't even realized it was there. Surely if he'd known there was this much cash lying around, he wouldn't be working for her.

  She turned the corner into the alley of the barn and stopped at the sight of two strange men approaching her.

  "Who are you?" she asked. "Can I help you?"

  "What do you have in that bag, miss?"

  "Nothing. Just some things to take back up to the house. Who are you and why are you in my barn? This is private property."

  "We're some old friends of Harry Bern. He didn't have what we were looking for and might have met with a little mishap when he wouldn't tell us where it was. After a little investigating we discovered his last job was working here for you. Did Harry hide something up in your hay loft?"

  "I don't know what you're talking about," Polly said, "but I do know you shouldn't be here."

  "No, miss. You're the one who shouldn't be here. We saw you at Harry's house today and we saw you take a couple of boxes away. Did you find something there, too? Maybe we should go up and grab up those two little boys who were with you. They might tell us where to find what belongs to us."

  They continued to slowly walk toward her and Polly found herself backing into the feed room. She knew better than this. Every badly scripted chase scene had the poor, benighted victim backed into a small room. Well, at least she knew she wasn't going to go up the ladder. She couldn't understand why movie directors always sent people up to the roof or up the steps. There was never going to be a good end to that situation.