Gwen huffed and her mother gave her the stern look this time.
Mr. Singleton kept reading the papers. He nodded a few times. “I recognize some of these names – the Singleton family has had a presence in Vermont for many generations. Obviously not all of them stayed in Vermont. My brother and I did a genealogy search ourselves a few years back. It’s interesting what pops up. And frustrating when there’s a section you can’t follow.”
He chuckled and Mrs. Singleton shook her head. “They were like two dogs searching for some lost bone. And of course, they only focused on the Singleton side, not their mother’s side of the family.”
Mr. Singleton squeezed her hand. “So what happened? How did this end up a police matter?”
Dirk put his head in his hands. Gwen pouted and looked out the small window as if not interested. When no one answered, Gramps jumped in.
“As far as I can tell, Dirk tried to talk to Gwen to see if it was the same Singleton family, but Gwen blew him off. He followed her on the train up to Rutland – the same train my granddaughters were on. He again tried to talk to her, told her about the package, and she took it. She gave it to Tamar and then ran off. Not knowing what was in the package or who it truly belonged to is why we are here now.”
“Gwen, is that what happened?”
“Yes, don’t you get it? It’s a scam. I didn’t do anything wrong.” She went back to gazing out the window.
“Okay, so what was in the package?” Mr. Singleton’s tone was hostile this time.
“We don’t know…”
“You lost it? Now they can make up anything they want?” Turning to Tamar, she hissed, “Why couldn’t you just give it back to me? I’m the one who gave it to you.”
“Gwen, enough! Let the captain finish speaking.”
“As I started to say, we don’t know. We have determined it’s not any kind of contraband or explosives. I think we have established that ownership is with the Pritchards. Mr. Singleton, your daughter has made several accusations against Dirk in particular, but they still wished to open it with you present.”
Mr. Singleton looked around the room and shook his head in Gwen’s direction. “I’m game if you are. What are we waiting for?”
“Dad, you don’t know what’s in there!”
“You’re right, but we can’t pretend this doesn’t exist. We open it and deal with it, honey.”
The captain glanced around the conference room. Everyone, except Gwen, nodded. He opened the drawer to the cabinet along the wall, pulled out the package, and handed it to Mrs. Pritchard.
She looked back and forth between the package, the captain, and Mr. Singleton. The captain handed scissors to the older woman. “You’d best be careful as the contents might disintegrate when exposed to air.”
Very carefully, Mrs. Pritchard untied the string and peeled off the brown outer paper and placed it on the table. Beneath it was another layer of paper, and then a newspaper article. The paper was dated 1952 and the header read New Freeland Maryland News. The main story featured the opening of a bank. As she scanned the article, careful not to tear the paper, the captain yelled out the door to someone to bring the portable copier and page protectors.
“What does it say? Can you read it aloud?”
“I’ll try – some of the print, where the paper was folded – I can’t read. ‘Mayor Jefferson attended the official opening of the first bank in New Freeland today. The president of the bank, Logan Singleton, recently of New York, allowed Jefferson the honor of cutting the ribbon and opening the doors for the first time.’ It goes on to talk about how wonderful the bank will be for the growth of the town.”
Mrs. Pritchard had all their attention, even Gwen’s. Two officers came in with a portable copy machine, and with extreme care they placed the newspaper to copy the article and the date. The original was then placed in a page protector.
With a nod from Captain Jameson, Mrs. Pritchard examined the remaining articles in the package. Under the newspaper was another layer of tissue and then a piece of some plastic-type substance, a photo, more plastic-like layers, another photo, and another plastic layer. Mrs. Pritchard picked up the first photo by the plastic and grimaced. The plastic like substance was thick and warped; the picture was grainy.
“It’s a picture of three people, but I don’t recognize them at all.” She carefully handed the plastic photo sandwich to Gramps who then handed it to the Singletons.
“Oh, my gosh. Greyson, isn’t that the same picture as one in your grandma’s scrapbook?”
Greyson nodded and looked to Mrs. Pritchard.
“I think you should keep that one.” An officer took the photo and made a copy and then sealed it in a plastic bag, complete with the plastic layers.
Mrs. Pritchard squinted at the next plastic photo sandwich and gasped. The photo was of a bride and groom. She picked up and passed that one to the Singletons. The only remaining thing in the package was the wedding announcement for James Pritchard to Gwendolyn Singleton, daughter of Logan Singleton. The officer copied each piece and placed each in a sealed bag to limit exposure to the air.
Greyson nodded. “My brother and I found the line with Logan. He had three daughters, Priscilla, Amelia, and Gwendolyn. We never could follow that line as the Singleton was no longer present – it dropped when they married, if they married.” He looked to his daughter and added, “That’s where your name came from – the youngest of the missing daughters of Logan Singleton.”
“So it seems some of the Singleton brothers moved south and one of their daughters married my grandfather Pritchard? Would that be correct?”
“Yes, ma’am. Logan Singleton was very successful, a good businessman from what we could determine; however, we had no knowledge of relatives in New Freeland. Did you find anything else related to the other two daughters by any chance?”
“I’m afraid not. As you can see from the last version of the family tree, we did think Gwendolyn had two sisters. We had just uncovered that – or Dirk had – when your daughter’s picture was in the paper.”
“Amazing. And fascinating.” He looked at his wife. “I wonder if Greg would want to take a road trip down to New Freeland. There may be more records and maybe some information on Gwen’s sisters.”
He shifted his attention back to the group. “Greg and I talked about trying to gather up as many of the family – not exactly a reunion as most of the people we identified are total strangers. We’ve had some communication via email and one of the ancestry sites. Somehow, we always focused close to home. New Freeland and even Maryland aren’t that far. ”
“And on the Singleton side, ignoring the females in the family – other than to repeat the names. How many Amelia’s are there Greyson?” Mrs. Singleton chuckled, but her point was made.
“I know, dear, I’m still in the dark ages.”
For a few minutes, no one said anything and the silence was awkward. Mrs. Pritchard broke the tension.
“I think you should keep these. If we can get a copy of the wedding one, I’d like those pieces.”
“That’s very gracious of you, but I think we can figure out how to make copies of all of these – Logan Singleton would have been your great-grandfather, too. I appreciate your willingness to share these snippets of our family history. I think too much gets lost. I know I’m archaic, but with everything now being stored on some cloud, I doubt future generations will find documents like this as elders pass away.”
Mrs. Pritchard nodded and Dirk patted her arm. She looked to Captain Jameson.
He cleared his throat. “My officers have duplicated everything as best as possible on this portable machine and the clippings, photos, and brown paper are in these sealed bags. I bet someone who does photo restoration could work wonders with these photos. So the question is, who will take care of that?”
“I think the originals should go to Mr. Singleton. We don’t have the resources to arrange for the restoration.”
“I’ll be glad to take
responsibility and get the restorations done, Mrs. Pritchard. If you give me your address, I’ll be sure to get you a copy when the work is done.”
She smiled and nodded in agreement. The captain handed her a piece of paper and she penned her name and address. He gave the sealed bags to Mr. Singleton and thanked everyone for coming.
As Gramps and the girls stood to leave, Mrs. Pritchard added, “Dirk and I want to thank you girls and Mr. Bertolet for helping with this matter, including dinner last night. I hope it hasn’t been too much of a burden.”
“No ma’am, no problem. Glad it all worked out and glad to have met you both and you too, Mr. and Mrs. Singleton.” The girls nodded. With a lot of hand shaking and a hug for Dirk, the Bertolets left the meeting and the girls were off to Killington.
CHAPTER 12 Skiing and Goodbyes
The drive to the ski resort was just long enough for the girls to share the mystery’s unfolding with the boys. They made a point of letting Dylan know that the plastic had nothing to do with a pregnancy test. He hadn’t shared that part of the story with Matt so they gave their version of Grands and Gramps reactions amidst much laughter.
The skiing was great, though crowded. As they waited in endless lift lines, Matt and Hannah chatted, with Dylan and Tamar usually right ahead or behind them.
After a quick bite at the Clubhouse, Matt pulled Hannah back as the other two headed for the lift line again. Hannah raised her eyebrows at him and he smiled. “I like Dylan and Tamar, but between double-dating and your mystery – we haven’t had much time alone.” He leaned over and kissed her. “I can’t do that with Tamar around.”
Hannah smiled. She’d thought the same thing earlier and was glad he felt the same way. The two of them found a cozy nook in the Clubhouse and chatted as they watched the skiers coming down the slopes. It wasn’t long before Tamar and Dylan found them though.
After a bit of teasing, Dylan commented, “I think Tamar and I are done for the day. Why don’t you two get one last run in and then we’ll head back.” Hannah caught the wink he gave Matt, and they were off to the lift line and one last ski run.
The ride back to Mill Creek seemed quicker than before and the friends talked of staying in touch. Christmas for the girls would be in Maryland with their maternal grandparents and family, but perhaps they could get in a ski weekend around President’s day or maybe spring break. Back at the house, there were hugs all around and promises to stay in touch, especially on the college stuff. Hannah hoped that somehow she and Matt would end up at the same school or at least not as far apart as they were now.
Grands and Marie prepared a big dinner for the last night in Mill Creek. In addition to leftovers, they’d cooked up sausage and added a fresh salad. Conversation at the table started with questions about the skiing, then quickly shifted to the mysterious package.
“Happy ending all in all. Singleton handled it well.” Gramps nodded as he shared his opinion.
“Sort of sad though. Dirk and his mom had to learn about their great-grandfather – or great-great-grandfather for Dirk – in a police station. Mr. Singleton was polite enough but that Gwen, she’s such a snob. It’s poetic justice that she’s named after the Singleton who married a Pritchard.”
“Now, Hannah. I agree with you, but skepticism is a good thing sometimes. I’m a little concerned that you girls were involved with this at all. Yes, Dirk ended up being a nice guy with good intentions. What if that hadn’t been the case?”
The girls’ parents exchanged glances and nodded. Tamar stared at her plate. Hannah opened her mouth to speak, but Gramps beat her to it.
“The girls didn’t do anything reckless. I’m proud of their inquisitive nature – probably got that gene from me, maybe from you too, Marie. They didn’t do anything reckless or stupid, son.”
“I know, I know. As their father, I get to worry if I want to. And I have a feeling this is just the beginning.” He sat back in his chair and sighed. He knew he was beat.
Everyone laughed at that.
Grands and the girls cooked up fluffy omelets for breakfast and then loaded up the car for the drive back to Rosewood Glen. As they stored the backpacks in the rear, Minxy jumped in on top and made herself comfortable. Gramps and Ron no sooner managed to get her out and Maxy was in the back seat. Gramps held on to Minxy while Ron lured Maxy out.
On the road, the long drive was broken up by bathroom breaks and lunch, with parents trading off at the wheel. Conversation replayed the mystery and college decisions. Their parents cautioned the girls not to go looking for mysteries and they concurred. Little did they know that one day Dirk would soon contact them to ask for their help with another mystery.
Authors’ Note
Dear Reader:
We hope you enjoyed meeting Hannah and Tamar and the other characters in this story. As teens – and even as adults – we both enjoyed Nancy Drew and the Dana Girls books. This is the first in what we hope will be a similar type of series – mystery without murder, graphic violence or sex, but with interesting conflicts in addition to the mystery to be resolved. As the series moves forward, some of the stories may be more about Tamar and others focusing more on Hannah.
In the newest of the Hannah and Tamar mysteries, Hannah’s high school service project draws her into another mystery. Mrs. Tedesco, an elderly widow who loves to bake, has just one simple request — that the teen retrieve her cookbook from her old house. But that’s easier said than done. The house has been ransacked and the coveted cookbook is nowhere to be found. Yet, there may be more to the cookbook than recipes. MRS. TEDESCO’S MISSING COOKBOOK can be ordered at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XZDR15K..
We’d love to hear from you – our readers! You can follow what’s happening with Hannah and Tamar on Facebook: Hannah and Tamar Mystery Series.
You can sign up for our newsletter to get information and updates on the Hannah and Tamar series here: http://smarturl.it/HTnewsletter
Christa Nardi & Cassidy Salem
About Christa Nardi
Christa Nardi is and always has been an avid reader. Her favorite authors have shifted from Carolyn Keene and Earl Stanley Gardner to more contemporary mystery/crime authors over time, but mystery/crime along with romance and scifi/fantasy are her preferred choices for leisure reading.
Christa has been a long time writer from poetry and short stories to the Cold Creek mystery series. Christa Nardi is a pen name for a real life professor/psychologist from the Northeast.
You can find Christa Nardi at:
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00G8SBCKK
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7257539.Christa_Nardi
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christa.nardi.5
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristaN7777
Email: [email protected]
Blog: Christa Reads and Writes (www.christanardi.blogspot.com), for spotlights and reviews – mostly mystery, but occasionally a romance slips in.
Other books by Christa Nardi:
Murder at Cold Creek College (Cold Creek #1)
Murder in the Arboretum (Cold Creek #2)
Murder at the Grill (Cold Creek #3)
Murder in the Theater (Cold Creek #4)
About Cassidy Salem
Cassidy Salem has always been an avid reader. She is especially fond of mysteries (both cozy and traditional) and police procedurals. Over the years, her favorite mystery authors have included Agatha Christie, Caroline Keene, Mary Higgins Clark, and Janet Evanovich. Cassidy also enjoys reading historical fiction focused on American and world history, as well as the classics.
When she’s not reading, she enjoys music and spending time with family and friends, and travels with her husband and son whenever possible. Her travels have taken her to destinations throughout the United States, Europe, and Scandinavia.
You can find Cassidy at:
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Cassidy-Salem/e/B00ROZERKI/
Goodreads: https://www.goodread
s.com/author/show/11923940.Cassidy_Salem
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSalem11
Email: [email protected]
Blog: https://cassidysalem.wordpress.com/
Other books by Cassidy Salem:
Think Murder (Adina Donati, Accidental Sleuth #1)
Dying for Data (Adina Donati, Accidental Sleuth #2)
The Mysterious Package (A Hannah and Tamar Mystery Book 1) Page 7