The Caine Plantation: The Next Quilt is Red

by Karine Green

  All of Lauren's shoes had an inside wear pattern. The ball wearing was different, and there were scuff marks on the toe where she props her feet on her toes when she sits at her desk. Kathy seriously doubted the shoes would match on any level.

  Jason nodded, and turned to Lauren. "Did you throw them away or donate them?" It was hard for him to stop himself from staring at Lauren's red quilt. He noticed Kathy snapping a photo of it, now that Lauren was facing away from her.

  Lauren paused, "I donated them. They weren't that worn, and since they are nearly indestructible it seemed a shame to put them in the trash, although I seriously considered it. I threw them in the donation bin outside the secondhand shop."

  "Did they give you a donation receipt?" he asked.

  Lauren shook her head, "It was less than $500, so I didn't even bother to ask."

  Convenient! Both Jason and Kathy thought at the same time, but Kathy was suspecting Lauren less and less. If Lauren was involved, she was involved as an accomplice, and that was a stretch since there was no way she and Randy knew each other. The main physical evidence simply did not match her. However, it was hard to ignore the fact that Lauren would greatly benefit from Kathy's death and she seemed to have an uncanny knack for showing up at the most opportune moments.

  "Those boots may still be at the store?" Jason said, but he sounded like he doubted that statement. Rocky Boots in decent condition would go fast at a second hand store, if they got passed the intake staff to the sales floor.

  Kathy paused as something occurred to her. "If someone bought the boots and has been wearing them around, the wear patterns would be combined. It would almost make it impossible to use as evidence...credible evidence. It would certainly make it difficult to pass the jury-sniff-test."

  Lauren couldn't stand it anymore, "Why are you doing this to me? Do you not think my law license was in enough peril without you trampling on it?"

  "The evidence led us here, not only that, but you have an obvious, vested interest in Ms. Marconi's death," Jason explained, "And on more than one level. Additionally, your license is in peril because you caused it to be. How did you even get the bank to let you close the sale of the house?"

  "Are we done? I need to call my attorney about you violating my rights. And if it means clearing me, I'll have him draw up a release. I don't want the house that bad! It was just a Hail Mary, since the other owners had such bad luck. And for your information, I am over you! You're a jerk! Get out! And don't take my Anne Kline's for a sample." She screamed at Jason, and pointed repeatedly at the door.

  Kathy nodded as Jason collected the sample shoes for comparison, and handed it to Kathy. She took them out to the car. She smiled, they were the Anne Kline's.

  Jason paused as he started to leave, "Enjoy your rented-garage home. And never forget what sort of person steals from children, and how the people of this town would feel about it. You sue, I'll just defend it by telling them why you would want to hurt me. Have the release faxed to my office for Kathy. And as a bonus, you'll never address me or Kathy again, unless it is a dire police matter. You have twenty-four hours. Do I make myself clear you crazy bitch?"

  "Bastard!" She threw one of her many shoes at him as the door shut.

  Kathy and Jason returned to the police station to turn in the sample shoes from Lauren.

  "Chief, you got a package from the state lab. Looks like some preliminary results from the Lawrence murder," Jason's desk Sergeant, Alan Saline, announced, pushing a small package toward him. He was an older man with a kind, grandfatherly look about him. "Oh, and the dark spot on the letter was some kind of poison. They said they are required to notify the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC emailed a packet for you to fill out. I printed it, and put it on your desk."

  "Thanks, Alan," Jason said, taking the package, and then turning to Kathy. "This is retired Detective Marconi."

  Alan smiled, "Ah, the kissy-rumor girl."

  "What?" Jason asked, annoyed? And then he remembered, he had kissed her publicly at the fish fry. Not only that, but Mike probably called Alan as soon as he got off the phone with Mom this morning. Didn't these folks have better things to do than stalk his love life! They were worse than Paparazzi.

  Kathy smiled and blushed.

  Alan smiled and shrugged, "Folks are just happy to see you happy."

  "Yeah, yeah, I need to call the CDC, and let them know this isn't a current murder. There is no need to send out an emergency HazMat truck, the stuff has been there for at least a hundred and sixty years, and it is contained, since they have the entire sample," Jason said heading into his office.

  "Nice to meet you." Kathy smiled at Alan, and followed Jason.

  "You too, Kathy."

  Kathy smiled. "This is indeed a small town. You hadn't offered my first name. It was just like with Louise, she had already known who I was. I even had a nick-name. I am not sure whether or not to be disturbed by this. Everyone seems to have me at a disadvantage."

  "They are just curious." Jason smiled as he looked at her, closing the door, and then setting the package on his desk.

  "Kissy-rumor girl?" Kathy said smiling. "I wanted to be the sampler of the Cajun Buffet Girl."

  Jason smiled, "That is very distracting from this package." He took out his utility knife and opened the package. He pulled out a letter and lab sheets. "The sharpening stone is new. The three arrowheads are period for the 1800's, but they have fresh sharpening marks on them. Which means we were right, the killer took the time to make sure to sharpen them up prior to killing Milton."

  He turned the page, "The weather and wearing are consistent with long term exposure to outdoor elements, and only the sharpening marks are fresh. They could be the ones missing from the museum. I need to go talk to them and get a final list. They need to confirm, or deny, the whip was among the items taken. I wonder who donated that damned thing anyway. Who would hold onto a thing like that?" He handed the report on the arrowheads to Kathy, and then picked up the CDC printouts

  "The whip was a replica. William supposedly buried the original one with Dark Lady." Kathy said moving to peek around his shoulder at the report.

  Jason nodded. "I still wonder who donated it. Someone would have had to have that thing made. The report says the leather from the whip is really old stuff. Maybe it isn't a period replica, just another nasty whip from the period that wasn't used on Dark Lady? Maybe it was the one used on William? The blood, of course, matches Lawrence. There are some corrupted areas though. Meaning it is possible there is someone else's blood on the arrow heads. I wonder if one of the Mathews' would be willing to give a sample for comparison, since we can't get one from Dark Lady. I know they claim this wasn't the same whip, but it would be nice to rule it out or in. Too bad there aren't any more Caine descendants to rule out William. I'll bet this is the one used on him."

  He set the report down, "Where would someone even find that whip? Who would manufacture such an evil thing? Just the research and development phase of that thing would have to be a sin. Can you imagine sitting in on that meeting, or the sales pitch?"

  Kathy nodded. The whole case was bizarre. She had never seen a case like this. "Perhaps we should compare the Lawrence case with others in the U.S.? Maybe it's time to consider a serial killer? Randy wouldn't even know where to find such a whip. He would have used his police baton, or a horse whip, something he could find easily, such as a gun; that he was trained to use. Burglary and research into ghost stories would take effort. He's a bit lazy."

  "Let's head over to the museum, and see if Sandy has a full list of missing stuff. I am betting the whip is from there. I would also like to know where they got it, and go back to the source and ask them some questions." Jason set down the CDC paperwork. He glanced at the small stack of theft reports on his desk. He picked up the report and passed it to Kathy. "There was only a partial list of stolen items, that didn't include the whip, but as mentioned the whipping post was on the list. The museum staff would perf
orm a full inventory, and provide an updated list, but I still have not received it. I know the whip was part of the display, but it was such a horrible mess that we couldn't pin point everything. It just wasn't possible." He checked his email. There was still nothing from the museum staff. Only the three photos of the quilt code were there. He glanced at Kathy's lower abdomen afraid to consider anything he saw last night in that locker.

  She smiled, "Let's go see if the list has been updated."

  "Definitely; gimme five minutes." He passed her the lab report on Marissa Caine. "You were right, that poison was Cyanide. They want us to fill out the details of the death and send a copy of the autopsy report." He picked up the packet Alan had printed out.

  "Let's call them. I have dealt with them before. They just want to make sure there is no chance for accidental exposure."

  Jason called and explained what the case was, and that the lab had the only evidence. "They want to send a lab technician to rule out any accidental contamination of other items around the area."

  "Yes," Kathy nodded, "Anytime."

  "Monday Morning...Oh, she is staying with me until then, at least. No one will be around to be exposed. There is some landscaping going on outside, but no one should be inside. We can go and lock the library door though...Alright, see you then. Meanwhile, I'll fill out the forms and scan and email them back. You got it, Good-Bye."

  He filled out the forms and sent them back.

  "Museum?" she asked.

  He smiled slyly at her, "First I have a Cajun Buffet for you," he said taking her by the waist and kissing her. She kissed him back and ran her fingernails down his back. "It's right this way."

  He led her across the street to a food truck parked by the entrance to the downtown park. "This place has the best Cajun-Approved gumbo around, or if you prefer, they have an excellent blackened fish sandwich with fresh sliced potato chips. I love the chips, they season them with Cajun seasoning so they are a bit spicy."

  "I think I'll try something new, the fish and chips." Kathy smiled.

  He really liked the way she looked at him, like she really wanted him, for him as a person.

  After lunch they headed to the smallest museum Kathy had ever seen. Jason spoke with the curator, Sandy, who was just finishing gathering up the final list. It was broken into two parts, vandalized items, and stolen items. The whip was on the stolen list. There had been over $720,000 in damage, and the loss of some irreplaceable and priceless artifacts could not have a value put on them.

  While Sandy and Jason discussed the burglary, Kathy walked over to a quilt display, and stared at the old faded, yellowing, red quilt. "This is a beautiful quilt," Kathy said calmly, pointing at the quilt, but she noticed a patch piece with the same fabric as the one from the Lawrence scene, only this one was much older.

  He stopped talking mid-sentence to Sandy, and walked over to stare at the red quilt. "Excuse me, Sandy, what happened to the purple quilt?"

  "It's there..." Sandy walked over and stared at the red quilt like it had slapped her. "Where did this come from?" She sounded panicked. "Nancy!" she ran off to the offices. "Where's Dark Lady's quilt!"

  While she checked, he turned his attention back to Kathy. "See that blank spot, right there next to the new whipping post?" he pointed to a conspicuously empty place.

  Kathy nodded, "That is where the arrowhead whip was, wasn't it?"

  He nodded, but Sandy was the one who spoke up, "Yes. We just had the glass on the side replaced. Even though this one was a replica, it was an important artifact in demonstrating the brutality of slavery, how far we have come, and how far there is to go in repairing racial relations." She handed an inventory list to Jason. "We have no record of having a red quilt. Our records, and photos display a purple one," she drew in a quivering breath. "So, we can add Dark Lady's beautiful purple quilt to the list."

  Jason nodded and added the purple one to the list.

  "Where did you get the replica of the whip?" Kathy asked, looking at the quilt patches, trying to find the white patch with the little rose buds.

  "Lauren Grayson, she said it belonged to her great-great grandfather Gerald Blanc."

  Jason was stunned. Everything about this case kept coming back around to Lauren!

  Kathy's eyes widened. "Lauren is a Blanc? As in, from the notorious Blanc family?"

  "Yes, one of many. The Blanc's if nothing else, were a very fertile family. Although, Lauren proved it with a blood test." She pointed to the empty spot where the whip was supposed to be. "Lauren said it was a horrible thing. She wanted it gone from her home. Replica or not, it was an important African American artifact. It was recently featured on one of those paranormal shows. They made a three thousand dollar donation to the museum's coffers for permission to use it in their show about Dark Lady and The Caine Plantation."

  "Was the museum featured in the credits on the show?" Kathy asked.

  "Of course. Our tour requests increased greatly after the show aired. It is the financial boost from that show last year that will carry us through this season, since we cannot open."

  "Excuse us a moment," Kathy pulled Jason closer, “Randy watched those shows religiously! All of them! But, how would he know I bought the Caine Plantation?" She sighed, and rolled her eyes, "Facebook. I have been uploading photos of my renovation progress on the house on Facebook. I really need to go over my list of so-called friends," she said, frowning.

  "I don't have a Facebook page." He shrugged. He certainly didn't want to reconnect with anyone from college.

  She took out her phone, and called her old Captain. "Captain, hello, it's Kathy."

  There was a pause. Jason watched her.

  "I am doing good sir...Brian, yes, I am doing well, Brian. I am worried about Randy. How is he doing? Has anyone seen him recently?"

  There was a long pause.

  "Well, I am glad he was able to get the job with the transit authority." She gave him a helpless look.

  After some more pleasantries they hung up.

  Jason stepped over to her, while Sandy gave her list one more look as she walked around to make sure nothing else was missing from under her nose. He leaned into Kathy, "Any news?"

  "Randy apparently is doing fine. Loves his new job with the transit authority in a neighboring city. Says he didn't realize how much he hated working in homicide until he didn't have to anymore. He also says he didn't realize how much he hated being married to Carrie until the bitch left."

  "So he isn't stalking you if he is showing up for work every day, in another state that is more than a two day drive away. What the Hell is going on?" he whispered, so Sandy couldn't hear him. Maybe she was right, it was time to consider a serial killer.

  She shrugged, and whispered back, "This isn't supernatural! Ridely the Whipper was not after me, because I now own the plantation!"

  He made a face. "A lack of a suspect, is not a reason to consider a ghost. Please tell me not you too." Although, Stable Boy's message, See you soon, Daddy, was still ringing loud in his ears.

  Sandy walked over, "I believe this is the whole list, Chief."

  He nodded, "Do you have a school section? I would be interested in texts used by school children?" He glanced at the red quilt. The note from Stable Boy said red meant death, purple was safety, and brown was a brewing storm. He and Kathy had been covered up with that brown quilt, by someone, or something! A storm was brewing, a red quilt was presented, and the safety of the purple one was gone.

  Sandy nodded, and led them over to another display. There was an old time lift-top school desk in the display with several school books stacked on the desk top. They were strapped together with a brown leather belt. The Shakespeare Reader wasn't among them.

  Sandy didn't notice the sigh of relief from both Kathy and Jason, as she explained the books and other educational items of the period. He thanked her for the updated list, and let her know that the whip and whipping post would not be returned anytime soon. But he would call the lab to let t
hem know they were historical artifacts, and to be as careful with them as they could be while still getting justice for Milton Lawrence.

  They drove back to Kathy's feeling very deflated. "We should go lock up the library, and grab a fresh bag for you to stay at my apartment? I could set up a Cajun Buffet that is personalized for you?"

  "I would like that." She smiled, and nodded. "One thing I know is that I don't want to be alone tonight, and a Cajun Buffet sounds perfect. We should get some sort of protection though. As rewarding as a baby sounds, I seriously wasn't planning on one this fall," she said, leaning over and kissing his neck, giving his thigh a squeeze.

  They went straight to the library and the reader was back in its place, all the books were. Kathy was sure she had left them out. She reached for it, but Jason blocked her.

  "You know, we probably shouldn't touch this stuff if the CDC is coming to look at it."

  "Oh, you're right."

  The entrance to the room filled with a black fog. Dark Lady appeared behind them. She had to get their attention somehow! She flew through Jason several times, leaving Kathy alone. He shivered, but didn't appear to be able to see her, and gave no other reaction to her whatsoever. Neither of them could see ghosts. It annoyed her to no end. This would be so much easier if she could simply talk to them!

  How did Stable Boy write! She used nearly all of her strength to pull one of the bulky legal books off the shelf. It landed on the floor with a thud. Both Kathy and Jason nearly jumped out of their skin.

  They walked over to the book, lying open on the floor, with blood red lettering imposed over the legal script.

  “You almost had the Angry One in your rifle sights, twice. The next quilt is red. I have frightened the Angry One away for now. Please do not leave the house! Please take care of the baby.

  Dark Lady”

  Kathy closed the book and stared at Jason, who was still staring at the book.