by K P Stafford
Charlie had discovered an old estate with the same pattern in the garden hedges. He and Jake would be going back to the area and flying a drone overhead. They all talked about going out there and walking the woods until they found the place, but the guys insisted they should investigate it from the air before anyone tried to make their way through all the underbrush. They swore each other to secrecy until they learned more. Whoever was after the Cryptex could also be looking for that old estate. Somehow it was tied to the Danforth family name, but Lexi wasn’t any closer to finding answers about that either.
As soon as she, Grams and Ms. Jensen had cleaned up their work area, she pulled out a picture she had taken at the mausoleum to show them the symbol. It was a long shot, but she hoped they could remember something from when they were children. Surely they had been to the cemetery and saw it, or perhaps the woods up at Hayden’s Ridge hadn’t been so thick back then, and they knew the old estate was there.
“I wanted to ask about this symbol that keeps showing up in our investigation. Can you tell me anything about it?”
Grams looked at the picture, but quickly turned away and started cleaning the counter she’d already wiped down. Ms. Jensen looked at the picture and practically did the same thing.
“You two know something and you need to tell me. I need to know why this symbol scares everyone, and more importantly, why it’s attached to my last name.”
Grams stopped what she was doing and looked at her. “Some things are better off buried.” She pointed to the picture. “That’s one of them.”
“But Grams, Shirley was killed because of this. We need to know why. Someone wants whatever is in that Cryptex and it all relates to this symbol. They may even kill again to get their hands on it. Keeping things buried is why all this is happening.”
The two women looked at each other. Grams put down the towel she was using to wipe the counters. “You’re right. We will do what we can to remember.”
Lexi left Crystal Scents with the intention of going to the library. Surely there were some old records left that had some information. She would need to keep it quiet . She couldn’t very well go in there and tell Mrs. Williams what she was looking for. The woman already didn’t like her and would think she was nuts. Mrs. Williams had gotten pretty protective over the old town files that were in the library.
On the way, she decided to stop and talk to Mavis Clark, the town Magistrate, instead. Something gave her a feeling she’d know more about this than the library. She was in charge of town records, and she was also very interested in real estate in the area. It’s possible she knew more than she let on. Lexi turned right at the corner to head to her office, instead of taking a left to go to the library.
Mavis and Lexi had never really gotten along. In fact, no one in town got along with Mavis very well. She liked to stir things up. She and Grams had had their share of rifts over the years. The biggest one was right after Lexi moved back home and a murder had occurred. Mavis liked to gouge old wounds. After that though, they came to a truce. They’d even become friends, in an odd way. Perhaps they decided it was time for the older locals to start sticking together.
When Lexi walked in the door, Mavis Clark looked up at her and smiled. A chill ran through Lexi’s body. Her smiles were always more cause for alarm than her snarls. Lexi reminded herself that was in the past. The woman was a lot nicer now. She pulled the picture out with reluctance, unsure if she wanted to share it with anyone else, plus it always bothered her when Ms. Clark was in a pleasant mood. In fact, she would have preferred her to be in a bad mood. It was easier to tell if she was hiding something.
“I hate to bother you,” Lexi said, as she walked up to her desk.
“Nonsense. You enjoy bothering people.” A smirk crossed her face. “But that’s why I like you. You remind me of me.”
“Oh? I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”
Mavis let out a hearty laugh. “I’m not either. What’s that in your hand?” She asked, pointing to the picture.
Lexi sucked in a deep breath, not really sure how to even ask about the matter, but she handed it over to her. “This symbol keeps showing up in our investigation.”
Mavis looked at the picture. Her brows pinched together.
“Since you have an interest in real estate, I wondered if you’d seen it before.”
She handed the picture back. “There’s a lot of people who think the past should stay hidden and buried.”
“Are you one of them?”
Mavis grabbed the mug off her desk before getting up and going to the coffee maker. She poured herself a cup, turned around and leaned against the counter. “I was,” she said before taking a sip from the cup. “But now, I’m not so sure it’s best to sweep things under the rug, especially the old secrets our grandparents wanted to hide.”
She returned to her chair.
“Do you know what those secrets are?”
“Only bits I remember from childhood. Shirley was always aware, and now she’s dead because of it.”
“How do you know her death is related.”
“Because she told me.”
“Excuse me?” Lexi’s mouth dropped open. “How could she tell you? She’s dead.”
Mavis frowned. “She gave me a warning, before she was murdered. I didn’t think much about it at the time, so I pretty much blew it off.”
Lexi reached into her bag and grabbed a picture of the Cryptex. “Have you ever seen this?”
Mavis glanced at the picture, a look of fear shot through her eyes. She took the picture and stared at it for a long time. “I haven’t seen this since I was a little girl. Where did you get it?”
“I can’t say. We’re looking into a lot of things.”
“Shirley had it, didn’t she?” Her voice trailed off, a faraway look on her face as she spoke the words.
The door opened and Lexi turned to see the retired postmaster, Dell Chimay, walk in.
Mavis quickly handed the picture back, almost shoving it into Lexi’s hands. “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”
“No problem.” Lexi stammered the words out. “I need to get back to the office. Thank you for your time.”
She turned towards Mr. Chimay and extended her hand, “I don’t think we’ve ever been properly introduced. I’m Velda’s granddaughter, Lexi.”
“Yes,” he said, as he held up a bandaged hand. “Pardon me if I don’t shake.”
“Oh my, what happened?”
“I had an accident. It’ll be fine.” He glanced around at Mavis. Lexi could tell he was anxious to speak with her, so she said her goodbyes. It was no secret that he and Mavis had some kind of real estate competition going on so she didn’t mind leaving. She wasn’t in the mood to listen to them argue over a piece of property. According to Grams, their discussions could get pretty heated.
18
As she left the Magistrate’s office her phone rang. It was Decatur Williams, from the library. Odd timing, she thought to herself. Apparently the librarian had been going through more old files and ran across some Lexi might find interesting. She had planned to stop by the library, so this was just the excuse she needed. On the way, she decided she’d just get the papers from Mrs. Williams and not push her luck asking to see any more files.
Back at the office, she grabbed a cup of coffee and started rummaging through the old town records that Mrs. Williams had given her. Most of them were practically useless. Lexi wondered why she thought they could be of help, but she found one page that was stuck between two other pages. It was literally stuck, causing her to almost miss it. She gently pulled one of the pages away from it. The ink had faded, and some of the words from the other pages had transposed themselves onto the page she wanted to read, but she could make out the distinct drawing on the page. The symbol from the Cryptex and the old mausoleum. She squinted to make out the words written beneath it, but only the name Danforth was legible enough.
Her eyes grew tired and strained, and so
me of the words looked to be in Latin or some strange language. She packed the pages into her bag and decided she’d stop to see Peyton on the way home. A fresh pair of eyes would be good.
Peyton never ceased to amaze her. She took the page and scanned it into her computer, increased the contrast and some other stuff, then printed out the result. A lot of the text was still garbled, but they could make out more of the words. The page was also full of symbols, which they didn’t understand. They looked like some of those Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Jake called to find out if Lexi had left the office for the day. She explained she was at the B&B with Peyton. He and Charlie were headed back to town, so it was the perfect opportunity for them to all meet up again. The girls started preparing some sandwiches so they could eat while sharing all the discoveries they’d found.
“How did it go?” Lexi asked as Jake kissed her on the cheek.
“Kinda strange, to be honest. Baxter was there.” He pulled something out of his pocket. “He actually helped guide the drone around to some interesting places. He even flew into a broken window of the house.”
“Really. Do you have footage of the inside?”
“No, we were afraid we’d lose the signal, but he came out with this and dropped it into my hand.” Jake said as he handed Lexi an old coin. “It has the same symbol and some others we haven’t seen before.”
She looked the coin over. “Oh my gosh. Mrs. Williams gave me a box of some old records today she had found in the backroom of the library. One of the pages has these same markings. Peyton enhanced it so we could have a printout.” She grabbed one of the printed sheets and handed it to Jake.
Charlie picked up one of the copies and looked it over. “If I’m not mistaken, these are Runes.”
“What?” Everyone asked in unison.
“Runes. They’re an alphabet. It’s been a long time since I’ve read up on that stuff, but now they’re used for divination, like tarot cards and other stuff.”
Peyton looked at the coin and the symbols on the page they’d printed out. “I don’t know if I like where this is going. Maybe our grandparents hid all of this stuff for a very good reason.”
Lexi looked at her. “I agree, but we have to get to the bottom of this. Whoever is after the Cryptex and the secrets from the past are willing to kill for it. If we can expose the secrets and get it all out in the open, it will put a stop to all this nonsense.”
“You’re right,” Peyton replied. “Let’s grab the sandwiches and then watch the video the guys made. Maybe we can figure out more of this puzzle.”
Charlie loaded the files onto the computer and everyone settled in. The place was overgrown, but there was quite a bit of open space too. Just like Jake said, Baxter swooped in and guided the drone through the trees and other areas. It was like he knew what the guys were trying to get a better look at. Smart bird.
At the end of the video, when the drone was flying back to the road so the guys could land it, a car on the side of the road was clearly visible. “I’ve seen that car.” Lexi said.
“Where?” Jake asked.
“It was recent. Oh wait! It was today. I went to see Mavis Clark and old man Chimay showed up. When I walked outside, that car was parked in front. It must belong to Dell Chimay.”
“Could that be a coincidence?” Peyton asked.
Lexi shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, but he also has a bandage on his hand. What if it’s a burn and he’s the one who started the fire at Shirley’s?”
Jake looked at Lexi. “You’re jumping to conclusions.”
“I am, but isn’t it strange that he not only showed up when I was trying to talk to Mavis, but before that he’d been in the same woods as you guys. And, it’s very close to that old estate?”
Peyton’s eyes grew wide. “He and Shirley had a thing going on not too long ago, too.”
Everyone looked at her. “What kind of thing?” Lexi asked.
“You know, a relationship thing. They were seeing each other.”
Lexi turned to Jake. “Still think I’m jumping to conclusions?”
“Yeah, but that’s a lot of coincidences, and I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“I need to let John know about all of this. We can talk to Mr. Chimay tomorrow. John tried today, but he missed him.”
Lexi gathered up all the pages and put them into a file folder. Charlie made her a copy of the video and saved it to a flash drive. For the first time since Shirley’s death, Lexi felt like they finally had a lead. She didn’t want to wait until morning to speak to John, so she called and asked him to meet her at Grams’ to show him all of the new evidence.
19
John and Lexi got an early start the following morning. He didn’t have the suspicions Lexi did, but he agreed with her that it was all too coincidental. Shirley and Dell did have a relationship recently. Grams had confirmed that it ended with some anger on both sides. Grams didn’t know if they’d ever discussed town secrets, or if the man even knew about the object Shirley had kept hidden all these years, but everyone agreed that if they were getting close, knowing Dell’s family were original town members, it could have come up.
“Perhaps he got greedy or something.” Grams said. “Thinking a hidden treasure exists can make people do awful things.”
“I know he lives a modest life, but wouldn’t his retirement from the postal service be a pretty good income?” Lexi asked.
John reminded the ladies how greed can affect people. They’d seen it right after Lexi moved back to Cryptic Cove and the manager at Hayden’s Ridge had been stealing people’s money.
John turned his truck down the long driveway. Dell Chimay was coming out of his workshop. He turned quickly and shut the large door. It looked suspicious to Lexi, but she didn’t say anything to John. Hopefully he caught it, too.
The questioning took a turn for the worst when the old man took offence at Lexi’s accusation. “You saw the bandage on my hand in Mavis Clark’s office and automatically assume I killed Shirley? You’ve got a lot of nerve, young lady. And your investigative reasoning is so far-fetched it’s not even funny. It don’t even deserve a response.”
John spoke up, “Now Dell, you have to admit your actions are a bit suspicious, like you’re trying to hide something. What’s in your workshop that you don’t want to talk about or you don’t want us to see?”
Dell shook his head. “It’s a special project, it’s a surprise. I’d appreciate it if you’d just drop it.”
“I can’t do that. You know it. I’m the town constable, and it’s my responsibility to check every lead. I came out here today giving you the benefit of the doubt, but after your attitude and your sneaky behavior, I have to wonder what’s going on.” John said.
“Do you have one of them confidential clauses like lawyer’s do?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if I show you what’s in my shop, will it stay a secret? Between us?”
“That depends on what you’re hiding and if it’s legal.”
“I ain’t hiding nothing, John. It’s just a special project, and I need it to stay a secret until I’m ready. I ain’t doing nothing illegal.”
“You’ll have to let me be the judge of that. If it’s not illegal, and it has nothing to do with our case, then I promise you, we’ll keep your secret.”
“What about her?” Dell barked out as he pointed to Lexi.
“She will keep your secret.”
“Okay then, but if word of this gets out, I’ll tell the whole town you railroaded me.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“Only because this is important to me.”
“Okay, just show me what’s so super secretive.”
Dell led John and Lexi into his shop. Along each wall was a wooden scene he’d cut out and painted. The work was beautiful. Lexi’s mouth gaped open as she looked at him, “It’s a Nativity scene.”
“Of course it’s a Nativity scene. I told you I wasn’t
no killer. We’ve been using the same scene at the courthouse for decades and I thought it was time to build a new one. I want to present it to the town at Thanksgiving, before we start putting out all the Christmas stuff.”
John looked at Dell. “I’m sorry we doubted you. This is a wonderful gesture and a beautiful gift for the town.”
Dell shuffled some dirt with the tip of his boot before looking back up at John. “I didn’t mean to be so rude about it. I know you have a job to do. We’re all in shock about Shirley, and we all miss her.”
“You and her had been seeing each other. So, you can see why we’d need to question you.”
“Yeah, but you could’ve come out here in a nicer way instead of just jumping to conclusions and making accusations.”
“And you could’ve been less defensive and suspicious acting.”
“Agreed.” Dell said as he reached out to shake John’s hand. “I hope you figure this out. It’s had me all upset. I’ve just poured myself into this project so I don’t sit around and think about it.”
“I understand.” John told him.
They left the Chimay farm with no more answers than they had before. Either the man was telling the truth, or he was using it all as a good coverup. Lexi told John she would check with the hospital to see when Dell was treated, if he was treated. Learning of his town project hadn’t completely marked him off the suspect list, but it did move him down a notch or two.
20
John dropped Lexi off at her vehicle, and she headed to the hardware store to check on Dell Chimay’s purchases. The man had a good alibi, there was no doubt about that, but they still had to follow up on his story.
Melvin Goode was a cheerful man, always had a kind word for everyone. For his age, he was in great shape and very spry. The years showed on his face, but it was a sweet face. Lexi thought of her grandfather whenever she ran into Melvin. They both had smiles that would light up a room, compassionate eyes and always a warm glow about them. At least that’s what she remembered of her grandfather, and that definitely described Melvin.
