Land Sakes

by Margaret A. Graham

  After all we’d been through, I felt like the prodigal son, once lost, now found. “They sound historical, Nancy.”

  “They are! I tell you, we’ve been so worried about you, Miss E. We couldn’t do anything but stay glued to the TV, watching the news and praying. Where are you? Are you okay? How’s Barbara’s mother?”

  “We’re fine. We’re in a motel in Juneau, and Percival is taking care of us. Nancy, we’ve been through quite an ordeal, but the Lord was with us all the way—tell the women their prayers have been answered. Tell Barbara I’d put her mother on the phone but she’s in taking a bath. Maybe she’ll call later, but right now we’re trying to get ready to meet with law enforcement officers. They’re coming to ask us a lot of questions. When things quiet down, maybe I can fill you in on the details. As soon as we can, we’ll leave Juneau and head for home. I’ll keep in touch.”

  “Oh, Miss E., don’t hang up. Give me your phone number. Even before all this happened, the Priscilla Home board was trying to get in touch with you. And your friends Beatrice and Carl have been calling here trying to find out anything they could. Beatrice said that if we heard from you to tell you they’re camping in Seattle and will stay there until they hear from you. She said Carl bought a cell phone just so you can call them. Here’s the number,” and she gave it to me.

  Well, at last, I said to myself. Beatrice has got a phone. “Nancy, call Beatrice and tell her I’m okay. I gotta go. Here’s the number of the motel and our suite number.” I spelled it out for her. “You got that?” She had it. “Now, don’t give out that number to anybody you don’t know. Reporters and cameramen are all over Juneau looking for us. We had to register under phony names in this motel, and we aren’t allowed to leave our rooms until the law tells us we can. When you call, ask for our suite number. If that don’t work, just ask for the Smith sisters.”

  “The Smith sisters?”

  “That’s right—Mary, Martha, and Magdalene.” She laughed. “What a hoot!”

  “Okay, I’ve got to go. Give my love to everybody and thank them for praying for us. Be sure to call Albert and Lenora and anybody else who’s been anxious.”

  When I hung up the phone, I tucked Beatrice’s number under the lamp for safekeeping. I would call her later.

  I grabbed a robe and dashed in the bathroom to take my bath. As I stripped off those wet clothes, I wanted to chuck them for good, but my better judgment told me to hang on to them in case I needed them later. The apron with the jewels was soaking wet, but it had held up good. I needed to rinse it out and hang it up to dry. I hurried back in my room and put the jewels in a pillowcase.

  There wasn’t time for anything more than a quick shower, but I had to take the time to wash my hair. I had just started blow-drying it when the phone rang. I went in to answer it.

  It was Chief Kline. The ABI investigators were with him, and he wanted to know if they could come up. I near about panicked! None of us were fit to be seen barefooted in bathrobes, and with wet hair to boot. I tried to put him off. “Chief, we’re not presentable. We’re also exhausted and haven’t had a bite to eat. Can’t this wait?”

  Of course, I should have known the answer. “No, this is urgent,” he said. “Tell you what I’ll do; I’ll check into this restaurant they have here and bring you takeout dinners.”

  “Thanks, Chief, but I think a better idea would be for us to order room service while you men stay in the restaurant and have a cup of coffee or something. Give us about an hour and maybe—”

  “Well, I don’t know about that. Let me ask Rollins. Hang on.”

  I turned to Winnie. “It’s Chief Kline. He wants to bring the ABI up here to question us.”

  When he came back on the phone, he said they’d give us half an hour.

  Did I ever fly into action! “Winnie, you heard what I said—I told him we weren’t ready, but all he said was they’d give us thirty minutes!”

  She was combing her wet hair and trying to get out the tangles. “They can’t come up here. We haven’t got on any clothes.”

  “They’re the law, Winnie, and they’re coming.” I walked in her bathroom. “What’s more important than anything—we got to get our heads together. They’ll be asking every question under the sun, and we have gotta make sure we say the right thing. The way we answer can make a big difference.”

  “We’ll just have to do the best we can, won’t we, Esmeralda?”

  “No, listen. If we don’t handle this right, they could very well decide Daisy is a suspect—that she was in on the whole thing—and arrest her. What we have to do is convince them that Daisy was not in on it—that those creeps tried to use her but failed. We have to make them understand how she could have saved herself if she’d been willing to leave us stranded, but she didn’t, and how she helped us escape. Daisy deserves all that reward money, but she won’t get it if we don’t stick up for her. You know how things like that go.”

  “Okay, Esmeralda. You do the talking, and I’ll back you up.”

  I called Daisy, and she came to our suite. In that white terry cloth robe and all nice and clean, Daisy looked downright cuddly. “Daisy, I got to dry my hair. Winnie will tell you what’s up.”

  Somebody was at the door. I glanced at my watch; our thirty minutes were not up.

  Daisy called in to me, “It’s Percival.”

  I went in the living room, and there stood Percival holding an armload of clothes, a couple of big plastic bags full of who knows what, and a smaller bag. “This is the best I could do,” he said and opened the smaller bag. “I went by a drugstore and got some makeup and toiletries.” He handed Winnie a pair of sunglasses. “There’s a big exclusive department store in town, but it was closed. I had to go to the Salvation Army for these things. The lady in charge looked through several racks of clothes trying to find your sizes but finally decided on three jumpsuits that should fit you.”

  He laid the beige jumpsuits on the couch and handed me one of the big bags. In it were some underthings and sleepwear.

  “I told the lady at the Salvation Army that I didn’t know how to shop for ladies ready-to-wear but that as soon as the stores opened tomorrow I would have to buy whatever else you needed. She was so nice; she offered to go with me. In the morning I’ll come by to get your list of what you need, your shoe sizes and everything else.

  “Now, I’ve got to get out of here. I saw Chief Kline downstairs with the ABI agents. He said they’re waiting to question you. Want me to go down and tell them you need a little more time to get dressed?”

  “Oh, thank you, Percival,” Winnie said. “Thank you, thank you! I don’t know what we would have done without you.”

  He looked plum worn out, so I told him, “Now, Percival, you have a nice dinner and then take it easy, get a good night’s rest. If we need you, we’ll call you.”

  “Miss Esmeralda, I haven’t heard your story yet. If Chief Kline will let me, I’ll come up and listen while you go over everything with them.”

  After he left we got dressed as best we could. Sorting out the underwear, we found a set for each of us. There was not much fit to the jumpsuits, which was a good thing; loose as they were they covered all our bulges. All the bedroom slippers were alike—blue mule type.

  Once we got dressed and had our hair combed, we three stood before the bathroom mirror looking at ourselves. “You know what?” I said. “If we had parachutes we could join the 82nd Airborne!”

  There was a knock at the door; I went to answer it. Percival was standing there with Chief Kline and two men. I let them in.

  Before they sat down, the chief introduced the two inspectors from the ABI, Dixon and Rollins, who looked for all the world like J. Edgar Hoover G-men: dark suits, shirts and ties, and shoes polished to a patent-leather shine.

  Then we all sat down—we three women on the couch, with the three officers and Percival sitting across from us on chairs.

  “Ladies,” the chief began, “we have good news for you. Inspector Rollins wi
ll explain.”

  Rollins cleared his throat. “About an hour ago the ABI received word that two suspects have been arrested and are now in custody. Seattle authorities made the arrests when the suspects attempted to pick up the ransom money. Arrangements had been made for the ransom to be delivered to an abandoned barn in a field outside the city. Officers had the barn under surveillance when the suspects arrived. One suspect remained in the vehicle with the motor running while the other one went inside the barn. As the suspect was coming out of the barn with the briefcase containing the ransom money, officers arrested him and the one in the car at the same time. They offered no resistance.”

  They had to be Pee-Wee and Tony, I thought.

  “In the interest of justice,” the chief said, “we’ve got to find all the evidence we can to convict these criminals when they go to trial. Your positive identification is, of course, vital to this case, but we need to know all the details concerning your abduction and any additional information you can give us that will aid the prosecution.”

  He placed a tape recorder on the coffee table, and the ABI men took tablets and pens from their pockets.

  The room fell silent.

  Rollins cleared his throat again. “Perhaps, Miss Esmeralda, you should begin. Just start at the beginning and tell us where and how you were abducted.”

  Well, I did start at the beginning and did the best I could. But when the story came to our being held hostage in Daisy’s house, I had to make sure Daisy was not incriminated. I asked Daisy to tell them how she got involved.

  Of course, that brought up Willie. They didn’t know about him, and this bit of information put the ABI agents on the edge of their seats, scribbling like crazy.

  “Well,” Daisy said, “that Willie, he don’t lack much of being feebleminded. He knows right from wrong, everybody does, but the trouble is, what he thinks is right is mostly wrong. In this case, he got drawed in by thinking gettin’ a thousand dollars was right. In his mind, anything go against that—anything come between him and gettin’ that money had to be wrong. We couldn’t talk no sense into him. He’s what you might call a blockhead.”

  Officer Dixon pressed her. “But you went along with Willie, didn’t you? You expected to get some of that thousand dollars, didn’t you?”

  I jumped right in. “No, sir, she didn’t!” I said. “She was one with us from the day we set foot in her place.”

  Then between Winnie and me, we told them the whole story about Daisy saving our lives.

  “Now,” I said, “the third man we told you about, the one who piloted the helicopter, he’s still on the Amsterdam. I don’t know as you can call a stupid man a mastermind, but, be that as it may, Alphonso Pasquali strikes me as being the leader. I’d say them other two, Tony and Pee-Wee, went along with anything he said and carried out his orders.”

  “Excuse me,” Officer Rollins said and flipped open his cell phone.

  His call must have been to ABI headquarters, because he told them to get warrants for the arrest of Alphonso Pasquali and Willie Miller.

  “Now, mind you,” Daisy said, “Willie is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He won’t think nothin’ much about gettin’ arrested, but he will make hisself sick thinkin’ about that money he ain’t gonna get.”

  Winnie spoke up. “Speaking of money, Chief Kline, you tell the authorities Daisy here deserves both of those rewards. She’s told you more than you knew about Willie and those other two, Tony and Pee-Wee. But more important to Esmeralda and me is the fact that she made it possible for us to escape. I have no doubt Daisy saved our lives.”

  “Yes, thank you, Mrs. Winchester, we’ll pass on that information,” the chief said.

  Rollins turned to Daisy. “Do you think Willie will still be at your place?”

  She grinned. “He can’t go no place. I disabled his motor—took out the spark plugs. Matter of fact,” she reached in her pocket and showed them the spark plugs, “they got wet and ruint.”

  “Does he have a gun?”

  “Not anymore. We turned his assault rifle over to Chief Kline.”

  “Are there any more guns in the house?”

  “There’s a no ’count, rusty Winchester rifle without no bullets.”

  He wrote all that down. “Now, tell me, how can we get to your house?”

  “If you know the way, you can fly over there by seaplane or helicopter, but the way I go is by boat. My boat’s right down here at the Auke Bay marina.”

  Rollins and Dixon walked over to the window to talk. When they came back, Rollins said, “All right, Mrs. LeGrande, what say Agent Dixon and I rent a boat in the morning and follow you back to your place?”

  “Fine with me.”

  “Then I guess this is all for now, ladies,” Rollins said. “Chief Kline will have your statements typed up and will bring them here sometime tomorrow for you to sign.”

  The three men stood up to leave.

  “How much longer must we stay here?” Winnie asked, so tired her voice broke.

  “Mrs. Winchester,” Robbins said, “we won’t hold you here any longer than is necessary. As soon as we’ve apprehended these other two conspirators, Chief Kline will notify you. However, when you are released, it will be vitally necessary that you keep us informed as to your whereabouts and that you be prepared to assist us further in this investigation if that becomes necessary.”

  He turned to Daisy. “Mrs. LeGrande, we’ll meet you at the marina first thing in the morning—no later than 9:00.”

  The three thanked us for our help and left in a hurry.

  Winnie sighed. “Percival, will you order dinner for us?”

  “Certainly, madam. What would you like?”

  “Anything—anything at all.” She was awful shaky trying to get up off the couch; he and I had to help her. “Percival, I need a drink.” Winnie was falling apart.

  34

  The next morning, Daisy came to our suite ready to meet the ABI agents at the marina. She was wearing the clothes she had on the day before, and although she had dried them overnight, her boots were still wet. I suggested she try using the blow-dryer on them, and she did that while we were waiting for room service to send up our breakfast.

  Winnie was still asleep, and we didn’t want to wake her. The ordeal we had been through had just about done her in.

  Room service sent up waffles and sausages, juice and coffee. “Daisy,” I said as we were eating, “I want to thank you again for helping us escape. I believe with all my heart that you saved our lives. You truly earned the reward money you’re going to get.”

  “You think I’ll get it? What if—”

  “No ‘what ifs’ about it. If need be, Winnie and I will see to it that you get it. What will you do with all that money?”

  “Ha! I’ll be on the next plane outta Juneau, get back to Mississippi as fast as I can. And as God is my witness, the next time I leave Mississippi I’ll be bound for the Promised Land.”

  “Daisy, are you sure you’re going to heaven?”

  “No. Is anybody sure?”

  “I am.” And I tried to explain to her how she could be sure too, but that didn’t seem to interest her. “Daisy, have you got a Bible?”

  “Had one back in Mississippi.”

  “Well, when you get back there, promise me you’ll read it.”

  “Okay, if you say so.”

  “You promise?”

  “I promise. When I get back, I will.”

  The TV was on without the sound so as not to wake Winnie, and we watched the pictures showing Chief Kline’s press conference. Then they showed a picture of Country Lane Inn, so I guess everybody knew where we were staying.

  Daisy finished eating, gulped down the last of her coffee, and got up from the table.

  “Wait a minute,” I said and went back to the telephone stand to write the address of Priscilla Home on a slip of paper. “Daisy, once you’re settled, would you send me your address? I don’t know where I’ll be, but I used to work a
t Priscilla Home and they’ll forward your letter to me.”

  “I ain’t much for writin’, but I like to get a letter once in a while. Say you’ll write me back?”

  “I promise I’ll write you as soon as I get your address.”

  We said our good-byes. “You take care of yourself, Daisy.”

  I watched her until she got on the elevator, then I closed the door. I felt a little sad about Daisy. Maybe she will read her Bible. Maybe she’ll write to me.

  With Winnie sleeping, there was nothing I had to do until the chief or Percival arrived, so I spent a little time going through my pocketbook and seeing what I could salvage. Anything plastic was still okay, but the Gospels of John and all the other stuff I had to throw away. I hung the bottomless pit on the showerhead, thinking it might dry, but I had my doubts.

  After that, I went in my room and sat down to read and pray.

  Winnie and I had eaten lunch before Percival came. As he came in the door with boxes and packages stacked one upon another, he looked about as frazzled as ever I had seen him. “They’re all out there now,” he told us. I took the pillows off the couch to make room for the packages.

  “Who?” Winnie asked.

  “The press. They’re all over the lobby—in the dining room—everywhere you look.”

  “How do you suppose they got wind of our being here?” she asked.

  “Maybe they followed Chief Kline to this motel yesterday, or maybe somebody working here got suspicious that the Smith Sisters were you two and tipped them off. I sneaked in by taking the freight elevator… Well, here’s what that Salvation Army lady and I bought.” He opened one of the boxes. Inside was a broad-brimmed hat for Winnie, which she put on her head. It looked like a perfect fit. “And here’s this,” he said, opening another box and pulling out an elegant pantsuit. The material was the kind that won’t wrinkle and packs easy. Winnie held it up to her, and we could see that it would fit her. To go with the pantsuit was a matching ocean blue cashmere coat with wide collar and deep pockets. It reached to the knees and was just what Winnie and I needed to hide our double-decker busts.