Madison Johns - Agnes Barton 05 - Treasure in Tawas

by Madison Johns

  Kitty rolled up my hair quickly, and soon, El and I were under the hair dryers, each with a magazine in hand while our beauticians stepped away to wait on other clients. “If I were the treasure, where would I hide?” I asked El.

  “Not sure, but they sure sell enough jewelry as it is. Do you suppose it’s mixed in with it?”

  “Great idea, but even if we find it there, how on earth will we ever get it out of the salon without the cops being called? They might think we’re stealing if we just up and take it.”

  The beauticians returned before we could speculate much more. Our curlers were taken out, and with a quick squirt of hairspray, we were done. I paid at the counter, and then El and I began rummaging through the jewelry table. Most of the items were very fine costume jewelry pieces that had quite a sparkle to them. El picked up a white watch and tried it on, admiring the shiny face, but then tossed it back on the table. I began searching though the purses next.

  “Can I help you?” Ginny Coffin asked, coming over to the accessory tables.

  “Oh, no. We’re just looking.”

  “I see. It looked like you were searching for something.”

  I laughed. “Nope, I just need a purse with plenty of room.”

  “Here, let me help.”

  I jerked a purse away before she had a chance to touch it. “I’d really like to look without your help,” I said hastily.

  She put her hands up, almost in a defensive mode. “Not a problem, but the orange tags mean the purse is on sale for 60 percent off.”

  I smiled as she walked away, then went back to my search. I unzipped and unbuttoned pockets, but didn’t find much of interest. El reached underneath the table, and her eyes grew big. She then dumped the contents of her purse on the ground. She dropped down and grabbed something under the table and continued to pick up the contents of her purse. Ginny returned to help, and when we finished, we glided to the counter. I bought a pink purse just to throw her off our scent. El and I left just as Mel Pifton and the mysterious girl with the black hair entered. I waved and tried my best impression of a frown, trying to play it off like we hadn’t found a thing. From the look on his drawn face, though, he wasn’t a bit fooled, but we didn’t stick around long enough to give them a chance to say anything.

  El and I ran to the car, and once inside, panted to catch our breath. Then we burst into a fit of the giggles. We had so dodged the bullet once again. “What did you find this time, El?”

  She pulled out an emerald ring with a huge oval stone on a heavy gold band. “This looks antique, for sure.”

  “I still can’t believe we got out of there with it. We don’t have any time to delay. If we don’t work that map, and real quick, Mel and that woman will find the treasure before we do.”

  As I steered toward the exit of the drive, the Cat Lady roared into the lot, but I lit outta there, hoping she hadn’t seen us. The last thing I needed was to tangle with her.

  “Whew, that was close. I’m hungry. Why don’t you stop by KFC?” El suggested.

  “Well, it’s next on the map,” I told her, grinning at the coincidence.

  Chapter Twelve

  As we went into KFC, Mildred’s son, Timothy, practically ran us down in his haste to leave. His eyes widened when he saw us, but he kept on going.

  “What was that about?” asked El.

  I shrugged. “Beats me, but he sure seemed to be in a dang hurry.”

  “I sure hope Ella, the biscuit Nazi, isn’t up to her old tricks.”

  I smiled to myself, thinking about how Ella had pummeled a poor man with biscuits one time, not that he didn’t deserve it since he was bad-mouthing her at the time. Of course, the last time we saw her, she had been working the drive-thru window. Today, she was waiting on customers inside. I wondered why they were moving her around so much.

  El and I each ordered a breast and wing meal, and then we sauntered over and filled our cups at the soda fountain. I whirled around when the door was suddenly thrown open and clattered against the wall.

  The Cat Lady ran inside, the wrinkles in her face deep-set as she snarled, “You won’t get the best of me now.” She yanked out a trashcan from the receptacle and proceeded to dump the garbage on the floor of the eatery.

  All the startled staff could do was stare at the surreal scene until Ella came from behind the counter and shouted, “What in tarnation are you doing, Bernice?”

  “You know full well what I’m doing. There’s treasure hidden here somewhere!”

  “In the trash?” I asked.

  “I’m done playing second to you and that former friend of mine, Eleanor. Don’t be so cotton-pickin’ greedy.”

  My hand flew to my hips. “I’m not greedy at all. I’m just trying to gather up clues, is all. I want to find out who’s responsible for Mildred’s murder.”

  “You, if you ask law enforcement.”

  Murmurs could be heard from the customers in the eatery, and several of them jumped up and proceeded to yank pictures from the walls, tearing down the curtains—all of them looking for treasure.

  “Stop this, now!” the manager yelled, ejecting spittle from his mouth. “I’m calling the cops.”’

  That didn’t stop the customers a bit as they proceeded to tear up the place. A few people even jumped over the counter next, and all El and I could do was hug each other. Until the sound of sirens, that is. The Cat Lady was out the door first, waving a golden chain from between her dirty fingers.

  “Looks like she found something,” I said.

  “In the trashcan, really?” El bellowed.

  “It was taped inside the receptacle,” a pimply-faced teen said. “I should have looked there first when she was head-first in the trashcan.”

  I’d have smiled if it weren’t so damn ridiculous. It seemed like El and I might have just found the last of the treasure. Sheriff Peterson entered with Trooper Sales clamoring after him. Peterson’s eyes widened when he spied me and El. “I should have known,” he said grumpily.

  I jerked upright. “Should have known what? El and I simply came here for lunch. It was everyone else who started going plain loco.”

  “It’s true,” Ella said. “Agnes and El are blameless here.”

  Troopers scurried to the kitchen, and I couldn’t believe the mess the customers had made. As the troopers escorted the people back out, one of them slipped on the mashed potatoes and gravy that was now layered on the floor. Chicken had wound up in the strangest of places, like atop the Pepsi machine.

  “This certainly has gotten out of hand. I could just choke the owner of that tabloid for spreading all that propaganda,” Peterson muttered.

  “Propaganda? A treasure map is hardly propaganda,” I said.

  “It is when they insist that the sheriff’s department is behind it all.”

  “Say what?”

  “Apparently, we just want the treasure for ourselves, or so that tabloid says. They are causing a ruckus in this town that we don’t need. We can’t have the locals and tourists tearing East Tawas apart looking for treasure when there isn’t any to be found.”

  “I’m not sure that’s true, but I’m with you when it comes to keeping order. What are you going to do?”

  He stretched his big belly outward. “I’ll have to approve overtime for the time being. I’d hate to enforce a curfew, but I will if I have to.”

  “That would be hard in a town such as this, what with all the tourists here. It seems to me that there are just a few locals keeping this going, like the Cat Lady and that newcomer, Mel Pifton.”

  “And you, too, no doubt. It seems more than just a coincidence that you’re both here. Looks like you two lost the upper hand this time, though.” He smiled as through that satisfied him in some small way.

  “I’m not so sure how, or why, this has happened here, but one thing is for sure, somebody is deliberately causing this whole scenario.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, if this is the Butlers’ treasure, which has be
en around since the 1800s, then why is it showing up at places like Tim Horton’s, when it, and these other places listed on the map, weren’t even around way back then?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “Good point, but who could be behind this?”

  “I sure wish I knew. It really makes me wonder why Mildred was murdered at all, if the treasure map was going to be so readily available to the public.”

  “I’m not sure, but if you two turn up anything, please do share. The Iosco County budget is strapped as it is.”

  El and I left, and it was all I could do not to scream. “It looks like our treasure hunting days are done for.”

  “Maybe not, Agnes, but we need to investigate further.”

  “I’m out of options unless we run into that Timothy again. He sure looks like a suspect, for sure. He was just at KFC, after all.”

  El shifted in her seat. “He could have been there for a few reasons.”

  “Like what?”

  “One, he was hungry. Two, he was looking for the treasure himself.”

  “Or third, he was the one planting the treasure.”

  “Beats me, but we need to catch up with the owner of that tabloid. What was the name again?”

  “Tall Tales. Where it is even based out of is beyond me.”

  “Beats me, but we need to head back to the cabin and do some Internet searches,” El suggested.

  I parked at the cabin five minutes later, and noticed Martha’s 1970s station wagon in the drive. I had thought she’d have given up on that ancient car by now. El and I opened the door and clamored inside the old but sturdy vehicle. Martha was seated next to a now-radiant Anna.

  “What happened to you, Anna?” I asked her.

  “Oh, I thought the girl was due for a makeover,” Martha said with a wink. “Anna and I have been chatting up a storm. It was kind of you, Mother, to let her stay here.”

  I smiled and replied, “Thanks, Martha. How kind of you to give me credit where it’s due, but I didn’t do it to receive praise.”

  I pulled out my laptop and searched for the tabloid, Tall Tales, but came up empty. “It’s hopeless. I can’t find out anything about the owners of Tall Tales anywhere. I don’t even know if they’re from East Tawas.”

  Anna’s face whitened as she said, “I know who owns it.” All eyes were on her, waiting for more information while she cleared her throat. “Chuck Swatinski. He runs the whole operation from the basement of his parents’ house. He lives on Franklin Street.”

  “How do you know, dear?”

  “Well, my boyfriend, Conner, used to hang out with Chuck. I-I mean, you know—they partied together.”

  El gave me a look, and I replied, “How typical. Some loser son running an underground business right under his parents’ own roof. I wonder if they know what he’s up to—that he’s causing quite a stir here in East Tawas? The KFC was literally trashed before our eyes,” I informed Martha and Anna.

  “Oh, and I suppose you weren’t involved?” Martha asked with raised brow.

  “Not this time, but the Cat Lady found a hidden piece of the treasure—”

  “A gold necklace,” El interjected.

  I nodded, then turned my attention back to Anna. “Thanks for the info about Chuck, Anna. Would you like to ride along with us?”

  Anna’s eyes widened, and she shook her head vehemently as she rattled off the exact address. “I can’t risk Conner finding me.”

  “Sorry, dear. Of course you can’t. Are you sure you’re okay here?”

  “Why, yes. Martha has been very kind, as have you all. We were planning to roast hot dogs over an open fire on the beach.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Hopefully, El and I won’t be long and we can join you. I can’t say when the last time I did that was.”

  El and I raced to the address on Franklin Street. It was a two-story with a big bay window. We saw two black cats looking out at us as we neared the door. I rang the doorbell and tapped my foot while we waited. Finally, the door opened and a portly woman of fifty smiled at us.

  “Hello there,” I said. “We’re here to see your son, Chuck.”

  She eyed the two of us and chuckled. “Aren’t you two a little old to hang out with my son?”

  “We’re here about the magazine, Tall Tales. It’s my understanding that he runs it from your basement.”

  Her hands went to her wide hips, and she gave me quite a look, obviously displeased. “I see. Well, I’m not to blame for what my son does.”

  I was surprised at the admission. “No? You do know that magazine has caused plenty of trouble here in town?”

  She blinked her eyes repeatedly until a loud voice behind her asked, “Is it the Feds again, Carla?”

  She cringed. “No, it’s that investigator and her loud-mouthed partner.”

  How was it that everyone happened to know who we were when I hadn’t the foggiest idea who they were? I thought that I’d have to hold El back, but she simply laughed. “That’s a gross exaggeration of the truth. Aggie here is the one you need to watch out for. She has a low tolerance for bullshit.”

  I squared my shoulders. “She’s right, and that’s exactly why we’re here. I had hoped to speak to your son about spreading rumors. Folks in town are all riled up about what he’s been posting in that tabloid of his.”

  “We need to set him straight,” El added.

  A muscular man came forward and laughed. “Knock yourself out, but that boy doesn’t listen to anything close to reason.”

  “Why does he still live here, then?” I asked.

  “It might be that he’s only sixteen,” he said. “I know, right? That boy has a knack for getting into trouble. Hacked into the government’s computer when he was twelve.”

  My eyes widened at that. “Did they lock him up for that?”

  “Yes, but they released him when he fessed up and gave them the name of the man who put him up to it.”

  “So he’s a squealer, then?” El asked.

  “He was just hanging out with the wrong people, is all. He’s been banned from having a computer until he’s eighteen.”

  “So how is he publishing that rag magazine?”

  “Not sure, but I swear Chuck doesn’t have an Internet connection. We made sure to keep the password in a safe place.’

  We were led to a doorway, and I swallowed hard when I stared down the stairs. “Can’t you ask Chuck to come up here?” I asked, not wanting to tackle the stairs.

  “We could, but then you wouldn’t get a feel for who my boy really is.”

  El swallowed hard and descended the steps first, grabbing the arm rail as she went. I followed, ignoring the catch in my hip as a rippling pain started. I was thankful when we reached the bottom without either of us falling. I flipped on a light switch, and as light flooded the basement, we made our way down a hallway and ended up in a room that was aglow from four computers.

  I cleared my throat, and a pudgy boy whirled on his swivel computer chair and barked out, “We’re busted.” Bottles clattered across the floor, and three bodies darted toward the furnace and out of view.

  I fanned away the smoke left behind and smiled. “Aren’t you a little too young to smoke that stuff?”

  “What stuff?” he asked. “I’m not smoking anything.”

  I grinned down at him. “It reeks off your breath, boy, but that’s not why we’re here. So your secret is safe with us.”

  “Your parents said you were banned from having a computer until you were eighteen,” El said with a tilt of her head.

  He sighed. “The computers don’t belong to me. They belong to a friend.”

  “What are you playing there?”

  “Skyrim.”

  I stared at the screen that displayed what looked like a fantasy game. “How are you getting an Internet connection? Your dad—”

  “Phil Holt is not my dad,” he spat. “He’s my stepdad—and if I can figure out how to get into the government’s computer, I can figure out a password.
Older folks aren’t very bright.”

  “That’s not very nice, now. That man apparently puts up with your basement activities, so how bad can he be?”

  “I never said he was bad, just dumb. He keeps a notebook with all of his passwords in it.”

  “We’re not really here to talk about your stepdad or your online games.”

  “We want to know about that tabloid you’re publishing,” El said.

  His chair creaked as he leaned back. “It’s a brilliant idea. I sell a ton of those magazines. Everyone loves a good mystery.”

  I pulled up a chair and sat opposite Chuck. “Just where are you getting these stories from?”

  “Local legend, for the most part. I received a tip via email about a treasure, and it seemed feasible. What great fun: a treasure hunt right here in East Tawas.”

  “You have no idea what is going on in town now. Folks are taking it too literally.”

  “I know. Isn’t it great?”

  “Where did you get the treasure map that you published?”

  “It’s not a treasure map. It’s a wild goose chase.” He laughed.

  I wanted to shake this boy to his senses. “Where did you get the map you published?” I demanded, losing patience with the boy.

  He shrugged. “Beats me. I received it in an email a few days ago.”

  “So about the same time a woman was murdered at the Butler Mansion, then.”

  He waved his arms. “Hey, I don’t know anything about any murder. It’s all in good fun.”

  “No, it’s not. We were in KFC today, and the entire place was trashed by people looking for treasure. Just the other day someone took a jackhammer to Walmart’s parking lot!”

  Chuck cupped a hand over his round face. “Oh, but that’s too funny. This is really catching on, just like an online game.”

  “This isn’t a game, young man. Someone is gonna get hurt, and it will all be your fault.”

  He grabbed a can of soda and took a drink. “No way, dude. I just published the map. It’s not my fault that people in town are nuts enough to believe the story.”