The Curious Case of the Missing Figurehead: A Novel (A Professor and Mrs. Littlefield Mystery)

by Diane Noble

  By now, the SUV was nose-to-nose with the Ghia.

  “They’re going to push us over,” I cried. “We’re trapped.”

  Max had his door open. “Get out, now,” he yelled. “El, jump! Enrique out—now!”

  The little Ghia was already scooting toward the edge of the quarry. I tromped on the brake. It did no good.

  “Jump,” Max yelled again.

  The SUV backed up and revved its engine. Its tinted windows seemed almost opaque, giving it a blank-faced look.

  The monster machine revved its engine again and almost seemed to leap forward to give the Ghia its final nudge. I jumped out and Max did the same. Enrique was already out.

  I didn’t stay to watch my little car tumble into the abyss. But the sound of its demise carried toward me, sounding like a dozen metal garbage cans rolling down a hillside. A splash echoed at the very end.

  Max grabbed my hand, and we ran to hide behind the large rock crusher, Enrique a few steps ahead of us. The SUV turned around and drove slowly around the equipment, looking for us. Not once did the windows lower for a clearer view.

  “Whoever it is knows us,” I whispered to Max. “That’s why they don’t get out to search, or even roll down the windows. They know we’ll recognize them.”

  “And that’s why they meant for us to die—because we can identify them.”

  The SUV slowly drove around the quarry, searching. They never got far enough away for us to make a run for it. Though where would we run?

  I looked up at Max. He took my hand and held it, this time not letting go.

  Standing a short distance away, Enrique stared at the quarry. “I told you it was a scary place,” he said.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Hyacinth

  Lagasse and Child were arguing again—this time over her. The boss had made it clear that they needed to get rid of Hyacinth once and for all. She was a witness and had to go. The argument came down to who would do the deed.

  The only thing she had going for her was the fact that neither one wanted to. And when they’d been ordered to do it back in Possum Grove, neither man had the heart to do it there either.

  But since their meeting with the boss, they seemed to have new determination, which chilled her to the bone.

  “If it has to be done, let’s get it over with,” she said. “The sooner, the better.”

  Lagasse and Child glanced at each other, and Lagasse shrugged. “Have it your way. But we still need to decide who’s gonna do it.”

  “You don’t have to do this. Just stop and let me out. I’ll never tell.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Lagasse said.

  Child was unusually quiet.

  Hyacinth saw her opening. “Stealing is one thing. Murder is quite another. Even if you don’t get caught, you’ll remember what you did forever. And you’ll be haunted by my singing till your dying day.”

  Lagasse groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna do that again.” He reached for the radio, but Child stopped his hand.

  “Let her sing one last song.”

  She chose Elvis’s version of “Peace in the Valley” and pulled out all the stops. Even Lagasse seemed moved as she gave it every bit of emotion she could conjure up.

  Apparently, it had no effect. Child checked his watch. “It’s time to get to the quarry.”

  The quarry? Her stomach lurched.

  Minutes later, the rental truck turned onto a dirt road, moved through a large wooden gate, and onto a flat area that might once have been a parking lot. The outer rim of the quarry lay in front of her, until Lagasse turned the truck around so that the door faced the edge of the quarry. She closed her eyes, picturing her next move in great detail.

  She would have only one shot at success. That one shot meant the difference between life and death.

  The thieves weren’t going to help her after all. But perhaps Child had done so inadvertently when he brought her that soda.

  Lagasse set the brake, leaving the engine running, then, with one more glance at Child, opened his door. Child did the same. As they fiddled with their seat belts, Hyacinth quietly moved to the rear door. She waited, and at the exact moment the doors slammed in front, she raised the rolling door, just enough to escape. She scrambled onto a metal ladder fastened to the side of the truck and jumped to the roof, not exactly an easy thing to do quietly, considering her build.

  She crawled along the top of the truck as the two men headed to the back, still arguing over who would throw her in. By the time they decided her size would require them both to do the toss, Hyacinth had reached the cab.

  She looked at the ground, feeling dizzy and faint, her heart racing. How in the world would she clamber down and get into the cab in time to make her getaway?

  She heard the boys open the back of the truck and froze.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Mrs. Littlefield

  We’d just stepped out from behind the gravel crusher when we heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. Alarmed, we looked at each other, then at Enrique. Then the three of us ran to hide behind another large piece of equipment.

  The rental truck drove in, two men in the cab. They did a three-point turn, put the truck in reverse, and backed up almost to the edge of the quarry pit.

  I gasped, bringing my hand to my chest.

  “Hyacinth! … Oh, Max, you don’t suppose—?” I couldn’t finish. I pictured my friend in the back of the truck. What were the thieves doing? We had guessed they wanted to get rid of witnesses and she was their number-one witness. “Oh no!”

  The words had barely left my mouth when I saw movement at the back of the vehicle. At the same time, the two men exited the cab and, arguing loudly, walked around to the back.

  That’s when Hyacinth appeared on top of the truck. She lost her balance and then crawled to the cab. The men argued louder. Still, it seemed, they had no idea their captive was no longer inside.

  I ran as fast as I could toward the truck. I heard panting and footsteps behind me. Enrique had youth on his side. He reached the cab first, put one finger to his lips, and pointed at the cargo area.

  A slow smile crept across my face. It was a mirror of the smile on Max’s. “You do the honors, if you would.”

  Max headed around back and, within seconds, the rolling door slammed shut. The click of the padlock carried toward us. Soon the captives’ howls were drowned out by Hyacinth’s cheers, Enrique’s laughter, and my joyful greetings as I hugged my friend.

  We all squeezed into the cab, Enrique at the wheel. “Always wanted to drive one of these,” he said, revving the engine.

  “Just make sure you don’t put it in reverse,” Max said. He then did a quick search of the floor and glove compartment. No phone. No maps. Nothing.

  “No phones?” Hyacinth said. “That means Lagasse and Child have theirs with them. It also means that as soon as we get a signal, they’ll be in contact with the boss.”

  “Not good,” I said glancing at the sliding window behind us. My few minutes of euphoria in finding Hyacinth slipped into a low-decibel hum of fear. “Lagasse? Child? As in Emeril and … Julia?”

  She nodded. “Long story. Has to do with the masks they wore the night of the heist. More details to come, I promise.”

  Hyacinth sat next to Enrique, and I sat between Hyacinth and Max. Four people on a bench seat was a squeeze—quite a nice one, I decided when Max leaned back and draped his arm around my shoulders. I smiled up at him and he met my eyes. I felt my cheeks flush.

  Hyacinth, as usual, didn’t miss a beat. She nudged me with her elbow. “Looks like I’ve missed out on quite a lot these past few days.”

  I sobered, thinking of the poisoning, the illnesses, President Delancy’s death … “You don’t know the half of it. But that too can wait.”

  “Did you get a good look at the people in the
SUV?” Max asked Hyacinth.

  She shook her head. “A male and female are in the front seat. But I saw only saw them from behind and at quite a distance. I thought they looked familiar but couldn’t place them.” She gave me a tired smile. “You won’t believe this—guess who’s with them?” She paused dramatically. “The Sutherland boys—Bubba and Junior. There was this farmhouse meeting.”

  She filled in details that we hadn’t seen, and we told her that we’d been there to rescue her, heard the gunshots, and had to take off before we were spotted.

  “Bubba and Junior were apparently in the house ahead of time, waiting for the others,” she said. “But how they fit in, I don’t know.”

  Max leaned forward again. “Could Silas Sutherland have been the man you couldn’t identify?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know him well, but it’s possible. It did occur to me that he might be involved. He was so adamant about getting his nephews hired for the dinner.”

  “Which would have given them plenty of opportunity for the poisoning.” I realized she didn’t know about that.

  “Poisoning?” Hyacinth was thunderstruck. “At the dinner?”

  I nodded. “Hundreds of people were rushed to the hospital …”

  “The ambulances,” she filled in. “The perfect cover. Do you know who did it?”

  I shook my head. “Even Katie and I are considered ‘persons of interest.’” I decided, with all she’d been through, I would wait to tell her she’d also been a prime suspect responsible for the heist.

  The shadows were growing long by the time we reached the turnoff for the farmhouse. As we had all been doing for miles, I checked the large side-view mirrors. This time, my heart nearly stopped. The black SUV was behind us and gaining fast.

  “Fasten your seat belts, kids,” I said. “We’ve got company.”

  The men that Hyacinth called Lagasse and Child knocked on the small window between the cab and the cargo area. One held a phone to his ear. Hyacinth turned and slid open the window.

  “The boss says to pull over now and turn over the truck to us,” he said.

  “Tell him no dice.” I turned to emphasize my words with what I hoped was a no-nonsense look.

  “He says do it, or you’ll never see your daughter and granddaughter again.”

  Oh mercy, I cried silently, thinking of Katie and Chloe Grace. I blinked back the tears that threatened and hitched up my shoulders. Oh Lord, have mercy …

  “Whoever your boss is, he’s bluffing,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster. “You can tell him for me that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

  “He has something he wants you to hear.” He turned the phone on speaker mode. The familiar hurtful words came through in a fake mechanical voice: “You are playing with fire. Already it turns on you. Taste it. Smell it. Know it will return. Not in your nightmares, but in living flame, a wild beast to devour you and those you love.”

  A chill traveled up my back, but I held my positive pose. “That’s just a child’s rhyme he—or she—made up to scare me. I don’t scare that easily.” But the tremble in my hands told the tale. Hyacinth whirled in her seat so that she looked straight at the thugs. “Now, let’s make a deal. I offered it to you when the tables were turned, and you opted to pass.”

  “Okay, shoot,” said the taller of the two.

  “I’ll put it out there again,” she said. “Even though you were about to throw me in the pit—”

  The two started to argue, saying they wouldn’t really have done such a thing.

  Hyacinth held up a hand. “As I was saying, I like you two. You took good care of me while I was with you. I told you I would see to it that you get a fair trial. Think of it. You didn’t go through with the murder you were supposed to carry out, and the DA doesn’t need to know how close you came. I’ll vouch for you, and so will my friends here.”

  “So what do we have to do?” the shorter man asked.

  “Turn off your blasted phones and keep them off,” I said, imitating her tone. We exchanged a conspiratorial glance, just as we’d done since first grade. “We’re gonna lose the creeps behind us, and I don’t want you to give away our location. Got it?”

  “He’ll kill us.” The shorter man furrowed his brow.

  “Not if we get you in protective custody first,” I added. “That means we’ve got to get to the courthouse without the SUV running us off the road.”

  The two conferred, arguing, agreeing, then arguing again. “Okay, cells are off,” one said.

  “Thank you,” Hyacinth said. “Now give them to me.” She held out her hand.

  After a lot of moaning and complaining, a hand reached through the window and dropped the phones into Hyacinth’s hand.

  “Can you lose the SUV?” Max glanced at Enrique, who shrugged, grinned, and hit the accelerator with skill akin to my own. I gave him a thumbs-up.

  Hyacinth handed me one of the phones and gave Max the other. I checked the signal. “We’ve got coverage,” I said, and then dialed Katie. It rang four times and went to her voice mail. I tried not to worry and left a message to call me right away.

  Max quickly figured out how to make a call on the unfamiliar phone. “First call, sheriff’s office.” He punched in the number. He was put through to the sheriff immediately and gave him a quick synopsis of what had happened and our location. The call was interrupted by a loud thump on the back of our truck.

  The SUV was right behind us now. It zoomed to the left and nudged the side of our vehicle, trying to force us off the road.

  Enrique floored it, but we were on an incline and the truck didn’t have enough power to pull ahead of the SUV.

  One of the thieves—the tall one with blond hair—again popped up at the window. “There’s a gun under the driver’s seat.”

  “Let’s leave it there,” I said. “Save it for a real emergency.”

  “Like this isn’t?” the shorter thief said.

  As the SUV sped up behind us and then alongside us again, it banged against us. Hard.

  “Aye-aye-aye,” Enrique yelled as the truck skidded sideways onto a sandy shoulder. He turned the wheel into the skid like a pro and somehow got us back on the road.

  I tried to take a deep breath, but my throat closed.

  Max leaned forward, squinting. “Up ahead,” he said to Enrique, “about a quarter of a mile. Wait until the last minute and then make a quick right turn.”

  A moment later, Max shouted, “Now!” and Enrique yanked the steering wheel to the right. The SUV missed the turn and continued going straight. The highway sloped downward, and we flew along what seemed to be a main artery. It was paved and actually had a line down the center. We passed cars and farm vehicles, and houses and patchworks of crops dotted the landscape.

  It took another half hour to reach the outskirts of Eden’s Bridge, just as dusk fell. I let out a huge sigh of relief when I saw the courthouse loom in front of us. “Boys and girls, I believe we’ve made it.”

  Just before Enrique turned the truck into the parking area behind the courthouse, I spotted the SUV. It slowed as if to send a menacing message, stopped at the curb, and then slowly pulled away.

  Hyacinth knew what I was thinking, just like when we were kids. She handed me one of the phones, and I again dialed Katie’s cell.

  She didn’t answer.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  The Professor

  As soon as the officers took the two thieves into custody, Max climbed inside the cargo area and went straight to the large crate. He knelt beside it, ran his hands over the wood grain, and checked the seams. It looked sturdy enough but not professionally constructed by any means. He only hoped there had been no damage to the figurehead during the rental truck’s rough ride around the countryside.

  Once Hyacinth was safe, all he could think about was the
Lady and her well-being. Well, perhaps that wasn’t quite all. There was also this delightful woman beside him, close enough to encircle with his arm so he could breathe in her violet scent all the way home.

  Glancing out at the parking lot, he spotted El in animated conversation with Hyacinth. They’d been talking nonstop since getting out of the truck.

  He noticed again how she talked with her hands, laughed often, and let her emotions show. Sometimes she met his eyes with so much affection in hers that he lost his breath.

  She looked up and smiled at him, gave Hyacinth a quick hug, and hurried toward the truck. He walked to the rear of the cargo area and helped her climb aboard.

  “The grand opening?” she said, her eyes bright with interest.

  “If I can find a crowbar.”

  She trotted off without a word, heading toward one of the deputies. He willed her to sprout wings on her tennies. His anticipation was palpable.

  As if by magic, El reappeared at his side at that moment and handed him a well-used crowbar.

  She climbed up into the truck and knelt by his side as he pried the top of the crate loose with the crowbar, and then pulled away the packing materials. Relief flooded through him.

  The figurehead was there, still locked in the Plexiglas case. The Lady was so secure, she hadn’t moved an inch.

  El gasped. “She’s stunning.”

  It was her first look at the piece, and he knew from the awe in her expression that she didn’t just see the beauty, she felt it. Just as he did.

  “That she is, indeed.”

  Hyacinth climbed into the cargo area and came up beside them. “She’s here and real, after all,” she said with a note of wonder. “I’ll admit I worried that Lagasse and Child made a switch somewhere along the way, and I was putting my life on the line for nothing.”

  “Thank you,” Max said. “There are no words to describe the gratitude that’s in my heart. What you did … what you gave of yourself—and I’m sure we don’t know the half of it—” His eyes filled with tears, something he just did not do in front of others. Blinking, he started to turn away. El touched his hand, and smiled up at him, as if saying that tears were okay, even for a man.