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Early that evening, the three of them relaxed over pizza in Lauren’s kitchen, along with Mitch and Chris.
“I wish I’d seen Castern’s face when he found Joyce locked in the basement.” Mitch chuckled.
“Me too.” Zoe grinned. “But by then we were waiting outside for the authorities to arrive.”
“At least I’ve wrapped up my case,” he continued. “I found the missing man – he’d decided to throw it all in and build a cabin in the middle of the woods on an old, abandoned lot. He’s got a pretty good setup there, and he’s going to try and buy the land and stay there.”
“Good.” She smiled at her husband.
“Brrt,” Annie approved.
“So Shirley’s daughter didn’t know about the small gold nuggets hidden in the bottom of the chest?” Chris asked.
“Nope,” Zoe confirmed. “She said she’d forgotten there was even a hatch set in the floor in the kitchen. When we told her about it this afternoon, she looked surprised.”
“That’s right,” Lauren added, “but then she said she had a vague memory of seeing the hatch when she was little, when Shirley replaced the mat with a new one. Apparently, Shirley told her and her sister it was dangerous to go down there, because that’s what her mother had told her.”
“And all this time, the gold was down there,” Mitch mused. “Shirley might not have known about the small nuggets either, since they were hidden so well. That could be another reason why Shirley was warned not to go down there – so the gold wouldn’t be disturbed.”
“Until someone found the clues and followed them to find it,” Zoe said. “Just like we did!”
“Brrt!”
“What will happen to Joyce now?” Lauren asked.
“She should go away for a while,” Mitch said.
“Good.” Zoe nodded.
“I feel a little sorry for her,” Lauren said. “She didn’t know the whole truth about the gold, either. If she had, she might never have entered Shirley’s house.”
“Or killed her.” Zoe shuddered.
“Brrp,” Annie agreed sadly.
“What are you going to do about the gold you found at the creek?” Chris asked them.
“Sell it,” Zoe said promptly.
“And we’re splitting the proceeds four ways – after we take out the cost of the equipment Zoe bought to pan for it in the first place,” Lauren added.
“By my calculations, that will be fifty cents each – or even less if we’re charged a commission,” Zoe said.
“I’m sorry it’s not more,” Chris commiserated.
“Yeah – it would have been nice,” Zoe agreed. “But at least we proved that you can still find gold.” She glanced at them. “We should do it again soon.”
“Why not?” Lauren agreed.
“Brrt!”
“I bet Martha will want to.” Zoe grinned. “Just wait until we tell Mrs. Finch tonight all about it at craft club!”
“Brrt!”
THE END
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