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The detectives arrived as we ate our chicken soup, and Erlandsen placed the bear on our kitchen table.
“Thanks,” I said, reaching for it. We stayed seated at the kitchen table while the detectives leaned against the counter. “I suppose you have a few questions?”
“Yep,” Mergens agreed.
“Just a few,” added Erlandsen. “Can we talk someplace more private?”
“Sure. Let’s go to the back bedroom.” I got up and led the way, knowing my grandparents would finish eating and would be sitting in the living room watching TV when the questioning was through. Grandma would also have the kitchen cleaned up, except for my half-empty bowl, which would be waiting for me on the table.
“Right in here.” I steered them into the room, flipped on the light switch, and one of the detectives closed the door. “Fire away.” I sat down on the bed and looked up at both.
“By the way,” Mergens softly said, “just contacted the hospital. I’m happy to tell you that Inga is doing fine. She seems to be coming around. They figure by morning she’ll be in good shape and ready to talk. It’s possible she’ll be released later in the day tomorrow. It depends on her condition.”
“That’s really good news. I suppose a call before visiting is in order? Is Nancy, her daughter, with her?”
“Yes. We also have a security guard posted.”
“Oh. And what about the woman I found in the dumpster?” My eyes opened wider. “You think Inga might have been the next victim?”
“I knew you’d ask. It’s hard to say,” Mergens studied me. “This case seems to be all about the Lincolns.”
“Have you thought of anything else?” Erlandsen asked, poised with pad and pencil. His eyes seemed to pierce me.
“About Inga? No.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “She tried to speak, but I couldn’t understand her. It’s possible that she said ‘Lincoln.’”
“Anything else that’s struck you as funny or odd in the past few days?”
“Not really.” I frowned. “Except my computer was hacked. Someone messed up my Mary Lincoln file and deleted certain messages, but you know about that.”
“It’s all been scanned and cleaned, hasn’t it?” Erlandsen glanced at Mergens. “Won’t do any good to haul it in. Still, if it happens again, we need to be told immediately. Anything else?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact.” I looked at Erlandsen. “Blanche mentioned that a newly found letter of Mary Lincoln’s was at the Presidential Library. I visited the website but couldn’t find it, so I messaged the contact there. He replied that the letter wasn’t for public view.” Mergens crossed his arms and motioned for me to continue. “I mentioned the letter to Holly.
“You see, once when I went to see Inga, she wasn’t in at the moment, so I talked to Holly a few minutes and mentioned the letter. Then I got an anonymous e-mail with the letter as an attachment.”
“You think it came from her?” Mergens asked. “Very interesting.”
“Who else from the block could have known about the letter?” “You’re narrowing it down, eh?” I raised a brow and studied them. “Possibly Luke and maybe, Inga. However, Holly is the only
person I spoke to about it being not for public display.”
“How about in email? Did you mention it to anyone in a message? Remember, someone hacked your computer and has been reading all your emails.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “Wow, I guess it could be anyone.” “All right, I guess that’s everything,” Mergens said, walking to
the door. “By the way.” He opened it up with Erlandsen following. “Yes?”
“Inga’s Pennies for Our Troops jar wasn’t taken.”
“Then it wasn’t a robbery for money. It’s back to Lincoln, though I’m not surprised.” I flipped off the light switch and as I entered the hallway Aaron joined me in uniform.
“Aaron,” Erlandsen said. “Off to work, I take it?” “Yep.” Aaron cocking his head. “Anything new to tell?” “Not really. We’ll keep you updated.”
“Right.”
They opened the front door and walked out. The sudden chill sent shivers down my spine, but the warmth when the door was closed again chased the shivers away.
“Sit down, Olivia. I’ll warm your soup.” Grandma got up from the couch. They’d been watching an Andy Griffith rerun.
“I’m going, hon,” Aaron said. “But keep the doors locked and shades drawn.”
“I will.”
“I’ll call or text later.” He kissed me, said “Goodbye,” to Grandpa, and headed toward the door.
My grandparents stayed for another hour, passing the time by watching I Love Lucy. Grandma’s head nodded a few times while Grandpa’s eyes glazed over once or twice. I was happy to see them leave as dusk descended upon us. Now I had the needed alone time to put my thoughts together.
The events left me wondering if I shouldn’t just stay home until the murder was solved. I turned on the History Channel to see what was on. I got lucky—they were showing a program about President Lincoln’s rise to the White House. I had missed only the first ten minutes. When the program ended, I did a Google search for “the Lost Speech” again and found several more websites. I clicked onto each, but none of them had anything I hadn’t already discovered. Maybe the speech was well and truly lost.
Did his office partner, William Herndon, keep it? Could he have given it to Mary for safekeeping? Possible, but for what reason?
I let that thought percolate and work its way around in the recesses of my mind. Since the discovery of the Star Spangled Banner manuscript, I knew anything was possible. With this fresh thought in mind, I shut off the television and headed to bed.
As I tossed and turned, my thoughts circled to images of that tall, lanky, young man full of hopes and dreams and promise as he delivered the speech. As was customary, only men attended political speeches. Although Mary had most likely prodded and pressured him into the political arena, she saw the intelligence behind his homespun words. She was very interested in politics and could hold her own during any conversation. She was not only well-read, but she was also brilliant in her own right. The old saying, “Behind every good man is a good woman,” came to mind.
I also recalled Grandma’s comment about bodies dropping all around me, which made me frightened at every little sound in the dark. I got up several times to look out the front window, out into the street, apprehensive about what I might find. At one point, I fixed myself a small cup of hot chocolate. Sometime during the early morning hours, Aaron crawled into bed. I curled up against his warm body and fell asleep dreaming about times long ago, and how hard it was to eke out a living. That thought was still on my mind as I woke to sunshine streaming in through the window blinds.
Aaron was still asleep. I kissed him lightly on the cheek before softly slipping out of bed, making sure the blankets covered him well. I tiptoed into the hallway, jumping into the shower. When I was dressed, I headed toward the kitchen resolved to turn over a new leaf. I wanted the perfect breakfast, including bacon that wasn’t two stages past crisp. Aaron also liked his eggs sunny-side up, not cracked-yolk style. I hoped to not burn the house down.
It was striking eight o’clock when I tackled the bacon and eggs. I tried to cook exactly as I’d seen Aaron do it. Shortly after, as I
sat eating my burned egg and overdone bacon, I scanned through some old recipe books I had collected over the years. At the sound of Aaron’s footsteps in the hall, I closed the book and brought my dirty plate to the sink. After cracking two more eggs into the pan, I asked, “Hard night?”
“Sort of, but not really.” He hugged me. “How are you doing?” “Didn’t sleep well.” I yawned.
“Let me take over.” He grabbed the spatula from me, but I kept a close eye on how he fried the eggs. “I checked on our store on my way home. It seemed fine. I didn’t go inside but probably should have with the way things are shaping up around here.” He flipped his eggs onto the plate with ease. Men! “I’m staying at the store with you today.” He yawned. “At least until I need to leave for my shift this evening. I’ve already talked to Max. Someone will be there with you at all times.”
“Bodyguards.” I grunted. “I hate to admit it, but I feel better.” I crossed my arms, shivering. “I’m worried I’ll be the next victim.”
“Nah, I’ve got your back.”
“The creep doesn’t stand a chance.” We sat for a few minutes, giving me time to check my e-mail account since that had not been done yesterday. I found a note from the university that read:
Dear Liv,
Today, Wed, would work out great. Call me first thing when you get this message.
Call me,
Dr. Bill Williams
His telephone number was included under his name.
I reached for my phone, saying, “Dr. Williams wants me to call,” and quickly dialed. Aaron gave me a thumbs-up. The phone was answered. “Doctor Williams?”
“Liv? Good to hear from you. Come over to my office at two today. I’ll try to be there, but if I’m not, I’ll leave a message with my secretary and she’ll take care of it. You won’t mind leaving the
necklace with me a couple days, will you? We’ve a ton of course work we’re preparing.”
“No problem.” I disconnected and told Aaron what Dr.
Williams had said.
“We’ll meet him together. I’m not letting you or the necklace or anything out of my sight,” he said, crossing his arms.
“Fine with me. You chauffeuring me around? Couldn’t be better.” I smiled. “Now, let’s get moving. I want to stop in to see Inga for a minute.”
“Can’t. Until things get sorted out, the detectives don’t want anyone to go near her, except for her daughter. They’re taking no chances about anything.”
“I’m not a suspect, why would they prevent me from being there?”
“Just because. Rules are rules.” He frowned. “Now let’s git.”
I headed to the bedroom and retrieved the small safe box with the necklace from the closet. I placed the box inside my bag and headed out to the kitchen. Hearing the car’s engine running, I knew Aaron was waiting. I pulled on my coat and went out to the car.
“I’m sending a message to the detectives alerting them that we are taking the necklace to Doctor Williams this afternoon,” I told Aaron.
“Makes sense.”
My phone dinged with their reply. “They’ll drop off Blanche’s dress when they’re finished with it.”
In less than ten minutes, we were inside the store and our jackets removed. Together we strolled through the workroom and showroom, not something I cared to do alone.
“Nothing seems out of place,” I said with relief. “However,” Aaron said, nodding over at the First Lady pictures,
“aren’t they a little crooked?”
“Maybe a little bit, but these old buildings shift and creak.” I thought of a listening device, because that was how the killer learned about the hidden manuscript of the Star Spangled Banner and me almost being murdered on my wedding night. Kind of natural that I might be a little anxious.
The morning flew past. Since Aaron and I weren’t very familiar with the campus layout, we left early to go to the university.
We found a parking spot and took an elevator down to the main level, walked out into the street, and headed for the closest university building. From there, it didn’t take us long to find Dr. William’s building and his office on the third floor.
“Thank you so much,” I said to him as we entered his cluttered office. I stared at the full bookshelves of textbooks and numerous magazine piles on the floor. “We sure appreciate this.”
“Liv, Aaron, good to see you two again.” He motioned to the chairs. From a nearby stack of newspapers, it was apparent that the chairs had been piled with them earlier. “Have a seat.”
“Nice view.” Glancing out, I noted the cluster of tall buildings of academia, and tree branches swaying from the strong wind. I removed the box from my bag, and then I placed it on the desk.
“Thank you, I’m grateful you brought this.” Dr. Williams held up the box. “This is a mystery, isn’t it?” He opened it and held the silvered ornament between his fingers. “I’ll get to it in a day or two and let you know my findings.”
“If there is an acorn inside, I’d like to have it tested for age, and perhaps general area where it grew.” I raised a brow. “This has me completely baffled.”
“As well as the detectives in charge.” Aaron frowned. “The department will certainly pay whatever reasonable costs you incur with the university.”
“No trouble. It’ll be a good exercise for the students.” We chatted for a few more minutes, then left.
Why on earth would anyone silver an acorn?