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“No new developments,” Aaron told me the next morning in the kitchen.
“Figures,” I mumbled. “What about the jar thief?”
“Hard to trace, but several jars are missing. Maybe there’s a new cat burglar in town.”
“Not related, just coincidental. Right?” “Right.”
While I put on my jacket, I wondered what the day would bring. Would it be a repeat of the day before? I needed solace with more time to think about what all had happened within the last few weeks. “You ready to go?”
“Yep.” Aaron rinsed his dirty juice glass in the sink. “I’m anxious to hear how Max made out last night.”
“I worry about him.” I yawned. “We’ll be open all day, won’t we?” I opened the garage door, and he followed, locking it behind us.
“Plan to. Harris will be back to see if the bait worked.” “Good,” I said. “You do have the pond hockey tourney over
the weekend, don’t you?”
“Sure do. You’re coming, aren’t you?” He glanced at me and said, “It’ll be good for you to come watch the games after the store closes.”
“I’ll be there.”
Backing out, I noticed that the snowman family from across the street was half-melted. It brightened my spirits knowing spring was around the corner. I’d be able to see the neighborhood children who had fashioned the snow family out playing with their skateboards and other warm-weather activities.
As we drove down our street, my thoughts turned again to the Lost Speech. I asked Aaron, “If not for the Mary Lincoln house and the police investigations, what would we do with it?”
“What any good American would do, give it to the Library of Congress or the Smithsonian Institute.” He stopped at a red light and smiled at me. “Bet you were thinking the same thing.”
“Sure was. Or else to the Presidential Library in Springfield.” I waited a moment then added, “It’s exactly what should happen—if we find it. We’ll see that it’s donated to the library.”
“But it’s not ours to decide, is it?” Aaron asked. I had to admit he had a point.
We crossed the Hennepin Avenue Bridge, which brought us to our alleyway. As Aaron parked, I realized how good it was to see Max’s truck parked in its usual spot. Life was going to be fine. “Coffee?” Aaron asked, getting out of the car. He slammed
the door shut. “Want to come with?”
“Yeah, it sounds like a good idea.” With his hand in mine, we hiked down the alley and then walked around to the front of the building. “I was surprised to see Suni at the café the other day. She almost never leaves their house.”
“I’ve heard they have the fastest connection to the Internet in town.” Aaron opened the front door of the café for us to step inside. “Hey, Luke!”
“The usual?” Luke asked. He returned our smiles, but his seemed a cold one. “You want a muffin, too?” His hand hovered over the screen of his register.
“Not today. Thanks.” I rubbed my hands together to warm up. “What’s this scuttlebutt going around about you two yesterday?” Luke asked as he dropped our payment into the till. One of
his employees got busy fixing our beverages.
“Did someone take your penny jar?” another of Luke’s employees asked in heavily accented English. “Ours is gone.”
“I was wondering about what happened to Max,” Luke harrumphed, interrupting his employee, and giving her a hard look
before turning back to us.
“News travels fast. Hopefully nothing else will happen to me or my friends.” I took a sip of my coffee. “Ever again.”
“How did you hear?” Aaron raised his coffee to his lips. “Just talk,” Luke said. “Of course, seeing the cops was the
tip off.”
Later, as we entered the back door of our own store, I glanced up the alleyway and saw Holly at the back of Inga’s antique store. “Hey, Holly,” I called. “How ya doing?”
Holly hurried down the alley to greet me, a big smile on her face. “Great. Taking the last of my required courses this semester, and, hopefully, I’ll be finished soon. What a relief.” Aaron continued indoors while she continued chatting away.
“Inga’s doing well. She’s back at work. She tried dropping by, but your store has been closed. Couldn’t help but notice. It’s too bad about Dr. Williams. He was such a nice guy and a good teacher, even if he did give me a D in his class.” She turned a little pink while balling her fist. “He shouldn’t have done that ... I didn’t deserve it. I’d studied so hard.” Holly burst into tears, so I motioned for her to come over for a hug. “I wish I hadn’t said all those mean things to him.”
“What did you say?” I tried to look her square in the eye, but she looked away. “Fess up.”
“Well, all right.” She glanced around before whispering, “Unfortunately, I told him that if the D messed up my GPA, he’d be dead. Dead as in doornail. Of course, it was said in the heat of the moment. But now the investigators will probably question me again.”
“Shush, now. If you’re innocent, you have nothing to worry about.” I held her hands and stared into her eyes. “The authorities have their hands full with gathering evidence. Don’t worry, it’ll all be clear in a few days’ time.”
“I hope.” She sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “It’s time for me to get to work.”
“I’ll check in later.” I gave her a hug. “Keep your chin up.” “Okay.”
As she rushed toward the antique store, I wondered how a pretty young girl could get so broken up over a low grade. When I entered our store, my ears perked up to loud voices in the workroom.
“Guess what?” I announced, interrupting Max and Aaron’s conversation before even setting down my coffee and pulling off my jacket. “Holly had Dr. Williams for a teacher. You won’t believe this, but when he gave her a D in his class, she yelled at him and threatened to kill him if it affected her GPA.” Aaron’s eyes opened wider and so did Max’s.
“Holy cow. Unbelievable,” Aaron said, drawing out his cell phone. “I’m calling the detectives.”
“Oh, Aaron, do you have to?” “Sorry, hon, but rules are rules.”
“Now what?” Max asked, watching Aaron press in a few buttons on his phone.
“Probably more questioning.” I collapsed into a chair. “Think about it, though. It makes sense. The Lost Speech could easily be worth a small fortune on the open market, plus it would cover Holly’s college tuition, and then some, for a number of years.”
“But, Holly has never said anything about being so strapped for cash, has she?” Max asked.
“Not that I’ve heard or am aware of. However, I’ve been thinking about that missing speech. There’s got to be any number of folks itching to get their hands on it... for a number of reasons.”
“My thoughts, completely.” Aaron looked at us as he disconnected and stuffed the phone inside of his pocket. “You’re not going to believe this, but the young woman you found in the dumpster has vanished.”
“Oh dear God. You’re kidding.” I sat straighter. “How did that happen?”
She recovered from her ordeal and then was whisked away by federal immigration agents. Our detectives can’t get within ten miles of her.
“They’re probably holding her as a material witness. Happens all the time,” Aaron explained. He gave me an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry. The tech guy will be here shortly. We’re right here with you, too.”
“Exactly. I’m sticking like glue to you, Liv,” Max stated, cocking his head. “Ouch. Not that I’d be of much good with a sore neck and all.”
“Didn’t they give you any pain killers?”
“Yes, but it sure seems like the last pill is wearing off. When I take one it puts me out almost immediately.” Max got up and said, “Nightie-night. I’ll be back when I wake.”
After he left, I went to the window.
“Harris just stepped out of his car,” I told Aaron.
Harris bounded through the front door of the store. “Good morning. Have you checked your e-mail accounts yet?” he asked after greeting Aaron and me.
“No. We’ve been waiting for you. There’s been too much happening lately. Gosh, when will you guys nail this down? Can’t you just take the computer in to examine it and figure out who is doing all this?” I glared at him. “There’s been two murders, and something has to be done!”
“First, we’re not sure if the guy who’s messing around with the computer is the killer, but we do believe it’s connected. In that case, we have to keep it looking as natural and normal as possible. If anyone should happen to come into the store, I’m just another IT guy. Got that?”
“Sure.” I watched him sit in front of the computer. “We think we know what he’s after.”
“I’ve read the notes,” Harris answered. “It’s something about President Lincoln and an important speech.” He logged into the account and his eyes lit up. “Yep. Our boy was on the move last night, but he’s smart.” Harris shook his head. “He detected my
little paw prints, and he’s switched his attack vector. I’ll start a port scan, should find him soon.”
I glanced at Aaron, who only shrugged “beats me!” at Harris’ cyber-talk. We watch Harris type in a series of cryptic commands.
When he stopped to flex his fingers, I figured it was safe to interrupt the master at work. “Are you getting anywhere?”
Harris shook his head, but his gaze never left the computer monitor. “I’m getting nowhere fast. The hacker has forwarded all of your relevant messages using a remote-control Trojan virus installed on a zombie PC somewhere in the Ukraine. That means this guy needs to be handled with extra special care.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and punched in a few numbers. He spoke for a just a couple minutes before disconnecting. “Mergens and Erlandsen will be here soon. We need to talk about this.”
“Yikes!” I said. “This doesn’t sound good.” Aaron placed his arm over my shoulder. “Let’s all go and sit in the workroom.”
“Right now, the most important thing is to not give away that we’re on to him. We’re going to walk softly and carry a big stick, as Teddy Roosevelt once said,” Detective Harris said.
“A strong cup of coffee sounds good right about now, it would calm my nerves,” I said. “I’d go to Luke’s, but I’m scared to leave the store by myself.”
“I could go for it, since we’re out of coffee grounds, but don’t want to leave you,” Aaron said, placing his arm over my shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m with her. Get a cup for us all.” Detective Harris gave Aaron a stern look. “Make sure you say nothing.
Nothing...to anyone.”
“Right. I’m a cop, remember?” Aaron squeezed my shoulder before releasing his hand and walking away.
“Liv? While we’re waiting, why not give me a tour of your dollhouses? Maybe you can talk me into buying one for my wife,” Harris said. He strolled over toward the displays. “Where’s the TR house? Teddy’s my favorite.”
“Right over here.” My anxiety ebbed while I explained about the Roosevelt family. “Did you know this? TR, his brother, Elliot,
and his wife, Edith, watched from a window as President Lincoln’s body traveled through in New York City on its way to Illinois.”
“Interesting.”
Aaron came back through the back door, and we heard the slamming of car doors. “The detectives have arrived, so we’re all here,” he announced. “Let’s lock the doors. I’ll get the back.”
“I’ll get the front,” I said as the detectives came in. “Erlandsen and Mergens, here. Work room?”
“Yes, go on in. We have some coffee waiting for you. I’m going to lock the front door.” I turned the Open sign around, locked the door, and followed the detectives into the workroom. Aaron rearranged the chairs. I noted that a chair was left for me, with Aaron perched right beside it. I sat.
“This speech... what’s this thing worth, in your estimation, if found?” Harris asked.
“Could be millions,” I said.
“Boy, that would pay our mortgage and our neighbors’ too, plus set us up for life,” Aaron replied. “Money is the motive. Has to be.” “He’d have to sell it on the black market,” Harris said, sipping
his cup of steaming coffee. “That’s why this guy is elusive and leaves soft footprints.”
“I’ll have to speak with the department people to figure out how to proceed, but we have to leave bread crumbs for him.” Erlandsen looked at Harris. “Any suggestions?”
“Throughout all of this, there haven’t been any clues, have there?”
“Few. Very few. Frankly, not worth much.”
“Has anyone found one of these things?” Harris pulled a memory stick from his pocket and held it up. “It can be plugged into any computer and download all its files in minutes.”
“That may be why our home was invaded. We have seen one of those. It’s in our drawer. I picked it up from the ground outside our shop shortly after Blanche was murdered. It’s so small — well
— it almost looked like a key. It was in my pocket for a few days before I dropped it in a kitchen drawer. Oh, my gosh.”
“Now that we know the computer is involved, we need that memory stick,” Erlandsen said.
“What next? What comes after this memory stick?”
“We’re going to come up with a plan that will pull the hacker out of hiding.” Mergens scratched his chin again. Maybe he was past due for a shave. “I want to take a look around your store, especially that desk.”
“Do what you need to do.” I took another sip of coffee. “What can Aaron and I do? How can we help?”
“You two go home and look for that memory stick. We’ll stop by later and pick it up,” Mergens instructed. “Don’t worry, we’ll lock up.”
“I’ll shut down the computer, just as you normally would,” Harris stated.
Within a few minutes, Aaron and I had finished our coffee and were heading for home.
Aaron easily found the memory stick and tried plugging it into my laptop.
A skull and crossbow lit up the screen. The caption in bold letters read:
Death to all.