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My grandparents returned with the maps in a short length of time.
“I sure hope these help.” Grandpa handed me the copied maps. “The librarian was a sweet little old lady who helped us out.” Grandma’s eyes twinkled. “Actually, I think I’m older than she is.” “It’s just that her hair was grayer and she walked slower than
your grandmother.” Grandpa chuckled. “Let’s get busy.”
“Okay. This part of the equation needs figuring out.” I grabbed the rolled up maps in one hand, the puzzle with my other hand, and set them all down on the kitchen table. Grandpa unrolled the maps. Would the center of the pentacle be Hodgenville?
I considered the Mary Todd Lincoln House. Was anyone in Mary’s family a Mason? That could be a viable explanation as to how the document could have been placed in Hodgenville.
I laid out the maps and drew a circles around Springfield, Lexington, Bloomington, and Hodgenville. As an afterthought, I drew one around Washington D.C., just in case it would fit the parameters of the pentacle. With a ruler in hand, I set about drawing lines from point to point. Unfortunately, the points were uneven, which made for a lopsided pentacle. That blew that idea, it was time to come up with another. My mind jumped back to the puzzle... his father’s birthplace. Could it possibly be that easy?
By now, Aaron had returned from the bank. He joined Grandma and Grandpa as I poured over the drawn lines.
“Hmm... Doesn’t line up,” Grandpa said and tugged an earlobe.
“Not at all.”
“Honey? We need to do more research, don’t you think?” “Probably. First off, we’re going to find out more about
Mary’s family and whether any of her relatives were in the Masons. Once that’s determined, it’ll be easier for me to believe that the speech could be located in Hodgenville. It’s too bad the store computer isn’t hooked up here. We do have a router that it could connect to. It’s easier than trying to type this stuff in with the iPad or this little laptop.”
“Should August and I to go over to the store and get it?” Aaron asked.
“We should find out from Harris if we can bring the computer from the store. I think the hacker would know if we were using a different computer. If we’re using something from home and are trying to track him from here, he’d know it. In the end, it’s best if we get the store computer. Would you call Harris to make sure I’m on the right track?”
“Right on it,” Aaron said, taking out his phone. He went to the kitchen for privacy. Upon his return, he said, “Yes. The hacker would know the difference. He wants us to keep using the same computer, so the footprints are the same. Putting his phone back in his pocket, he said, “I’ll go and pick it up.”
“That would be terrific.” I plunked back into the chair and Grandma did the same.
“We’ll get ’em.” Looking at August, he said, “Let’s go for it.
I’ll drive.”
They put on their coats and overshoes and took off. Less than an hour later they returned, and Aaron set up the computer.
“Now, let’s see who all in Mary’s family were Masons. I bet her dad was.” I logged into my Google account, found my bookmarked pages, and pressed on the website for the Masons.
First I searched “Abraham Lincoln as a Mason.” Not one link appeared. The next idea was to search for Masons in his administration. It generated a list of several names, including the Secretary of War from both terms, the Secretary of the Interior, Navy Secretary, and Vice President, Andrew Johnson.
“He was surrounded by Masons in his cabinet. He could have joined after his presidency. He probably didn’t have time to think about it, what with the war and all.” I read further and found that Lincoln was a close friend of the Commissioner of Public Buildings: Benjamin Brown French, who was Grand Master of all the Knights Templar in the U.S at the time. “The list is endless. It’s far-reaching.” Further digging led me to information about Mary’s family, where I stopped. “I’m right! Mary’s father was a Mason, and so were her brothers, uncles, and cousins.” I clicked out of the website and sat back. “I bet Mary did hide the speech.”
“I agree one-hundred percent,” Grandma said, yawning. “I’m with Liv. We are going to leave now, but we’ll call you in the morning.” She leaned over and gave me a kiss. “It’ll turn out just fine. Keep your chin up.”
“I will. Thank you again. You’re both great.” I stood and gave her a hug before going into the living room to hug Grandpa. “Careful driving.”
“Of course.”
From the window, I watched until their taillights were no longer in view, and then I plunked down on the chair. I jumped up again. “Before doing all of this research, let’s figure out this map. Maybe we can tell if she meant Hodgenville, Springfield, or Lexington?”
“But she didn’t want anything to do with Lexington nor the
house where she grew up,” Aaron said.
“True, but that house deserves to be on our list, simply because it’s her birthplace. She may have meant it, instead.”
Aaron readjusted the maps. Side by side, we studied them. My lines were drawn already, and I saw clearly that the pentacle didn’t ring true.
“Only three points of the pentacle meet. Here’s a question. Back then, roads between towns were either non-existent or terrible for travel. How did the speech get there?”
“Her family. She wouldn’t have mailed it, that’s for certain,” Aaron said.
“Especially with the war on. Sending something to the southern states would be difficult, if not impossible,” I agreed. “Maybe after the war? Or before it began?”
“Maybe family members, visits, after the assassination.” Aaron shrugged. “Don’t have an answer, but it’s worth researching.”
“You’re right.”
I sat back down, and searched the town of Hodgenville, Kentucky. Many sites came up, but the link to the Hodgenville Chamber of Commerce seemed most logical. Next, I clicked on the local businesses and to my surprise, an image of the Hodgenville Masonic Lodge popped into view.
“Take a look,” I said.
“We’re heading in the right direction, honey. I swear, we’ll find it.”
“Let’s hope.”
Upon further reading, I found that the lodge had been in existence since the mid-1800’s, which furthered my curiosity. The link for the log cabin mentioned that the Burr Oak, a towering, ancient tree, had been a forest landmark for settlers moving West. Was it still standing? The manner in which Mary hid clues proved that she was clever. Would she have hidden it in the tree? The acorn necklace would finally make sense. The website didn’t say anything more about the tree, so I made a mental note to call and ask about it. I bookmarked the website before continuing to read. Dignitaries and foreign travelers still visited the birthplace, the log cabin, and to look for the burr oak. Past presidents, such as Teddy Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, also had visited the historical home of Abraham Lincoln. I clicked out of the website and logged out.
“Did Harris say anything about shutting the computer down?” I asked.
“He said to leave it running.”
“Okay.” I logged out but didn’t power down. I yawned and stood up to stretch. “No wonder I’m tired, it’s already eleven.”
“It’s been a long day,” Aaron said. “Don’t forget that I have the hockey tourney in the morning. Fortunately, we don’t play until nine.”
“Yikes! I’d forgotten all about it.”
“Max will take care of the store, don’t worry, you won’t have to go in. It’s already set it up with Maggie. She will meet you at Lake Nokomis,” Aaron said.
“What would I do without you?”
Aaron shut the lights off, and with his arm around me, we walked into the bedroom.
I couldn’t sleep. The blankets were twisted around, making a mess off the bed. Aaron growled at me a couple of times for hogging all the covers. Finally, I got up and went to the kitchen for a drink of warm milk to calm me down and help me sleep.
The glow from the computer monitor flooded the floor like a sheet. I held my breath as I approached the kitchen door. The bright light lit my way. It ought to have been dark as the night.
I inched back to the bedroom.
“Aaron.” I nudged him and yanked back the blankets. “Get up.” When he opened his eyes, I put my finger to my lips, motioning him to be quiet. I finger waved him to follow but waited as he grabbed his gun.
We crept quietly down the hallway. The monitor still cast an eerie light in the darkened kitchen.
At the doorway, Aaron nudged me aside. With his gun in position, Aaron entered the room.
“Come in,” Aaron said. “We need to call Harris.” I entered behind him.
Aaron gazed at the screen and watched the cursor move back and forth across it.
“Let’s make it a three-way call,” I said. Sneaky little monster.
Aaron made the call. “Okay, go ahead,” he said. “Liv is also on the line.”
“Press the ESC button on the computer’s keyboard,” Harris told us.
I pressed the button. “Okay.” “Now what?” Aaron said.
“Watch the screen,” Harris said. We watched the hacker remotely deleting all of the items he’d forwarded earlier from the sent folder.
Aaron said. “He’s deleting his sent files. All were Lincoln-related. I guess he’s cleaning up after himself, so we won’t spot him.” We kept our eyes glued on the monitor. “Okay. He just shut it down and restarted it.”
“Open an Internet browser. If we find what IP address he’s using, we can trace it and get a better handle on his location,” Harris stated.”
“I’m ready,” I said. Following his instructions, I opened in a set of internal log files.
Aaron read off a series of numbers to Harris. “This will catch him?” Aaron asked when he finished.
“It’s possible,” he replied. “By-the-way, that memory stick had copies of email messages, and they are very pertinent to this case. Now I’ve got to get busy, catch you later. Make certain there’s someone monitoring that computer twenty-four seven. I may stop by in the morning to check on it.” He hung up.
“Okay.” I disconnected. “Now what do we do, since the game starts at nine? Someone has to be here.”
“Bummer luck,” Aaron said.
“I’m fine. You go when you need to, and I’ll follow as soon as Harris gives me the all clear.” I took his arm. “Let’s hit the sack. Should we leave it on like this?”
“You bet.”
“If we’re lucky, the hacker won’t realize we are watching him. Now we know how he does everything,” I said as we walked to the room.
“And we can hopefully trace the hacker. Harris is a real whiz at this and should be able to track him down,” Aaron said.
“Let’s try sending an email. One that will scare him out of hiding. Next time we’ll know when he’s sneaking into the computer. This time, it was a chance to discover him at work,” I said. “That’s how we’ll be able to pull him out of his lair.”
“We’ll talk with the detectives tomorrow.”
“I’m still bothered. I’m going to sit with the maps. You go on to bed, if you’d like.”
“I’m staying right by your side.”
In the kitchen, I said, “We have drawn out the pentacle. Where the heck is the center of it? The ‘G’ stands for the beginning. The pentacle has to mean the same.” I erased the pencil lines before I drew lines from Hodgenville. “Look, now. They’re all kind of connected in an odd way.”
“She knew the Masons were trustworthy, given her family connections. The Masonic building is still in use.” Furrowing my brow, I thought for a moment. “I’m calling to find out about the Burr Oak tree in the morning as well as the lodge.”
“This is still crazy,” Aaron said. “But, the nut didn’t fall far from the tree.”
“When will the hacker strike again? And, is the hacker the killer?”