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I stopped into the store instead of going right home. Besides a few wood splinters on the counter, probably from Max’s work, everything was fine.
Next on my list was to drop by my grandparents to see how Grandpa was after his fall. I hated knowing they were getting older. They lived up past the Calhoun Beach House and toward Lake-of-the-Isles. The greenery was beautiful around there, and if I’d had more time, I would’ve driven to the Rose Garden and sat for a minute enjoying the beautiful flowers. Grandma’s Garden Club helped maintain the gardens.
I soon parked outside of their house and strode to the back patio where I found them sipping glasses of wine. “Hi,” I greeted them. I dropped my bag and went into the kitchen for a glass for myself. I held it out. “I’m thirsty.”
I sat beside Grandpa as he filled my glass. “Grandpa, how are you feeling?”
“Great. What brings you here?” Grandpa asked with a twinkle in his eye. “Out cruising? Shouldn’t you be at the store?”
“She came to check up on you, August. Right?” I kissed Grandma’s cheek in confirmation. “See?”
I peered closely at Grandpa’s bump and declared, “You look fine.” I smiled. “I came from Ida Gray’s. She’d asked for me to previously look for some ledgers. I have to give them to her. I’ll bring them to the store for her to pick up.”
“Tell me about it,” Grandpa said.
“The police wanted me to look through them. The other day, I saw her leave the house, and the police found my card on the floor. I hadn’t been sure if it was her or not, now I know it was. What do you make of that?”
“Not sure, it could mean almost anything, honey.” Grandpa rubbed his chin.
“Their ranches are joined. There’s something about the whole situation, that I’ve got to figure out.” I waited a beat and continued, “She also said that their land dates back to Roosevelt.”
“Well, if there’s oil money involved, it’s your motive,” Grandpa said. “Money and greed.”
“I agree. It’s exactly what I thought—greed.”
“Have you tried to research her children? Weren’t they at the expo?” Grandma asked. “That’s where I’d begin.”
“Harry is a Ranger at the park, and Sunflower danced in some of the performances.”
“Anymore news about the drug?” Grandpa asked. “Refill?” He held up the bottle, but I held my hand over the top of my glass. He laughed. “Don’t worry, this isn’t drugged.” He emptied it between himself and Grandma.
“I’m driving and haven’t had much to eat so far today. Aaron’s due home soon, too.” I thought for a minute. “Maybe I should see what’s in the park that had originally belonged to President Roosevelt.” “Yes, and what about the impersonators?
Something’s not right there, either,” Grandma said. “That’s true, too.” I emptied my glass. “I must get going. Oh! Don’t forget brunch on Sunday. I’ll keep you two up to date.” I gave them each a cheek kiss. “Thanks.” I left through their house, to take a look at Grandma’s Dolley Madison sampler, hoping for inspiration. The sampler was a key in locating the Star Spangled Banner manuscript after it’d been hid for two hundred years. I wondered if the TR pieces in my possession held the secret to something valuable.I took an alternative route home, winding around many parks and water bodies, enjoying watching children playing outside and families swimming. Eventually I parked in our garage and went into my house. I set the covered water bottle on the back counter away from everything else. I didn’t trust that it was safe to drink.I got another water bottle from the refrigerator, grabbed my laptop, and went out back to sit. It felt good to relax as I checked messages. Max had written to say that no one stopped in all afternoon, which is what I had expected.
While I waited for Aaron to come home from work, I did a search on Harry and found him listed in Medora at the same address as Ida’s ranch. I looked up when the backdoor opened and Aaron stepped outside with a can of beer, chips and dip. “Need anything?”
“Thank you. I’m kind of hungry. Got a notepad and pencil?”Aaron held them up after he set the bowls on the table. “How did it go with Ida?” He sat opposite and placed the pad and pen on his lap. “What’s your impression?”
“It’s like this—Max mentioned poison as I left—so I stopped for a bottle of water and drank from that instead of what she had ready. I believe it was ice tea. Now that I think about it, she didn’t offer cookies or pie—nothing. Isn’t that surprising? Grandma would’ve.”
“Did you go inside at all?”
“Yes, I went to the bathroom and took pictures of the inside of her medicine cabinet,” I said. “I left my water bottle with her when I did.”
“We need to have the contents tested.”
“That’s what I was thinking. I didn’t drink from it after I left it with her,” I said. “It’s in the kitchen on the back counter.”
“Okay. Now, what did she ask about?”
“The books and ledgers. I said I’d bring them to the store.”
“I bet something is hidden in them.” Aaron wrote on the pad. “Did she ask about the figurine?” I shook my head and took a sip. “That’s interesting. She either knows it’s unattainable or she’s forgotten about it.”
“We can’t zero in on her, though. We have other suspects like that horrible woman, Pam. It makes no sense at all for her to walk through the store in a costume, and later threaten me, does it?” I frowned.
“We’re not any further ahead.”“We do know a few things, but nothing definite.”
He set the pad aside. “What were you researching?” “Sunflower lives in Medora and Harry lives on the ranch. Ida said Harry, Sunflower and Gina quarreled a lot, similar to siblings.”“It stands to reason since they grew up living close.”I opened my laptop and continued with my search. I found that Sunflower participated in the jingle dancing a great deal of the time because her name showed up on a website featuring jingle dancers from that area, Harry was listed as a ranger on the park website, but with no other information about him. I began poking around the park’s website, and found photographs of TR’s cabin. Edith stayed there only once in the years following TR’s death, and it had since burned down. A photo of the interior of the rustic cabin showed only a small trunk, a few items needed for personal use, and various odd pieces used in the course of living. I said, “Nothing much to investigate.”
“Maybe we should go for a short trip out there? It isn’t that far. We could go for only a few days, and maybe then we’d be able to figure it all out.”
“Not yet, we need to hone our focus. More specific clues.” I turned my attention back to the impersonators and opened the bookmark for Buffalo Bill. I slowly read through his website and carefully read all the event dates and where he’d performed. “Write this down, will you?” I gave Aaron the dates. “I’m going to see if the dates coincide with Annie Oakley’s.” I found her schedule and read it aloud.
“They fit. Let’s strike those two from the list because they couldn’t have done it. They were working.” He emptied his beer can and crushed it before dropping it into the recycling bin. “I’m going after another. Want something else?”
“A soda. Order a pizza, too, please.”“You got it.”I watched him walk away before switching back to the searches. The next one was for Ed Parsons, aka John Muir. He traveled the country with his act, but didn’t have anything scheduled for the next two months. It made me wonder how he managed financially. I did a search for his girlfriend, Pam Simons, or were they married? Nothing popped up about her except that she was on Facebook. Aaron returned with our drinks and handed me my soda.
“I ordered a large pepperoni and extra cheese.”
“Great.” I took another handful of chips. “Let’s have Maggie and Tim come out.”
“Already did. They’re on their way.”
I closed out from my account and shut down the laptop. “Let’s pick a movie to watch with them.”
“Sure.” Aaron grinned. “Better go inside. The skeeters might carry us off.”
It wasn’t much longer before the pizza man arrived, followed by Maggie and Tim. After we’d finished gobbling down the pizza and drank a few sodas, we hustled inside to watch, Argo. Maggie and I snuggled into the sofa while the guys leaned back in the two recliners. About midway, I popped us a couple bags of popcorn. The movie was great, and hard to believe that the event really happened, and the Americans escaped without harm. Afterward, Maggie and Tim left.
“Nice evening, baby girl.” Aaron kissed me, steering me toward the bedroom.
“Hmm.” I let him lead.
Between his snores, neighborhood car doors opening and closing, and voices echoing through the open windows, I had trouble sleeping. I got up and meandered into the living room where I turned on the television. I covered myself with one of the sofa coverings, and closed my eyes while I listened to a PBS special that showed old commercials from the beginning of television. Some were funny, some boring. I fell asleep during a Hamm’s Beer commercial. Later, I woke to a Colgate advertisement. I got up, went to bed, and slept through until morning.
When I woke, something nagged on my mind, but I wasn’t sure what. I showered and dressed before catching up to Aaron in the kitchen. “Aren’t Grandma and Grandpa coming out for brunch? I know that I that I mentioned it when I left.” I poured us each a cup of coffee.
“I wondered about that. Better call.”
We carried our cups outside to sit, and dialed their number. “Grandma? Are you two coming out for brunch? I promise that I’ve made the meal twice before and I’ve got it down pat. You won’t get sick.”
“Forgot. Grandpa got a call last night letting us know that his cousin, Sally—you do remember her, don’t you? Well, she’s flying in from Miami and needs to be picked up in two hours. We’re just leaving. Grandpa is worried about the traffic and parking.”
“Grandma, it only takes thirty minutes to get there and park.” I took a sip of the hot coffee. “Would you like for us to get her?”
“Thank you dear, if it’s not too much of a problem.” I could feel relief in her voice.
“Tell me the airline and flight number.” She did, and I saved it on the phone.
“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “We’ll let you know when she arrives.” I disconnected, and told Aaron. “We need to go to the airport and pick up Grandpa’s cousin Sally.”
“I’ll finish getting dressed. We’ll get going right away. If we’re early we can watch the planes landing and taking off. That’s always fun to do.”
“Okay.” While he was gone, my minded drifted to last night’s vintage commercial program. Many were educational. Many taught girls how to dress and walk and take care of themselves. A few were about aspirins and other over the counter drugs. The logo for Northwest Airline had changed since the commercial, and now the company wasn’t based in Minnesota anymore.
I brought our coffee mugs back inside and shut the coffee maker off, and filled the dishwasher. I figured I’d let it run while we were absent. As I finished pouring in the detergent, Aaron entered.
I put down the container and pressed the start button. The machine began humming nicely. “Let’s go.”
I took my bag and followed him out, and climbed into the passenger seat. I applied a bit of lipstick as he drove down the street. “I haven’t seen Grandpa’s cousin Sally since I was a teenager. I’m not sure if I know what she looks like.” I gave Aaron the name of the airline and the flight number. “She was really, really nice. I know that. She bought me a doll when she stayed before.”
“Anyone who bought you a doll, you’d like.” Aaron smiled at me, and turned onto the main drag, which brought us over to 35W and to the Mall of America exits, and soon after that, the airport entrance. We found a parking spot in the close-by lot nearest the terminal, so we wouldn’t have to worry about Sally walking very far. Since she was Grandpa’s cousin, I figured she had to be in her seventies.
“What does she look like?” Aaron asked. I tugged on his arm to hurry as we crossed the parking lot and entered on the lower level. We hustled to the elevators and found our way to the upper level and found a waiting area.
“Let’s sit here,” I suggested. “Did you bring my water bottle in for testing?”
“Yes. Now, sit back and relax. Let’s watch the planes.”
We both sank into the chairs nearest the windows and watched as flights landed and took off. Our expected flight wasn’t due for quite a while but it was nice to sit and watch the planes outside, and the people near us.A number of attendants walked past, pulling their luggage. Then two pilots walked by, doing the same “Looks like a flight is due to come in. Maybe it’s Sally’s,” I said. Sure enough, soon after that, a loudspeaker announced that her flight had landed.
We watched the stream of passengers eagerly, and then I recognized the same wiry hair and broad smile that was just like grandpa’s. “Sally!” I cried, giving her a big kiss.
“Olivia, you look just like I remember, shorter with red hair and a beaming smile. You must be Aaron?” She gave him a smooch, leaving red lipstick on his cheek.
“Ready? Let’s get your luggage and get out of here.” We waded through the passengers and down to the luggage claim and after a short while, retrieved her suitcase. Aaron, ever the gentleman, picked it up and carried it for Sally.
“We’re parked not far away. I don’t think Grandpa likes driving out here, so we came to pick you up.”
We wound our way to the car. “Here we are.” Aaron opened the trunk and set the luggage inside of it, and closed the lid.
“You can sit in the front.” I opened the door and helped her climb in. She buckled up while I got in the backseat.
Aaron followed the traffic signs leading us back out onto the freeway.
“The Mall of America,” I pointed it out to her. “On your left—off over there! See it?”
“Oh my. I’d like to go there if I can. The attendants talked about it all the time.”
We fell quiet as the traffic was tight and horns honked. Overhead another plane soared. Several minutes passed before we spoke again. Sally mentioned how much I had enjoyed playing with dolls when I was a little girl, and then asked when Aaron and I were going to have some children of our own.
“We will someday,” I responded with a smile. We were already trying but nothing had happened. Changing the subject, I wondered, “Why did the airline attendants talk about the Mall of America? Aren’t they from all over? I bet that none of them are from here.”
The car came to a sudden stop, and Aaron blasted the horn. “Stupid driver!” Traffic was a tangled mess for a minute. “That guy pulled right out in front of the car ahead of us,” Aaron complained. “We’re lucky that we weren’t rear-ended.” Traffic began flowing again.
“What were you saying, Sally? Something about the attendants.”
“When I worked as one, I traveled all over and knew something about every city where we stopped. The passengers always like hearing such things, you know. However, one of the flight attendants was from this area. She sort of reminded me of you. You are about the same height and build. I wonder if you know her.”
“A flight attendant with my height and build. I like to think that my memory’s good but it’s not that good,” I said. “You don’t know where she lives or anything like that, do you?”
“No, but she works part-time as a flight attendant,” Sally said. “She said she only flies once a week. The rest of the time she works at a bar. Isn’t that something.”
Alarm bells went off in my head and I saw Aaron’s eyes lock briefly on mine through the rear-view mirror.
We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and soon had Sally safely unloaded and inside. Our duty done, we made our escape.
“There’s something I want to check,” I said to Aaron, as he started the car.
“I know what you’re thinking.” he replied.