Murder at the Holiday Flotilla (17 page)

“
But she didn’t call 9-1-1 to save him,” I protested. “And Roger Craighead is not here to challenge her version of the story.”

“
You can be sure the D.A. will be skeptical. They may have enough to charge her with conspiracy to murder. She does admit to being there and to luring Henry to the house. And her hair was found on the bed where he died. Probably they’ll bring a charge of manslaughter for Redfield’s death. She did admit to shoving him down the stairs. She’ll get eight to ten for that, most likely. And much longer if she is convicted of Henry’s death. Mrs. Redfield is going to be out of circulation for a long time.”

“
What a waste,” Aunt Ruby said.

“
Save your pity, Aunt Ruby. She was out to destroy me,” Melanie said.

Walt interjected, “Oh, and one final bit of information. According to Mrs. Redfield, Wren Redfield’s oxy supplier was none other than Roger Craighead. Working on campus he had an opportunity to meet drug dealers. They’re always hanging around college campuses.”

“
But why did Roger go after us?” Melanie asked.

“
The quest for gold,” Walt replied. “When the gambling casino idea fell through, he decided to put his efforts into finding a legendary treasure. And he thought you knew where it was hidden or had a clue as to where it was hidden. I venture to guess, he planned to take you out on a secluded beach and force you into the water if you didn’t tell what you knew. He couldn’t know that a couple of sailors would call ahead and arrange for the drawbridge to be raised so he couldn’t drive to the beach.”

“
We should have shown you that will right away, Walt,” Melanie said. “But I brought it with me today. I’d like you to take a look.”

Melanie got up and returned with a large envelope. She slid the contents out and handed the large folded sheets to Walt. He took his time studying the documents. When he was finished, he asked, “Who else knows about this?”

“
Just us,” I said.

“
Just family,” Binkie affirmed.

“
Ray and I won’t breathe a word,” Scarlett said.

“
You didn’t tell Amy Wood, did you, Ashley?” Melanie asked.

“
No,” I said. “I didn’t tell anyone.”

“
Let’s keep it that way. I’m your family lawyer. I can’t divulge what you have told me. Attorney-client privilege.”

“
So you think there might be something to this fortune?” Cam asked.

“
I think it deserves checking out.”

“
My stars,” Aunt Ruby exclaimed. “With all the excitement I almost forgot. We’ve got tickets to the North Carolina Symphony tonight. It’s the annual Pops Christmas Concert. I say, let’s go. Why let Roger Craighead spoil our holidays any more than he already has.”

“
Aunt Ruby,” Jon interjected. “I’m afraid you can’t go. We need you to babysit.”

“
What!” I exclaimed. “Jon!”

“
Wait, hear me out. I think we will also have to share the information about the gold with Amy Wood, as well.”

“
You’re going to have to explain yourself, Jon,” Binkie said.

“
Jon, what is going on?” I asked.

My husband grinned at all of us. “As you know, I’ve been working with a computer program that automatically measures the rooms in Amy’s house from photos I took, and then produces architectural drawings. Well, I kept getting an error message. I couldn’t understand what the problem was. I had to delve deeper into the program.

“
And what I discovered is this. The reason I got an error message was because the inside measurements of the rooms do not total the outside dimensions of the house.” He grinned mischievously, waiting for us to get it.

“
A secret room!” Cam exclaimed.

At six o’clock it was almost dark as we headed down Plantation Road. We had to wait until Amy finished her shift at the medical center to meet us at the house.

Ray and Scarlett stayed at my house to assist Aunt Ruby with the babies. Binkie came with us; we all felt his expertise as a historian might be of assistance in our hunt. And Walt Brice insisted on coming along. As our attorney, he planned to document the find – if there was one – with a video camera.

On the trip down we listened to the car radio anxiously for news. The six o’clock local news on WHQR announced that the body of Roger Craighead, an associate professor of History at UNCW, had been found by the Coast Guard in the waters near Bradley Creek Marina. We also learned that the New Hanover County District Attorney was charging Regina Redfield with the murder of Senator Buddy Henry and with manslaughter for the death of her husband, Wren Redfield.

“
She’ll be convicted,” Walt assured us from the back seat.

Amy met us at her front door. “What is this all about?” she asked after she had been introduced to Cam, Binkie, and Walt. “You sounded so mysterious on the phone.”

“
Why don’t we all sit down and I’ll explain, Amy,” Jon said. Melanie had brought the will which Amy had never seen before although she remembered her grandfather claiming there was an old will from Samuel Wood. The house and land had been passed down from father to son, but the original will had disappeared. How it got into my father’s possession, we would never know, but perhaps as a judge he was researching legal documents when he died.

“
Wilmington treasure? Whatever does that mean?” Amy asked as she read the will.

Jon and I took turns explaining about the legend of Cornwallis’s gold. Jon told Amy about the error in his computer program that led him to find a discrepancy with the outside and inside measurements of her house. “We’d like your permission to search your house. And your help. Are you aware of any rooms that don’t seem to be the size you’d expect them to be?”

Amy got very excited. “I am! The dining room adjoins the parlor yet one wall isn’t quite where you’d expect it to be. The room should extend behind the staircase but it doesn’t. It’s like there is a missing piece to the house.”

“
Then that’s where we’ll start,” Jon said. “Show us.”

Amy led the way into the dining room. “What are we looking for?” she asked.

“
Some interruption in the architecture. A cabinet. Something like that.”

“
What about that corner cupboard?” Amy asked.

I was vibrating with excitement. “It’s in the corner where you’d expect the wall to extend further back. We’ll have to unload the cabinet, Amy.”

“
Sure. Put the dishes on the table.” Amy opened the glass paned door and we all began removing plates, cups, and saucers and stacked them on the table. Walt started the video camera and recorded us as we worked. “I’ve shut off the audio,” he said, “so feel free to say whatever you like. I think it’s wise to document this search in the off chance we do find something valuable.”

When the cabinet was empty, Amy asked, “What now? Will there be a catch or a hinge or something?”

“
Probably nothing as sophisticated as that,” Jon said. “But look, Amy, you can see that the corner cupboard is not truly built in. The framing is not contiguous with the wood trim on the wall. There are seams. We’re going to have to see if we can drag it out of the corner.”

Jon and Cam took hold of either side of the cupboard and rocked it a bit to see if it would move. It did. Then it was a matter of lugging the heavy piece of furniture away from the corner.

“
A door,” I cried. Behind the cupboard was a small door in the wall. There was no door knob protruding, just a flat lock.

“
It’s locked,” Jon cried as he tried pushing the door inward.

“
I’ve got some old keys,” Amy said excitedly. She left the room and returned with a large key ring that was loaded with keys.

“
Let me,” Jon said, taking the key ring from her and then one by one trying each in the lock.

“
This is a historical moment,” Binkie said softly, as if in awe of what we were doing.

“
OK, I’ve got it,” Jon cried. “Everyone gather round. You’ll all want to see this.” The door was stuck and took some pushing. “House has settled,” Jon said.

Finally the door opened into a small dark room. “I’ll get a flashlight,” Amy said, and ran from the room. Returning with the flashlight she handed it to Jon and he shone it into the darkness.

“
I want to see too,” Melanie cried, aiming the flashlight she had brought in from our car.

“
I think there is room for all of us,” Jon said. “But let’s tread carefully. We don’t know what we might find.”

We slipped inside as Walt filmed our entry. We crowded into the little room, but there was only one item in it. A barrel in a corner. A very old wooden barrel. And on top of the barrel, some folded pieces of cloth.

Carefully, I lifted the pieces, turning to face the camera, and gently unfolded them. “Colonial uniforms,” Binkie exclaimed. “Those are British garments that a British soldier might have worn.”

“
Didn’t the legend say that Samuel Wood exchanged articles of his clothing for those of a prison guard?” I said.

“
I remember that,” Melanie cried.

With the clothing off the barrel, all that remained was the lid. “Shall I?” Jon asked.

“
Please hurry,” Melanie said. “The suspense is killing me,” and she shone her light at the corner.

Jon grasped the edge of the lid and tugged. It came off. Shining the flashlight inside, he exclaimed, “Oh my god!”

“
What? What?”

“
It’s here. It’s the gold.”

And we all moved in for a look inside the barrel with Walt filming the contents. Shiny gold coins. Binkie stepped forward. “Allow me.” He reached into the barrel and held up a golden coin. “Jon, shine the light on this.”

We all crowded around to see. “I’ve been doing some research since we first read and discussed the will. This is a British guinea, about ninety percent pure gold, minted in Great Britain from gold mined in the Guinea region of West Africa. Thus its name. It bears the image of King George III on one side and a crowned shield on the other.”

“
What is it worth?” Amy asked.

Binkie grinned in the glow of the flashlight. “One of these? About $3,000.”

“
And there are how many? A thousand?”

“
A thousand easily,” Jon said, staring into the barrel.

“
Three million dollars!” Cam whooped.

“
But won’t the government claim the gold?” Amy asked worriedly.

“
Or the British government?” I asked.

“
They can claim all they want to,” Melanie said, “they ain’t gettin’ it.”

“
Oh, what I could do with just a fraction of this gold,” Amy said. “I could endow the Pediatric Trauma unit at the hospital. I could enlarge the animal rescue farm and hire professionals to come work on it. We could rescue animals from all over the country, like that elephant rescue farm in Tennessee.”

“
I’d use my share for historic preservation,” I said, dreaming too. “I’d buy up historic properties all over the state and have them restored. Save our heritage so it’ll be there when my babies grow up. What would you do, Mel?”

Melanie thought for a moment. “Water. The world’s children need clean drinking water. I’d build wells all over the world. Cam and I could travel to third-world countries and oversee the projects. Like Bill and Melinda Gates.”

“
We’ll set up a foundation,” I said. “Oh, we can do so much good with this fortune.”

“
Does anyone besides us know about the gold and how it got here? How Samuel Wood found it and brought it here?” Cam wanted to know.

“
That is just a legend,” I said. “No proof. Only the family knows about the will. No one will tell. Ray and Scarlett won’t tell. Aunt Ruby surely won’t.”

“
My lips are sealed,” Binkie said.

I went on, “We don’t have to tell what we know. And we honestly don’t know how it got here. It is found treasure. And I believe found treasure belongs to the finders.”

Jon interjected, “Roger Craighead suspected but he is dead.”

“
I rather doubt he told his aunt Regina. He wouldn’t want to share,” Binkie said.

“
And Walt is covered by privilege.”

“
Good, because we’re going to need a lawyer,” Jon said.

Walt barked out a laugh. “You’re going to need a team of lawyers.”

“
That’s OK,” I said with a smile. “We’ve got the money to pay a team.” I moved to Jon’s side and threw my arms around him. “How do you like having a rich heiress for a wife?”

Jon smiled happily. “Our wedding vows said for richer or poorer. No offense, but I kinda like the richer part.”

“
Me too.”

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