Nelson DeMille - Plum Island

"No, a small adult. People were smaller then. Did you ever see a seventeenth-century bed? I slept in one once."

"My God… Why is there a skeleton…? What is that other stuff…?"

I reached into the chest and extracted something unpleasant to the touch. I held it up to the flashlight. "Rotted wood." I could see now that beneath the bones were a few pieces of rotted wood, and on closer examination, I found brass fittings covered with verdigris, and some iron nails which were mostly rust, and a piece of rotted cloth.

The bones were not bleached white, they were reddish brown, and I could see that soil and clay still clung to them, indicating they hadn't been buried in a coffin, but had lain in the earth for a long time.

I poked around the stuff in the ice chest and found a rusted iron padlock and four gold coins, which I gave to Beth.

I stood and wiped my hand on the handkerchief. "Captain Kidd's treasure."

She looked at the four gold coins in her hand. " This ?"

"That's part of it. What I see here is part of a wooden chest, pieces from the lid that was forced open, I would guess. The chest was wrapped in that rotting oilcloth or canvas to keep it waterproof for a year or so, but not for three hundred years."

She pointed to the skull and said, "Who's that ?"

"I guess that's the guardian of the treasure. Sometimes a condemned man or a native or a slave or some unlucky guy was murdered and thrown in on top of the chest. They believed in those days that a murdered man's ghost was restless and would drive away anyone who dug up his grave."

"How do you know that?"

"I read it in a book." I added, "And for those who weren't superstitious, and who may have seen people burying something or saw fresh earth, if they dug, the first thing they saw was a corpse, and they might think it was only a grave. Clever, yes?"

"I guess. It would keep me from digging any further."

We both stood there in the wine cellar awhile, deep in our own thoughts. The contents of the aluminum chest didn't smell all that good, so I bent over and closed the lid. I said to Beth, "I suppose this was all going to be displayed at some place and time, along with the gold and jewels."

She stared at the four gold coins in her hand and again asked, "But where is the treasure?"

"If bones could speak, I'm sure he'd tell us."

"Why does he have coins in his eyes?"

"Something to do with some superstition or another." She glanced at me and said, "Well, you were right. I congratulate you on a remarkable piece of detective work."

"Thank you," I said. "Let's get some fresh air."

We went back upstairs, and I saw that Eva was no longer in the kitchen. Beth said to me, "I may have enough here to get a search warrant."

"No, you don't. What we found here is not connected in any way to any of the murders except through circumstantial evidence. And then only if you believe my line of reasoning." I reminded her, "Three potential witnesses are dead."

Beth said, "Okay… but I have human remains here. That's a start."

"That's true. It's worth a phone call." I added, "Don't mention that the bones could be about three hundred years old."

Beth picked up the wall phone. "Dead," she said.

I gave her my car keys and said, "Try my cell phone."

She went out the back door and jumped in the Jeep. I saw her dial and speak to someone.

I walked around the ground floor of the house. It was decorated in what appeared to be real antiques, but could have been good reproductions. The style and period seemed mostly English country stuff, maybe mid-eighteen hundreds. The point was, Fredric Tobin knew how to spend it. He'd constructed an entire world of leisure, good taste, and sophistication more suitable to the Hamptons than to the North Fork, which prided itself on simple American tastes and virtues. Undoubtedly Tobin would rather have been in Bordeaux, or at least living in the Hamptons next door to Martha Stewart, swapping recipes with her for stuffed hummingbird tongues; but for the time being, like most people, he had to live near where he worked, where the wine made his bread. In the living room, there was a beautiful carved wood curio cabinet with curved and beveled glass filled with what looked like priceless objects. I pushed the cabinet over, and it made a loud crash followed by little tinkling sounds. I love that sound. My ancestors must have been Vandals or Visigoths or something.

There was a small den off the living room, and I poked around His Lordship's desk, but he kept very little there. There were a few framed photos, one of Sondra Wells, another of his true love — himself, standing on the fly bridge of his cabin cruiser.

I found his address book and looked up Gordon. Tom and Judy were listed, but they'd been crossed off. I looked up Whitestone and saw that Emma, too, had a line through her name. Considering he'd murdered her only this morning, and the news was not even out yet, this showed a very sick and orderly mind. The sort of mind that sometimes worked against the person who possessed it.

There was a fireplace in the room, and above the mantel were rifle pegs for two weapons, but neither weapon was there. Eva was proving to be a reliable witness.

I went back to the kitchen and looked out the rear window. The bay was angry, as the old salts would say, but not totally pissed off yet. Still, I couldn't imagine what would send Fredric Tobin out on a day like this. Actually, I could imagine what. I had to play with it in my mind a little.

Beth came back in the house, her poncho wet from the short run between the Jeep and the door. She gave me my keys and said, "There is a forensic team at the Murphy house, and another at… the other scene." She added, "I am no longer heading the Gordon investigation."

"Tough break." I added, "But don't worry about it. You've already solved the case."

"You solved it."

" You have to make it stick. I don't envy you that job. Tobin can bring you down, Beth, if you're not careful with how you proceed."

"I know…" She glanced at her watch and said, "It's 6:40. There are forensic and homicide people on the way here, but it'll take them a while to get through this storm. They'll be working on a search warrant before they enter. We should be outside when they get here."

"How do you explain that you were already inside the premises?"

"Eva let us in. She was frightened — felt she was in danger. I'll finesse that." She added, "You don't have to worry about it. I'll say I went down to the basement to check the electric."

I smiled. "You're getting good at covering your ass. You must be hanging out with street cops."

"You owe me some cover on this, John. You broke every rule in the book."

"I barely got through page one."

"And that's as far as you're getting."

"Beth, this guy killed three people I was fond of and an innocent elderly couple. The last three people wouldn't have died if I'd moved faster and thought harder."

She put her hand on my shoulder. "Do not blame yourself. The police were responsible for the Murphys' safety… As for Emma… well, I know I wouldn't have guessed that she was in danger — "

"I don't want to discuss it."

"I understand. Look, you don't need to speak to the county cops when they get here. Take off, and I'll handle it."

"Good idea." I tossed her my car keys and said, "See you later."

"Where are you going without your keys?"

"For a boat ride." I took the Formula key from the keyboard.

"Are you crazy?"

"The jury's out on that. See you later." I headed toward the back door.

Beth held my arm. "No, John. You'll get killed out there. We'll catch up with Fredric Tobin later."