The Labyrinth of Blue Towers:
The Disappearance of Jack Arneson
(A Sewing Box Mystery)
Chapter 1: Friday, June 10, 2011, 7:21 pm
Chapter 2: Saturday, June 11, 2011, 8:38 am
Chapter 3: Thursday, June 28, 1984, 10:10 am
Chapter 12: Saturday, June 18, 2011, 8:00 am
Chapter 24: Sunday, June 19, 2011, 1:52 am
Adam must have talked to Kathleen; he'd used the phrase ‘scavenger hunt’, as had Peter. Maybe Adam and Kathleen had talked about the list before Adam arrived at The Sleep Inn. Exactly how deep in Kathleen’s pocket was he? In any event, Missy was now glad she hadn’t confided in him more
Jeanette had insisted that they brew a quick pot of coffee in the hotel room before heading out. Fortunately, it hadn’t taken much time and Missy was glad she’d waited, for the hot liquid felt good on her throat. It stood in sharp contrast to the cool night air which greeted them on the way to the car. The sky was stark and clear, but there looked to be no moon.
Even though they were in a hurry, Missy had made a point of taking time to dig through the trunk of her car, searching for the emergency kit Grandma Jean had given her. At the time she’d thought the gift was a waste of money, but tonight she was extremely grateful because the kit included a flashlight complete with a pair of giant D-sized batteries. Loading the bulky batteries and switching it on, Missy breathed a sigh of relief. The batteries were still good and the flashlight worked. Thank you. Grandma Jean.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Jeanette appeared lost in her own world. Staring straight ahead, the handles of her giant purse clutched tightly in her hands as it sat on her lap, Missy's aunt finally broke her silence. “What do you think she wants to show us?”
Missy had no answer, so didn't say anything. The fatigue of the day had now settled on the top of her brow and it seemed to be all she could do to keep the wheel steady. Navigating the road out to the Monastery had been a lot easier during daylight. Moving forward through the night there was something eerie about how close to the road the trees were, as if the the silent, leafy sentinels were crowding in, intent on engulfing them. It felt almost threatening and made Missy uneasy.
As they approached the entrance drive to the Monastery, the car’s headlights fell upon a black Lexus SUV parked off to the side of the road. Missy assumed that this was Kathleen’s vehicle and pulled in behind it. As her car idled. Missy took a few deep breaths before turning the key in the ignition, cutting the engine, and extinguishing all light.
It was now pitch-black, save for the glow of the distant security lights that shone about the corners of the Monastery. In the silence. Missy thought she could actually hear her heart beating. A moment passed.
The driver’s door of the SUV opened and closed carefully. Someone had stepped out and was fast approaching Missy’s car. She rolled down the window and Kathleen’s head appeared in the opening. “I thought it best that we park out here, on the road, so as to not wake the Brothers. Come with me. I know a secret way in.”
Taking another deep breath Missy looked over to her aunt. Though shadowed in darkness,. Missy thought she caught a look of fear on Jeanette’s face. If so, it would be the first time her aunt had shown any trepidation the entire trip. Without a word exchanged, the women exited their vehicle, careful to close their doors without making much sound.
Once out of the car, Kathleen was at Missy’s side immediately. “This way,” she jerked her head. As she strode away, Missy noted that the lithe woman was completely dressed in form-fitting black. Neither she nor Jeanette had given any thought as to what they were wearing, save for the fact that they both wanted to remain warm. Missy hoped their lack of foresight wouldn’t cause problems for them later on.
Missy immediately turned on the flashlight, its circular light illuminating the gravel beneath her feet. Kathleen was on her in a flash. “No, no, no.” She tried to wrestle the beacon from Missy’s hand. “Shut it off! Shut it off! They’ll see you.” Missy turned away and shut the flashlight off. Spinning back around, she came face to face with Kathleen, who stood hand on hips. “Give it to me. I think I’d better be in control of that.”
Missy didn’t like that idea at all. “That’s okay. I I think I’ll hang on to it. I promise to keep it turned off.”
Kathleen spun on her heel and strode off toward the driveway that led to the Monastery. Missy and Jeanette scurried after her.
The stealthy trio made their way to the north side of the building and soon found themselves in the middle of one of the gardens. Winding their way through carefully trimmed hedges, they came upon an ivy-covered arbor. It opened upon a life-sized statue, a robed, bearded man with a knot of hair on his forehead. Lit from below, his right hand pointed skyward, while his left held three keys; one quite a bit smaller and less ornate than the other two. Kathleen approached the statue and removed the smaller of the keys. “This is St. Peter He was commissioned by my father and is the keeper of the keys to the kingdom of heaven. This, however,” she added, brandishing the key “is definitely not one of them. What it opens falls far from heaven.”
The statue was very nice. Beautiful, even, but Missy didn’t see the point. “Is this what you wanted to show us?”
A small, tight smile formed on Kathleen’s face. “Oh, no, I have something much more, pertinent to share with you.” As the woman moved behind the statue, Missy and Jeanette looked at each other, shrugged, and followed.
In the corner of the garden, running along one side of the Monastery wall, was a sunken stairwell. The three clamored down the steps. Kathleen inserted the key into the ancient door at the bottom and pushed hard on the heavy metal door. Before entering, she turned to Missy “This used to be the old coal chute. A certain, clever groundskeeper transformed it into a secret way in.” She smiled. “Why don’t you give me the flashlight, and I’ll lead the way.” Missy supposed it was the only way. Reluctantly, she handed it over. Kathleen flipped it on and headed inside.
In the entryway, Missy paused for a moment, that is, until she felt a slight push from behind. It was her aunt’s giant purse. “Move it,” came the order from behind. Missy threw her aunt a quick glare and ducked inside.
Kathleen was already several yards ahead of them, pushing boxes and various items out of their way. They were in the basement of the old bakery. Missy recognized it because of the many boxes and it’s cobblestone floor, but also because of the set of steps that stood to their immediate left, at the top of which stood the heavy blonde door they had used in their earlier escape with Peter. Its copper knob led to the interior of the church, though Missy was pretty sure it was probably locked. Peter had opened it with a key, if she remembered correctly.
“Are you coming?”
The voice was Kathleen's and she sounded slightly annoyed. Missy snapped back to the moment, apologized, and followed Kathleen, who seemed to know exactly where she was going. The determined woman made a beeline through another doorway which took the trio into another clutter-choked room with a workbench. Kathleen went to the left of the bench and got on her knees. She was struggling with something. In the dark of the room, it was hard to make out just what. “Dammit,” she said. She then turned about. “Here! One of you, hold the flashlight while I undo this stupid lock.” Jeanette moved forward, took the torch and held it so the beam fell just beyond Kathleen’s right shoulder. Missy closed in and peered over her aunt’s left shoulder; it looked like Kathleen was busy trying to remove some kind of padlock from a long, wooden box. The woman was incensed. “This shouldn’t be here. Who the hell put a lock on this fucking thing?” Kathleen grabbed the lock with both hands and tried ripping the latch from the wood, but it would not budge.
“What are you trying to do?” asked Jeanette
“None of your business. Just... just hand me a hammer or a crowbar or something. There...” she pointed. “Above the tool bench. Hurry.” Jeanette turned the beam of light toward the bench and both Missy and Jeanette moved in its direction. Jeanette scanned the top of the bench with the light. The beam caught something: a glint of bright blue Missy moved towards it. Her nostrils were assaulted by the smell of stale, old nicotine. It was a glass ashtray; a blue glass triangular-shaped ashtray, overflowing with cigarette butts. “Look!” she hissed. But it was too late, Jeanette had already moved the light to the peg board on the wall above the bench. Various tools hung on shiny metal hooks, their outlines clearly denoted in bright yellow paint, the same way Grandpa Tom used to organize his tools. Saws, pliers, wrenches of various sizes... and then the light landed on the empty outline of what appeared to be a mallet of some kind. The missing mallet! Jeanette froze. Both women stared at the spot for a moment, its importance quickly sinking in.
“What’s taking you so long?” It was Kathleen. She was getting impatient Missy felt a wave of anxiety sweep over her. It reminded her of the many times her mother, already in a foul mood, would send her into another room to fetch the ‘whatyoumacallit’ or some other vaguely named item. Once in the room. Missy would have no idea what she was supposed to find, but fearing Dorie’s sharp tongue, couldn’t bring herself to ask for clarification. Dorie would grow impatient and scream at her to hurry up, before coming into the room and locating the item herself, her accusatory eyes burning into Missy’s fearful ones. But this wasn’t Dorie. This was Kathleen.
Missy grabbed the flashlight from Jeanette. She trained the light back onto the ashtray. Picking it up, she ran her fingers along the edge until she came upon a rather large chip on one of the three points. Returning the ashtray where she’d found it, her eyes then fell upon a crumpled cigarette pack. Jeanette saw it, too and moved in, smoothed out the pack and held it up for Missy to see. Frontier. The brand was Frontier. Missy was now overcome with a powerful sense of deja vu. She turned her attention to where she’d found the crushed pack, and saw a book of matches. Picking them up, she closed the cover and saw the familiar logo of the two fat monks stuffing bread in their mouths. Brother’s Bread matches!
At that very moment, Kathleen was upon them. She yanked a crowbar from the wall above the bench with such force that it caused Missy and Jeanette to jump back with a gasp. Kathleen glared at them “I guess if I need something, I’ll just have to get it myself.” With an angry jut of her chin, she pointed the crowbar in the direction of the long wooden box “Shine the light over there so I can see what I’m doing . Please!” she snarled
With part of her brain still stunned by the revelations sitting on the workbench, Missy’s other half couldn’t help but notice that Kathleen’s reaction was exactly like life with Dorie. A beat of stillness passed. Kathleen then pointed the crowbar towards Missy’s right hand and it was then that she realized she was still holding the flashlight. She quickly regrouped her thoughts and moved to illuminate the area Kathleen had requested. Now it was Jeanette who stood behind her, peering over her shoulder in order to see.
Kathleen wasted no time separating the metal latch from wood. She sure was strong for such a frail looking woman. With the first crunch of metal and wood, Missy cringed a little, wishing Kathleen had taken a bit more time and therefore also kept things a bit quieter. The last thing they needed was for someone to hear them - better that they get to the bottom of this once and for all. Kathleen flung open the wooden box. Doing so, Missy, for the first time realized that the box was the size and shape of a cheap coffin. Training the light on the contents of the box, Missy caught sight of a bare foot. Recoiling in fear, both she and Jeanette began to scramble into the dark simultaneously. Kathleen stood and rasped at them, “Where do you think you’re going? Get back here. It’s a statue! A statue!”
Missy and Jeanette froze in place. Feeling ridiculous. Missy inched her way back to the wooden box. Shining the light in its direction, they watched as Kathleen lifted the flap of an army blanket, revealing what was indeed a statue - one identical to the statue of St. Peter which Kathleen had shown them moments earlier. With the aid of the light, Kathleen stooped next to the box, reached in, and removed a different key from the set of three sculpted saint held in his left hand. The woman stood, turning around to face Missy and Jeanette and held out her free hand. “Okay I’ll take it from here.”
Missy dutifully handed her the flashlight and Kathleen pushed past them and the workbench. Missy was about to follow, when she felt a tug on her arm. It was Jeanette “Missy I want to leave. Now.”
Hearing this, Kathleen swung about, shining the light in their direction, blinding the pair. Now merely a black outline behind the source of light, she said, “No, you don’t. Trust me. You don’t want to leave yet. You haven’t seen it all. This way.” With that Kathleen turned around and began walking away.
Under her breath, Missy said to her aunt quickly, “Don’t worry. It’ll be all right. Come on.” Missy took off in the direction that Kathleen had disappeared. After a beat, Jeanette sighed and followed behind, clutching her giant purse to her chest like a shield.
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Next week: Chapter 25
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1 comment:
Holy shit.
Ok, so I don't trust Kathleen. Nope. Not one iota.
XOXO
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