Garden of Death (12 page)

Maggie gave me a toothy smile. “I don't think your lawyer's going to have much success. There's a little thing called the Constitution. We're exer
cising our rights to free speech and the freedom to
assemble.”

But Jackson pulled one of the cops aside and said something to him. The cop conferred with his partner then said, “You're disturbing the peace. Besides, this is making the town look bad during the Maritime Festival. The mayor would appreciate your cooperation. Please leave.”

“We are not leaving,” Harold insisted. “Keep marching, everyone!”

“Wait a minute,” Simon said as he walked up to us. “I just got a text from my lawyer. You are to cease and desist immediately.” He held out his phone so that Harold and Maggie and the cops could all see a copy of the signed order.

One of the cops nodded. “He's right. Move it along, folks.”

The crowd grumbled but began to disperse. But not before Maggie said, “You can't stifle free speech, Mr. Lewis.”

“This has nothing to do with free speech. You're just trying to cause trouble for Willow—which I'd call harassment. Now get lost.”

“Thanks, Simon,” I said as they left. “I owe you one.”

“I'm not keeping score,” he said. “I'm just trying to help.” We watched as the cop car pulled away. “By the way, what happened with the detectives this morning?”

“We tried to tell Koren and Coyle about what we found in the garden,” Jackson said. “But they didn't believe us, let alone consider the artifacts as motive for White's murder.”

“So you still have the earring, the sword, and the goblet?” Simon asked.

I nodded. “All three.”

Simon grinned. “They actually did us a favor. Make sure and bring all three with you tonight to the lecture. I predict that Professor Albert Russell is going to find them extremely interesting.”

chapter fifteen

Willow McQuade's
Favorite Medicinal Plants

FLAXSEED

Botanical name:
Linum usitatissimum

Medicinal uses: Flaxseed is the seed of the flax plant, which is believed to have originated in Egypt. Flaxseed contains lignans (phytoestrogens, or plant estrogens), which can help with hot flashes during menopause. Flaxseed also contains soluble fiber, like that found in oat bran, and is an effective laxative. Whole or crushed flaxseed can be mixed with water or juice and is also available in powder form. Flaxseed oil is available in liquid and capsule form. I like the nutty taste and add it to my organic yogurt along with granola and whatever fruit is in season.

That night, lights were streaming from every window of the museum when we arrived. Inside, there was a display featuring an oversized map of the East End on a corkboard and a table with copies of Professor Russell's new book,
Pirates of the East End
. People milled around, checking it out, along with the exhibits about the maritime heritage of the area. There were displays on the Greenport fishing industry, the oyster industry, and the huge lighthouse lens that dominated the west end of the museum.

The only person I recognized was Harold. He appeared to be alone, no Maggie for once. The last thing I wanted was a confrontation, so I watched from a distance as he browsed the maritime photos in the gallery. Fortunately, none of the other protestors were there, and for that, I felt grateful.

Simon found us seats in the third row, and I sat between him and Jackson. Jackson had brought the earring, sword, and goblet in a duffel bag. I was also grateful that there weren't any security guards in the museum checking bags. But the Maritime Museum was small; it didn't really warrant a security staff.

A few minutes before eight, a petite woman in a red suit headed to the podium. With her was a tall, slightly balding man, sporting horn-rim glasses, a bow tie, and a day's growth of beard.

“Good evening to you all. I'm Sarah Peterson, the director of the Maritime Museum. Tonight I am pleased to welcome Professor Albert Russell, author of
Pirates of the East End,
to our museum.” The crowd, which by now filled every chair, applauded. “We're all very excited to learn more about your research, Professor.”

“Thank you for having me,” Professor Russell began, opening a notebook on the podium. “I'm a native of Shelter Island, and it's good to be back on the North Fork. My interest in pirates started in my teens when I first learned that pirates frequented the East End. In college and grad school at Columbia University, I became a history major. I was particularly captivated by course work on merchants, pirates, and slaves in the seventeenth century. My new book evolved out of my teaching history at Columbia and a recent series of articles that I wrote for the
New York Times
.

“I think we can all agree that pirates are fascinating,” the professor went on. “I guess that's why you're all here.” He smiled and a few people laughed. “My talk tonight will center on the pirates who frequented Long Island, and the most famous pirate of all—Captain William Kidd and his visit to Gardiner's Island.”

He began by defining the difference between piracy and privateers. Privateers, captains of privately chartered ships, were licensed to capture enemy ships and give a portion of the loot to the government, while pirates made their own rules, stealing from whomever they chose and keeping it all.

“In the seventeenth century, eastern Long Island, with bays and inlets on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, was a favorite playground and battleground for pirates,” Russell explained. “One of the most frequented places was Gardiner's Island, just off the East Hampton coast, settled in 1639 by Lion Gardiner after he received a grant from King Charles I of England.

“The island, a part of the town of East Hampton,
has been owned by the Gardiner family for nearly four hundred years. Sixty years after the Gardiner family settled there, Captain Kidd—privateer and
reputed
pirate—sailed his ship, the
Adventure Prize,
into one of the island's many harbors. He was on his way to Boston to clear his name after being accused of piracy.

“With permission from Lion Gardiner's grandson Jonathan, Kidd buried thirty thousand dollars of treasure in a ravine between Bostwick's Point and the Gardiner Manor House. To the best of our knowledge, this treasure consisted of gold dust, silver bars, gold Spanish coins, rubies, and diamonds.

“Before Kidd left, he warned the Gardiners that if the treasure was stolen, he would kill the entire family. But when he arrived in Boston, he was captured, sent back to England for trial, and later executed.”

Jackson leaned over to me. “It sounds like Kidd's treasure was just on the island.”

Professor Russell continued. “When the governor of New York ordered the Gardiners to deliver the treasure, some of it was missing. The rest has never been recovered.”

I whispered in Jackson's ear, “See, some of it is still missing.”

“Today, a boulder with a bronze tablet marks the spot where Kidd's treasure was buried,” Russell went on “There is also some evidence that leads us to believe that Kidd may have buried treasure at the foot of Montauk Point, in two small ponds named Money Ponds. That, also, was never recovered.” The professor closed the notebook in front of him and said, “Now, I'm happy to answer your questions.”

We sat through the question-and-answer period without saying anything, waiting for everyone else to leave. It was bad enough that Sandra and Martin knew about the sword. Now that she had bonded with Greenport Merchants United, I was sure that the entire group, including Maggie and Harold, either already knew about it—or would soon know. I didn't really want to let anyone else in on our find.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Professor Russell said, “I think that's all the time we have for questions, so—” But then he stopped and pointed to someone in the back. “Go ahead, sir.”

I turned around to look and saw that it was Harold. He stood up and said, “Thank you, Professor. You mentioned the pirate treasure on Gardiner's Island and in Montauk, but I was wondering if this type of thing has ever been found here on the North Fork. There are rumors to that effect. I've been hearing them since I moved out here twenty years ago.”

I grabbed Jackson's hand and squeezed. Did he know about what we'd found? Had Sandra or Martin told him?

Professor Russell smiled. “I've heard those rumors, too, but so far, there isn't any proof that pirates buried anything in Greenport.”

“Thank you, Professor,” Harold said. I turned to look at him again, and he gave me a smug smile.

The professor ended the Q and A, then signed his books for the long line of people who had purchased them. We waited until the book signing was over and everyone had left before we got up and approached the professor. Jackson put the duffel bag on the table, where it landed with a soft
thunk
.

“What do we have here?” Professor Russell asked.

“We need your expertise, Professor,” Jackson said. He took the earring, sword, and goblet out of the bag and set them on the table. “We found these items buried in Willow's garden, and we need to know if they could be pirate treasure.”

“This is Willow McQuade, by the way,” Simon said quickly. “And this is Jackson Spade, and I'm Simon Lewis.”

The professor gave us all a nod of acknowledgment, then carefully picked up the earring. He examined it then moved on to the sword and the goblet. When he was finished, he said, “You say you found them in your garden? Where is this place exactly?”

“It's located in Greenport, next to Nature's Way Market & Café on Front Street,” I answered. “The land is to the west of the store, actually. We've been working there since this spring, digging it up and planting medicinal plants. That's where we found them.”

“That's quite a story.” He picked up the sword again, peering at the pommel and its blood-red gem.

“There's more,” I said. “Since then, we've discovered several holes in the garden and last night, someone was in the garden, but they got away before we could find out who it was. He or she left a shovel behind, which we've turned over to the police. They're investigating, since a local doctor was murdered in the garden on Saturday morning.”

The professor's expression sharpened. “Dr. White, that's who you're talking about, right?”

“Did you know him?”

“Unfortunately, yes. He was my mother's orthopedic surgeon. She fell in her kitchen and broke her arm. It took forever for him to do the surgery, and after he operated, she was left with chronic pain that was very debilitating. She suffered until the day she died.”

“My condolences,” I said.

“Thank you. Dr. White was supposed to be here tonight, you know. I wasn't looking forward to seeing him. But if he had come, he would have gotten a piece of my mind, I'll tell you that. My mother suffered greatly because of him. Of course she was just a number to him. He never even used her name when he treated her.”

“We've been told that he wasn't a very nice man or very well liked,” I said. “So why was he coming to see you?”

“From what I could gather, Dr. White studied anthropology in college before he switched to orthopedics. But he continued to pursue the field in his off time, you know, taking vacations to historic dig sites, museums, and the like. He said he had something he wanted to talk to me about.”

“But he didn't tell you what it was?” Jackson asked.

“No, he didn't. Now that he's dead, I can't help wondering what he had on his mind.”

“Me, too,” Simon said.

“I'm afraid it will have to remain a mystery.” Professor Russell picked up the sword again. “But perhaps I can help you. The sword and the goblet might be artifacts from the era when pirates visited the East End.”

“Might be?” Simon echoed.

“Exactly. The goblet is possible but doubtful. It isn't quite the right style for that era, but the sword is. If it's the real thing, it should be in a museum. On the black market, it would be worth a fortune. That's why there are so many good fakes out there.” He leaned in and examined the stone. “The only way to know for sure is to send all of these items to a lab to have them analyzed. The wood, metal, and these stones can be verified and, hopefully, dated. But I just can't make any guarantees simply by looking at them.”

“What about the earring?” Jackson asked.

“Not seventeenth century,” the professor said. “I'm guessing it's either Victorian or Edwardian, but again, you need to have it professionally appraised to get any sense of its true history and value.”

Simon looked disappointed. “So you can't tell us if the sword and goblet are from Captain Kidd's missing treasure?”

“Not simply by looking at them, no. You might take them into Christie's or Sotheby's in Manhattan,” he suggested, naming two major auction houses. “Their experts might be able to help you.”

Simon looked annoyed. “Last time I brought something into Sotheby's for an appraisal, it took weeks for them to get back to me. We don't have weeks. We need to sort out this out quickly.”

Professor Russell glanced at his watch. “I'm afraid I need to be going. But let me think about it overnight. Why don't you call me in the morning?” He pulled a card from his jacket pocket and handed it to me.

“That sounds great,” I said. “Thank you so much for your help.”

“Don't thank me,” he said, giving me a warning look. “I'm afraid that you may be involved in something far more complicated than you know. If people think there is something of value in your garden, you'll find no peace. People act very strangely when it comes to buried treasure. There has already been one murder in your garden. There's no telling what could happen next.”

•   •   •

Outside, Simon headed for his
car, while Jackson and I walked back to Nature's Way. “Well, that was interesting,” I said as we strolled past the Blue Canoe restaurant on Third Street. “Not only what the professor had to say, but Harold as well. I think he knows. He gave me such a smug smile after he asked that question.”

“Word spreads fast in a small town, especially about something like pirate treasure. Or maybe he already knew.”

“If that's the case, maybe he and Dr. White were both looking for the treasure in the garden, they fought, and Harold killed him.”

Jackson shrugged. “Harold's an arrogant ass, but I can't quite see him as a murderer. But maybe they were partners and they had a falling out. These things happen. Regardless, that intruder last night proves that whoever it is isn't done looking.”

“Which means they'll probably be back tonight.” We came to the light on Front Street, took a right, and headed past the movie theater.

“Let's hope the lock on the gate will dissuade them, but what you really need is a twenty-four-hour guard.”

“That's not the image I'm trying to project.”

“Maybe not, but it might be necessary until we figure this out. Let me see if I can find someone to help you, just at night, to patrol and keep any interested onlookers away.”

“Okay,” I said, relenting. “You know best about security matters.”

He kissed me. “Thank you.” He pointed at the garden up ahead. “At least it's quiet right now.”

But as we got closer, we could see that someone had spray painted graffiti all over the fence and the garden gate in huge, ugly neon letters: Shut Down the Garden of Death and Evict Nature's Way Now!

“This is so hateful,” I said, beginning to tremble. “So awful.”

“It's really getting out of control,” Jackson agreed. He pulled out his penlight and stepped closer to examine the damage.