Death Mask (5 page)

“It’s worth a shot I guess,” Andria said, not sounding convinced.

“Haven’t you ever read about the tricky way some of the pirates in the past buried their treasure?” Finn asked.

“Sure, I guess. They picked a spot, hid it then marked an “X” on a map. So, what?”

“Well, yes, that’s the popular version but in some cases it was more sophisticated than that. It is true that most pirates buried their treasure all in one spot, but some of the more shrewd guys devised elaborate plans. One of the more well known of these plans involved digging one deep hole, but burying a small portion of the treasure more shallow, toward the top, and the larger portion down deeper toward the bottom. That way, if the treasure location was found, the thieves would dig down and get to the smaller cache first and stop digging assuming they’d found
all
of the buried treasure when in fact they had only found a token’s worth. This would protect the majority of the pirate’s fortune in the event their treasure maps were ever discovered.”

“That’s actually quite clever,” Andria said.

“Right. So what if it’s the same with this sand and the mask…”

“Then we need to get digging,” Andria said, finishing Finn’s hypothesis for him.

***

Under normal conditions it should have taken them no more than about fifteen or twenty minutes to clear all the sand from inside the crate, but under the current constraints—not knowing what they were looking for or whether it was fragile or not—nearly doubled that time frame. In the end their carefulness didn’t matter, because what they found was buried all the way at the bottom in the last few inches of sand.

It was Finn’s exploring fingers that located it. When he first pulled the item free from underneath the last inches of sand he wasn’t exactly sure what he’d found.

“I have something,” he said, lifting and shaking a handful of cloth to rid it of pesky sand granules.

“What is it?” Andria asked.

“Look for yourself,” Finn said, holding up a small package of swaddled bright colored cloth.

Andria’s eyes gleamed as she took the package and quickly unwound its accordion pleats. Finn watched as she placed the package on top of the crate and unrolled the cloth. Once open, she discovered a small leather apron, bundled tight, at its center.

While she focused her efforts on the apron, Finn picked up the cloth and flapped it open. To his surprise, it was quite long—about six feet in length—and appeared to be a thin linen suit of some sort. Its design contained a kaleidoscope of bright colors and uniformly placed polka dots. It wasn’t a swaddling cloth at all—it was a clown’s costume.

“What in the world is this?” Finn mumbled.

Andria had untied the shoestring loop that secured the apron closed and unraveled its worn folds to expose several shiny instruments. A closer look confirmed the shiny objects to be an assortment of antique medical instruments.

Now it was Andria’s turn for questions.

What could medical instruments have to do with a talking Death Mask
?

Finn and Andria shared a momentary stare-down of confusion before Finn finally broke the silence.

“An old clown costume and medical tools? Does any of this make sense to you?” Finn asked.

“No,” Andria said, her voice descending into a nervous quiver. “But I don’t like it.”

“Me either. It appears as though there’s more to this case than meets the eye. I suggest we snap a few photos with our phones and get this sand back in the crate before old man McGinnis comes back to check on us. Then we need to get back to Atlanta with this evidence. So far, it’s our best hope of getting to the bottom of this madness.”

“What evidence is that?” asked a voice from behind them.

Both Finn and Andria jumped and whipped their heads around.

It was Mr. McGinnis. He had entered the barn without their knowing.

“Nothing leaves this barn without my permission,” McGinnis said, sternly.

“Of course not,” Finn agreed, doing his best to position himself between the crate and McGinnis. “Bad choice of words on our part. We were simply referring to the
information
we’ve collected for the insurance company as evidence. That’s what we’re taking back…information. That’s all we meant.”

McGinnis’ face was stone. He didn’t look convinced.

Finn wrapped an arm behind his back and signaled to Andria. He made a loose fist then quickly hooked his index finger and pumped it up and down. Andria didn’t understand at first then a light bulb went off in her head. He wants photos, she thought.

Finn moved forward a step and kept talking hoping to keep McGinnis distracted.

“Actually, we were almost done here. I’m not sure how things are done in Pennsylvania, but in the South where we’re from, it’s customary to return a favor with a favor. Any certain restaurant you enjoy or special spirit you like to drink? We’d be more than happy to repay your hospitality.”

McGinnis’ demeanor visually changed. Again, Finn had found a soft spot and worked
his magic.

“Well, I do like Grey Goose Vodka,” McGinnis said.

“Then Grey Goose it is my friend.”

Finn took another step forward and rested his arm on McGinnis’ shoulder, using it to subtly turn him toward the door.

He’s a master, Andria thought, before snapping several photos.

Chapter 11

Finn and Andria’s flight had arrived back in Atlanta around midnight. Before parting ways, they decided to get a few hours of shut-eye then meet early the next morning, before business hours, at the Museum of Curiosities to further analyze their findings in private.

***

It was still dark when they arrived at the museum, within minutes of each other, the next morning. Andria quickly unlocked the side entrance and secured one of the museum’s confidential rooms to avoid interruptions. That’s where she and Finn now sat admiring the photos of the clown costume and leather apron they’d laid out on the table in front of them. Also on the table, was a tabbed folder labeled—
Death Mask
, which Andria had already rummaged through twice, front to back.

“You’re sure your paperwork doesn’t give any hints as to how these artifacts might tie in with the mask?” Finn asked, tapping his finger on top of the folder.

“None,” Andria replied. “There’s only basic information and general history. There’s no mention of anything specific…or relation to other objects.”

“How about a time frame for the creation of the mask, any clues about that? If we could get a date range for the mask, or these items, we’d better know
when
in history we should be looking for answers.”

“No, again,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry.”

“I suppose I could run these things through our research department,” Finn said. “See what kinds of clues they could uncover.”

Andria nodded in the affirmative. “I could also contact Mr. Gaines. Maybe he knows something he didn’t share before that would be helpful.”

Just then, as Andria stopped speaking, a faint whistling sound echoed from somewhere outside the room. They exchanged confused glances before stilling themselves to listen again. Silence dominated the air for a few moments then…

“
Wheeew - wheeet.
”

There it was again. This time it sounded more like a high-pitched whistle.

They both made a beeline for the door. Once outside the room they paused again to listen.

“
Wheeew - wheeet…Wheeew - wheeet
.”

It was coming from down the hall in the same direction as the Death Mask room.

No surprise there, Andria thought.

Finn took off down the hall toward the source of the whistle in a dead run. If this was a hoax he wanted to end it now. Andria followed his lead, sprinting only a few paces behind.

Finn was moving at full speed when he reached the exhibit room. To leverage his speed, he hooked his hand around the outside of the door jam and boomeranged himself into the room. The instant he swung through the room’s threshold, the mask’s lips were pushed forward and forcing out another whistle. It was whistling a tempo as an owner calling for its dog.

Andria was close on Finn’s heels and, upon entering the room, saw immediately that the glass dome she’d broken earlier had since been replaced by another. “Remove the glass,” she yelled. “So we can hear it clearly.”

Finn reacted quickly.

He grabbed both sides of the glass dome and lifted. When he did the mask stopped whistling in mid-tweet and lifted its blank eyes to look Finn in the face then recited in cadence:

“
To decipher the puzzle, it really isn’t hard,

Combine your clues like the Bobbies of Scotland Yard.
”

“That’s no help,” Finn yelled back at the mask, maintaining eye contact. “I am a detective for heaven’s sake. I’m already doing that.”

The mask held silent a few seconds then shortened its message:

“
Decipher the puzzle, like a Bobbie from Scotland Yard.
”

After speaking the last syllable, the mask de-animated and went visibly limp, calmly settling back into its cradle as though nothing had happened.

“Wait,” Andria said, pointing her finger at the mask. “Do you see what I see?”

“No,” Finn said, studying the mask hard. “What am I looking for?”

“The whiskers. They weren’t there before. The mask is growing whiskers.”

It was true. The once smooth, white colored surface now had a five o’clock shadow.

“Where does this madness stop?” Andria asked.

Finn was dumbfounded. “I honestly don’t know,” he said.

Chapter 12

As an unspoken rule, you don’t get to be lead detective without making friends in all the right places—friends to do favors and keep secrets and Finn had plenty of them. It was one of these friends that Finn contacted to perform some research into the clown costume and medical instruments.

“Crime Lab, this is James.”

“Hello, James. It’s Finn. Listen, I need a favor and I need it quick, preferably without any publicity. Is there any way you can expedite some research for me tonight after hours?”

“Sure thing, buddy. Whatcha got?”

“Meet me at the café across from the precinct in an hour and I’ll show you. Just remember, “mums” the word. No one can know what you’re up to.”

“All right. You’ve piqued my interest. I’ll see you in an hour.”

“Thanks, James. I owe you one.”

***

Across town Andria was doing her own bit of investigation.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Gaines. I’m sorry to bother you,” Andria said, entering Mr. Gaines’ office.

“Ahh, Andria, my dear. It’s no bother. It’s nice to see you. How are things?”

“Fine, sir. Thank you for asking.”

“I assume you’re mostly recovered from your…episode the other night?”

“Yes, sir,” she said and slumped her shoulders.
Except everyone thinks I’m crazy
. “Actually that’s partly why I’m here.”

“How so?” Mr. Gaines questioned, his tone noticeably uneasy. “Has something else happened?”

“Oh. No, sir, it’s nothing like that. I just wondered if there might be more to the mask’s story. Maybe more in-depth information that wasn’t originally shared.”

“Not sure I know what you mean,” Mr. Gaines said.

“Well, for instance. To your knowledge, was there a generally accepted time frame given for the creation of the mask or were there any other related items associated with it?”

“No, not that I am aware. As you know, I purchased the mask at auction as a standalone item. Everything I know, you know. If there were other related items they weren’t presented as such at the auction or perhaps they were sold separately sometime before or after.”

“Yes, sir. That’s what I thought, only wanted to be thorough in doing my job.”

“Don’t apologize, my dear. Our world could use more of that kind of concern for work ethic and follow through.”

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate that,” Andria said, feeling a touch of guilt. “I won’t take up anymore of your time.”

Andria’s left the office feeling frustrated. Her short inquiry had netted zero results. After exiting the building, she contacted Finn with the bad news.

“The ball is completely in your court now,” she said. “Mr. Gaines was no help. Even if he knows more, which I seriously doubt, he’s not budging.”

“All right, thanks. But all is not yet lost. I’ve got a really smart guy under my wing down at the precinct. I’m meeting with him this afternoon. If there’s anything to find, he’ll find it. I’ll call you so we can reconvene after he does his thing.”

“I’ll be waiting,” she said.

Chapter 13

Finn now sat in the most undesirable place for any Atlanta cop—Lieutenant Anderson’s office.

“So, Detective Winters. What can you tell me about a call I received this morning from an unhappy homeowner in Pennsylvania named McGinnis?”

“Not much. I was following up on a possible lead in the Death Mask case—touching all the bases, so to speak—but it ended up being a dead-end.”

“In Pennsylvania?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What kind of lead?” the Lieutenant asked.

“Just standard back-tracking procedure,” Finn replied.

“With a lady friend in tow?”

Finn’s body went tense.

“It’s not standard procedure to take citizens along on investigations. So, what’s going on?”

“She wasn’t just any citizen, sir. She’s the curator for the Curiosities Museum. She had information that…”

“Listen to me Finnegan,” the Lieutenant said, firmly. “This Death Mask charade is already a media nightmare and here you are gallivanting off, without permission, to Pennsylvania to pursue the investigation with unqualified personnel. What were you thinking?”

“I’m sorry, sir. I guess I wasn’t” Finn said.

“No, I guess you weren’t. If the media gets wind of this, it’ll just add fuel to the fire. From here on out we’re going to keep it clean and quiet. That goes double for your investigative showboating. Got it?”

“Yes, sir, but…”

“Let it go, Detective.”

“Yes, sir.”