Darlene Franklin - Dressed for Death 03 - Paint Me a Murder (12 page)

“That’s the wrong date.”

18

Dick Gaynor always insisted that Bob Grace had cheated during the land run, a “sooner” who camped out on the land before the run started. He took his claims to court, where he lost, and the hatred culminated in an infamous gunfight in 1895. Neither man was seriously hurt, and after that Gaynor focused his enmity on trying to outdo Bob Grace in every endeavor. He founded a newspaper,
The Sequoyan
, brought in a preacher who started the Word of Faith Fellowship, and set up a prosperous mercantile in the center of town. He also established the town’s first bank. His wife Lizzie taught Grace Gulch’s first school and pioneered in local education.

From
A History of Grace Gulch

Tuesday, September 19

“What do you mean, the date is wrong?” Audie sounded perplexed.

“I looked at the garland several times this afternoon. Lots of people figured out the clue and showed up at the store. The date on the back of the locket was their wedding anniversary, which was also Mary’s birthday. January 25.”

Audie stared at the sketch again. “But why would Larry change it? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe this is the clue we’ve been looking for! What if 6.6 is some kind of key, like Jenna said?”

“I thought she said the seven pillars were the key.” Audie sounded a bit grumpy. “He wouldn’t have two keys.”

“It was
Larry’s
secret, not Brad’s. He wrote 6.6 for a reason. I’m sure he did.”

The phone rang, and Audie picked it up. “Yes, Mother?” He smiled at me. “We’ll be right there.” He hung up. “She wants to know when the two love birds will be home. I know you want to figure this out right now but. . .”

“Can’t keep supper waiting. I know.”

We continued our discussion about the unexpected 6.6 reference but came up empty. Seven was a very symbolic number, but six didn’t ring any bells for either of us.

“Is it possible Larry just got the date wrong?” Audie asked for the third time as we walked into the house.

“That’s about as likely as the beast from Revelation 13.” Gilda already had the table set. A woman could get used to this kind of service.

“I didn’t know you were interested in the end times.” Gilda removed a platter of ham, left over from Sunday’s dinner, from the oven and set it on the table.

“Oh, that’s not what we’re talking about.” Audie explained. He piled his plate high, more than he would have taken if I had served the same fare.

Stop,
I reminded myself.
It’s not a competition
. So why did I feel like it was?

“Oh?”

I found myself telling Gilda about the appearance of 6.6 in Larry’s rendering of the Grace garland. “Since it’s the wrong date, we think it might hold some kind of clue to the mural. If Brad figured it out, maybe he used it in the mural.”

“Didn’t I hear you talking about the seven pillars of wisdom from Proverbs?” Gilda asked.

“We think that’s a possibility, because Brad drew seven pillars in front of city hall. But apart from the ‘six things the Lord hates,’ there aren’t any references to the number six in the Proverbs that I know of.” And since Audie had the book memorized chapter and verse, I took his word for it.

Gilda shook her head. “What if it’s not a quote, but a reference?”

“What? ‘Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise.’ I don’t see how that helps us.” Audie didn’t see any connection.

I pictured the plans for the mural spread across Jenna’s work table, and I knew exactly how Brad used the ants. I stood up from the table.

“What’s the matter?” Audie jumped to his feet. “Is it the baby?”

“We’re fine.” I motioned for him to sit down again. “But I’m calling Jenna to meet us at her office after supper.”

~

Dina and Noah arrived at Jenna’s office before us. I resented his intrusion on “our” adventure, but I reminded myself that Audie hadn’t always been part of the family. Of course, Audie didn’t use drugs either. Tonight Noah seemed perfectly normal; I would never have guessed at a problem if not for our recent discussions. I hoped Dina would snap out of her infatuation with the man without intervention—or that our suspicions were unfounded.

Jenna was tacking the plans for the mural across her workstation.

Noah bent over and lifted his sunglasses long enough to look at a corner with his artist’s eye. “No wonder he won.” He spoke sotto voce. In spite of his previous jealousy, he appreciated the beauty of the work. “Of course he’s a professional. Not local, though.”

“He did his research.” Jenna retorted.

I ignored the exchange but studied the seven columns in front of city hall and found what I expected. “There.”

Audie bent over the table with me and drew in a sharp breath. “
Ants.”

Two columns of them, in fact, six apiece.

“Six point six, in fact.” Audie hugged me and we danced a few steps.

“Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?” Jenna turned her annoyance on us.

I explained again about the discovery of 6.6 in Larry’s rendering of the Grace garland in his journal.

“But that’s wrong.” Dina was puzzled.

“We think Larry did it deliberately.”

“Another key.” Jenna caught on immediately. “And Brad repeated it in the mural, with the ants.”

“Mother thinks 6.6 is a reference from Proverbs. You know, the sixth verse of the sixth chapter? Solomon tells us to go to the ants. And my brilliant wife remembered the ants on the columns.” Audie kissed me again.

“Those aren’t the only ants.” Noah held a magnifying glass over a section at the far left of the design. “I noticed them the first time I saw the design. They’re all over the mural. Look here.” He pointed to two columns of ants marching by the old Kirkendall farm.

“I found some more!” Dina pointed to a stand of trees by the Circle G.

The excitement of the chase had all of us breaking our backs bending over the table to locate ants. Noah and Dina concentrated on the left side of the mural, where they could see the Grace and Kirkendall lands. Jenna studied the right, which showed Route 66 winding its way northeast towards Tulsa and the state line. Audie and I focused on the center, which showed downtown and a number of local businesses. One column meandered down Main Street, and two more marched across a small park at the edge of town.

“I found some.” Jenna pinpointed the silhouettes of ants crawling against the backdrop of the rising sun. “And here.” Sun poured honey-gold across the plains.

“There aren’t any more on this side.” Dina was disappointed.

“Wait.” Audie stopped. “Dina, you found one. Noah, you found the first one. Jenna, two. We found three. And that makes. . .”

“Seven!”

“Like the seven pillars of wisdom. I don’t think we’ll find any more.” Audie straightened from the table.

“Okay. So what do the ants
mean
?” Jenna tapped her index finger on the edge of the mural. “You think the ants at city hall refer to a verse in Proverbs. Because there are two columns of six ants, like the ‘6.6’ on the sketch of the necklace.”

Dina raced ahead. “There are two columns in the trees. They’re not the same length, though. One. . .two. . .” She continued counting under her breath. “One line is much longer. 19 if I’m counting it right. The other column has eight.”

“So Proverbs 19:8 or 8:19?” Audie suggested.

Jenna was already flipping through the pages of her Bible. “Proverbs 19:8 says ‘He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers.’ Does that suggest anything to anybody?”

One by one, we shook our heads.

“Let me look at 8:19, then.” Jenna flipped a few pages back. “‘My fruit is better than fine gold.’”

“Mary Grace’s fruit orchard!” Dina exclaimed.

We bent over the mural again and counted the ants. “We really are going to the ants tonight, aren’t we?” Audie whispered in my ear, and I giggled.

“No more of that.” Jenna wagged a finger at us. “You’re interrupting my concentration.” She started over again “One. . .”

Soon we had our pairs of numbers: three and eighteen; eighteen and four; thirteen and twenty-four; twenty-seven and twenty-one; and once again, eighteen and four.

“Eighteen and four, twice?” Jenna frowned. “Count again, will you?”

Audie dutifully counted again. I couldn’t. Junior and I had had about as much bending as we could stand for the moment.

“It’s still eighteen and four,” Audie announced.

“Me too.” Dina chimed in.

“Could he have made a mistake?” Noah asked with a hopeful tone in his voice.

“That doesn’t sound like Brad. At least not the Brad I knew.” Jenna shrugged. “Let’s check it both ways.” Jenna opened her Bible again.

“Let me get my Bible.” Audie headed for the door. We always kept a Bible in the car.

“Just a sec.” I pulled out a notebook and wrote down “Proverbs” at the top. I should have done it sooner. Then I added
6:6. Wisdom of the ants. 8:19. Fruit better than gold. Mary Grace’s fruit orchard?
“Okay. I’m ready.”

“I’ll start with chapter eighteen, since three of the references come from there.” Jenna read the third verse. “Brad could have been describing ol’ Larry. ‘With shame comes disgrace.’”

“It doesn’t suggest a specific place, though.” I pointed out.

“No. Well, let me look at the next verse. ‘The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.’ Now, that sounds promising.”

I scribbled in my notebook
18:4. deep waters, fountain, bubbling brook.

“There’s a fountain in the city park!” Dina’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

I thought of Mayor Ron’s explanation about the treasure hunt, that deep waters could refer to the town pool, which just happened to be located next to the city park. “There’s also the pool.” I explained my reasoning.

Audie returned with the Bible and I told him what we had found.

“Since the verse is in there twice, maybe he’s talking about
both
places.” That was Noah’s idea.

“Or he could be talking about 4:18.” Audie found the reference. “‘The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn.’ That fits in with the ants silhouetted against sunrise on Route 66.”

“But that’s not a specific place.” Dina pouted. “I think Noah might be right.”

I wrote down 4:18 anyhow and added
dawn? Route 66?

“I’ve got 3:18.” Jenna announced. “‘She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.’”

“Trees, again.” I tapped my pen on my pad, a little disappointed. The verses seemed to lead us in circles.

“Not just any trees.” Audie reminded us. “The other verse talked about fruit. This verse is talking about the ‘tree of life.’”

“So we’re looking for the Garden of Eden in the middle of Grace Gulch?” Noah was probably rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses.

“There are trees in the city park as well.” Nothing like stating the obvious. “In the center of town, where the ants appear.” I wrote down
3:18. Tree of life.
“What’s next?”

“I don’t need to look at 13:24. You all know it, too.” Audie’s eyes challenged us.

“Too bad Dad’s not here,” Jenna quipped.

“You know we don’t know the verse. Just go ahead and tell us.” I wasn’t in the mood for one of Audie’s guessing games. “You could probably quote all of these verses if you wanted to.”

“‘He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.’” Audie quoted the familiar verse.

“Spare the rod, spoil the child.” Noah’s lipped curved. “Somehow that doesn’t seem to apply to clues and codes.”

Jenna found 24:13. “‘Eat honey, my son.’”

“Dustin Murk.” Her name came from several of us at once.

“But what does she have to do with anything?” Noah wanted to know.

“The rest of the verse talks about honeycombs. I think that’s a good guess.”

I added it to my list. “That leaves one more pairing. Twenty-seven and twenty-one.”

Jenna turned back to chapter 21, “‘The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable.’ That’s another one that sounds like Larry Grace, but not a clue.”

Audie found chapter 27 and nodded before quoting the verse. “‘The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives.’”

Crucible? Furnace? Gold and silver? Finally, a clue that sounded like a real treasure hunt.

“Do you still teach goldsmithing at the college?” Dina asked Noah.

“Yes.”

Four pairs of eyes trained on him.

“Hey, if my jewelry class is supposed to hold a clue, Brad never told me about it.” His hand shook a tiny bit as he negated the accusation.

We chewed on it some more.