The Buried Treasure on Route 66: A Nancy Keene Mystery (3 page)

“What do you
think?”

Nancy is thinking, ‘Too much
information!!’

The other brother says, “I
wouldn’t know; I’ve never touched the stuff. You’d better watch
yourself with that Las Vegas showgirl or she’ll drain your bank
account and leave you high and dry.”

“Well, I’m going back to my
room at the Camelback Inn and enjoy the air-conditioning and
pay-per-view,” his brother says.

“Have you been watching any
porno movies there?”

“What do you
think?”

Nancy thinks, ‘Ewww... these
guys are creepy.’

“Okay, bro. Enjoy yourself.
I’m off to play a round of golf, even if it’s too hot, since I’m
being charged for it anyway.”

Nancy almost wishes that
he’d get overheated on the golf course and keel over and die. Then
she chastises herself saying, ‘What a thing for me to say, and
right after I’ve been to church! These guys are getting under my
skin.’

****

After the brothers leave,
Nancy takes her laptop out of its bag and fires it up. Now that she
knows that the brothers are from Las Vegas, she goes to the Clark
County Superior Court website to see if they have criminal records.
Then, she realizes that she doesn’t even know their names
yet.

‘Duh, Nancy,’ she says
aloud, while people look over at her.

She calls up Mrs. Wood to
ask her what their names are.

Mrs. Wood tells Nancy the
names of the two stepsons and says, “Do you have any new
information for me, dear?”

“I think I’ve found some
leads, but I’ll get back to you later if they pan out.”

“I’m so happy to have you
helping me with this.”

“Glad to help, Mrs. Wood.
I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

Now that Nancy knows the
brothers’ names, she searches for them on the “case record link” of
the Superior Court’s website. She isn’t surprised when she
discovers that the brothers have been in trouble with the law.
Their case records show that they both have been convicted of
fraud.

‘Oh, my God!’ she thinks.
‘Wait until I tell Dad.’

She packs up her laptop and
hurries out to her Prius.

When she enters her house,
she calls out her Dad’s name.

He comes out of his office
and says, “Honey, your face is as red as a beet. Let me get you a
glass of water. What’s going on?”

After Nancy sits down and
has some water, she tells her father about the conversation she’s
just overheard.

He tells her, “Listen to me,
honey. These are some dangerous characters. I don’t want you
getting anywhere near them.”

“I’m not afraid of
them!”

“Honey, I know you’re trying
to help Mrs. Wood, and you’ve been very sweet about everything, but
I want you to stop getting involved in this right now! You mean too
much to me.”

“Oh, Dad. But I have to!
Mrs. Wood is counting on me!”

“Stay away from those
stepsons. If you see them anywhere, grab your stuff and get away
from them immediately. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, Dad,” Nancy says,
dejectedly.

****

Nancy can’t fall asleep that
night, so she gets out of her bed and goes downstairs to the
kitchen to make herself some cocoa and cinnamon toast. ‘Why am I
obsessing about this?’ she asks herself. ‘I barely know Mrs. Wood.
I just feel like what’s happening is so unfair. It’s just not
right. Nobody deserves to be treated like this, especially sweet
little old ladies. What those brothers are doing is elder
abuse!’

Nancy has always had a soft
spot for the elderly and often visits nursing homes to play the
piano and encourage the patients to sing songs like, “You Are My
Sunshine,” along with her. It’s amazing to her that even the
patients with Alzheimer’s, who can barely speak a sentence, know
the lyrics to many of the popular songs of their era. ‘Music is the
last thing to go for these poor souls,’ she thinks.

She has taken some
aesthetician and massage therapy classes, so she always likes to
give her friends facials and massages. Whenever she goes to the
nursing home, she brings along her massage table and helps the
little ladies lie on it to get a nice massage. They also love it
when she gives them facials. Many of these patients are dying for
some kind of human touch, and they always feel better after her
visits.

She decides that she’s going
to go over to Mrs. Wood’s house and give her a “spa day.” If anyone
needs some stress reduction right now, it’s Mrs. Wood, with all
she’s had go to through with those stepsons. She telephones Mrs.
Wood to see if she’s home and the elderly lady says that she’d be
delighted to see her.

Nancy loads her Prius up
with her massage table; wireless speakers for her iPhone ; a
scented candle; and her kit containing exfoliants, facial masques,
and moisturizers.

Mrs. Wood has been watching
out her window for Nancy to drive up and she greets her at the door
when Nancy arrives. She and Nancy hug each other and Nancy starts
unpacking her car, taking out her massage table, speakers and other
supplies.

“What’s all this,
honey?”

“I’m here to give you a
massage and facial.”

“Mercy me! I’ve never had
either.”

“Well, this is your lucky
day!”

“I’ll say!”

“Where would you like me to
set up, Mrs. Wood? How about we go to your cozy den, like we did
the other day. We’ll pretend that we are in a mountain cabin. Shall
we?”

“Oh, honey. How sweet of you
to do all of this. You are such a blessing!”

“It’s my pleasure,” Nancy
says as she is setting up the massage table. She tells Mrs. Wood to
go and put her bathrobe on.

“Do I leave my clothes on
under the robe?”

“Only your panties,” Nancy
says.

“You mean I have to be
practically naked?”

“You’ll be covered under a
blanket to respect your modesty.”

Mrs. Wood says, “Oh, what
does it matter: we’re both girls.”

Nancy smiles and says, “Yes,
we are.”

After Mrs. Wood leaves to
put her robe on, Nancy sets up the wireless speakers for her iPhone
so they can listen to her favorite relaxation music. She lights a
scented candle and dims the lights.

Mrs. Wood shyly comes into
the room. She looks around and says, “Oh, this is all so
fancy.”

Nancy says, “Do you think
you’ll be able to climb up on the massage table by
yourself?”

Mrs. Wood assures her that
she’s able to. Nancy says, “Okay, I’m going to step out of the room
and let you take your robe off and get under the
blanket.”

Nancy closes the door and
waits about three minutes, and then knocks.

“Okay to come in now?” she
asks.

“Yes. I’m nice and
comfy.”

“Great. We’ll start with you
on your back, okay?”

Mrs. Wood says, “Just tell
me what I should do.”

“You don’t have to do a
thing. I’ll be taking care of you. If you want, you can close your
eyes. We won’t speak until your massage and facial are finished,
okay?”

Mrs. Wood’s facial and
massage last an hour and a half. When Nancy finishes, she asks Mrs.
Wood, “Well, how do you feel?”

“I’ve never felt so
delightful in all of my life. That was wonderful!”

“Well, you deserve
it!”

“Dear Nancy, let me go make
us some tea. You just sit in this chair by the fireplace and put
your legs up on the ottoman. I’ll be
your
French maid for a
change.”

Nancy laughs at Mrs. Wood’s
little joke.

****

When Mrs. Wood leaves for
the kitchen, Nancy can’t resist the urge to snoop around. She opens
the drawers of Mr. Wood’s roll top desk, and starts rifling through
his papers. She turns the lamp upside down to see if anything is
hidden in its base. She opens the closet doors and sticks her hand
into coat pockets. Mrs. Wood walks in holding the tea tray saying,
“Here we are,” just as Nancy is closing the closet door.

Nancy jumps and says, “You
startled me.”

“Honey,” Mrs. Wood says, “I
don’t mind if you look into the closet here. You were probably
trying to find that will, weren’t you?”

“Well, it had crossed my
mind.”

“Feel free to look all you
want.”

Nancy says, “First, I’ll
have some of your delicious tea.”

****

The two “girls” have settled
into their cozy chairs by the fireplace. Mrs. Wood says, “It’s too
bad it’s so hot outside or we could have a fire. You’ll have to
come back here in the winter.”

“I’d love to. Thanks for the
invitation.”

“Well, maybe you can
teach
me
how to
give a massage and I’ll return the favor by giving
you
one.”

“That would be lovely, Mrs.
Wood. I’ve been racking my brain thinking about where that will is.
It must not be in here, since neither those brothers, nor I, could
find it.”

Mrs. Wood says, “Are you
sure you’re finished searching this room? I kind of interrupted
you.”

“I’m might search a little
more in this room later. I was wondering: how often did you and Mr.
Wood talk to each other prior to his death?”

“After our divorce, he used
to send me postcards each time he took a solo vacation on Route 66.
I think he sent them because he was lonely and missed me, since his
new wife didn’t want to go with him.”

“Why did he ever marry her
in the first place?”

“She was his ‘trophy wife’.
You know the type: young, blonde, sexy.”

Nancy, sounding worldly,
says, “Men!”

“I know. I know. I took it
pretty hard.”

“I’m so sorry for how he
treated you.”

“Well, at least we kept
being friends. In some of the postcards, he even hinted that he
wanted to get back together with me.”

“Really? So he was thinking
of leaving his wife for you?”

“Maybe.”

“I’m so very sorry for your
loss, Mrs. Wood.”

Both are quiet and deep in
thought as they sip their tea. Nancy tells Mrs. Wood that she’d
like to see the postcards he sent. “Maybe there’s a clue in them,”
she says.

“Okay, honey,” Mrs. Wood
says. “I’ll go get them and put on some clothes so I can look
decent.”

“You look perfectly decent
to me.”

“What a sweetie you
are.”

****

After Mrs. Wood leaves the
room, Nancy gets up and looks around some more for clues. She takes
the pictures off the walls to see if a will might be taped to their
backs; she takes the drawers out of the desk to feel if there might
be anything taped beneath them; she runs her fingers under the
surface of the desk to see if anything may be taped underneath. She
finds nothing.

Mrs. Wood comes back into
the room several minutes later and is “dressed to the nines”: she’s
wearing a flattering blue sheathe with matching shoes and has on
her pearl necklace and earrings.

Nancy says, “Holy cow! You
look gorgeous! You look like you’re ready to go and spend a night
out on the town.”

“Well, I always feel better
when I get dressed up and try to look my best.”

“So do I,” Nancy says, as
Mrs. Wood hands her the postcards. Nancy says, “These are all
landmarks on Route 66.”

“How clever of you to know
that.”

“I’m fascinated with Route
66, too. Have you ever seen the movie, ‘Cars’? It’s based on some
of the landmarks on Route 66. I think you’d really get a kick out
of the movie.”

“Sounds fun.”

“I’ll bring it with me next
time.”

“But I don’t have a video
player.”

“No problem. I’ll bring over
my computer and play it for you on my Mac Book Pro.”

Mrs. Wood says, “Huh? What
language are you speaking?”

They both laugh. “You’ll
see,” Nancy says. Okay; let’s take a look at those
postcards.”

Mrs. Wood goes to her
bedroom and brings back a scrapbook for Nancy to look at. The
postcards are taped to the pages of the scrapbook and Mrs. Wood has
to pull them off very carefully, hoping not to tear
them.

She hands the postcards to
Nancy who says, “Oh, these are so wonderful. Here’s the U-Drop Inn
in Shamrock, Texas; the Wigwam Village in Holbrook; The Big Texan
Steak House; The Cadillac Ranch; and the Meteor Crater in Arizona.
Oh, this makes me want to go see all of these places! May I read
what he had written on the backs of each of these?”