The Mandie Collection (3 page)

Mandie reached to embrace the young girl as she said, “I'm always glad to be home. I'd stay home all the time if my mother would allow me to go to school here.”

“And I always enjoy visiting here, Liza,” Joe told her.

Jenny, the cook, wiped her hands on her big white apron as she finished taking the biscuits from the oven. “And, Missy 'Manda, it goes widout sayin' dat I wishes you could stay home, too.”

Mandie walked over to embrace her. Aunt Lou watched and then said, “Y'all git in de parlor now. Food 'bout ready.”

As Jenny turned back to the stove, Mandie asked, “Is Abraham all right? I haven't seen him yet.”

“He be all right,” Jenny told her and then muttered, “Don't know why I ever got myself such a contrary man fo' a husband.”

“But you love him just the same,” Mandie called back teasingly as she and Joe turned to leave the kitchen. Then she stopped and asked, “I suppose y'all know about my father's will being stolen, don't you?”

No one answered for a short moment and then Aunt Lou said, “We all knows 'bout it, and it's sorry we be, but we don't know where it went.”

“You see,” Liza began with downcast eyes. “I hafta confess. I left de door open to Mistuh John's office 'cause I couldn't find him to lock it.”

Mandie quickly stepped back inside the room. “You left the door open? But how did you get in there? Doesn't he always keep it locked?”

“And doesn't he always forbid anyone going up on the third floor where his office is?” Joe asked.

The three servants looked at each other and then Liza explained, “He ast me to clean up in de office room. Dat's how I be in de room, and den he goes off and I cain't find him when I gits done. I go all over de house lookin' fo' him and den find out he gone to de barber shop and ain't come back.”

“He said he had other things to do and he was gone most of de day,” Aunt Lou added. “And of course Liza cain't jes' stay dere and wait fo' him to come back and lock de door. When he did git home, he said he plumb forgot 'bout leavin' Liza in de room, and he went up right den and locked de door.”

Mandie looked at Joe and said, “I told you Uncle John could have left the door open.”

“All right, he did then,” Joe replied with a shrug.

Mandie turned back to Liza and asked, “Did you notice whether his desk lock was broken?”

“I didn't pay no never mind to de lock. I jes' polished de top of de desk and around,” Liza replied. “Mistuh John, he ast me, too, 'bout de lock, but I don't 'member lookin' at it at all.”

“We talk 'bout dis later. Y'all git on to de parlor. We'se got to
serve up de food now,” Aunt Lou said, shaking her big white apron in Mandie's direction.

“All right, Aunt Lou,” Mandie agreed. “I'll see y'all after we've all finished eating.”

Mandie and Joe walked down the hallway toward the parlor. She stopped before they got to the doorway and asked, “Now what am I going to do? Uncle John didn't volunteer to tell us he left the door open.”

“Maybe he'll get around to mentioning the fact,” Joe suggested as he waited.

“And what if he doesn't? Do you think we should let him know that we know?” Mandie asked.

“Why don't you give him a chance to talk some more about the broken lock and see what else he has to say?” Joe told her.

“He probably realizes Liza will tell me about the door,” Mandie said, tossing back her long blond hair, and then looking up at Joe, she added, “And whoever took the will must have slipped into the house without anyone seeing them.”

“There's one fact we're both overlooking,” Joe told her. “How did this person know the will was in your uncle John's desk?”

Mandie thought for a moment and said, “I suppose anyone would think all valuable papers would be locked up somewhere, in a desk or something.”

“But we still don't know how anyone knew we found the will in your father's house,” Joe reminded her. “And that your uncle John had brought it home with him.”

“Well, if we can figure all that out we'll know who took the will,” Mandie replied. “But even if we find out who the thief is, we still have to figure out where the will is.”

“Here comes Aunt Lou to announce the food is on the table,” Joe said, looking down the hallway.

Mandie quickly glanced in that direction and said, “Come on. Let's at least put in an appearance in the parlor.”

The two hurried on through the doorway of the parlor and rushed to sit down as Aunt Lou arrived at the doorway saying, “De food be on de table, Miz 'Lizabeth.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth replied as she rose and Aunt Lou went back down the hallway. “Shall we go in now?”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Dr. Woodard said as he also rose.

“I agree,” John Shaw said.

As everyone started toward the dining room, Mrs. Taft fell back and asked Mandie, “Did y'all find any clues?”

“Not yet, Grandmother, but we will,” Mandie told her.

“And if Mandie says so, we will,” Joe said with a big grin.

Mandie frowned at him as they followed the adults into the large dining room. When Mrs. Taft came to visit, Mandie knew her mother always dined in the huge room. Ordinarily they ate in the smaller dining room, which was really a large room itself.

A huge crystal chandelier hung over the enormous dining table, which was covered with a cream-colored crocheted tablecloth to match the background of the green-flowered plush seats of the chairs. A tapestry of peacocks and flowers hung on one wall of the room, and long French doors opened onto a terrace on the other side. Even though a large, rock fireplace stood at each end, the air could be drafty in the wintertime. Today it was not cold enough for fires with the outside doors closed.

After everyone was seated and served, the conversation centered around the will. Mandie kept listening for Uncle John to make some remark about having left Liza in the room and the door unlocked, but instead he began talking about witnesses.

“Amanda, can you remember the names of the two witnesses on your father's will? I can't for the life of me remember seeing the signatures, but I know they were on it,” John Shaw said, taking a sip of the coffee in his cup.

Mandie frowned thoughtfully and finally said, “No, Uncle John, I'm sorry, but I can't remember who they were. I'm not sure I could read them because the handwriting was so scrambled up.” Turning to Joe, she asked, “Do you remember?”

Joe also frowned as he thought about it, and he said, “Seems like one was a Kennery, or something like that, and the other one was a shorter name of some kind.”

“Kennery,” John Shaw puzzled over the name. Looking at the doctor, he asked, “Did you ever know anyone by that name? You live in that neck of the woods, and evidently Jim had it drawn up and witnessed out there.”

“No, I don't believe I ever heard that name,” Dr. Woodard said, shaking his head as he paused with his fork midway to his mouth.

“But, Mr. Shaw, Mandie's father didn't have an attorney draw up the will,” Joe told John Shaw. “At least there was no legal firm's name on it. I remember noticing that.”

John Shaw thought about that and said, “I believe you're right. I don't remember seeing an attorney's name on it, either. Jim had the idea of becoming a lawyer himself when he was young and had some legal schooling, so he probably just wrote it up and got his signature witnessed.”

Mandie eagerly asked, “Do you mean my father wanted to be a lawyer?” She laid down her fork.

“Yes, he did, Amanda,” John Shaw told her. “He enrolled at the university, but when things ended between him and your mother and you were born, he just pulled up and moved to Swain County. As far as I know he never went back to school.”

“My father a lawyer!” Mandie exclaimed with a big sigh. Tears came into her blue eyes as she remembered him. “He would have been a good one, Uncle John. He was always so honest about everything and taught me to never break the law.” Her voice trembled.

Dr. Woodard spoke up to change the subject. “Would the will be legal if he didn't have a lawyer draw it up?” he asked John Shaw.

“Oh yes, as long as he signed it and it was witnessed,” John Shaw replied. “And if we can find it, I don't think there will be any problem with it.”

“We've searched the whole third floor, that is, all except your office, Uncle John, which was locked, and we didn't find a single clue,” Mandie told him. She was secretly hoping Uncle John would offer her the key and the chance to search his office.

“I've been through everything in my office, and it isn't there,” John Shaw replied. “And I don't believe the will is still in this house. It just wouldn't make much sense to steal the document and then leave it somewhere else in the house with the possibility that we might find it.”

“You're right, John,” Dr. Woodard agreed. “Why steal a will and then not take it with you?” He reached for another biscuit.

Mandie spoke up. “Well, Joe and I have discussed this, and we've decided whoever stole the will just didn't want me to have it so I couldn't claim the property when my stepmother showed up with another will and claimed my father's house. Therefore, it had to be someone connected with my stepmother.”

“You're right, of course,” Uncle John said.

“But, Amanda, whoever took the will could have just destroyed it, and in that case you will never find it,” Mrs. Taft told her.

“Oh no!” Mandie exclaimed as she thought about that.

“I just don't understand how anyone could have come into this house and done this without some of us seeing them,” Elizabeth said.

“Well, the front door, and the back door, as well, is never locked because nobody in town locks doors except at night, so it would be easy for someone to enter the house,” Jason Bond reminded them.

“But don't forget, John keeps his office locked,” Elizabeth said.

“Then how did anyone get into his office?” Mandie asked, watching her uncle. She was aware that Joe was also watching him.

Nobody replied as they all looked at one another, waiting for an answer from someone.

Finally Mrs. Taft spoke, “It's possible, John, someone could have discovered your hiding place for your office key. If the door lock was not broken, then the key was used to gain entry.” She paused and then added, “Unless you did leave the door open some time or other.”

John Shaw smiled and looked at Mrs. Taft. “I believe we are going in circles with our questions,” he said. “What I think we need to do now is concentrate on the witnesses' names. If we could locate them, we could have something solid to work on.”

Suddenly Mandie had an idea. “Uncle Ned, Uncle Ned!” she exclaimed. “Uncle Ned might know who the witnesses were on my father's will! In fact, he might have been there when my father made it.”

Everyone quickly agreed.

“Yes, you are right, Amanda. We must send for Uncle Ned,” John Shaw agreed. “He has known us all our lives, and I would imagine Jim confided in him about various things after he went to Swain County, away from his family.” He looked at Jason Bond without speaking.

Jason Bond smiled at him and said, “I'll be ready to ride as soon as we finish here. I just hope I find him at home.”

“Thank you, Jason, for volunteering to go,” John Shaw said.

Dr. Woodard rubbed his chin and said, “If you don't mind my saying so, I don't see any purpose in sending for the old man today, since we are all leaving here early Monday. He'd no more get here than we'd
have to leave. Why don't I go by and get him on the way to my house and bring him home with me?”

“You're right,” John Shaw agreed.

“In fact, I can leave here tomorrow and go on by his house, just to be sure we get to my home by the time y'all arrive there,” the doctor suggested.

“Yes, that is a good idea,” John Shaw replied. “I'd certainly like to talk to him before we have to go to the courthouse.”

“Then I'll plan to leave first thing in the morning,” Dr. Woodard said, resuming his eating.

“After breakfast, of course,” Elizabeth said with a smile.

“Thank you, I will have breakfast with y'all before I leave,” the doctor agreed.

“Dr. Woodard,” Mandie quickly spoke up, “Joe doesn't have to go with you, does he? Couldn't he wait and go with us? Please.” She smiled as she glanced at Joe.

“No, Miss Amanda, Joe doesn't have to go with me,” Dr. Woodard replied. “If he wants to stay here, that's fine with me.” He looked at his son.

“Thanks, Dad,” Joe said as he set down his coffee cup. “I would like to wait and go with everyone else on Monday.” He grinned at Mandie and added, “Mandie would never forgive me if I went off without helping her solve the mystery of the missing will.”

Mandie grinned back as she said, “That's right. I need some help because we don't have much time.”

John Shaw laughed and said, “Then I would suggest that you two hurry up, eat, and get back to your detective work.” He took another biscuit from the platter.

“Uncle John, you don't really believe we can find any clues, do you?” Mandie said in a disappointed voice.

“Let's put it this way. I hope you do, but I doubt there is any evidence anywhere as to what happened to that will. But good luck anyway,” her uncle told her.

“We'll see,” Mandie said, smiling at him.

“Now, John,” Mrs. Taft said as she laid down her fork. “You should have a little faith in Amanda's ability to solve puzzles because she has found solutions to quite a few problems we've encountered.”

“Oh, I do have faith in my little blue eyes,” John Shaw said, grinning
at Mandie. “I have faith in her determination to figure all these things out. And I certainly hope she can throw some light on the problem we have right now.”