Seizure(98)

“Mary Read.”

His hands flew up. “She was DEAD!”

“Maybe Bonny DIDN’T KNOW!” I shouted back.

“Enough!” Ben glared at each of us in turn. “Tory’s the reason we found the chest. Let’s hear what she has to say. We owe her that much.”

Shelton rolled his eyes. Hi screwed his mouth sideways, but said nothing.

Ben jabbed a finger at me. “But no promises, Brennan. I’m not wild about chasing pipe dreams, and we almost got killed doing it. Twice.”

“This is how it starts,” Shelton muttered. “We’re doomed.”

“Thank you,” I said primly. Inside, I was grinning like a well-fed cat.

Shelton was right, of course. Once I got them listening, their curiosity always won out. It’s what I loved best about them.

“Now.” I cracked my knuckles. “There are two things we need to examine …”



We regrouped an hour later.

“Let’s start with the chest,” I said. “Ben and I went over every board, slat, and nail. There’s nothing inside, or on the surface. There are no hidden compartments. There is no text of any kind.”

Ben nodded in agreement. “The trunk itself is a dead end.”

“So that leaves the contents.” I gestured to Hi. “Tell us about the vegetation.”

“You’re not going to believe this.” Hi had a bemused expression on his face. “I can identify this plant.”

“No joke?” He was right. I couldn’t believe it.

“Seriously. It’s such a wildly uncommon specimen that, frankly, it was easy. My books were all over it, and I confirmed the ID online.”

“Fantastic. Spill.”

Hi placed the leaves on the worktable.

“These are the leaves of Dionaea muscipula, commonly known as Venus flytraps. I can’t believe they lasted that long underground. They must’ve been predried, and the chest airtight. Talk about craftsmanship.”

“How can you be sure?” Ben asked.

“I checked under my microscope.” Hi pointed to a red-brown husk on the table. “The leaf blade is divided into two parts: a flat, heart-shaped stalk, then a pair of terminal lobes hinged at midrib, forming the trap. Stiff hairlike protrusions called cilia fringe the edges.” He shrugged. “That was all I needed. Not much can be confused with a Venus flytrap. A monkey could’ve nailed it.”

“Gotta love a plant that eats bugs,” Shelton quipped.

“Flytraps are awesome.” Hi made a V with his hands. “Their leaves are like small mouths that snap shut when a fly enters. Inside the mouth, tiny sensors distinguish between living prey and other things, like raindrops. If a bug taps two sensors in a row, or the same one twice, boom!” His fingertips snapped together. “The jaws close, trapping the insect inside. Then the plant digests at its leisure.”

“That’s wild,” I said. “How did that evolve?”

“Flytraps grow in areas with lousy dirt, like swamps and bogs. The species developed a badass way to make up for the lack of nutrients.”

“Very interesting,” Ben cut in. “But how does this bountiful plant lore help us?”

“It helps a lot,” Hi replied. “Venus flytraps are incredibly rare. These days they only grow wild in a forty-mile area around Wilmington, North Carolina. It’s very unlikely that two or three dead ones accidentally got into that chest.”

“Excellent work, Hi. Gold star. And you, good sir?”

“I also hit paydirt.” Shelton held up a pebble. “These buggers are limestone.”

“Explain.”

Shelton read from a printout. “Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed of calcite and aragonite, which are the crystal forms of calcium carbonate.” He looked up. “Basically, it forms from the skeletons and shells of dead marine organisms, like coral.”

“All limestone looks like this?” I picked up one of the pebbles.

“Nope.” Shelton’s eyes dropped to his notes. “Impurities like clay, sand, or dead sea critters create variations in form and color. Limestone is extremely common, and has been used extensively in architecture. They built the Great Pyramid with it.”

“So how did you make the ID?” Ben asked.

“Easy.” Big smile. “I emailed a pic to a geologist at CU. It took him about two seconds.”

“Nice work,” I deadpanned. “When does your Ph.D. arrive?”

“What do I know about rocks? But I get results.” Shelton dropped his notes onto the tabletop. “Also, he told me to dunk the pebble in vinegar and listen for fizzles and pops. Check and check. It’s limestone. No doubt.”

“Can you say where the pebbles originated?”

He shook his head. “From what I read, the stuff’s too common. But it’s doubtful that three identical limestone pebbles were just rolling around on Boneyard Beach.”

“So that’s two oddities,” I said. “Plant and rock, neither native to Bull Island.”

“Fine,” Ben said. “Those things got into the chest somehow. That doesn’t make them clues.”

“Humor me. Pretend the items were placed deliberately. Where do they lead?”