2 Dead & Buried by Leighann Dobbs Page A

joy in the turtle’s dome
    And under the rhomb

    Morgan’s brows mashed together. “Huh? What’s this mean?”
    “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Jolene said.
    “Turtle? What turtle?” Fiona asked.
    “And what the hell is a rhomb?” Morgan added.
    “Who knows?” Jolene shrugged as she tapped something into her smart phone. “Oh, here, it says it’s another word for rhombus … you know, the geometric figure.”
    Morgan raised her brows. “This poem doesn’t even make any sense. Could it be another code of some sort?”
    “It could,” Cal said. “Don’t forget it was written long ago—and probably meant for someone who would understand the hidden meaning.”
    “The important thing is it seems to verify there is some sort of map.” Celeste pointed to the first line of the poem.
    “Or was,” Morgan said.
    “Right. Now if we only knew what it meant by turtle dome we might be on to something.” Jolene settled back into her chair with a sigh.
    Morgan felt something niggle at the back of her brain. Turtle. Dome. Why did that seem familiar?
    Morgan snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it!”  
    She ran for the stairs to the attic with everyone following. At the top she surveyed the space, trying to remember where she had seen the little trunk.  
    “Mew.”  
    She should have known Belladonna would be up here and she followed the sound.
    “What is it?” Fiona’s slightly out of breath voice came from behind her.
    “I saw a domed box when I was up here before and I think it was made of tortoise. That could be the turtle’s dome mentioned in the poem.”
    The cat led them to an alcove and Morgan’s heart clenched when she saw the box. She reached down and picked it up, holding it in front of her for the others to see.
    Cal reached out and she handed it to him.
    “This is really old,” Cal said. “It definitely could be from the era of the poem.”
    His words sent a chill up Morgan’s spine. Could there really be a treasure map inside?
    “What are you waiting for?   Open it up,” Jolene said, leaning over Cal’s shoulder to look at the box.
    Cal held it out to Morgan. “Go ahead.”
    Morgan took the box in her hand, thinking how delicate it looked. A ripple of excitement surged through her like an electric current as she held the box. She grabbed the top and pulled.  
    Her heart sunk like a stone.  
    “It won’t open.” She tried to pull harder, but the box was sealed tight.
    “It’s probably locked.” Cal pointed to the tiny keyhole on the front.
    Morgan’s excitement deflated. “What are the odds of finding the key in this?” She spread her hands to indicate the vast space.
    “Let me see.” Jolene held out her hand and Morgan placed the box in it.
    Jolene squinted at the lock, turned the box this way and that then rummaged in an open trunk that was sitting on the floor. She pulled out an antique hairpin which was about eight inches long and had a large pearl on the end. She stuck the pin end into the keyhole, wiggled it around and the box popped open.
    Morgan’s heart dropped when she looked inside. It was empty.
    “Hey, where’d you learn to do that?” Fiona furrowed her brow at Jolene.
    “Oh, I’ve been looking into some private investigator stuff online … just a little trick I picked up.” Jolene shrugged.
    “Figures, it’s empty,” Morgan said. “I guess it was silly to think an old treasure map would still be in here after all these years.”
    “It’s a nice box though.” Celeste took the box from Jolene.
    “Very nice … and very valuable,” Cal said.
    Morgan shrugged. “I guess we should put it back.”
    “Wait,” Cal said. “A lot of times, these old boxes had false bottoms.”
    Morgan peered over Celeste’s shoulder into the box.  
    “It doesn’t look like it has a false bottom,” she said, bending down to look at the box from underneath.
    She held out her hand and Celeste put the box in it. The inside bottom was an indigo blue