“Amazing,” Alice breathed.
“Which way next, Mary Beth?” Annie asked.
“From the west move south to north.”
Annie slid the left side of the clock base forward and then looked again to Mary Beth.
“From the south move east to west.”
Annie pushed the backside of the base to her left. “And then?”
“From the east move north to south, and then from the north, move east again.”
Annie pushed the right side of the base toward herself and then slid the front panel further to the right. “OK, and then what?”
“I can’t stand it,” Mary Beth said, her voice unsteady.
“What’s next!” Alice insisted.
“All right already!” Mary Beth took a deep breath. “From the south move downward, and then the key.”
Annie slid the back of the base down, exposing a tiny keyhole, and then she glanced up at both of them. “And then the key.”
“Wait a minute.” Mary Beth disappeared into her kitchen and then came back with the little brass key Sanders had turned over to her. “Here it is.”
Annie stepped back from the clock. “Go ahead.”
Alice’s blue eyes sparkled. “Oh, come on. You’re making me crazy.”
Mary Beth turned the key until there was a little clicking sound and then she gave it a tug. The key and the whole backside of the clock base came away in her hand, exposing a small hollow space packed with cotton wadding.
“Goodness!” She pulled out several pieces, but there was still more. “No wonder we thought this was a solid block of wood. Whatever’s in here, if there’s anything besides packing, certainly wouldn’t rattle.”
Annie felt one of the pieces of wadding. “It’s almost like new, it’s been protected from light and moisture for so long.”
“At last!” Mary Beth had finally exposed the treasure Geoffrey had left for Angeline more than 150 years before. It sparkled at its first touch of light. “Oh my. Oh … it’s just …”
She pulled on it, and out slid a glittering multistringed necklace of rubies, diamonds, and pearls set in gold.
“Ooh,” Annie breathed.
For once, Alice was speechless.
Mary Beth shook her head. “That is … it’s … I can’t believe it.”
“Is there anything else in there?” Annie asked. “You ought to check.”
Mary Beth pulled out the rest of the cotton wadding, revealing a matching ring and earrings. All of the jewelry was in pristine condition, sparkling as if it had just been made.
She traced her finger over the ornate golden setting that held the necklace’s largest ruby. “Do you think … I mean, could they possibly be real?”
The three of them just sat staring for a very long time.
“I’m just—” Mary Beth caught her breath. “I’m so overwhelmed, my head’s spinning.”
Annie examined the jewels a little more closely. “I don’t know what these are worth, but it has to be a lot. Surely it would be enough to buy your building.”
“If they’re real,” Alice reminded her.
Mary Beth’s expression sobered. “Wait a minute. If this was Geoffrey’s and Angeline never got it, wouldn’t it be part of his estate? Maybe I don’t have any right to it at all, real or not.”
“What do you mean?” Alice frowned. “It’s been in your family for years, whether or not you knew about it. And obviously, he meant for her to have it. How could it not be yours?”
Annie thought for a minute. “I don’t know. Even if it was legally hers, what about any other heirs? If Angeline was your great-great-grandmother, what about your great-aunts and -uncles? Or their heirs? The money from this might have to be spread out among a lot of people.”
Mary Beth sat down, still staring at the sparkling jewelry. “I didn’t think about that. I guess I’m right back where I started.”
“Do you have a family tree written down anywhere?” Annie asked. “Maybe it would give you some idea about who you’d have to consider.”
“Just the Bible. I think my grandmother kept birth and death records in it up to when Mom was born. I know Mom’s only brother and sister died of diphtheria when they were children back in the 1930s. I’ll have to look up the rest.”
Mary Beth’s family Bible was well read but in amazingly good condition for its age. Still, Annie took extra care when turning the fragile pages. The earliest marriage listed was that of Angeline’s parents, John Morrow and Paralee Walling in 1837. Angeline was the third of their eleven children. Angeline and her husband, Mary Beth’s great-great-grandfather James Parish, had only one daughter, Emma. Emma had one daughter and three sons, but all of the boys died in 1918.