Chapter Nine: Carrots and Churches
Watson's POV
I spent part of Tuesday in my room, analyzing the letter and my conversation with Ace. I had written down everything we had said and done. I even wrote down my conversation with Zeke so I could remember his advice. It wasn't often that I was this driven. But without Holmes figuring everything out for me, I had to be. And, surprise of all surprises, I wasn't too bad at it. I decided I just hadn't even bothered to use my brain before on a case. Probably because I had always had Holmes there to do that for me.
The second part of Tuesday I spent trying to find a room. The school was shut down for good. As it turned out, it wasn't actually a school. The cops searched through Miss Gardens files and discovered that criminals were running the school and that most of the students were criminals themselves. The cops were stunned to discover that they seemed to be working for a notorious criminal who was a lot like a mob boss. They announced her name was Marie (big surprise), and that all the 'teachers' and criminal students were working for her. I watched as Cherry was taken away in a police car, satisfied that she was going to get what was coming to her and that Marie was running out of time.
I finally found a room at a hotel called The Fish Fry (odd name for a hotel, I thought). I was only staying there until I could come back home, which was in two days or so. I was running out of time to find Ace and force the information out of her. I knew Kline was in town, but I didn't know where.
By Wednesday I was sick and tired of reading the same sheet of paper over and over again. I knew Ace was far too arrogant for her own good, not willing to attack me, knew the Bible pretty darn decently, was independent yet scared of Marie, had two guns but kept one of them hidden in her trench coat, was really dangerous (that was a theory, but come on), and could be taken by surprise. Good for me. If only I could figure out where she was!
With a dark sigh I left my hotel room. It was roughly four pm when I did so. I needed to get out there and find some clues, without Holmes. I knew it wouldn't exactly be easy, because Holmes had natural charisma and ease when it came to things like this, but I was willing to try. I wrote a list of places to stop.
First, I was going to stop at some citizens homes and ask if they knew anything about the mysterious woman who had been walking around. Then I would stop at the gas station again and talk to the manager. Then I would look at hotel rosters, and then... well, after that I was doomed to wandering around. Still, it was a pretty good plan. Better than what Holmes was doing. He was probably moping in some hotel, whining about how horrible his life was. Jerk.
So I left. I worked systematically, starting at the house right across the street from the Fish Fry. A woman named Widow Hannah lived there. She was struggling to pull up some weeds in her garden. I felt sort of sorry for her. She was a really old woman, probably ninety or something, and just didn't have the muscle to yank those weeds out of the ground.
"Um, hi," I said gently, leaning on the fence. Widow Hannah looked up at me, a few strands of her gray hair falling out of the handkerchief that she had tied it up with. Her dark brown eyes narrowed at me and she put her hands on her hips.
"I told you, I don't sell my carrots anymore," Hannah snapped at me. I raised my hands defensively.
"I don't want your carrots, Miss Hannah," I told her. Hannah stood up, dusting off her ugly dress with a pair of thin, wrinkled hands.
"So now my carrots aren't good enough for you, are they? Don't think you need old Widow Hannah's carrots? Think they're poisoned, do you?" she screamed at me. I shook my head quickly.
"Not at all! Your carrots are quite good, I-"
"You stole my carrots and ate them, didn't you! Thief! I'll call the police on you!" Hannah shouted, her voice cracking. I backed away slowly.
"I just wanted to know if you had seen a woman walking around town with a gun, that's all! I promise I didn't steal your carrots, but I'm sure they're quite good. You put a lot of hard work into this garden," I informed her. Widow Hannah regarded me suspiciously for a moment before nodding slowly.
"Yes, yes I did. I haven't seen any woman walking around with a gun. I'll tell you if I do. Would you like to help me weed my garden, little girl?" Hannah asked me. I sighed. This woman was weird.
"I can't, sorry. I have to go see other people," I told her. Widow Hannah looked at me sadly and then nodded, waving me away. I walked away slowly and glanced back at her. She looked like she was crying. I felt sorry for her, but kept going.
The next person on my list was a single mother with five children. I would have hated to be in her position. I knocked on her door and waited for a few minutes. The door opened slowly and a forty-ish woman poked her head out.
"Yes?" she asked gently. Her voice was really quite gentle and pretty. I smiled at her.
"Hi, my name is Jenny. I was just wondering if you had seen a woman walking around carrying a gun?" I asked. Not very smooth, but straight forward. The woman paused and opened the door all the way.
"Why don't you come inside for a while? I have a kettle of hot water on the stove, and I can make you some tea while we talk, all right?" the woman offered. I paused, but accepted her offer and followed her into the house.
"My name is Lily Greken. I'm sure you've heard of me around town," Lily said softly. I nodded.
"Not your name, but that you have a lot of children," I said. Lily smiled a sad, soft smile and offered me a seat in her kitchen. I accepted gratefully and watched as she plodded around the kitchen. She wore a very simple, flowered dress but it looked very nice on her exceptionally thin figure.
"Yes, I suppose you have. And you probably know their names, too. Timothy, Jasmine, Sarai, James, and-"
"And Remus, after the Harry Potter book series which your eldest children read faithfully and you enjoy as well," I finished for her. Lily smiled at me and handed me a cup of tea. I realized how very sad and tired she looked.
"Indeed. James and Remus are twins, actually. Timothy and Jasmine named them. They're only eleven. James and Remus are four, and Sarai is seven. I think you would like Sarai. She reminds me of you, somewhat," Lily mentioned, sipping her own tea as she took a seat. I stared at her, surprised.
"But I've never met you before."
"I know. But I've seen you and watched you. When you're the mother of five children, you don't get a lot of social contact with anyone. You have a tendency to watch people more often than not," she commented slowly. I shrugged, not really knowing.
"So, do you know anything about the woman I asked you about?" I questioned, trying to get back on the main subject. Lily paused, and then nodded slowly.
"Yes, I do."
I perked up. "Really? Do you know where she's staying?"
"Yes..."
"Could you tell me? Please."
Lily sighed and stood up, slamming her tea cup down. She walked over to the small window and stared out at it. I glanced out it and saw that her children were in the backyard, playing.
"My husband died three years ago," Lily said suddenly. I was surprised by this change of subject, but Lily continued before I could say anything.
"When he died, I thought I would die too. I lost all my friends after he died. They didn't want to be around a sad, tired woman who was dying on the inside. They didn't want to be with her children, either, who were loud and rambunctious. They didn't want to look at me and see that I was getting sick. So they left, and I've been friendless for three years."
"I'm sorry," I said slowly, not understanding what this had to do with anything. Lily ignored me.
"Until one day, a week or so ago, a girl showed up at my door. She looked as sad as I did, and as tired as I felt. She also had a very large gun that hung from her waist. I started crying, figuring she was going to kill me and my children. The girl looked at me and told me that she wouldn't hurt me, and I should stop crying. She said she hadn't eaten for a while and was on the run, and could she please come in? I let her in, of course, because I was afraid she would kill me if I didn't. Once inside she cooked me dinner while I held onto my children and cried. She played with James and taught Jasmine how to French braid. She saw the photo of my husband on the mantel and knew what had happened to him. She gave me a hug, and told me to go ahead and cry for him, because it looked like I never had. And I did. I cried for him and my children. And she understood.
"She came back almost every day after that, playing with the children and just chatting with me. I had a friend again. She even encouraged me to go to the service at the church tonight. So I'm not going to give her over to you just so you can kill her, or whatever you plan on doing to her," Lily snapped. I was shocked. Tears were coursing down her face, and her gray eyes were staring at me violently. I stood up.
"I just want to know where she's staying. I'm not going to kill her."
"I know you're blaming her for the murder of that Gardens woman. It's not true. I'm not letting you take her to the police," Lily cried, stepping away from me. I shook my head.
"I just want to know where she is staying!" I exclaimed, stepping towards her. Lily threw a spoon at me and screamed. I sighed in desperation.
"Fine! Fine, I'll leave! Wait until she kills you, then we'll see how good a friend she really is!" I shouted. I stormed out the backdoor and left Lily alone.
How could a nice woman like Lily think that someone like Ace could ever be her friend? Ace was as evil as they came. She had to be a good actress, then, if she could befriend someone. Or perhaps Lily was just so desperate for a friend that she could ignore how evil Ace was. I sincerely hoped she figured it out before Ace killed her.
Next stop was Zeke's house. He hadn't seen her, he said, and asked me to help him oil his/my speedboat and then join him at the local church service for those who had lost loved ones to the ocean. I declined. I still had people to talk to.
I spoke to a man whose wife was napping and whose child was screaming because her dolly was broken. He looked absolutely distraught, but said he hadn't heard anything from Ace for a few days. He warned me to stay away from her because Susie (his daughter) absolutely adored the woman. I rolled my eyes and stormed away. The people in that town were absolutely blind to the pure evilness of Ace!
After I had visited every last house and either gotten warnings to stay away from her or claims that they didn't know her, I headed for the hotels. There were three in town, the Fish Fry, the Beluga Inn, and Eight Arms Inn. The town had a whole fish theme going, which was to be expected. They were, after all, a fishing community. Neither the Beluga Inn or the Eight Arms Inn had Ace signed in. With dread I walked back to the Fish Fry at eight o' clock and read the roster. Yup, Ace was at the Fish Fry. I pursed my lips and spoke to the manager of the hotel, who refused to tell me which room she was in. Needless to say, I was pissed.
I went up to my room in absolute fury. My searches had been for nothing, and Kline might be dead by now, and who knew where Christine was, and Ace was somewhere in the hotel but I couldn't find her. Groaning in anger and sadness, I fell onto my bed and glanced at the clock. Reaching over, I set the alarm for ten thirty, figuring I would continue after a little nap. I fell asleep quickly, only to end up having dreams about Ace and fish. Whee.
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My alarm went off at ten o' clock and I sat up slowly, slapping it off. I was so tired but I needed to find Ace, hopefully by tonight. Unfortunately, even though I knew that she was in this hotel, I couldn't exactly go searching for her. The manager would kill me.
Running a brush through my hair, I walked over to my desk and began reading through the notes I had taken. I skimmed her letters, having memorized them by now. I read through our conversation, smirking at the Bible verses. I read through Zeke's conversation and sighed in hopelessness. Then I began to mentally run over my conversations with the town citizens.
'Carrots, dead husbands, little dolls, oil, dinners, big gun...'
'Carrots, only friend, wife napping, boat, milk, silver gun...'
'Carrots, church service, Susie, church service, church service, Bible verses...'
It hit me quite suddenly. I wanted to hit myself for not realizing it sooner. Running to my closet, I threw on my windbreaker and a worn pair of sneakers and ran out the door of the hotel. Ace would be at the church! How much stupider could I get? She had purposely rattled off those Bible verses to lead me to the church. She had even been praying in the graveyard!
I ran as fast as I could. The service had started at ten, and it was now ten forty. I had spent ten minutes dilly-dallying, as Holmes had put it. If I didn't get there soon, Ace would be gone, and so would my chance to ever see Kline again.
I ran, and ran, and- slammed right into somebody. I fell to the ground, as did the person I ran into. I didn't have time, though, to help them up. I scrambled to my feet and was about to take off again when the person grabbed me.
"Watson, stay still for a minute!" Holmes snapped at me, holding onto my wrist. I wheeled around to face him. So he was the one I ran into. I really didn't care. I could have run into the Pope and not cared.
"Let me go, Holmes. I'm about fifteen minutes from solving this case," I snarled at him. He looked surprised and let me go. I started running immediately, but Holmes followed.
"You figured it out?" he called after me. I rolled my eyes.
"If I find Ace now, she'll take me to where Kline is!"
"Really?"
"God, yes! Shut up, Holmes! Why don't you go wallow in misery somewhere, ok?"
Ok, a little low for me. But if I reached the church quick enough, Kline would be with me again and we could find Christine, and then everything would be all right. Holmes didn't give up that easily, though.
"I don't think so. You're going to need help!" Holmes said. I could see the church now. The lights were on inside, and people were singing.
"I didn't need your help to solve this case."
"You took your precious time at it, then!"
"Ace wouldn't show me until today! She told me so."
"How?"
"She recited Bible verses."
"You think that's a clue?!"
"A better clue than you found, Holmes."
I ran up the steps to the church and ran inside. The doors had been open. People were scattered throughout the church, and they were holding candles. A few were crying. I saw Lily in the back pew, with a woman sitting next to her. A woman with black hair and wearing a black trench coat. I walked over slowly, silently, with Holmes following.
Apparently, they were in a time of prayer, because Ace's eyes were closed (I think- her sunglasses were still on), as were Lily's and her children's. I smiled grimly and put a firm hand on Ace's shoulder. She looked up at me slowly, a small smile on her own lips.
"Where is she?" I hissed. Ace stared at me for a moment, then looked over at Lily, who was watching the entire ordeal. They seemed to communicate. I was a bit surprised at that, but before I could react, Lily was holding me and Ace was running out the doors. Holmes watched in surprise as I shoved Lily towards him and followed Ace. Unfortunately, she had the lead on us and was pretty darn fast.
She was headed for the docks, I realized slowly as my feet slammed down on the ground in a swift rhythm. I heard Holmes behind me, but didn't pay attention to him. Fine time for him to show up. That way he could take all the credit should I solve the case.
I reached the docks in time to see Ace clambering onto a large boat that was already sailing off. I couldn't figure out how she had gotten out there.
"Speedboat," Holmes said from behind me, seemingly reading my thoughts. He pointed in the darkness towards a small boat that was now attached to the larger one. I nodded slowly, and then went over to Zeke's speedboat.
Jumping in, I grabbed a life jacket and threw it to Holmes. He caught it, looking at me in surprise.
"If you're coming, but that on and get in," I snapped. As angry as I was with him, he deserved to come. Kline was his friend too, even if he had abandoned her. He tossed it on (orange really wasn't his color) and climbed in, getting in the seat near the back. I looked grimly at him, and then turned on the boat. It came to life with a soft putter, and was soon ready to go.
Staring resolutely towards the large boat that was at least a mile away, I turned my own boat towards it and took off.
