As always thank you for being so patient. And a big thank you to all who keep reading and reviewing. This chapter is a little short but I think it is an important one. I hope it explains some of the more vague and confusing parts of the story.
6. Mystery Man
"Are you serious Joe?" Frank questioned. "This is no time for any of your joking."
"No joke. She said her informant had the strangest eyes. She was also convinced that he was wearing a wig. According to her, his 'hair' was stringy and fake looking. But he was definitely muscular, and his eyes were ice blue. She said his eyes gave her the creeps."
"How did she find him?" Bess wondered.
"That's the odd part. She didn't find him, he found her. She claims that she was in the diner having a sandwich when he walked up to her table. He said he had the story of the century and he was willing to give her the scoop."
"This is crazy." Nancy murmured. "Who would know about any of the mystery except a Drew family member? That is a well kept secret. Who but a Drew would want to take that portrait?"
"Are you sure only family members know about the secret?" Joe questioned Nancy and Gabriel.
"Positive." Nancy and Gabriel chorused.
"Not even the newspapers knew about it." Gabriel explained. "It was the best kept secret around. At that time the Drew family was very prominent in this area. There was very little about the family that the public didn't know. That was the one thing that nobody knew."
"Is there anyone who could have found out about the treasure?" George questioned. "A gardener or worker who may have overheard someone talk about it?"
"I suppose it is possible." Gabriel conceded. "What I want to know is, what is so important about that portrait to make someone want to take it. It must have hung in that house for years without being disturbed."
"That is very true. And that house is not easy to find. Someone had to know where it was." Frank pointed out.
"I wonder," Joe muttered, "if there may have been a clue to the treasure in that portrait."
"If so, then we just lost it." Bess replied.
"I studied that picture thoroughly. If there was a clue, then it wasn't obvious." Gabriel explained. "But my mother left a note that explained the story of Jocelyn for me. I found it hidden behind the inside cover of my book, in a little pocket. She believed that Jocelyn had left a clue to the treasure inside that house."
"What exactly is the story of that house?" George questioned.
Nancy spoke up. "The Drew family was one of the first families to make a prosperous living in this area. Walter Drew's great grandfather built that house himself. When he died he left it to Walter's father, Walter Senior. He came to be known best as Poppa Drew. He moved his family in soon after he was left the house. At that time Walter Drew Junior was just a baby. Jocelyn was born a few years later. They grew up in that house. Some years later Poppa Drew's wife, Katherine, died. Walter was a young man, mid-teens, and so he stayed to keep the house in order. Poppa Drew had, for all intents, become a recluse. Jocelyn stayed for another five years to help Walter. Then she was married, as was Walter."
"Did Walter move out after he married?" George asked.
"No. He convinced his wife to live in the house. By that time Poppa Drew was aged and his health was failing. He died five years after Jocelyn was married, two years after she disappeared."
Joe looked at Gabriel. "What made your mother believe that Jocelyn left a clue to the treasure?"
"This paper was with the note my mother left." Gabriel handed Frank an old, yellowed piece of paper.
"I don't understand." Frank looked at Gabriel in puzzlement. "It's just a bunch of ones and zeros. I don't even see a pattern."
"I have no answers. I've been trying to solve the message for a year now. It doesn't seem to fit any known code."
"Have you tried the internet?" Bess asked.
"The internet, the library, everything. I even checked any known mathematical code that had ever been used."
"Nothing?" Joe guessed with disappointment.
"Bingo." Gabriel confirmed.
"I think we need to find out about any other family at that time." Joe suggested.
"What do you mean?" Nancy questioned.
"Did Jocelyn and Walter have a brother or something? Are there any other Drews around?" Joe explained.
Nancy looked at Joe in surprise. "Of course they had a brother. Jacob Drew. He's my great-great-grandfather."