“Go on!” Everybody yelled.
“According to a newspaper story, Hepzibah had a married sister who took in the children after she was hanged. My contact had to do a lot of research, but she finally found out what happened to them all. They boarded a steamship to a small country named Namiberia, in Africa, where they founded an orphanage and hospital. Now, where would two poor missionaries get the money to do that? Here’s my guess. The treasure was in the room with the preacher and Rose when Hepzibah found them. Hepzibah took it before the authorities got to her, and gave it to her sister. The orphanage is still run by their descendants, apparently.”
“Well, I guess that’s really it, then.” Jason looked resigned. “Unless we want to Africa and see if we can get the money back from those orphans.”
“Not so fast,” Betsy said. “Did you never stop to think about the value of the rest of the items in the trunk? They’re worth a small fortune to collectors. So is the trunk, for that matter.”
“I had them valued,” Edna added. “Betsy asked me to. You’ve got rare coins, antique guns and clothing, historical memorabilia, the bloodstained handwritten journal of Lucky Levi…you can easily get several hundred thousand dollars for the lot. I’ve already got collectors lined up, chomping at the bit.”
“What?” Josephine and Jason gasped simultaneously.
“I told you that you’d like to the ending to this story,” Betsy said.
EPILOGUE
With the proceeds from the sale of Lucky Levi’s trunk and all its contents, Jason was able to hire an excellent defense attorney who got the trumped up robbery charges against him dismissed.
Jason and Betsy are engaged, and signed up to take a year-long round the world cruise. Betsy is blogging about her journeys as they travel, and they plan to marry when they return, and settle in Crooked Creek, where Jason will work as a computer crimes consultant for the Crooked Creek Sheriff’s department.
Josephine and Cooper moved to Crooked Creek and got married, in a huge wedding attended by most of the residents of Crooked Creek. It made the front page of the newspaper. Josephine used the money from her share of the proceeds to pay for nursing school. Cooper works for the Crooked Creek Sheriff’s Department, in the fugitive apprehension unit.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen