The Coffin Maker

Chapter 30

Six months passed and on a beautiful spring day, Ailsa Craig came out of a downtown Minneapolis office following an appointment with her financial advisor and met, by chance, Li Li Wu walking with another woman. Li Li was all smiles and told Ailsa she loved her hair.

"Ailsa, this is my partner, Leah," said Li Li, who proudly held the arm and elbow of a medium height, pale skin woman with trendy short hair deliberately tousled. "Join us for lunch? There is a terrific vegetarian place around the corner. It's tapas... even carnivores will find something they like!" she teased.

Ailsa learned Leah was from Ireland and could have listened to her accent all day. She saw a different side of Li Li Wu when Leah was present and it was obvious the couple was very happy.

"So, what's new?" asked Li Li.

"Well, a couple of things," began Ailsa, "Yarden Hoffshire figured out a way that Bunny Crowley, I guess I should say Lorna Bull, could give James and me the reward money and... I'm dating. He's asked me to marry him but I haven't given him an answer."

"Wow! Congrats!" said Li Li.

"Yeah, a boy from a farm down the road, Andrew Reeks. We've known each other since grade school...It's a life I'm used to," said Ailsa.

Li Li and Leah thought Ailsa's account sounded like an excuse, as though she were trying to convince herself she could be happy. Leah gave Li Li a poorly disguised kick under the table in an attempt to persuade her partner to change the subject. An awkward moment followed and Li Li was relieved when Ailsa spoke.

"Have you heard from James?" asked Ailsa.

"Actually, I have," said Li Li who sat upright and glanced at Leah. "I contacted him to discuss the linkages between missing persons cases involving Native American women in Minnesota and aboriginal women in Ontario and Manitoba."

"Interesting," replied Ailsa. "Did he mention if he was married? There was an aboriginal woman. She had an interesting name that I'll never forget...Sheshebens."

"He did mention her," said Wu. "He said she took her husband back, decided to give him a second chance."

Ailsa sat stunned, unprepared for the news.

"I thought you knew," said Wu, genuinely surprised.

"No, I hadn't heard."

Wu immediately grasped Ailsa's inner struggle. In her characteristic blunt manner, she said, "He loves you, you know. He told me."

"He told you?" asked Ailsa with noticeable enthusiasm.

Wu reached across the table and grasped her hand. "Ailsa, the love between you was obvious. James let that stupid celibacy thing spoil it. I talked him out of it, but Crowley nabbed you and ..."

"When did he say he loved me?"

"I remember well," said Wu. "It was last year, late summer or early fall. He told me he was going to drive out to the farm to see you before he went back to Canada."

"Yes. I discovered later that he came out to the farm. My father hid it from me. However, I figured James just came to say goodbye."

"Look, it's none of my business, but I think his intention was to ask you to marry him. I presumed you turned him down.

Ailsa paused, deep in thought. "Lily, would you and Leah mind if I excused myself?" She fumbled in her purse for some money. Wu grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Don't be silly, our treat." Wu smiled. "We don't mind at all. Sometimes a girl has to follow her heart, right Leah?"

"Absolutely," said Leah. Wu and Ailsa got to their feet.

"Thanks, Lily," said Ailsa. "It was nice to meet you, Leah."

Wu saw the excitement and hope in Ailsa's eyes. She hugged her, kissed her on the cheek and said goodbye. After Ailsa had gone, Wu turned to her partner. "You know Leah, she's one of the best investigators I've known. I wish I had fifty agents just like her."

***

Ailsa Craig enjoyed every minute of the nearly six-hour drive to James Blackwood's small farm north of the border. It felt good to feel free and independent again. It was not her style to wallow in self-pity. She preferred to reflect on her time in captivity as part of a professional investigation to capture one of the most devious and notorious criminals the nation had ever seen. However, the case had concluded. It was time to get on with life. She was anxious to see James.

Things looked different as she approached Blackwood's farm and she nearly drove past. The rusty mailbox at the bottom of the laneway lay on the ground still attached to the weathered post that had been its perch for countless years. In its place, a new post, held in place with temporary braces, waited for newly mixed cement to set. The grass and weeds at the roadside were closely trimmed and a new split rail fence at the entrance offered a tidy, rustic look. Ailsa guided the Toyota up the lane and parked between the house and the shed. There was no vehicle in the yard but she remained unfazed; he was either in town or in the fields at the back of the farm. She got out of the car into the cool Canadian air, walked across the yard, up the porch stairs and entered the unlocked farmhouse. She made a cup of coffee from a pod-type coffee machine, a new addition to the kitchen counter and reminisced about her first visit when they dined together and drank a large bottle of wine.

Shortly, she saw Blackwood returning from the field in a new pickup truck. The tailgate was down. She came out of the farmhouse onto the porch wearing the plaid shirt she found in his closet.

"Where's your fancy car?" she called out, with one arm tucked while she sipped coffee.

"I traded it in...took a real hit...you dyed your hair."

"There's another dead sheep in the back of your truck," teased Ailsa.

"Coyotes like the taste," said James. He paused, enjoying the moment. "Your father told me you were engaged to be married."

"He misinformed you."

"Oh? He likes me that much?"

"He doesn't know you," said Ailsa. "Li Li Wu told me Sheshebens reconciled with her husband."

"She did. That's my shirt you're wearing. Did you steal it from my bedroom?"

"I plead guilty, Mr. Investigator. What are you going to do about it?" said Ailsa, slowly setting down her coffee mug on the porch railing.

"I'm considering my options. I might steal it back," said James as he inched toward the porch.

"You'll have to catch me first." Ailsa made quickly for the door, but James scaled the stairs in two bounds and had her in his grasp. He gazed into her eyes to savor the moment and planted a kiss. He swept her off her feet and carried her inside. The screen door creaked on its hinges and made a loud noise when it slammed shut.

They made it as far as the kitchen table, which they banged into knocking the salt and the pepper mill to the floor. Between heavy kisses, they tore away clothing, stumbled their way to the kitchen sofa and tumbled in love's embrace oblivious to the world, coupled in a tangle of skin, hair, breath and shared expressions of affection.

***

On his rounds, Bert McComb steered his pickup into James Blackwood's lane and rolled slowly into the yard. He spied the dead sheep on the tailgate of Blackwood's new truck. He got out, took a cursory look at the animal, waddled in usual stiff legged manner back to his truck, and plucked an indemnity form off the front seat. Clutching the paper in one hand, he made his way toward the house, shooting a recognizing glance at the Toyota with the Minnesota plates. With aid from the railing, he ascended the porch stairs and wrapped the octogenarian fingers of his other hand around the door handle. The screen door delivered its customary groan and it slammed behind him when he stepped into the farmhouse. Within, a young woman issued a startled shriek.

"I'll leave the indemnity form here on the table," said Bert. "It's pre-signed...just fill it out when you have a minute."

The old man stepped out onto the porch sporting an ear-to-ear grin and the screen door slammed shut.

THE END