Our team of amateur sleuths, Tonya Kappes, Mama Rose Marie, Patricia Addie-Gentle, MaryAnn Nicolay and Mr. Divabetic, heads to the Hawden House Museum to meet Loretta Hussey.
The beautiful Hawden House museum is housed in a Greek Revival mansion that was built by whaling merchant and silver retailer William Hawden. Its collection highlights the history of Nantucket through the whaling and trading industries. (Closed for the 2020 season. All Historic Property grounds and gardens are open to the public and accessible during daylight hours.)
Loretta: Hey you in the pirate costume. Put on this sandwich board to help us advertise admission.
Max: Me? Why?
Loretta: Aren’t you from the temp agency to help us sell tickets! All the whales’ teeth in our collection have been stolen. Tourists will stop coming when they find out our biggest attraction is gone!!
The first floor at the Hadwen House showcases the Nantucket Historical Association’s decorative arts. The very finest objects in the collection are on display in period rooms showcasing furniture, china and ceramics, textiles, and silver.
Tonya: Don’t you think your tourism will be more affected by Britannia Coffin’s murder?
Loretta: That woman! She’s always blamed me for what my great grandfather did.
Max: What did he do?
Loretta: According to Britannia he was responsible for the loss of her family’s whaleship Essex that left them penniless. I think she’s the one who stole the scrimshaw whales’ teeth. It makes perfect sense. They belonged to her!
Scrimshaw is the art of engraving images on ivory—whale teeth and bone and walrus tusks—a folk art practiced by men aboard whaleships during the nineteenth century. Sailors made scrimshaw in an amazing variety, including decorative objects, utilitarian devices, and jewelry. It is one of the earliest recognized American crafts and remains one of the most highly desired forms of folk art for collectors of Americana.
Max: Then why would she steal them?
Loretta: To collect the insurance money. She came in earlier today with some flimsy excuse about not liking how the whales’ teeth were displayed. She made me open the case so she could rearrange them. I’m sure she saw where I kept the keys.
Tonya: So why did you threaten her at The Kitchen Island store this morning? Didn’t you tell Britannia she would get what she deserved?
Loretta: Oh, that. I meant the baking competition. She was going to lose this time. That’s all.
Max: Really? After beating you ten times?
Loretta: Look, I’m not the only one happy that Britannia Coffin is dead. Goldie almost went bankrupt! She had so many legal bills from fighting that slip and fall scheme cooked up by Britannia and Peggy’s husband, Floyd.
Tonya: But wasn’t Britannia rich?
Loretta: Not anymore. Her last ditch efforts to save my family’s home from toppling into the Atlantic Ocean cost her a pretty penny.
Max: Peggy told us climate change was affecting the lobster business, but I didn’t realize it was also eroding the shoreline.
Loretta: It took my old neighbor’s house falling into the ocean for her to finally take action.
MaryAnn: She sounds like a lot of people living with diabetes. They put off managing their blood sugars until after they experience a serious health-related complication.
Loretta: Britannia’s problems were all her own fault! She just sat up in her house scheming and baking pie after pie after pie. Her sweet tooth led straight to her diabetes!
MaryAnn: That’s a myth! Eating too much sugar doesn’t cause diabetes. Diabetes is caused by something disrupting the body’s ability to turn the food you eat into energy.
Patricia: Couldn’t they move her house farther back from the cliff? To save it?
Loretta: Moving a large foundation like that is very expensive. It would cost millions of dollars!
Tonya: Aren’t those stolen whales’ teeth worth millions of dollars?
Loretta: They are insured for $5 million dollars to be exact. They are scrimshaw whales’ teeth intricately carved by the famous artist Frederick Myrick.
The Nantucket Historical Association‘s scrimshaw collection is considered one of the most important collections in the world. Highlights of the collection include some of the earliest and rarest sperm whale teeth, engraved by the most famous of all scrimshaw artists, Nantucketers Frederick Myrick and Edward Burdett.
Mama Rose Marie: Well, something as big and unique as that shouldn’t be too hard to find.
Loretta: Oh no, they are smaller than you think. Some are no larger than this dinner plate from our historical collection.
Max: You mean that’s not a dessert plate you’re holding? It’s so small.
Patricia: American dinner plates have gotten much larger over the years along just like portion sizes.
MaryAnn: Plate size and portion size go hand in hand. Using smaller plates is a great tactic for eating less!
Tonya: Alright, let’s get back to the robbery and the murder – are the whales’ teeth the only things missing?
Loretta: No, a pearl handled pistol was also taken. You certainly have a lot of questions.
Tonya: We’re helping the police piece together a timeline for the murder.
Loretta: I heard the police are looking for some strange guy who was in the parking lot. Apparently, he might be the killer! Hold on, let me get that police sketch.
Mama Rose Marie: Oh, Bartholomew, look at the time!! We have to get to the boat for the baking competition.
TO BE CONTINUED
Divabetic’s Mystery podcast, Kill Me Madam, cast includes USA Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, MaryAnn Horst-Nicolay MEd, NDRT, Lorraine Brooks, Catherine Schuller, Wendy Radford, Coach The Cure‘s Trisha Artman, Mama Rose Marie, Seveda Williams, and Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek. Produced by Leisa Chester-Weir.
Throughout the podcast we will be featuring music from the Broadway Cast Album of ‘Call Me Madam’ courtesy of SONY Music.