very long time. Trust me, I know. I’ve seen it in your eyes. ‘Why me?’ you constantly wonder. ‘Why us?’ you plead! ‘There has to be a mistake,’ you assure us! ‘We’ve done nothing wrong!’ ”
Holmes grimaced, his eyes narrowing to slits. “No! There have been no mistakes! Each and every one of you is guilty of crimes against the black race! Crimes that you are in the process of being punished for!”
The captives glanced at each other, panicked. The sound of Holmes’s voice told them that he truly believed what he said. Holmes actually believed that they were guilty of something terrible.
“Group One,” Holmes shouted as he pointed toward them, “step forward!” Members of the Metz and Ross families glanced at each other, then reluctantly inched ahead. “Jake Ross, age seventy-one, make yourself known.”
The old man emerged from the center of the pack.
“You are the father of Alicia and Jimmy Ross, are you not?”
Jake Ross nodded his balding head. “Yes, Master Holmes, I am.”
“After marrying Paul Metz, Alicia gave birth to Kelly and Donny Metz. Is that correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Jake agreed. “They’re my grandkids.”
“And your son, Jimmy? He married Mary DaMico, and she eventually gave life to Susan, Tommy, and Scooter. Right?”
Jake was mystified by the line of questioning, but he still answered. “Yes, sir.”
“Now tell me, what was your grandfather’s last name on your father’s side?”
“It was Ross, same as mine. The Ross name has lasted for several generations now.”
Holmes winced when he heard the pride in Jake’s voice. The tone actually made him want to vomit. “According to our research, the Ross family first surfaced in America shortly before the 1800s. They settled in Massachusetts, but slowly migrated south as this country expanded in that direction. Eventually, your great-great-grandfather purchased a large chunk of land in Georgia, where he grew peanuts to the ripe age of eighty-one.”
Jake wasn’t sure what Holmes was getting at, but he could tell that it was something big. “Yes, sir. That sounds about right.”
Holmes nodded contentedly. The Plantation had located the right family.
“Group Two,” Harris Jackson shouted, “step forward!” The Potter family took an immediate stride toward Jackson. “Richard Potter, as the oldest member of your family, I would like to speak to you!”
Richard groaned softly, then stepped ahead. “That’s me, sir.”
“If I am correct, you are fifty-eight and have three kids, Andy, Darcy, and Jennifer. Andy married Sarah Goldberg, and they have a three-year-old daughter named Courtney.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Your one daughter married Mike Cussler, and your other daughter, Jennifer, is single.”
“Yes, sir. That’s correct.”
“Do either of your daughters have kids?”
“No, sir. Not yet.”
Jackson was fairly certain that they were childless, but if they’d had any kids out of wedlock, he wanted to know about them, too. “Where did your maternal grandparents come from?”
“Mississippi, sir. I lived there myself until my parents died.”
“Yes, I know.” Jackson moved closer to the man, hoping to scare him with his proximity. “What did they do for a living?”
“They were farming people, sir. Cotton, mostly.”
“And what was the name of their farm? Do you recall?”
“Yes, sir. I was forced to sell it after my folks died. It was called Tanneyhill Acres. Named after my mother’s side of the family.”
Jackson glanced at Holmes and nodded. Both of them were pleased with what they had learned. So far, Webster had made no mistakes in his research.
“I guess that leaves me,” Webster muttered. “Group Three, step ahead and join the others.”
Ariane Walker moved forward and was quickly followed by her sister, Tonya, and her injured brother-in-law, Robert Edwards.
“Since each of you is fairly young, you might not be able to help me with the questions that I would like answered. Therefore, I will give you a brief rundown on your family’s history. If you disagree with anything I say, please let me know.”
The three nodded, not knowing whose family he was referring to.
“Ariane, you’re the closest, so you will be the spokesperson. Two years ago your sister married Robert Edwards from Richmond, Virginia, and she is currently carrying their first child. Your parents, each of them an only child, died in a car crash. Each of your grandparents died at an early age, before you were even born. You have no cousins, aunts, or uncles. It’s just the three of you and the fetus on the way. Is that correct?”
Ariane agreed with everything. “Yes, sir.”
“Excellent,” he mumbled. “Your father’s parents were raised in a coastal town in North Carolina, but your father’s grandparents had roots that extended much deeper south.