A Bell in the Garden

by Sheri Richey

  “Or maybe it’s come up in the family before,” Cora said pointing at Conrad. “I wonder how their mother’s death was handled. Maybe Miriam fought to have her cremated, too.”

  “Could be. I can ask Wanda if she knows anything about it when I call her on the Stanton Bell issue.”

  “And Daniel,” Cora paused and frowned. “He didn’t say a single word. I mean he put his arm around Mavis, but he didn’t react at all.”

  “Not at all,” Conrad agreed. He had noticed that as well. “Don’t read too much into it, though,” Conrad said as he turned the car into Cora’s driveway. “People are not rational or normal when they get news like this and everybody reacts differently. Some people are very stoic and seem cold, but they fall apart later. It’s a process and everybody is different.”

  “I thought Mavis reacted pretty much like I expected,” Cora said. “She was shocked, sad, indignant, then questioning. It seemed like a normal progression of feelings to me.”

  “Yes, but I’ve had people take a swing at me when I had to tell them they lost a loved one. Sometimes they lash out, scream or crumple to the ground. It’s all over the place. You can’t predict much from a situation like that.”

  “Everyone has to find their own coping skills,” Cora said as she released her seatbelt.

  “Some go right back to work, and others can’t get out of bed,” Conrad added. “Neither one is any indication of their involvement. It’s just who they are.”

  Cora opened the car door and put one foot on the ground before pulling her purse from the floorboard. “I can tell you who Daniel is,” Cora said looking over her shoulder. “He’s a dark, disturbed young man. He always has been.”

  Cora pushed herself out of the car with a groan. She felt exhausted from the internal tension of the day. “Call me if you hear anything.”

  “I will,” Conrad said as Cora shut the door.

  CHAPTER 20

  Conrad shuffled slowly into the police department’s side door. He really didn’t feel like writing reports but had too much on his mind to go home. Just as he was about to secretly make another of Cora’s lists, Georgia appeared at his door.

  “I didn’t think you were coming back in today.”

  “I wasn’t but I have a few things that shouldn’t really wait. I don’t plan to be here long. Everything okay?”

  “Miriam Landry called and wants you to call her back.”

  Conrad was too tired to hold in the dismay he felt and groaned as Georgia giggled.

  “Good news is, I told her you wouldn’t be back in until Monday, so she’s not expecting a call today.”

  “That does help,” Conrad said chuckling. “Thank you.”

  “Anytime, Chief.”

  “Can you pull my door closed for me?”

  “Sure,” Georgia said reaching in to grab the door knob. “See you Monday.”

  Conrad pulled his notebook from his desk and began to copy his notes from Mavis’ interview at Bryan’s, adding all the detail he could recall. He would type it up formally on Monday and send it to Alice, but his notes were sparse, and he didn’t want to forget the small things. He had decided Daniel and Leanne needed to be interviewed based on the relationship issues Mavis mentioned, but today was not the day for it. He should probably wait until the funeral is held if that is what Mavis was planning.

  Next, he made a list of things he had promised Cora he would do Monday, including issues he wanted to talk with Wanda about. She had seemed fairly detached about Howard’s disappearance when he had spoken to her earlier. Not uncaring, but definitely disconnected to her family’s life here in Spicetown. She seemed sincere in her interest to help and Conrad felt confident she would not feel affronted by his questions.

  Carmen Maddox was still unchecked on his list, too. He was not eager to talk to her and had hoped to avoid it if possible. Now that they were looking at a crime, it was going to be necessary. Andrew Gentry had been located by Officer Tabor and Conrad thought he would call him before reaching out to Carmen. The more he knew before talking to Carmen, the better off he thought he would be.

  Dixie Martin’s mother and Cora’s neighbor might have something useful to share too but seeing Jack Summers cower to Leanne today had planted a seed in his mind. Jack would do anything Leanne told him to, but to what length would he keep that secret?

  After drafting some interview questions for each person on his list, he researched the mine closure on the Internet and jotted down some phone numbers to call Monday. Shutting down his computer, he sneaked out the side door without any goodbyes and hoped the city had a peaceful Saturday night.

  §

  “Well, that’s just great,” Cora muttered to herself when she opened her front door to grab the Sunday paper. The front-page headline read “Bones Identified as Local Man”. Snatching up the paper, she took it back to the kitchen to get coffee. She hadn’t even thought about the newspaper announcing all of this. Her mind had been whirling all night on whether one of her beloved Spicetown citizens was a murderer and if so, which one. For a man no one seemed to hate, there were a number of possibilities.

  “Marmalade,” Cora said stooping down to put food in her bowl. “What is the world coming to?” Putting the food back in the pantry, Cora jumped when the doorbell sounded. Looking down at her tattered housecoat, she shrugged and decided the visitor deserved no better at this hour in the morning.

  “Good morning,” Cora said when she opened the door to her nervous neighbor, Sandy Nash.

  “So sorry to bother you, Mayor, but I saw you had picked up your paper. Can I come in?”

  “Certainly,” Cora said opening the door wider and forcing a pleasant smile. “I haven’t had a chance to read the paper yet, Sandy. Is there something in it that troubles you?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, but yes. They identified those bones.”

  “Ah, yes,” Cora said calmly. “Would you like some coffee?”

  “No, thank you,” Sandy said standing awkwardly in the kitchen waiting for Cora to pour some for herself.

  “Have a seat,” Cora said waving her to the kitchen table. “Now, let me see what it says,” Cora said opening up the newspaper with a snap.

  “It says they know the bones belong to Howard Bell. He’s the guy I told you my friend, Dixie, was dating. Do you think they’re sure? I mean, where’s Dixie if he’s dead?”

  Cora tried to read through Sandy’s babble but could only scan it enough to see it implied wrongdoing. She was hoping they would stick to the facts, but it must have been too tempting to ignore speculation.

  “Well, I can tell you that yes, they are sure it is Howard, but I don’t know what happened to your friend.”

  “What if she’s buried somewhere up there too?”

  “They removed a large portion of the area and used ground penetrating radar to see if there was anything else there. They didn’t find anything. I’m sorry about your friend, but I don’t think she’s buried out there.”

  Sandy just looked down at the edge of the table. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t believe someone can just vanish and there’s nothing that can be done.”

  “Well, has her mother hired an investigator or had anyone do a search for her? It’s always possible she left town and didn’t want to be found.”

  “I still feel like she would have let me know.”

  “She might not have wanted to put you in the middle, put you in a bad spot because you knew, especially thinking her mom would contact you.”

  “My husband, Marty, told me not to get my hopes up,” Sandy said sadly. “It’s just something I can’t shake. I still think about her after all these years.”

  “Did you know when she saw Howard last? I mean were you aware of when they met or were together?”

  “Sometimes,” Sandy said raising her head. “I mean she’d talk about him the next day. She’d say they had met somewhere the night before.”

  “When did you see Dixie last?”

  “A week before Chr
istmas,” Sandy said. “She was planning to spend Christmas Eve with him, and she talked about the gift she’d bought. She showed it to me. It was a watch.”

  “So, you saw her on the 18th?”

  “I think so. I’ve got it written down at home and I’d have to check to be sure.”

  “I believe Howard disappeared before that, so…”

  “But whoever killed him, could have killed Dixie too, and just put her somewhere else.”

  “There are a lot of possibilities,” Cora said as she stood to start making herself some breakfast. “I’ll tell the Chief about your concerns though.”

  “Thank you,” Sandy said standing. “I’m sorry to bother you again. I just thought the headlines meant maybe there was a chance she…”

  “I know, dear,” Cora said patting her shoulder as she led her to the door.

  CHAPTER 21

  “Connie, what are you doing right now?” Cora yelled through the phone as soon as Conrad answered.

  “I’m watching the game,” Conrad said. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need you. Can you leave right now?” Cora was squirming in the seat of her car. “Talk faster. This is urgent.”

  “Yes. Yeah, let me get my shoes on. Where are you?” Conrad jumped up and hit the speaker button to free his hands so he could hurriedly tie his shoes. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m on the north road about 50 yards south of the nursery. I need you to go to Mavis’ house right now.”

  “Why are you sitting south of the nursery? Are you in your car?”

  “I’ll explain while you’re driving. Don’t stop to talk. Keep moving.”

  “Cora, this is crazy. Are you in some kind of danger? I might have a car in the area.”

  “Hurry up,” Cora felt her phone vibrate that another call was coming in. “I’ll call you back.”

  Conrad flew out the front door with his keys in his hands and set up the Bluetooth in the car to call back Cora as soon as he started backing out of his driveway.

  “Mavis, are you all right?” Cora said when she switched over to her second call.

  “Are you coming, Cora? She’s having a fit.” Cora could hear screaming in the background telling Mavis to hang up the phone.

  “Yes, I’m on my way and the Chief’s coming, too.”

  “Thank you,” Mavis whispered before disconnecting.

  Looking down at her phone that would not be still, she pushed the button to answer Conrad’s return call.

  “Cora,” he shouted. “What’s going on?”

  “Are you on your way?” Cora got out of her car and slammed the door.

  “Yes, I’m going down Fennel Street now. Are you all right? What’s happened?”

  “Miriam is on a rage. She’s down at Mavis’ house screaming at her. Mavis needs help but she wouldn’t call you.”

  “Are you at Mavis’ house now?”

  “No, I’m still just south of Bryan’s, but I’m walking toward the nursery now. Don’t worry about me. Mavis just called again, and she needs you.”

  “I’m turning on the road now. Why are you walking?”

  “I have a flat tire. Mavis is panicked and I knew she couldn’t wait for me to walk up that hill.”

  “I’ll stop and pick you up.” Conrad rounded the bend in the road and could see her car on the side of the road.

  “No, just go to her. I’ll get Bryan to help me. I don’t want Mavis to wait any longer.”

  “Okay, I’ll come back for you once I get Miriam out of there,” Conrad said as he passed Cora on the road and waved.

  Pulling his car up next to Miriam’s, he got out and walked quickly to the door. He could hear Miriam shouting even through the closed door. Opening the screen door, he knocked loudly on the door and was relieved when the shouting stopped.

  “Chief,” Mavis said meekly. “How nice to see you.”

  “Hi, Mavis. Can I come in? I just came by to check on you,” Conrad said as Mavis pulled the door open wider. “Oh, hello Miriam. I didn’t expect you to be here. How nice,” Conrad said through gritted teeth.

  “I don’t want to be here either,” Miriam said lashing out at them both. “But somebody has to talk some sense into this woman.”

  “I can’t imagine what you are talking about, Miriam,” Conrad said. Mavis looked demurely at the Chief, clearly relieved to have someone on her side.

  “You shouldn’t be wasting your time visiting anyone. You should be finding out what happened to my brother. Somebody needs to be held accountable and she had to have something to do with it.” Miriam’s arm was fully extended to point directly at Mavis.

  “So, you think Mavis killed her own husband, do you? And why would she do that?”

  “Because he was cheating on her,” Miriam shouted. “Everybody in town knew it. He was humiliating her. She’d rather have the insurance money than be a laughingstock. She did something to him and you aren’t doing anything about it.”

  “You don’t get insurance money for a man that disappears,” Conrad said calmly. “If that’s what she wanted, she wouldn’t have waited almost twenty years for someone to find him.”

  “I’m sure she thought the local police might look for him and then she could claim it when he was found. She didn’t realize nobody did anything at all. They didn’t even investigate.”

  “Actually, I read the report you filed. You didn’t give any indication you thought your brother had come to any harm or that anyone else was involved in his disappearance. You suggested he had mental problems and might have wandered off. I found that very suspicious since there is no medical evidence to support any of those allegations. In fact, there aren’t even idle town rumors to that effect, so it seems rather odd you are now accusing Mavis of wrongdoing. You know, falsifying a police report--”

  “Don’t you preach at me, Conrad Harris. I did it because she wouldn’t, and somebody had to report it. Howard lived here his whole life and then one day he just disappears. Somebody had to do something, so I took that responsibility into my own hands. I hadn’t even talked to Howard in years, so I told that deputy maybe it happened because he was touched in the head. I didn’t know where he was.”

  Mavis walked away and sat quietly on the couch as Conrad took her place in front of Miriam. “Miriam, exactly why are you here?”

  “We have things that have to be worked out, family things. It’s no concern of yours.”

  “I don’t think that’s entirely true,” Conrad said looking at Mavis. “I think Mavis would like me to be involved, so please, tell me what your concerns are. Is it something to do with Howard’s funeral?”

  “No,” Miriam said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “The coroner already told me I didn’t have any say in that and she doesn’t care what I want.”

  “Then what are the matters that need to be discussed?”

  “I’m not talking to you,” Miriam said grabbing at her purse she had tossed into an arm chair.

  “Well, we don’t have to talk right now,” Conrad said slowly, trying to delay Miriam’s exit. “But with an open investigation and possibly an inquest, you may have to talk to me, eventually.”

  “I don’t have to talk to you, Conrad,” Miriam said in a huff as she reached for the doorknob.

  “You can always speak with the Attorney General’s office or the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation if you’d prefer. BCI has an open case on your brother’s death now as well.”

  “I’ll talk to the Sheriff about this,” Miriam bristled.

  “I don’t think your cousin can help you with these matters.” Miriam scowled and grabbed to pull the door open. Struggling to get the latch to release, Conrad thought sure he saw steam come from her ears.

  Only when the door slammed shut did Mavis’ shoulders relax.

  “I’m so sorry, Chief. I didn’t want to drag you out here on a Sunday. I talked to Cora--”

  “Yes, she told me. She’s down at Bryan’s house now. She had a flat tire and couldn’t get to you, so s
he called me.”

  “I’m really sorry but I’ve never been able to deal with Miriam when she’s angry.”

  “Few can,” Conrad chuckled. “Frankly, I think this all worked out for the best. Cora would have just been yelling back at her and she could have future consequences from that. It’s best that it was me. I don’t have to work with Miriam like Cora does.”

  “She is so unruly, I swear,” Mavis said shaking her head. “I’ve never been able to work out anything with her. She always screamed at Howard, too. He just couldn’t take her anymore either and that’s why we quit going to dinner at his mom’s on Sunday. He started just stopping in through the week so he could check on his mom without seeing Miriam. She’s a hard lady.”

  “Hard headed,” Conrad agreed. “Well, let me get going. Cora’s car needs to get fixed and I’ll check on you tomorrow. Okay?”

  “Okay, Chief. Thank you again and thank Cora for me, too.”

  “I will.”

  When Conrad pulled up to Cora’s car, he saw Bryan already had the wheel off and Bryan told him he didn’t need any help, so he drove up to the nursery to find her. The sun was setting, and the air was cooler. He saw Cora standing near the parking lot entrance with her arms wrapped around her.

  “Hop in and I’ll take you down to the car. Bryan’s almost done.”

  “Is Mavis okay? I saw Miriam fly by in a rage. That woman is going to die young with all that anger inside her.”

  “Well, she sure doesn’t keep anything in,” Conrad said chuckling. “At least she turned on me when I got there and gave Mavis a break. I can’t promise she won’t try it again though. There’s something she wants to discuss with Mavis, something very important to her and she won’t tell me what it is.”

  “Do you think it’s about the burial?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Conrad said. “She said it was a family matter, but unless Howard had something she wanted… I don’t know. I didn’t think Howard had any assets or anything. I don’t know what it could be. I’m going to call on Mavis again tomorrow when she’s had a chance to breathe and ask her. Maybe she’ll tell me.”