Lethal Lineage

by Charlotte Hinger

  “Why no, Chip. Come right on in.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Using the pretext of bringing more tapes, I dashed over to Edna’s after Chip left. She took forever to answer the door and for a moment I was ashamed at risking stressing this poor woman even more.

  But I had to talk to her before the KBI did.

  “Hello Lottie,” she said, then invited me inside. “But the house is a mess.” It wasn’t. Except for the little piles on her dining room table, the place was spotless. Considering the shape her hands were in, I could just imagine how hard she struggled to maintain her standards.

  As usual, she wore a bibbed apron over a faded housedress and her feet were shoved into old felted slippers with slits cut to accommodate her bunions.

  She seemed even thinner than a week ago. More vulnerable.

  “Your stories are wonderful, Edna. There’s so much information. It’s the kind of details historians love. In fact academics depend on the great journals ordinary persons left behind.”

  She beamed. “Don’t seem like I said anything that would mean much to anyone.”

  “Oh, but you did.” We chatted a bit more. About spring. About flowers. Then I noticed the cloud that came over her face with I mentioned her garden. She shut up. This was clearly the way she handled situations that made her uncomfortable. She avoided them. Changed the subject.

  It didn’t matter. I pressed. “Edna, I have a few more questions about the stranger in the church.” She stiffened. I proceeded. “Sometimes persons remember details after an event when they absolutely have to. I want you to relax while I ask you a few more questions.”

  “I, I can’t,” she stammered. “I just can’t. I thought you just wanted to bring more tapes. Didn’t know you came here to ask questions because you work for Sam.”

  I felt like a hawk swooping down on a helpless little bird. “The man’s skin. Was he dark? Light?”

  “He was normal. I don’t know.” Her eyelids fluttered.

  “The color of his tie? The color of his jacket? Do you remember?”

  “No.” Her skin was so thin that I could see her pulse speed up in her throat. “I can’t remember. Please. I can’t.”

  Ashamed, I patted her hands. “That’s all right, dear. I just thought there was a chance you might recall more by this time.” There was no way I would allow some fierce interrogator to bully this woman. It was out of the question. Her immediate physical reaction scared the hell out of me.

  “Have Elmira call me if you think of anything and I’ll come right over.” I rose and started toward the door.

  “I can’t sleep at night,” she announced. “Can’t sleep at all.”

  I stopped. I couldn’t just leave her this way. I turned and went back and kissed the top of her head. “Put this out of your mind Edna. Don’t give it another thought. Just work on your tapes.” Her chest fluttered with a sharp intake of breath.

  “There’s so many more things I would like to know about. Did you quilt? I would love to have your memories about quilting groups.” She nodded. “And church groups? Did you attend a ladies’ aid or missionary society? And by the way, I don’t have tapes on how you ended up in Kansas. There’s a gap.”

  She quivered, then trembled and stiffened like she’d been shot. Spittle ran down the corner of her mouth.

  I reached for the phone and dialed the hospital. “Send an ambulance to Edna Mavery’s house. Immediately. She may have had a stroke.”

  After they arrived, I called her son.

  ***

  Later, although her doctor assured me I had done nothing to bring it on and it was a passing transient ischemic attack, I knew better. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have gone there in the first place. They would keep her overnight although her symptoms disappeared in a couple of hours and she didn’t appear to blame me for ending up in the hospital.

  “I’ll wait until Stuart gets here,” I said.

  “No need,” she said. “I know you have work to do.”

  “Edna, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “Nothing you did, Lottie. Nothing you did.”

  But again, I simply knew better.

  ***

  Stuart arrived and rushed to her bedside. When I went back in, I smiled at the change in her appearance. She perked right up.

  “I’ll go on now,” I said.

  “I’ll be right back.” Stuart kissed his mother’s withered cheek. “Lottie and I need to talk.”

  She gazed at him in admiration, then squeezed his hand.

  “I ought to be shot,” he said immediately. “Not seeing her more often than I do. Leaving her to cope by herself.”

  “Stuart, you need to know that I was trying to get your mom to remember more details about the episode at St. Helena. I’m so sorry. Despite what the doctor thinks, I’m afraid I helped bring this on. I wish I hadn’t upset her.”

  He gave my shoulder a little squeeze and looked at me sadly with his kind grey-blue eyes. “Life here by herself is simply getting too hard for her. That’s what’s upsetting. But she won’t hear to moving out of her little house whenever I bring it up.”

  “You’ve done everything right,” I said. “It’s best to leave aging parents in their own home as long as they want to stay there. As long as they can. It’s the ‘can’ that’s hard to judge. And a lot of them go down swinging before they’ll give up their independence.”

  “My wife and I both work. So it will be assisted living for her, but if she were in Wichita, at least we could visit and have her over to the house. Take her places.”

  Although I still felt guilty, it was nice to know he understood I hadn’t intended to upset his mother.

  “Anyway, thanks, Lottie. I’m going over to mom’s house and drop off my things. I’ll stay there tonight. It will give me a chance to look things over. See how she’s been living. I’ll check her refrigerator and see what she’s been eating.”

  “OK. Here’s my cell phone number.” I reached in my purse for my notepad and handed Stuart the piece of paper. “If anything comes up or I can help in any way, please let me know.”

  “Will do,” he said. A nurse went into Edna’s room and I stared at her closed door, again struck with remorse.

  He followed my gaze. “I would hate to think what might have happened if you hadn’t been there. I thought she was getting along great. She was tickled plumb to death when you brought her that tape recorder.”

  “Don’t mention it. I was glad to do it. Her life in Iowa was fascinating. I loved all the details about raising chickens.”

  His brow furrowed and he looked at me with a strange expression on his face. “Iowa? Mom has never lived in Iowa. She’s spent her entire life in Kansas.”

  ***

  By the time I drove home, I had decided what to do. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  I do not have the right to expose secrets. And I know plenty about people’s lives that their children have never heard about. I know about illegitimate children, insanity in families, shameful tales, and about criminals lurking in the family tree. Their secrets are safe with me. It was Edna’s place to tell Stuart she’d had another life before she married his father and that he had a half-brother and sister.

  The only thing that was my business was learning details about the man kneeling next to her. My distress over upsetting her overwhelmed any desire to push her again. I would simply warn the KBI that she need to be handled with kid gloves and then to leave the questioning to their most skilled interrogator.

  ***

  Josie had left a note on the table that she was still explaining the muffed petition to signers. I smiled. Her Mercedes was gone and so was Tosca. Apparently she’d decided to quit trying to fit in and had risked going as her natural self.

  I headed for my chair, put my feet up on the ottoman, pulled a cotton throw over me, and feeling like a two-year-old seeking the security of a “blankie,” I snuggl
ed down with my head resting on a pillow against the broad leather arm.

  Keith’s movements woke me up. “I wanted to have supper ready,” I said. “Make like a decent wife.”

  “No need. I’m not hungry.”

  “OK.” I smiled and resnuggled. He laughed at my relief and tussled my hair. “I had a terrible day,” I said. I told him about Edna.

  “I can top that,” he said. “I took two calls from businessmen who were madder than hell. An electrician said there’s a rumor going around he uses substandard wire in his houses, and the manager of the local grain elevator says the prices he’s offering to farmers were screwed with on the local cable channel.”

  “Rotten tactics, but nothing tangible there that we can charge Deal with. For that matter, we can’t even be sure if it’s the sheriff or one of his friends.”

  “Exactly. Even if we were certain of the who, which we’re not, we can’t charge him with anything but slander. But can you imagine how long that will take? And then we’d have to round up people willing to file charges.”

  “Not likely to happen, since we blew the petition.”

  “Shadow boxing. I hate it.” With that he left the room and came back with a bottle of brew.

  We turned on the TV and watched the evening news. Josie came up the drive and in a few minutes Tosca scampered into the room and headed straight for Keith.

  “I’m not cooking,” I said.

  “I’m not either,” Keith echoed. “You’re on your own.”

  Josie laughed. “First break I’ve had all day. I won’t have to go for my run waddling like an overstuffed turkey.”

  She flopped down into a recliner and kicked off her shoes. “There are some really terrific people out here,” she said. “It’s surprising how well they handle situations that could fell an ox.”

  “Going to hang out your shingle here?”

  “N-o-o.” She drawled out the word. I teased Tosca out of Keith’s arms with a single toss of her little ball. She hit the floor running and we all laughed when it bounced against the wall and she tumbled trying to reverse her skid.

  Then with a single word on the local news we all stopped horsing around and stood like statues.

  Deal.

  The anchor on the Wichita television station stuck a microphone in Sheriff Deal’s face.

  Chapter Thirty

  “Copeland County Sheriff Irwin Deal has agreed to this interview regarding the recent mysterious death of Episcopal priest, Mary Farnsworth,” the petite anchorwoman said. She looked into the camera and assumed her best relaying-a-tragedy look.

  “Sheriff Deal, isn’t it true there are unexplained circumstances regarding this woman’s death?”

  “Just unexplained to some people,” he said. His hard black eyes looked directly at the camera. He folded his arms across his chest in a stance he clearly thought conveyed power and authority. “Nothing mysterious about it. It’s unfortunate and of course this woman dying right after a church service was very upsetting, but things like this happen.”

  The anchorwoman looked confused. “So you’re saying this was a natural death?”

  “Well, no death is natural, I guess.” He looked proud, like he’d favored the viewers with a profound insight. “The public can rest assured that my office is in charge of the entire investigation and everything went through the proper channels.” He squared his shoulders, then hooked his thumbs in his belt, his fingers dangling like a nineteenth century gunslinger hoping for a chance to draw.

  “Sir, it’s my understanding that the KBI is now involved.”

  We have a large high resolution TV with excellent graphics. The three of us exchanged looks, then looked back at the screen as the coloring drained from Deal’s face.

  “There are some aspects of this I can’t discuss,” he said sullenly.

  I grabbed Keith’s hand. “He doesn’t know. He doesn’t have a clue.”

  Deal straightened the brim of his hat and started to walk off, but she hurried after him. “Sheriff Deal, we have a few more questions.” He waved her away and hustled toward his car.

  She turned back to the camera. “In fact, the district coroner, Dr. Joel Comstock, stated to Channel Seven earlier that this has become a homicide investigation. He also appealed to the public to contact his office if they have any knowledge as to the whereabouts of Reverend Mary Farnsworth’s family.”

  The number appeared on the screen. “And now to our weatherman. What’s in store for us tomorrow, Paul?” With a cheery change of mood, she waved at a man standing in front of a map. “Well, no good news, I’m afraid, Shelia. In fact, there’s a cold front moving in and native Kansans know that can mean anything this time of year.”

  Keith walked to the TV and turned it off. “So Deal doesn’t even know the KBI took over the investigation,” he said. “Which makes me wonder exactly what he’s been up to on his own.”

  ***

  “I’m on duty today,” I announced to my husband two days later. I gave Keith a look, daring him to contradict me, which he didn’t. Besides, I out-ranked him. I breezed right out the door, knowing by now he’d come to accept the fact that I didn’t have the most dangerous job in the world, and certainly didn’t need his twenty-four hour a day protection.

  I decided to drive by St. Helena on the way into town. When I topped the hill I recognized Talesbury’s Camry. Sheriff Deal’s Crown Victoria was parked beside it. The bright yellow crime scene tape left by the KBI was gone. My blood pounded and I tried to steady my breathing. I turned into the lot, then stormed inside. The scent of Clorox wafted over the church.

  “What in the hell are you two doing here?” I yelled.

  Talesbury came out of the anteroom carrying a bucket and a sponge.

  “How did you two get in here? What the hell is going on? And how dare you interfere with a crime scene? Is that bleach?” I whirled around and faced Deal. “Is it? Are you destroying evidence?”

  Deal walked toward me, his hands hovering over his pistols.

  “I’m cleaning up my property,” Talesbury said.

  “You are trespassing, lady,” Deal took another step toward me. “Get the fuck out of here. Now.”

  “This is a crime scene. You have no right to be here.”

  “Wanna bet? It’s his property.” He waved his thumb toward Talesbury who stood stiff and silent with a miserable expression on his face.

  “Are you crazy? We’ve been down this road before. Are you going to arrest me again?”

  “Not this time.” His smile was bitter. Creepy. “I’m just going to throw you out of here.”

  He could easily manage that physically. And I certainly wasn’t going to shoot a man over a bucket of bleach. I edged toward the door. I wasn’t going to give him a chance to shoot me either.

  “Oh, by the way, Agent Dimon gave us the key yesterday after Talesbury showed him the papers proving he owns this land. That put an end to everything.”

  “You’ve been to Topeka?” I asked stupidly.

  “You betcha, bitch. Do you think I don’t know when I’ve been set up? How much did you pay that reporter?”

  His accusation was ludicrous. But Deal waggled the sole key to the anteroom before my eyes. “Dimon says hello and to tell you that this building is no longer a crime scene.”

  Furious, I eyed the lone key. I should have made copies at the beginning. But there had been no reason to make extra keys because no other woman had shown the slightest bit of interest in maintaining St. Helena.

  I walked toward the door, then stopped when he called after me.

  “Oh, and Agent Dimon was surprised to know you weren’t in charge of the investigation. He had a lot of stuff wrong, but I set him straight.”

  I walked back up the aisle and faced Talesbury. “Why in the world would this tiny little piece of land matter to you? Why would you want it?”

  “Because it’s mine. My land. I know of lost children who need a pla
ce where they will be safe. A sanctuary. They require isolation and a chance to heal. Child soldiers, damaged souls.”

  “That war was over twenty years ago. Those children are grown now.”

  “There is always a war in Africa. With the same patterns. Innocent victims. Children with souls hollowed out. Mine is a sparrow ministry, Miss Albright.” His eyes shone. “I save the one, the few.”

  Here? In Western Kansas? “Who told you about this land?”

  Deal stepped in front of him. “I saved it. You’re not the only one who can do research. Then I heard about your land grab. Thought you could fire up a bunch of do-gooders to steal it, didn’t you? My uncle was plumb grateful when I wrote him.”

  “You’re a priest. You’ve taken vows.” I looked above Deal’s eyes at Talesbury. “You presumed to confirm my niece and hold a service in a church that wasn’t consecrated.”

  “I didn’t know that at the time.” His eyes clouded. “I was misled.”

  “Get off his property, bitch. Now.” Deal drew his gun.

  I spun around and headed for my car. Why would Irwin suddenly start doing research on this piece of property? Who told Talesbury the church had been consecrated? Why did Deal care about any of this?

  I was beginning to agree with Keith. The place had been nothing but trouble from the very beginning and I wished we had just set fire to it.

  ***

  I drove on into town. Emerald rows of winter wheat lined both sides of the road, and clumps of Queen Anne’s lace were greening up although it would be summer before the lovely white flower tops dotted the country side.

  I walked into the office and called Sam at once and told him about the encounter with Deal.

  “They scrubbed down the entire anteroom. With bleach.”

  “Well, I’ll be a son-of-a-bitch.”

  “Deal claims the KBI released the church as a crime scene.”

  “Call and double-check. That’s probably true. No reason not to if they’ve checked the place for poison.”