Trash Day Tragedy
Page 13
We got to Roy's and he wasn't kidding, there was mud everywhere. I had on my old tennis shoes and jeans, so I didn't mind tromping through it. I led the way, running my eyes up and down and under the trailer. Nothing appeared to be amiss on the first side, so we rounded to the back.
"Roy!" Johnna yelled. "What is this mess? You aren't running a junk yard."
"I've been meaning to get this cleaned up," he said, running a hand over his face, sheepish.
The backyard was filled with old rubbish. There were tires and a broken mailbox, empty planters and about a dozen coiled hoses. A rusted out grill sat against the trailer alongside a wrought iron bistro table.
"I think there's your ghosts," Johnna said, pointing to a mass of woven grass and plant material that went from the grill to the table. "That's one big nest."
"What in the name of Job is living in there?" Roy asked, edging nearer. He tilted his head to glance inside and Metamora Mike popped out. Following Mike were six tiny ducklings quaking and hopping and flapping their fuzzy wings.
"You old stud," Roy said to Mike, grinning. He took out his flask and saluted the duck before taking a swig.
"Good gravy," I said. "It's a good thing for him that ducks don't pay child support. He's had to have several dozen by now."
"Another mystery solved by the Action Agency," Logan said. "Can we go now? My feet are wet."
We trudged back to the front of the trailer and said our goodbyes. I let them know I'd be in touch about our funeral plans for Dalton Stokes.
A week later, we boarded the Whitewater Valley train with Dalton Stokes's cremains in a cardboard urn being held by Roy. Since Dalton had been best known for the train robbery and it was the moment that spurred everything else that happened in his life, we decided to spread his ashes along the tracks.
Steve Longo joined us, feeling it was his familial obligation to be there when the Pharaoh's Cursed Mummy was put to his final rest.
The train whistled, giving its first warning call that it would be pulling out of the Metamora station. To my surprise, Ben climbed aboard escorting Irene. Walter and Pamela followed behind, and the four of them took a seat with the rest of us.
"I didn't expect to see you," I told Irene.
"I thought it was only right to come after all that happened." She fixed her hair and avoided looking me in the eye. Humbled indeed.
The train began to chug, but before it started down the tracks Fiona climbed aboard. We all stared, shocked.
She held her head high and sat in the seat across from me. I caught her eye and smiled.
"It was the least I could do for Estelle," she said.
I didn't know if she and Irene had spoken since the incident, but they fully ignored one another on the train as it chugged down the tracks toward Connorsville.
About halfway there, Roy stood up with the urn tucked in one arm and his flask held high in the other. "We're here today to lay to rest a man who had a raw deal in the end. He wasn't a good man, but he didn't deserve to be murdered and have his bones scattered around town a hundred years later neither. Today we right the wrongs and leave Dalton Stokes to rest in peace."
It wasn't Shakespeare, but it got the job done.
We followed Roy to the caboose and watched as he opened the door and stood out on the platform. "Any final words?" he asked, looking back at us.
"Rest in peace," Fiona said.
"Amen," Roy said, and opened the cardboard urn.
Silence fell upon us as we watched the ashes blow out from the back of the train and rain down like dust on the tracks. I was proud that we were able to give Dalton an official goodbye from this world and Metamora.
<<<<>>>>
The Series Continues with Woeful Wedding Days!
Wedding Crashers and a dead pastor? It’s another Metamora disaster.
June wedding bells are ringing! Cameron Cripps Hayman is the matron of honor and her five furry good boys are all ushers, so what could go wrong?
Five days out from the big day the new pastor is found hanging from the choir loft. It’s ruled a suicide by the police, but Cam and her Action Agency suspect foul play. Cam’s police officer husband warns her to not stir up trouble where none exists, but when the pastor’s home is ransacked, it’s clear to Cam that she was murdered.
With the whole town geared up for the big day, Cam and her team set out to tie up the case before the honeymoon is canceled. But the killer hasn’t found what he’s searching for and isn’t about to let a group of amateur sleuths scare him off—he’ll try to scare them off first.
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
Also by Jamie Blair
The Deadly Dog Days Series
Deadly Dog Days
Canal Days Calamity
Fatal Festival Days
Trash Day Tragedy
Woeful Wedding Day
Young Adult and New Adult Novels
Leap of Faith
Lost To Me
Burning Georgia
Kiss Kill Love Him Still - Series Box Set
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Jamie Blair, lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband, their two kids, a five pound Morkie, a cat that broke into their house and refused to leave, and a hand-me-down black cat that’s been passed around the family and might just be the inspiration for Spook. She won a young author's contest in third grade, but it probably shouldn't count since her mom wrote most of her entry. She promises her mom doesn't write one word of her books anymore! Visit Jamie at www.jamieblairmysteries.com.
To be the first to hear about new releases, get early cover reveals, exclusive excerpts and giveaways, sign up for Jamie's newsletter on her website, jamieblairmysteries.com.