Dust to Dust dffi-7

by Beverly Connor

  “Andie said you and David were here,” said Neva. “I need to tell you some odd stuff about the crime scene I was just on.”

  “And the other thing,” said Mike.

  “Yes. I’m not sure, but I think I’m being followed,” Neva said.

  Chapter 35

  “Followed?” said Diane.“Neva, someone is following you?” Diane gripped the arms of her chair and leaned forward.

  “I think so,” said Neva. “I may be wrong.” Neva frowned in a way that put a crease between her eyes at the bridge of her nose, a small expression of insecurity that she made when she was undecided or afraid to commit to her own analysis.

  “But you may be right,” said Mike, urging her to talk.

  “I noticed it yesterday. I feel really silly. It’s just that I kept noticing the same vehicle, a black SUV with tinted windows. I know, that sounds so clichéd. I’ve tried to get behind it and check out the license plate, but I haven’t been able to. It looks so easy in the movies.” Neva brushed a strand of brown hair out of her eyes and smiled weakly.

  “When were you first aware of it?” asked Diane.

  “I think it was after I visited the historical society yesterday morning. That’s down the street from the courthouse. After I looked up some records in the courthouse, I walked down to talk to them,” said Neva. “Nice place. It’s run by volunteers. I’d never been in it in all the years I’ve lived in Rosewood.”

  The two policemen David had enlisted for security had been standing by their car, smoking cigarettes. They threw the butts down and approached the porch.

  “Hi,” one said. “We were just wondering if you still need us tonight-since things kind of went in another direction.” He laughed nervously.

  “Now that we’ve found human bones in the well,” said Diane, “we need someone to keep the area secure. Can you stay?”

  The men looked relieved. Diane guessed they were counting on the extra income.

  “Oh yeah, that’s fine,” said the other policeman. “We’re just going to check the back road.” He moved his hand in a circle, indicating the route. “The whole trip won’t take five minutes. We want to make sure nobody’s parked back there like before.” They went back to the patrol car and drove off down the driveway.

  Diane looked at Neva. “Did you discover anything at the historical society?”

  “Not really, but this is where it gets… well, it’s one of those coincidences that makes David nervous,” said Neva.

  David tended to be paranoid and was very proud of it. He said it kept him prepared. His paranoia had been proven justified on too many occasions, which made him a trifle arrogant, but did keep them all primed for any eventuality.

  “The crime scene I worked after lunch today-Mary Phyllis Lassiter. She was an older woman, about seventy, who was strangled in her home sometime last night. The creepy coincidence is… she was a volunteer at the historical society and she was there yesterday when I was there, though I didn’t speak to her directly.”

  “How do you speak with someone indirectly?” asked David.

  Neva made a face at him. “The woman I spoke with asked Ms. Lassiter whether she knew of an artist who might have lived years ago in Pigeon Ridge. That’s this community. Apparently, Ms. Lassiter lived here as a girl,” said Neva, “before she moved to Hall County.”

  “Did she know the artist?” asked Diane.

  “She said no. She was knitting and didn’t even look up. Which was kind of strange, because until then, she watched and talked like a magpie to everyone who came in,” said Neva.

  “You were followed and she was murdered?” said Diane.

  “Yes,” said Neva.

  “You’re right,” said David. “That’s the kind of coincidence that makes my scalp tingle.”

  “You didn’t work the crime scene alone, did you?” said Diane, frowning.

  “No. I know your rules. Izzy was working it with me. One thing caving taught me is to follow protocol,” she said.

  “Yes!” shouted Mike. He pulled Neva to him and kissed the side of her head.

  Diane laughed. “It does that.”

  Diane’s phone rang as she was about to ask Neva another question. She took the phone from her pocket and looked at the display. It was Izzy.

  “Hello, Izzy. What’s up?” she said.

  “A little interesting turn of events,” he said.

  “Are you in the crime lab?” asked Diane.

  “Yeh, I’m working on the evidence Neva and I collected today. The wife has one of her Mothers Against Drugs meetings. They meet here in the museum and I like to stay late and work when she’s here.”

  “What’s the interesting turn of events?” asked Diane. She didn’t particularly like the word interesting used in that context. It usually meant something unpleasant.

  “The shoe print we collected from the Lassiter murder today was made by the same hiking boot from the Payden attack. Think we got some punks targeting little old ladies?” he said.

  “That is a surprise,” Diane said. “Have you processed any of the other evidence?”

  “Yes, but the print is the only really valuable thing I’ve found. It was a fairly clean crime scene. Like someone slipped in and out without touching much.”

  “I need to call Hanks,” said Diane. “I’m glad you called me with this. Oh, before you hang up, Neva might be being followed by someone in a black SUV with tinted windows.” She stopped and looked over to Neva. “Did you get the make?”

  “Cadillac Escalade,” said Neva.

  Diane told Izzy the make. “Have you noticed anyone following you?” she asked.

  “No, but I’ll be on the lookout. Escalade. That’s kind of expensive, isn’t it?” he said. “I’ll watch for a tail. Did she get the license number?”

  “No,” said Diane.

  “Like I said, I’ll keep a lookout.”

  After she hung up with Izzy, Diane told the others about the boot print.

  “You’re kidding,” said Neva. “The same person as here?”

  “What do you think?” said David.

  “Izzy was wondering if it might be someone targeting elderly ladies, but I don’t think he knows about the historical society connection. Marcella went to the historical society too, when she was looking into who owned the house. She was asking about the artist who lived here, as well. That seems to be a key-”

  Diane’s phone rang again. This time it was from an unknown wireless caller. She answered.

  “Yes?”

  “Is this Dr. Fallon? This is Delbert Griffin, the paramedic who keeps showing up.” He gave a little laugh. “I asked my granny about that woman’s name, and she doesn’t remember. She said she thought it was something like a bird, but that didn’t sound right to her either. She said it’s been more than sixty years. She and her friends just called her the ‘rich witch.’ Knowing my granny, she might have had another word in there too, that rhymed. Granny was somewhat of a rascal when she was young.”

  “Did she say how old the woman was?” asked Diane.

  “I asked her if the ‘witch’ was real old. She said at the time she thought she was, but she was a teenager, and everyone over thirty looked old. Now that she looks back, she thinks she wasn’t all that old. Granny’s in her seventies, so I don’t know what ‘not all that old’ means to her. I suppose anybody younger than she is.”

  “You and your grandmother have been very helpful,” said Diane. “Thank you for calling. If the name comes to her, please let me know.”

  “I will. You know, when somebody is asked to come up with those old memories, they don’t come to the surface right away. It might be that she’ll wake up in the morning and it’ll come to her,” he said.

  “I hope so. Is Hector doing okay?” asked Diane.

  “He’s in pretty good shape, really. He and his brother are a hoot,” he said.

  Diane agreed, thanked him again, and hung up.

  “Marcella told us the signature on the painting
s was a drawing of a bird,” said Diane, after she told the others what the call was about. “It looks like the artist we are looking for had somewhat of a reputation at one time.” Diane stopped and stared at Neva.

  “What?” asked Neva.

  “What you said about the Lassiter woman talking like a magpie. A magpie is a bird.”

  The three of them looked at Diane with a great deal of skepticism.

  “That’s a stretch,” said David. “It doesn’t even make sense.”

  “No. The word just reminded me of something. Initials. The first three letters of magpie are m-a-g. What if she used the bird drawing as a kind of symbolic representation of her initials?”

  “Who?” said David. “What are you talking about?”

  “The writer of the note on the bottom of the desk drawer,” said Neva. “MAG. Remember? So, she was the artist?”

  “Maybe,” said Diane. “It’s just a thought.”

  “A good one,” said Neva.

  David still looked skeptical, but relented that it was a possibility.

  “I need to give Hanks a call. He needs to know about the connection between the crimes so he can coordinate with Hall County.”

  Diane started to key in his number when headlights came up the drive.

  “That must be the policemen coming back from their rounds,” she said.

  “No,” said David, standing up. “Everybody in the house! Now!”

  Chapter 36

  They didn’t linger. All four of them jumped to their feet and headed for the door. David was the closest and reached the door first. He opened it and pulled everyone in, turned out the lights, and locked the door.

  “Everybody stay away from the front windows,” he said in an urgent half whisper.

  “Okay,” Diane whispered back from the darkness of the dining room. “Why are we here?”

  “Those headlights aren’t from the police car,” said David. “They’re set too high.”

  He stood near the doorway trying to see out the window. The lights went dark and they heard a door slam. Diane’s heart beat faster. Neva, next to Diane, had her hand under her coat, ready to pull out her off-duty weapon. Diane could see Mike looking around the room, probably searching for a possible weapon. Knowing him, he probably didn’t really believe anything was wrong, but he wouldn’t be taking any chances.

  “You mean like an SUV,” said Neva.

  “Yes,” said David, “just like an SUV.”

  Diane had to admire David for noticing. She hadn’t. Well, hell. She was about to assess what weapons they could lay their hands on, when a loud banging on the front door interrupted her thoughts. All of them stood stiff, waiting.

  “What the hell are you guys doing in there?”

  Detective Hanks.

  David turned on the light and found all of them staring at him. He winced and rubbed his hand over his balding head.

  “Well, I’m not right all the time.” He shrugged. “I never said I was. Sometimes paranoia is just that. Besides, had it been the bad guys, we would be safe.”

  Mike visibly relaxed his tense body. Neva shook her head and opened the door. Detective Hanks was standing on the porch looking puzzled. He wasn’t wearing his neck brace, but his arm was still immobilized in a sling and he favored his wounded leg.

  “What was that all about?” he said. “I drive up and all of you make a mad dash for the house and turn off the lights?”

  Diane smiled at him. “You have a new haircut,” she said, and invited him into the house.

  He stroked his short hair. “When your arm’s in a sling and you’re limping from being shot in the leg, you can’t afford to have your hair standing up on end or blowing in the wind like a wild man,” he said. “Now, what the heck…? You guys looked like you were running for your lives. Who were you expecting?” He had the twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

  Diane explained about the possibility of Neva being followed.

  “My SUV’s not black,” he said.

  “It’s pitch-dark out. You can’t make out colors in the dark,” said Diane. “And your headlights were blinding.”

  “But that’s still quite an overreaction,” he said.

  “Not considering we were shot at and a man was killed last time we were here,” said Diane. “You aren’t going to let us live this down, are you?”

  “Not on your life. You should have seen you guys.” He grinned. “And who are you? Just so I can get the story right,” he asked Mike.

  Diane introduced Hanks to her geology curator. They shook hands and Mike grinned at him. Mike often said it was entertaining to be with Diane and her team. He looked very entertained at the moment.

  “And what are you doing out here?” asked Diane.

  “I was at the hospital with some pictures for Marcella to look at. I hoped she might recognize some of Dildy’s day laborer friends as people who might have worked on her house. She didn’t. As I was leaving I saw the paramedics who brought me to the hospital the other day. They told me they had another run here tonight. Said something about some bones being found? Is that right?” he asked.

  “We have several things to tell you,” said Diane, “so you’d better sit down.”

  “Does Neva being followed have anything to do with this?” he asked.

  From the set of his jaw, Diane could see he had gone from being amused by them to being suspicious again that Diane was leaving him out of the loop. He was probably wondering why she hadn’t called him.

  “We believe it might,” said Diane. “The case has taken an unusual turn. And there could be someone after her.”

  They started to sit down when a pair of headlights suddenly shined in the window, blinding them for a moment.

  “Well, shit,” said Hanks. He unholstered his gun and went to the door and waited.

  Diane and the others stood back with their arms folded. They heard two car doors slam. In a minute or so, they heard footfalls on the porch and a knock on the door.

  “Everything okay in there?”

  Hanks opened the door to the two policemen. Diane rose to greet them.

  “We’re fine,” she said.

  “Hi, Detective Hanks. Saw your vehicle. Guess you heard about all the excitement,” said one of the policemen.

  Hanks nodded.

  The policeman looked at Diane. “All clear around the road. Nothing going on. We’ll be out here making our rounds around the property,” he said.

  Diane could see the two of them were trying very hard to be conscientious. Probably sitting in their car and making an occasional circuit would be fine.

  “Thanks,” she said. “We’ll be here for a little while.”

  He touched his hand to his hat and the two of them left.

  Diane closed the door and grinned at Hanks. “It could happen to anyone. Want to renegotiate the thing about not letting us live that little episode down?”

  Hanks smiled back. “I’m sure I wasn’t as energetic as all of you were in jumping to conclusions.”

  “Perhaps not, but we sometimes exaggerate.” She smiled sweetly at him.

  He laughed. “That sounds like blackmail.”

  Thankfully, Hanks did seem to have a sense of humor and it seemed to have mellowed him again.

  “I was just about to call you to tell you about the latest developments, when you showed up,” Diane said. “Have a seat and I’ll go through all of it with you.”

  “Should we be using this woman’s house?” he asked.

  “Marcella’s daughter gave my team permission to camp out in her living room while we carry out our experiments,” said Diane.

  “Experiments?” he asked, laughing. “You’re conducting experiments? That sounds ominous.”

  He chose a large leather chair to sit in. He stretched out his bad leg and shifted until he found a comfortable position. Diane was sure it was a relief not to have to wear the neck brace, but trying to go through a daily routine while your arm was in a sling and your leg hurt had to be
difficult.

  Neva sat leaning against Mike on one end of the sofa. David sat cross-legged in his sock feet on the other end. Diane chose the other stuffed chair, settled in comfortably, and started telling about the mask Marcella had been piecing together.

  “When I saw her in the hospital, she told me to look at the inside of the pieces. I did and saw they had been molded over a human face.”

  “You mean like a death mask?” he said.

  “Could have been, but we didn’t know that. It could have been a life mask. But Marcella also told me to look at the sherds,” Diane said.

  “You keep using that word, sherds. You talking about broken pieces of pottery?” he asked.

  “Yes, exactly,” said Diane.

  “Okay,” he said. “Just making sure I understand. Go ahead.”

  Diane started to speak when he interrupted again. “Should he be here?” Hanks pointed to Mike. “No offense, buddy, but you’re a civilian.”

  “Mike does consulting with the crime lab because of his knowledge of rocks and soils,” said Diane. “He helped rescue Hector from the well. And the experiment we are working on involves soil samples.”

  Mike didn’t even blink. Diane didn’t tell Hanks that she hadn’t actually talked to Mike about the experiment. But she didn’t want to send Mike to wait outside. And it was true, after all, he did know about soils.

  “Okay, go on,” said Hanks.

  “Marcella told me to look at sherds she had assembled from the back part of the mask. I did, and found what looks like a cast of a sharp-force-trauma head wound,” she said.

  “Now that’s interesting,” said Hanks. “So, the artist, or whoever, put the clay on over a head wound?”

  “It looks that way. Some of the etching suggests the head was also shaved before making the mask,” said Diane.

  “This is getting weird,” he said.

  “We haven’t even gotten to weird yet,” said Diane. “Marcella, Dr. Payden, is an expert in pottery. She’s creating a reference collection of pottery sherds and thin sections for the museum. A thin section is a very thin slice of, in this case, a pottery sherd, mounted on a microscope slide to be examined under polarized light so that its various constituents can be identified. Before she came here, her work involved prehistoric pottery from Texas that was tempered with animal bones. She was surprised to find that the pottery she found buried here in her yard also had been tempered with bone.”