Digging Up the Dirt

by Miranda James

  “Did anyone ever ask Hamish Partridge what happened to his wife?” Barbie asked. “I don’t remember seeing him around much, once word got out that both Hadley and Callie were gone.”

  “I talked to him a couple of weeks after everyone realized Hadley was gone, and by that time, we realized no one had seen Callie around during that period,” Reba said. “Poor man. I asked about Callie, and all he would say was that she was gone. No other explanation, and I didn’t feel that I could question him further.” She shrugged. “I took it to mean she’d run away with Hadley, and that was the end of it.”

  “Except now we know that maybe it wasn’t,” Barbie said.

  Dickce waggled her fingers in Barbie’s direction.

  “Yes, that’s presuming a lot,” Barbie said in response. “But surely if Ashton Hall were built on a Native American site, they would have found evidence of it when they were building it.”

  “But that was nearly two hundred years ago,” An’gel said. “At the time, if they had discovered anything, they might not have thought too much about it. They didn’t have a lot of respect for Native American culture in the early nineteenth century.”

  “That’s true,” Dickce said.

  Clementine brought in the fresh pot of coffee then, along with extra cups. She accepted their thanks and withdrew.

  An’gel poured coffee for Reba and Martin first. Martin had been so quiet that Dickce had forgotten he was in the room. She noticed now that he had his phone out, and his gaze seemed focused on it, even as he accepted his coffee.

  An’gel offered refills to Barbie and Lottie, but they declined. An’gel set down the carafe and leaned back in her chair.

  “How long is it going to take before they decide who was buried there?” Barbie asked.

  “Several weeks at least, if not two or three months,” Dickce said.

  “Can’t they match up dental records?” Lottie asked. “I’ve heard of that, and surely it can’t be that hard.”

  “If they have access to the records,” Barbie said, “it probably isn’t all that hard. But that was forty years ago. Who knows what could have happened to any dental records Callie might have had?”

  “I hope it does turn out to be a Native American burial from centuries ago,” Reba said. “That would mean poor Callie might still be alive somewhere.”

  “There ought to be one way to tell,” Lottie said. “Grave goods.”

  Dickce stared blankly at Lottie for a moment. The she realized Lottie was right. Native Americans, from what she knew, did bury their dead with objects of different kinds.

  “Did you see any grave goods?” Barbie asked.

  An’gel answered. “No, all we saw were a few bones.”

  Dickce had not mentioned the ring Endora found, and An’gel apparently wasn’t going to mention it either. Had the ring, however, been the grave goods buried with Callie? She shivered at the thought.

  “They might have been looted by the Partridge that built Ashton Hall. So all they could have found was the bones.”

  Dickce glanced toward the front window in surprise. Martin evidently was paying attention to the conversation, though she had assumed he was focused solely on his phone. After those two sentences, though, he turned back to the device.

  “That’s an excellent point, darling,” Reba called out. “Thank you.” Martin did not appear to hear his mother, Dickce noted. Perhaps he’s used to tuning her out. They had an odd relationship, or so it seemed to Dickce. Martin acted more like a henpecked husband than he did a son, but he appeared content to let his mother run his life.

  “We can speculate all we want among ourselves about those remains,” An’gel said. “But I think we should all be careful around Hadley and not bring them up unless he does.”

  “Yes, it must be terribly upsetting to him,” Lottie said. “To think that your own brother might have killed his wife and buried her in the garden.”

  “We’ll have to rally around him and give him all the support he needs.” Barbie assumed a doleful expression. “Poor Hadley.”

  Dickce could picture it now. A steady stream of casseroles and various delicacies making their way to Ashton Hall, all borne there by women eager to offer solace to the master of the house. She permitted herself a brief smile. Hadley might actually enjoy the attention, unless he had changed dramatically in the past forty years.

  “How did they find the bones in the first place?”

  Once again Martin Dalrymple startled them all by speaking from his seat at the desk.

  “An excellent question, darling,” Reba said. “Yes, just how did they find the remains? You never told us that part.”

  “And how you came to be there when it happened,” Barbie added.

  “I told you that already,” Dickce said. “Hadley asked us over to consult on the garden.”

  “Hadley had pictures of the gardens from when his mother was still living, and he wanted us—well, me, actually—to help him identify plants. We were discussing roses, I believe, when Benjy came in with Peanut to tell us there was something Hadley needed to see right away.” An’gel glanced at Dickce.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Dickce said. “We went out with Benjy to the side of the house where an old tree had come down. Hadley said the tree was dying, and the storm uprooted it. There, in the disturbed ground near it, was where we saw the remains.”

  “They weren’t actually under the tree?” Barbie asked.

  “No, I don’t believe so. They were in the ground near the trunk, however,” An’gel replied.

  “Did Native Americans place burials beside trees? Do any of you know?” Barbie asked. “I think I’ll go to the library and look that up.” She stood. “Come on, Lottie, we don’t want to outstay our welcome.”

  “Goodness, no,” Lottie said as she popped up from the sofa. “Thank you for the coffee and those delicious cookies, An’gel, Dickce.”

  Nice words considering you showed up at the door without letting us know you were coming. Dickce smiled as she and An’gel rose to see their guests out. She saw An’gel look pointedly at Reba.

  “Come along, Martin,” Reba said. “We’d better be going, too. I’m sure An’gel and Dickce have things to do.” She waited until Martin approached her and held out a hand to assist her before she rose from the sofa. “I’m sure we’ll all be talking more about this in the days to come.”

  “No doubt,” Dickce murmured as she trailed behind the group headed for the front door, preceded by An’gel.

  The moment the door closed behind the visitors, An’gel turned to Dickce. “Thank the Lord they’re gone. I couldn’t believe they all showed up on our doorstep like that without even calling first.”

  “Curiosity is more powerful than good manners, I reckon.” Dickce shrugged. “They probably realized that if they had called first, we would have told them we were too busy.”

  “We certainly would have,” An’gel said. “Now that they’re gone, I am moving ahead with my plan. I need to talk to Kanesha.”

  Dickce was struck by a sudden thought. “I wonder why Arliss didn’t show up. Since the others did, I’m surprised she didn’t pop in, too.”

  “Perhaps she hasn’t heard about the discovery at Ashton Hall,” An’gel said. “Nor the ghost at Sarinda’s place. Interesting that Barbie and Lottie didn’t bring that up after Reba arrived.”

  “Reba didn’t exactly give them much chance,” Dickce said. “By then they were probably more interested in hearing about the remains and speculating on whose they are.”

  “True,” An’gel said. “I wonder if the police have checked Sarinda’s house yet. Perhaps Kanesha will know. I’m going to call her right now.” She walked back into the parlor to use the phone.

  Dickce stood where she was, lost in thought. An idea had occurred to her, and she wondered for a moment why neither she nor An’gel had though
t of it before. While An’gel talked to Kanesha, Dickce went to look for Benjy. He was just the person to carry out her idea.

  CHAPTER 16

  An’gel debated whether to call Kanesha’s cell phone. She preferred not to unless there was an emergency, and she couldn’t justify wanting to poke her nose into the investigation as an emergency.

  Instead she punched in the number for the sheriff’s department. “Good morning, this is An’gel Ducote. Could I speak to Chief Deputy Berry if she’s available?” She was put on hold for a moment, and then the receptionist came back on the line to inform her that the chief deputy was not available at the moment. An’gel declined to leave a message and ended the call.

  Now what to do? She could get her own cell phone and send Kanesha a text message, although she rarely used that feature and felt awkward when she did. After debating with herself for a moment longer, she decided she might as well send a text. Where was her cell phone?

  After several minutes of an increasingly annoying search, An’gel found the phone on the dressing table in her bedroom. She picked it up and hunted for the icon for messaging, and after a couple of false starts, she got to the right place and managed to send Kanesha a brief request to give her a call when she could.

  She took the phone downstairs with her, hoping to hear from the deputy soon. In the meantime, she wanted to discuss strategy with Dickce. An’gel didn’t find her sister in the parlor or in any of the nearby rooms. She headed to the kitchen where she found Clementine busy with preparations for lunch.

  “Smells wonderful,” An’gel said as she caught a whiff from the pot of meat sauce the housekeeper was stirring on the stove. “Pasta for lunch, then.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Clementine smiled. “By special request. Benjy said he sure would love some of my spaghetti and meat sauce for lunch today.”

  “You’re spoiling that boy,” An’gel said in a mock-complaining tone. “He’s got you and my sister wrapped around his fingers.”

  Clementine knew her employer well enough to know that An’gel wasn’t really bothered by the choice of meal. “There’s just something about that boy makes you want to mother him. I’m glad you and Miss Dickce took him in. Livens up the place, that’s for sure.”

  “He definitely needs mothering,” An’gel said. “When I think of that horror of a mother he had, well, it’s a wonder he turned out to be such a smart, sensible young man.”

  “He’s going to be a credit to you and Miss Dickce,” Clementine said.

  “Speaking of my sister,” An’gel said as she remembered why she came into the kitchen, “do you know where she is?”

  “With Benjy,” Clementine said. “Came in here and said she wanted him to look up something on his computer.”

  “I think I’d better go find out what those two are up to,” An’gel said. “The last time they were plotting behind my back we ended up with a dog and a cat.” She headed for the back door, cell phone in hand.

  “Lunch is going to be ready in about an hour,” Clementine called after her.

  “I’ll tell them,” An’gel said before she stepped outside.

  Though the sun shone brightly, the air was cool. An’gel hurried across the area between the back of the house and the garage. Benjy lived in an apartment over the garage and appeared to be happy with it. An’gel had thought he would be fine in the house with her and her sister, but Dickce insisted that a young man Benjy’s age would prefer to have his own separate space.

  She and Dickce had the apartment renovated, however, before Benjy moved in. After a six-week project, the space had a more modern look, with every thought given to comfort and the needs of a young man. An’gel opened the door to the stairs and stepped inside.

  When she arrived at the top, An’gel paused on the small landing to catch her breath. She glanced around the space and noted with approval that Benjy continued to keep things neat and tidy. Benjy and Dickce were seated at the table in the small kitchen, and they were staring at the screen of Benjy’s laptop.

  Peanut came loping out of the bedroom at the far end, and he made a beeline for An’gel. He greeted her with several gentle woofs, and she patted him on the head and told him what a good boy he was. His tail thumped against the floor. An’gel wondered where Endora was. She spotted her in Dickce’s lap.

  “Your timing is perfect, Sister,” Dickce said. “I was about to call you so you could see what Benjy found. Come look.”

  Intrigued, An’gel walked over to the table and stood behind Benjy and Dickce. She bent down between the two to peer more closely at the screen and the small print she saw there. “What am I looking at?”

  “An address in Athena for Mrs. Thomasina Turnipseed,” Benjy said. “Miss Dickce asked me to help her find this lady, and we did.”

  Benjy started to explain how he had found the information she and Dickce wanted, but An’gel forestalled him. When Benjy got to talking about the Internet, he quickly lost her most of the time. Benjy took no offense when An’gel stopped him, she was thankful to see. He simply grinned at her and winked.

  “The short version is that I found her through property tax records,” Benjy said.

  “We checked the phone book first,” Dickce said, “but she isn’t listed.”

  “How recent is the property tax record?” An’gel said.

  “It’s for the most recent tax year,” Benjy replied. “So the information isn’t quite a year old.”

  “Once you’ve got permission from Kanesha,” Dickce said, “we can drive over to her house and see if she’ll talk to us.”

  “I haven’t been able to talk to Kanesha yet,” An’gel said. “I sent her a text message asking her to call me when she can.”

  Her cell phone rang, startling her so much that she almost dropped it. She steadied it and glanced at the screen. “Not Kanesha,” she said. “Barbie Gross. What on earth can she want now?”

  An’gel greeted her caller and waited for Barbie to explain.

  “I’m calling a special meeting of the garden club board for this afternoon,” Barbie said. “We need to put our heads together about some kind of memorial service for Sarinda. She didn’t have any family, and we’re the next closest thing.”

  “That’s a kind thought,” An’gel said, “but we don’t even know when Sarinda’s body will be released. Plus she may have left instructions with her lawyer.”

  “I’m not talking about her funeral,” Barbie said, her tone sharp. “What I think we should do is a memorial service for her, and we don’t need her body for that. And we don’t need instructions from her lawyer, either.”

  “I see. What time is this meeting?” An’gel asked.

  “Three o’clock at my house,” Barbie said. “Can I count on you and Dickce to be there?”

  “Yes, we’ll be there.” She ended the call and set her phone on the table.

  “Where are we going?” Dickce asked. “And when?”

  After An’gel explained, Dickce frowned but otherwise offered no objection to the meeting.

  “Do you want to make a call on Mrs. Turnipseed before we go to the meeting?” Dickce asked.

  “If I hear back from Kanesha in time and she has no objection,” An’gel replied. “I’m eager to talk to Mrs. Turnipseed.”

  “I hope she’ll talk to you,” Benjy said. “From what Hadley said, though, she could be difficult.”

  “We’ll have to try.” An’gel rose and picked up her phone. “Lunch should be ready soon. I’ll see you at the table.”

  Peanut accompanied her down the stairs and would have followed her to the house, but Benjy called him back. He hesitated a moment, then trotted up the stairs. An’gel smiled as she closed the door behind her. Benjy had done a good job training the dog. An’gel wasn’t sure whether he had tried to train Endora. Somehow she didn’t think Endora would go along with any such attempts.

  H
er phone rang, and this time, An’gel was happy to see, the caller was Kanesha Berry. “Hello,” she said. “Thanks for returning my call.”

  “My pleasure, Miss An’gel,” Kanesha said. “What can I do for you?” She listened without interruption while An’gel explained her plan.

  “What do you think?” An’gel asked once she finished.

  Kanesha didn’t respond for a moment. “Normally, I would ask you to leave this to me, but I am familiar with Mrs. Turnipseed. You’re right about her attitudes. I could send Bates, I suppose, but he can be pretty gruff with witnesses. I think under the circumstances it might be okay for you and Miss Dickce to try talking to her first.”

  “Thank you,” An’gel said. “We will do our best not to make you regret your confidence in us.”

  Kanesha chuckled, a rare sound. “I’m sure you will. Y’all take care now.”

  An’gel thanked her and wished her a good day before she ended the call. She entered the house with her mind focused on the best approach to take with Mrs. Turnipseed when they found her.

  When they left the house at twelve forty, An’gel declared that she would drive. In the car, she waited for Dickce to fasten her seat belt, and then she backed out of the garage.

  When they reached the end of the driveway and An’gel prepared to turn onto the highway, Dickce spoke. “I looked up the address on a city map, and it’s not far from the square. Would you mind stopping at the bookstore for a minute so I can run in and pick up a book they’re holding for me?”

  An’gel sighed. “I suppose not.” She preferred not to stop, but Dickce would get annoyed with her if they didn’t.

  The bookstore occupied a space down the street from the point at which they entered the square. Traffic was heavy, and An’gel had to drive slowly.