A Well Dressed Corpse
Page 30
Excited chatter drifted down the road to us. At the church, villagers were already assembling to work on the stage. One man squatted, fished about in the grass for a few seconds, and then removed the round, iron lid from the well opening. He leaned forward, his hands keeping him balanced, seeming to peer into the dark water below. In two or three days one of the well dressing panels would stand there, its two-by-four foot trestle keeping the huge picture postcard-vivid mosaic upright. A wooden box, probably painted green or blue, would rest on the ground in front of the panel. This box accepted monetary donations to offset supply costs. A small sign or plastic-encased sheet of paper would sit next to or be attached to the moneybox, explaining that panel in particular and the well theme in general. These items would remain on display for a week while the carnival rides, booths, tea tent and talent show went on. Not what the original pagan worshippers would have ever foreseen, true, but we still were grateful for water in our own way.
And all this activity would need a new photographer to chronicle it.
A loud glissando shook me awake and I blinked at the sudden blast of music. Two villagers, one carrying a clarinet and one practicing warm-up trills on his trombone, strolled through the church’s lych gate. Hymn practice time for the parade, I thought. Friday evening the road beside the gate would be packed: robe-resplendent church choir, town band, clergy, retiring and current ‘royal’ retinue, visitors and villagers would follow the police car escort from well to well. The churchwarden would hold up the brass processional cross, the choir members would position their hymn sheets, and the brass band’s first notes would soar into the twilight air. People would find their voices and forge another link with the generations who previously had given thanks for water. As another band member walked around the corner of the church, his tuba booming into the air, the image of the well dressing parade disintegrated before my eyes. I felt oddly alone and disappointed.
As Graham and Margo drove off with Perry, I fell apart. The work on the two cases, the fight with Adam, the emotional connection with a woman who died when I was just twelve years old, who had been about to marry her love and start a new life with him… Everything hit me at once and I leaned against a tree and cried. Mark came over, asking in his usual thoughtful way what was wrong. Again I accepted his handkerchief as I choked back the tears. I thought of Adam, of what we had come close to losing. I thought of Marian and the husband who had not taken his wedding vows as a sacred trust. I thought of Margo and Mark, of their concern and friendship. If it hadn’t been for Mark’s help, Adam and I might still be apart, might never resolve our differences. I glanced at Mark, at his calm face, and saw the strong resolve that lay within him. If Adam didn’t ask Mark to be best man, I would ask him to stand up with me.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Diary Entry, 11 February 1989
Little more than two months until I’ll be eighteen. Doesn’t seem so very old, but I feel old. No, that’s a lie. I feel young and pretty and desirable. Clayton asked me to marry him today. Formally asked me, I mean. Before, we’d just been talking about ‘what if’ and ‘when’ and what it would be like years from now if we would have taken this huge step. His proposal has a vague sense of ‘somewhere in the future.’ Like something I’ve dreamt about even before I was born, floating about somewhere in the universe and waiting to come to earth. A dream that is so very precious that I can’t say it out loud, not even to Gran or my best friend for fear it will shatter like frost in January and blow down wind to mix with the dirt and cobwebs of ordinary life. It’s not like that, though, not for all my fears of losing his love and living the ensuing years by myself. He loves me, loves me deeply. I am astounded by the degree of my love for him, too. It’s no fairy tale any more. He’s formally asked me, given me a silver locket and a curl of his hair… Gol, it’s really going to actually happen, isn’t it? We’re going to be married.
* * * *
COMING NEXT!
FALSE STEP
by Jo A. Hiestand
Ninth in the Taylor & Graham Mystery Series
Each year the residents of Burton Abbey celebrate the village’s founding in the time-honored way—with games, music, and performances by their sword dancers. But something new is added to the fancy footwork this year: in the middle of the dance a team member dies…murdered.
The CID Team from the Derbyshire Constabulary thinks they’ve caught a break in the investigation, for Detective-Sergeant Brenna Taylor was in the crowd, watching the dance. Surely she saw what happened.
The inquiry soon becomes as tightly interlocked as the five swords, or rappers, used in the dance, a series of complicated turns, jumps and clogging steps as intricate as Celtic knots. Group anger and jealousies explode during the investigation. Physical threats and implied extortion threaten to destroy the group and the dancers’ lives. But this quickly takes a back seat for the CID Team when Brenna is attacked during a late night walk. Had she seen the murder during the dance but failed to realize it?
While recuperating from her near-fatal fall, Brenna has time to consider her future and makes a life-altering decision. But it is later, in the midnight-wrapped, rain-cloaked abbey, that a terrifying event changes her plan, and she is thrown together with the one person who’s silently loved her all along.
ABOUT AUTHOR JO A. HIESTAND
A true Anglophile, Jo wanted to create a mystery series that featured British customs as the backbone of each book’s plot, while combining the information of an English police procedural and the intimacy of a cozy. The result is the Taylor & Graham mysteries, featuring a CID team of the Derbyshire Constabulary.
Jo’s insistence for accuracy—from police methods and location layout to the general ‘feel’ of the area—has driven her innumerable times to Derbyshire, England. These explorations and conferences with police friends provide the detail used for the series.
In 1999 Jo returned to Webster University to major in English with an Emphasis in Writing as a Profession. She graduated in 2001 with a BA degree and departmental honors.
She has combined her love of writing, board games and music by co-inventing P.I.R.A.T.E.S., the mystery-solving game that uses maps, graphics, song lyrics, and other clues to lead the players to the lost treasure.
Jo founded the Greater St. Louis Chapter of Sisters in Crime, serving as its first president. She is also a member of Mystery Writers of America. When not writing, she likes to listen to early and bluegrass music, play guitar, take nature photographs, read, change ring and watch her backyard wildlife.
Her three cats—Chaucer, Dickens and Tennyson—share her St. Louis home.
For more information about Jo, please visit her on the web at www.johiestand.com
REVIEWS FOR JO’S OTHER BOOKS
Siren Song
“Siren Song is a mystery to sink your teeth into. Not only was the murder investigation top notch but also the peek into the life of the investigator added another layer to the mystery. This is my first Jo A. Hiestand book but it will not be my last.”
—Delane, Coffee Time Romance & More 4-Cups Review
A Terrible Enemy
“Hiestand raises awareness of global issues, layered in the unfolding of this grisly whodunit. And the mystery continues, for once we know whodunit, we must follow through to the capture. This intriguing mystery is well worth the reader’s time.”
—Mystery Lovers Corner Review
Horns of a Dilemma
“Immaculate research, attention to detail and an elegant style are the hallmarks of Jo Hiestand’s writing. An atmospheric novel.”
—Peter Lovesey, author of the Sergeant Cribb and Peter Diamond series
“Horns [of a Dilemma] is a realistic look into the emotions and personal lives of officers. Instead of looking at police as super-heroes, it looks at them as they are: real people with feelings and emotions who struggle with their own demons and lives while daily working cases.”
—Jon McIntosh, St. Louis-area police officer
; Pearls Before Swine
“The Derbyshire Peak District, campanology…and murder. Beautaiful scenery and a love-sick detective-sergeant add to the brew in this unusual crime novel. Jo Hiestand is an exciting writer, blending evocative description with the ability to intrigue. She kept me guessing to the end.”
—Geraldine Evans, author of the Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series
“As a life-long resident of Derbyshire and a bell ringer for nearly 60 years, I felt completely at home immersed in this story. The book includes an excellent explanation of the mechanics of full-circle ringing and the principles of change ringing, complete with diagrams. But if you want to know who murdered whom, I’m not saying!”
—David J. Marshall, Director, Taylor’s Bell Foundry
On the Twelfth Night of Christmas
“Jo Hiestand has made the Derbyshire Constabulary her own! Brenna Taylor is compassionate, observant, and so believable you feel with her as well as for her. It’s a great setting and an intriguing concept.”
—Charles Todd, author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries
Sainted Murder
“I don’t usually read mysteries, but this woman’s descriptive writing was so beautiful I just had to… Intriguing characters… clues that will keep you guessing wrong. What more can you ask?”
—Connie Anderson, Armchair Interviews
More for Sainted Murder
“Atmospheric, intriguing and compelling. I wanted to savor every well-written passage, while racing toward the conclusion. A gem of a story.”
—Karen Cahill, R.J. Julia Booksellers
“A murder mystery in the classic vein set in England’s snowy Peak District. Laced with folklore and legend, and with a cast of suspicious villagers, this is a story to enjoy on a long winter’s night. Very atmospheric—the first scene was stunning!”
—Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland Island Thrillers series
Death of an Ordinary Guy
“Set in a small English village, Jo A. Hiestand’s Death of an Ordinary Guy has all the smarts and intrigue you’d expect from a good mystery. And something more: an authentic sense of wit and a wonderful, moody feel for the English countryside.”
—John Dalton, author of Heaven Lake
“A good and original story with good dialogue.”
—Anne Perry, author of the Pitt and Monk series