by Nan Sampson
Ellie stifled a laugh. "That sounds more like Lacey." She took the cup from Kate, as Kate reached for a second white china utility mug. "Muriel, do you take cream or sugar?"
Muriel had seated herself at one of the little ice cream parlor type tables. "Both, actually. I like my coffee very Boston."
Given the way she’d gone through those pastries yesterday morning that wasn’t a surprise. Setting the coffee cup on the table, Ellie went back for a handful of sugar packets and four or five of the little individual creamers. "Here you go."
"Thanks." She dumped all the sugar packets into the cup, along with three of the creamers. For such a tiny cup of coffee, it would have been oversweet even for Ellie, who liked a lot of sweetener in her coffee as well.
Not seeing a spoon readily available, Muriel stirred the mess with her thick, short, index finger, then took a sip. "Oh, that's very good. Would this be coffee from your shop?"
Ellie glanced back at Kate, who nodded. "Yes, as it happens. Kate must have brought it from home."
"So thoughtful of you."
Yes, Kate was certainly that. Somehow, Ellie promised herself, she'd find a way to let Kate know just how special she was. An idea was forming in the back of her head. A way to rid herself of the unwanted inheritance and at the same time, benefiting Kate's children, who were the closest thing Ellie was ever going to have to nieces and nephews. "So I understand you were having dinner with Lacey that night."
Muriel nodded. "Yes. A vendor took us out. Lacey even recommended the restaurant."
"You hadn't been there before?"
"Well, actually, yes. A few times. But I think it was the first time Rob had been there."
"Rob... Oh, Mr. Lawson."
"Yes."
"The police said that you were probably the last person to see Lacey alive. They said you saw her to her cab."
Muriel stared into her coffee for a long moment. "I... well, I didn't actually see her to her cab. I just waved goodbye from the door. She was standing on the sidewalk, buttoning her coat, I think."
"Was her cab waiting for her?"
Muriel's head snapped up. "I... you know I don't know. There may have been cabs at the curb. There so often are in the city – I really don't remember."
"The maitre d' didn't call one for her?"
"I... I suppose he must have. Why? Do you think that's important?"
Ellie shrugged. "It might be. Perhaps the cab driver saw something."
"Oh, do you think?" Muriel finished her coffee in a gulp. "I find them to be fairly useless really."
"Mmm." Ellie gave her a non-committal response. "Would you like some more?"
"What? Oh, no - I can’t drink coffee late in the day or I’d never get to sleep.”
How sad, Ellie thought, suppressing an uncharitable grin.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll just go spend a quiet moment with Lacey before the service starts.” Her expression was sour and Ellie thought she suddenly looked like she couldn’t wait to get away from them. Or maybe their questions.
Kate nodded in understanding. “Of course. Ellie says you’ll be speaking.”
Muriel flushed a little, ducked her head. “I put together a few words. It’s not much, but I was so honored to be able to do it. Thank you both so much."
Ellie tried to smile back. She had a feeling it looked more like a grimace. “No, thank you.”
“Well. Until tonight then.”
Ellie watched her escape from the kitchen and flee towards the visitation room. "Was it something I said?"
Kate was looking puzzled. "I don't know. Maybe she just didn't like being reminded of that night."
"Or maybe she knows something and is too afraid to say anything."
Kate gave her a look. "Ellie. Do you see conspiracies everywhere?"
"Hey, it's possible. She was certainly acting weird."
"Maybe that's how she always acts. We don't know her, we don't know how she behaves under stress, or grief. You may have just brought up memories about that night she'd just as soon forget."
Ellie stared after the odd woman thoughtfully. "Maybe. Or maybe I've just rattled someone's cage."
Kate shook her head. "Well, stop rattling and get back to greeting. We've got about fifteen more minutes before the service starts. Once that’s over, we can go check out the mysterious treasure chest you and Charlie dug up."
That brought a grin to Ellie's face. "Sir, yes, sir." She gave Kate a salute and followed Muriel Theissen's footprints in the thick pile carpet back to the visitation room, planning to stay as far away from the casket as she possibly could until she could get out of this place for good.
Chapter 39
The Funeral Director was nothing if not prompt. Twenty minutes later, he’d corralled all the guests who were planning on staying and herded them into their chairs. Kate had just settled into a seat and Ellie slipped into next to Charlie, but on the far side of Dan, murmuring a "sorry" to Kate as she did so.
Kate reached across Charlie to pat her arm by way of acceptance, then put a finger to her lips. Ellie squirmed uncomfortably in her chair and tried to focus on something other than the casket. She glanced behind her as others took their seats.
Most of the six rows of chairs were empty. Few had come to see Lacey off to the next world and she was struck by how sad it was that Lacey’s life had been so devoid of connections. The folks who had come, no doubt out of some sense of duty or obligation, were probably wishing they’d made a different choice, especially considering the snow. Lawson, she noted, was seated a few rows back, his sharp, navy blue suit and bright red tie making him look more like he was ready to get out the vote than attend a funeral. Muriel was next to him, and though an empty chair sat between them, they had their heads bent together. She couldn’t hear their conversation, but their tones were terse. Muriel looked like she’d just swallowed something bitter, her lips set in a thin line, her hands clenched in her lap. Lawson seemed to be doing most of the talking, gesturing angrily now and again. In that moment, she’d have given a lot to know what they were saying, but even as she watched them, Lawson looked up, caught her staring and straightened abruptly.
The rest of the rows of chairs were sparsely populated. Ellie recognized a couple of others from the office, including Wendy from the front desk. Cary, she thought, would have been there. Ellie still didn’t buy that his death had been accidental, but try as she might, she couldn’t think of a reason anyone would have killed him. Unless... had he somehow been part of whatever “big thing” Lacey had discovered? Lawson had fired him - had that been an attempt at silencing him and when Cary proved not to be so malleable, Lawson had killed him?
At the front of the room, the funeral director cleared his throat and Ellie returned her attention to the casket, which was now closed. The tall, solemn fellow clasped his hands in front of him and scanned the room in preparation.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and thank you all for coming. As Lacey did not belong to a traditional religious organization, and there was no one of her faith available here in town on such short notice, Mrs. McCallum, a dear friend of Lacey's, has asked me to say a few words. Then, we hope that each of you who knew Lacey well will come up and speak for a moment or two and share a remembrance with us, a special moment you may have shared with Lacey, or just something about her that will make you remember her with a smile."
There were maybe half a dozen people in the room besides the McCallum contingent and she could feel them shifting uneasily at the prospect. Great. That meant that Kate would expect her to get up there to. And public speaking was not on Ellie's list of favorite things to do.
The funeral director was smiling benignly. "I didn't know Lacey, but Ms. McCallum knew her quite well. When we first met to discuss today's service, I asked Kate what type of service she thought Lacey would have wanted. So often, we find, that the service that is provided for the deceased has more to do with the wishes and needs of the living than what the deceased themselves might
have preferred.
Based on the warm and loving answers Ms. McCallum provided, I think we've been able to meet both party’s needs. Lacey was a woman of strong beliefs, and yet simple ones. She believed that our bodies are merely shells for our souls, which are placed here on earth in order that we may learn the lessons of this lifetime. So in keeping with her wishes, after our brief service, Lacey's earthly body will be cremated, her soul released, so that she may journey further, taking with her the lessons and wisdom she gleaned in this lifetime.
She also believed that when a soul has learned what it is meant to learn in this life, it is time to move on. So while her life has been unexpectedly cut short, Ms. McCallum reminds us that Lacey would, in the greater perspective, not wish you to mourn a life unfulfilled, because those very lessons that she was sent here to learn she has indeed mastered."
The man paused for a moment, and looked to Kate, who was nodding with tears in her eyes.
"So now, let us take a moment, and remember Lacey, and wish her a swift and easy journey into whatever awaits her soul next."
The funeral director bowed his head, and Ellie watched as others did the same. She knew she was supposed to be thinking thoughts about Lacey, but there was a time for that and it was called a Crossing Ceremony. And this wasn't it. Still, the funeral director had done a pretty good job, for someone who probably didn't know word one about Wicca.
Slowly everyone's head came up and the funeral director smiled. "Thank you. And now, we'd like to share some memories about Lacey. Kate, would you like to start?"
Kate wiped her cheeks with a tissue and stood. Dan squeezed her hand, and she took a few steps forward and faced the mostly empty room.
Ellie tuned out. She'd done it at her parent's funeral too. She just couldn't listen – mostly out of a need to keep her feelings tightly bottled. She'd done a good deal of crying in the car, but that had been in private.
So she looked around at the floral arrangements, at the silver fixtures on the casket, at the brocade drapes on the windows. And occasionally a word or two from Kate would get through, and she'd be reminded of whatever memory Kate was sharing and she'd smile.
After a few minutes, Kate wound down, and then Ellie found herself on the receiving end of one of Kate's earnest looks.
She pressed her lips together and gave a tiny shake of her head, but Kate just kept right on looking at her.
Damn. She stood, and as she passed Kate, she stuck her tongue out at her, making sure that only Kate could see. Kate just smiled back at her.
She cleared her throat, trying not to let all the eyes now focused on her rattle her. "I know all of you are probably uncomfortable with this. I know I always am. I'm sure you're thinking, I can't possibly say anything about Lacey. I didn't know her that well. Well, I knew Lacey for seventeen years – since our freshman year of high school, and I could probably say the same thing. She was a hard person to get close to." She glanced behind her at the casket. There was no vestige of the real Lacey inside it. Just a shell. She wondered if Lacey were here, hovering in a corner, listening in. It would be like her, although she hadn’t actually felt her presence since yesterday morning in the office.
"Yet there are things about Lacey that I will remember all my life. Times we shared together. Mannerisms she had, that when I see them in someone else, make me think of her. So even though my spiritual beliefs are the same as Lacey's, and I know she's just moving on to the next stage in her soul's journey, it is these memories that for me, will give Lacey Silberson life, long after her ashes are cold." She felt tears welling up and brushed them away. "So even if you don't feel comfortable getting up here and speaking, try to take a moment or two in the next few days and find that one thing about Lacey, whether good or bad, that will always keep her alive in your mind." She cleared her throat again. She wondered how many of the handful of people out there would be remembering good things. Not very many, was her bet. That was the saddest part of all. "I'm sure I'm only echoing Kate, but I'd also like to thank you all for coming. Especially on such a snowy night." She gave a silly little wave, said thank you again and fled back to her seat.
There was a general shifting of people in their seats and another minute or so of quiet before the funeral director stood again to look out at the rest of the scattering of people. "Is there anyone else who'd like to say anything?"
Ellie glanced behind her looking for Muriel, but the row where Lawson and Muriel had been sitting was now empty. How could she have bailed? Even if she hadn’t really liked Lacey - which Ellie thought was pretty clear, despite her protestations to the contrary, Muriel seemed like the kind of woman who liked her moment in the spotlight. That she had disappeared surprised her.
She exchanged a look with Kate, who was giving her a quizzical look. Ellie shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea where the woman had gone.
Naturally, and predictably, no one else budged. An uncomfortable silence lengthened. The funeral director waited another moment or two, and when it was clear nothing more was going to happen, he clasped his hands again and said, "Very well. Once again, thank you all for coming this evening. Please make sure you sign the guest book on your way out. And do be careful driving home.”
Ellie almost giggled. Way to not look like you’re drumming up business, Mr. Funeral Man. The irony of getting into a fatal accident on the way home from a funeral somehow appealed to her.
The crowd of mourners - or whatever they were slowly started to trickle out the door. Ellie collapsed back in her chair, while Kate saw the visitors out and did her nice-nice thing. Once the last of the folks had left, she came back in, both her and Ellie’s coats over her arm.
"Ellie, that was beautiful. Thank you so much."
She shook her head. "I don't even have any idea what I said. Great Bridget, I hate these things."
"Well, it was definitely spoken from the heart." Kate laid a hand on her arm. "I know this must bring up unpleasant memories for you. I'm sorry."
She pushed that down into the mental box it belonged in. She did not want to go there tonight.
“Where did Muriel go? I thought she was going to speak.”
Ellie shrugged again. “I don’t know. But she and Lawson looked like they were having some kind of argument earlier. Maybe the two of them left together to finish their fight.”
Kate brushed the topic aside, gave her a quick hug. “Whatever. Dan is bringing the car up now. Are you ready to go to dinner?”
Ellie glanced behind her at the casket. “Um... what about...”
“They’ll cremate her shortly, and we’ll be able to pick up the remains tomorrow.”
The thought that there would be remains to collect hadn’t occurred to her. Her own parents’ ashes had been interred in the family plot with her father’s parents. “Ugh. What are you going to do with them?”
“Me? I thought... I just assumed you’d want them.”
Ellie made a face. “Oh no. I have no desire to have Lacey Silberson sitting on my mantle for the rest of my life.”
“Well, I suppose we could scatter them somewhere.” Kate paused for a moment thinking, then shook her head. “But that doesn’t need to be decided tonight. If it bothers you so much, why don’t I keep the urn until we make a decision. Okay?”
Ellie smiled gratefully. “Thanks. And not just for that, but for everything. You really are the best friend ever.”
“Thanks. Now let’s go. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”
Chapter 40
McCallum family tradition was such that after a funeral, the family would congregate at a local restaurant chain, known throughout the Chicago area for its Italian Beef sandwiches and hot dogs. Fortunately, they also made a mean tomato and mozzarella sandwich. Ellie indulged herself with that plus a hefty serving of French fried mushrooms, which, fortunately this time, she did not have to share with Charlie.
She was itching to open the safety deposit box, but didn't want to spoil the family tradition, especially sinc
e Dan was just as much her host as Kate was, and he was the one footing the bill for not only the dinner but Lacey's rather pricey final arrangements. As they sat there, enjoying their meal, Ellie leaned over to Kate and whispered in her ear.
"When it's my turn for this, I want a cardboard box, okay? And no visitation. It's just creepy."
Kate just smiled and shook her head. "People want to come and say goodbye, Ellie. It's part of the healing process."
"Then have a Crossing Ceremony for me. But none of this, okay?"
"Not even a dinner here?"
"Well, this part is okay. But not that whole funeral home deal. Got it?"
Kate nodded. "Got it."
The mood was somber as they ate and Ellie had a hard time not racing through the meal. She’d wanted to bring the box in as soon as they got there, but Kate forestalled her. Finally, though, it looked as though everyone was finished. As they were cleaning up the table, Ellie caught Charlie's gaze. He raised an eyebrow and mouthed the word, 'here', to which she nodded.
Kate caught the exchange and put a hand on Dan' arm as he moved to get up. "Honey, can we wait just a minute. Ellie and Charlie found something this morning related to the case that we want to look at."
Dan's eyes darted to his brother's face. "What do you mean, found something?"
"I'll explain in a minute. Ellie, give me your keys."
She tossed them to him and he dashed out to the parking lot, which left Dan looking at Ellie.
"What's going on? I thought you all had agreed to leave this in the hands of the police."
"And we did. It's just that when I was helping Kate clean out Lacey's condo, I found a... a note to me, telling me she had squirreled away some documents in a safe deposit box. And I found the key. So this morning Charlie and I went to get the box."
"You mean the contents of the box."
"Well, no, actually it's the entire box. It was..." There really was no way to get round it. He'd see the dirt on the box when Charlie brought it in. "It was buried in the ground."