“Sure. I think I’ll leave Max here—there’s too much interesting stuff to smell at the Historical Society.”
It took only a few minutes to drive from Meg’s house to the center of Granford, which still boasted its original town green ringed with maple trees. The church—which Meg now knew was the “new” one, not the original one—anchored one end of the green, with a parish house and then the Historical Society on the slope below. A pharmacy-slash–general store occupied space across the street, and up toward one end, on the highway, loomed the ornate Victorian town hall. The relatively new restaurant, Gran’s, had moved into what had been a nineteenth-century home at the top of the hill, with a nice view of the green, as Meg knew well. There was little traffic.
Gail Selden was sitting on the Historical Society building’s steps waiting, and stood up when they pulled into the church parking lot. Knowing that there might be changes coming, Meg studied the building quickly: single story, low-pitched roof, two massive granite steps leading up to the entrance. And the majority of the town’s population had squeezed inside? Not a very large town back then.
When she saw them, Gail called out, “Hey, Seth. Hi, Meg—did you get dragged along?”
Meg smiled at her. “No, he described what you wanted to do and I had to see for myself. He said you plan to dig under the building? There’s no basement?”
“Looks like it,” Gail replied cheerfully, “and no, they never included a basement. As for the project, our board is on board, so to speak, so all we need is the go-ahead on the structural issues, which is where Seth comes in.”
“You talk to those excavation contractors I told you about?” Seth asked.
“We’ve talked to a couple, and they offered two options for the excavation process. I wanted to ask you which one makes more sense.”
“Let’s go inside,” Seth said. Gail opened the door with an old key, and they followed her through it.
“Wow,” Meg said when they’d entered the main room. “You’ve cleared out a lot of stuff since the last time I was here. The first time I saw the place, there were stuffed birds and animals all over the place. What happened to them?”
Gail grinned. “Uh, let us say they retired. The local taxidermist left something to be desired, and they were molting or shedding all over the place.”
“I can imagine,” Meg smiled back. “You’re really serious about going through with this plan?”
“We sure are! Let’s sit at the table in the kitchen exhibit—it’s open now that we’ve stowed away some of the tools and antique appliances.” Gail led the way to the table, where she had already laid out what looked like architectural drawings. She waited until they were seated before beginning.
“Seth, you can probably follow this stuff a lot better than I can, but as I understand it, the idea is to shore up the building from beneath with leveling jacks and steel beams—”
“Assuming your substrate can support them,” Seth interrupted.
“Of course,” Gail said quickly, “and we’ll check that out first—or our contractor will, I guess. And then we dig out the soil to a depth of ten feet, which gives us space to pour a slab down there and still have adequate headroom.”
“Go on,” Seth prompted. “You know where your HVAC system will go? And what provisions have you made for moisture control?”
Gail held up both hands. “Seth, I know only the big picture. You’ll have to talk to the architect and the contractor about that stuff. But they’ve both done jobs like this before. I’ve talked to several of their clients, and I haven’t heard any complaints.”
“What’s the plan for removing the soil?” Seth asked.
“We’re still debating about that. There’s good old-fashioned manual labor—a bunch of folk with shovels, which would be historically correct but a lot of work. Or we see if we can fit a baby Bobcat excavator in there, once we get it started. Or somebody mentioned using what they called a vacuum extractor—like you stick a big hose down into it, and the dirt is sucked right out and then deposited in a dump truck or even left on-site. I don’t know what you think about that, but it sounds like fun to watch.”
“Let me ask around. I have heard that it’s effective in a small, contained area, and getting rid of the dirt immediately would be a big plus. Both make sense in your case. When do you want to start?”
“This week.”
“Wow,” Seth said. “But you’re lucky it’s a small building. Most excavators could be in and out in a day, once the shoring is in place, and could fit it in between their other projects.”
“Yeah, I know it’s fast, but please, please don’t tell me to ask the board to slow down. Do you know how long it’s taken to advance the project this far? And we’d really love to be able to be open this winter. We’ve never been open in winter before.”
“Do you expect a lot of visitors?” Meg asked.
“Not swarms, but I’m hopeful we could attract a few. There are often parents visiting their kids at the colleges around here, and we’re seeing more of them in Granford since Gran’s opened. And genealogists will trek through anything to get their research done. We’ve calculated that the entry fees or memberships paid by the new researchers should offset the additional cost of heating the place in winter—which should be done anyway, to preserve the collections. Working quickly now won’t impact the cost of the project, will it, Seth? The excavators didn’t seem to think so, and as you said, for them it’s not a big job.”
“Probably not, as long as you don’t run into anything unexpected, like a rock ridge running under the building, or a spring.” Seth looked at his watch. “I’ve got a job in Easthampton, so I’d better go. Meg, you want a ride back?”
“I can take you home, Meg, if you want to hang around a little longer,” Gail volunteered eagerly.
“That sounds good,” Meg said. “You go ahead, Seth.”
“I’ll take the plans and proposals with me to look over, Gail, and I’ll try to get back to you by tomorrow. Fast enough for you?”
“That’s terrific, Seth. My board is really excited about this, and I’d hate to lose the momentum. I appreciate your help. Which reminds me: if we ask nicely, will you do the heating and plumbing stuff?”
“Sure, although I might have to bring in a couple of extra people. I’ll try to keep the costs down, though.”
“I know you’re fair, Seth. Thank you so much for making this work!”
Seth gathered up the papers from the table and as he headed for the door, Meg could hear him whistling. He was a man who truly loved his work.
Gail turned to Meg. “Hey, I haven’t had a chance to say congratulations to you guys.”
“Oh, about our engagement? Thank you. Apparently everyone in town knew we were getting married before we did.”
“You make a great couple. Seth’s a terrific guy.”
“I know—everyone keeps telling me than.” Meg smiled. “Before you ask, no, we haven’t set a date. I’ve got to get through this harvest, and he’s crazy busy with all the projects going on in town.”
“I know! It’s like a contagious disease—everybody suddenly wants something new, or at least renovated. But I think it’s time for all of us. The plans for the library look wonderful. Since they’re going to have a dedicated genealogy room, I’m going to get together with their staff and sort through the documents we each have and see what’s the best distribution of materials.”
“Great idea! What’re you planning to do with the records during construction?”
“More of the same thing we’ve always done—parcel them out around town. I thought maybe you’d like to take some of them, the ones about the Warren family and the settlement of the south end of town.”
“I’d love to, at least for a while, although I don’t know when I’ll have time to look at them. Not until December, I’d guess.”
“Don’t worry, I know where to find you. So, you want to see what else we’re planning?”
“That’s why
I’m here. Seth tells me your building is about the same age as my house. Maybe I’ll learn something useful about colonial construction. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you don’t run into anything unexpected!”
“Amen to that!” Gail replied fervently.
Available now at Amazon
Books by Sheila Connolly
Once She Knew
“The Rising of the Moon”
Reunion with Death
Relatively Dead Mysteries
Relatively Dead
Seeing the Dead
Orchard Mysteries
One Bad Apple
Rotten to the Core
Red Delicious Death
A Killer Crop
Bitter Harvest
Sour Apples
“Called Home”
Golden Malicious
Picked to Die
Museum Mysteries
Fundraising the Dead
Let’s Play Dead
Fire Engine Dead
“Dead Letters”
Monument to the Dead
Razing the Dead
County Cork Mysteries
Buried in a Bog
Scandal in Skibbereen
Writing as Sarah Atwell
Glassblowing Mysteries
Through a Glass, Deadly
Pane of Death
Snake in the Glass
All of Sheila Connolly’s books
are available now at Amazon
About the Author
After collecting too many degrees and exploring careers ranging from art historian to investment banker to professional genealogist, Sheila Connolly began writing mysteries in 2001 and is now a full-time writer.
She wrote her first mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime under the name Sarah Atwell, and the first book, Through a Glass, Deadly, was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel; Pane of Death followed, and then Snake in the Glass.
Under her own name, her Orchard Mystery Series (Berkley Prime Crime) debuted with One Bad Apple, followed by Rotten to the Core, Red Delicious Death, A Killer Crop, Bitter Harvest, Sour Apples, Golden Malicious, and Picked to Die.
Her Museum Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), set in the Philadelphia museum community, opened with Fundraising the Dead, followed by Let’s Play Dead, Fire Engine Dead, “Dead Letters,” Monument to the Dead, and Razing the Dead.
Her new series, the County Cork Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), debuted with Buried in a Bog and was followed by Scandal in Skibbereen.
She has published six ebooks with Beyond the Page: Sour Apples, Once She Knew, The Rising of the Moon, Reunion with Death, Relatively Dead, and Seeing the Dead.
Sheila is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Romance Writers of America. She is a former President of Sisters in Crime New England, and was cochair for the 2011 New England Crime Bake conference.
Contents
Cover
Seeing the Dead
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
Excerpt from Reunion with Death
Excerpt for Picked to Die
Books by Sheila Connolly
About the Author
Sheila Connolly - Relatively Dead 02 - Seeing the Dead Page 26