Closet Full Of Bones
Page 25
“Until you could.”
“One day,” she agreed. “Yes. One day, I decided I could. I had to. It couldn’t stay in Frankie’s basement forever. What if the boys stumbled across it?”
The team was upon them then, and Dean stepped aside to speak quietly to the homicide detectives. Gillian let her gaze creep back to the rose, her rose, where her bones lay hidden. She picked out the tiny yellowed bone showing through the dried leaves and icy earth. It would be the last time she saw Mike Deacon’s remains until the trial.
Dean Jagger escorted her back from the woods, through Pleasant Pines cemetery, past the retrieval crew at the cliff. Their vehicles had chewed up the lawn, and for some bizarre reason, that troubled Gillian more than the prospect that she’d be serving time in prison. When they ducked the yellow police tape and got to Jagger’s vehicle, he clicked the key fob and opened the door for her. She hesitated.
“He said he’d stick by me,” she told him. “Bruce, I mean. I told him what I’m telling you. He said he’d be here with me, regardless.” She searched Jagger’s face for condemnation but found none. “He probably shouldn’t.”
“We don’t decide who we fall in love with,” Dean said. “We only decide what to do about it when it happens. Sounds like he’s decided.”
“I’ve no right to be starting a relationship with anyone,” she said.
The constable didn’t argue for or against that.
“I’m a mess,” she continued. “My whole life is in ruins. I’ve demonstrated I can’t be trusted. What is he thinking?”
That made Dean smirk, and he offered, “Some guys like to sleep with one eye open.”
“You’re a very good listener, officer,” she told him, smiling reluctantly. “If I had confided in you sooner, maybe I could have…”
“No sense in doing that,” Dean said, and nodded for her to get in the car.
“You’re right,” she said, taking one last look at Pleasant Pines. “It’s all over now.”
**
Gillian ducked into the car and Constable Jagger shut the door behind her. He circled the car, glancing once more at the team working at the cliff behind the bench. Someone had backed their van into the fountain, and someone else from the Medical Examiner’s office was yelling at the driver. So far, no media. That would change when word hit the street. A sleepy little town like Derby Harbor wasn’t home to murder every day, and certainly not a veritable slaughter like this one. As if summoned by his thoughts, a van sporting the local TV station logo started down the cemetery road, prompting Dean to hurry into the car and leave the bones behind.
**
Aaron Fletcher was eventually arrested and charged with the murder of Colin Keller; he served three years of a life sentence before he died of a brain aneurysm in prison.
Barb McIntyre recovered from antifreeze poisoning. She refused to attend her sister’s funeral and maintains contact with Gillian Hearth by mail.
Bruce Wertheimer quit his landscaping job and went to work for Paul Langerbeins doing legwork, something they both make grim jokes about.
Paul Langerbeins and his wife, Julia, are seeing a marriage councilor to work past their grief regarding the loss of their son, Simon; Paul bought his first cane, though he often forgets to use it.
Henry Farmer was killed before he made it to trial; speculations about horse racing debts and a bookie are unsubstantiated at this time.
Frankie Farmer’s sons, Matthew and Kirk, and her dog, Doogie, all went to live with Henry’s parents in Quebec. Word has it they are doing very well, though the boys miss their mother every day.
Gillian Hearth is currently serving time for obstruction of justice and committing indignities to a dead body.
Many Derby Harbor residents who heard the stories regarding Mrs. Blymhill’s eccentricities claim the old house at Higgins Point is cursed.
Hearth House would lie empty for the next five years.
About the Author
A.J. Aalto is the author of Closet Full Of Bones and the paranormal comedy series, the Marnie Baranuik Files. When not writing, she can be found singing old Monty Python songs in the shower, eavesdropping on perfect strangers, stalking her eye doctor, or failing at one of her many fruitless hobbies.
A.J. cannot say no to a Snickers bar, and has been known to swallow her gum.