Digging Up The Dirt

CHAPTER 22

As she continued to stroke Peanut’s head, An’gel debated whether to share her fears with Dickce. After a moment’s reflection she decided there was no need to wake her sister. Dickce would find out soon enough. One of them ought to have a few more restful moments while she could.

An’gel glanced at the clock. Nearly eleven thirty. Later than she expected. “I might as well get up and get dressed again,” she told Peanut. He seemed happy enough to remain on the bed while she changed clothes and went into the bathroom to brush her hair and check her makeup.

Peanut hopped off the bed when she opened the bedroom door and trotted across the hall to Dickce’s room. He whined and scratched at the door. Moments later the door opened, and Endora walked out. She rubbed her head against Peanut’s and meowed. An’gel watched them with a bemused smile. She had never seen a cat and a dog behave like best friends, but these two shared a strong bond.

“Did you get any rest, Sister?” Dickce asked as she stepped out of her room. “I had a good nap.”

“I did,” An’gel said, “until I was woken by a phone call.” She proceeded to tell Dickce about her conversation with Mrs. Turnipseed and her own calls to urge Kanesha to ensure the woman’s safety.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Dickce said as she and An’gel walked downstairs, preceded by their four-legged companions.

“I do, too,” An’gel said. “I hope that foolish, venal woman doesn’t come to any harm over this.” She stared down at the phone in her hand. “Surely Kanesha will call soon and let us know what’s going on.”

“She will,” Dickce said. “I don’t know about you, but I’m thirsty. Let’s go to the kitchen and get something to drink.”

An’gel agreed. Peanut and Endora had taken off for the kitchen the moment they reached the bottom of the stairs. The sisters found them getting treats from Clementine.

“You’re spoiling them rotten,” An’gel said.

Clementine laughed. She gave Peanut and Endora each another tidbit. An’gel thought it was boiled chicken.

“They’re still growing,” the housekeeper said. “They need to eat a little extra now and again.”

“As long as now and again isn’t three or four times a day,” An’gel said wryly. She accepted a glass of ice water from her sister and drank half of it. “That hit the spot.”

“What time you reckon y’all be wanting lunch?” Clementine rinsed her hands at the sink and dried them with a hand towel.

“How about one o’clock?” An’gel said.

Dickce nodded. “That sounds good. What are we having?”

“Salad, vegetable soup, and cornbread,” Clementine replied.

“That sounds perfect for a chilly day,” An’gel said. “We’ll have it in the parlor, I think.” She and Dickce refilled their glasses and left the kitchen. Peanut and Endora remained with Clementine, no doubt hopeful for more treats, An’gel thought.

In the parlor they sat at either end of the sofa. An’gel felt disinclined to talk at the moment. Her thoughts remained focused on Mrs. Turnipseed, and she wouldn’t rest easy until she heard from Kanesha. She prayed for the woman, that she would be found safe at home.

When her cell phone rang, An’gel almost dropped her glass. She set it down on the coffee table and pulled out her phone. After a glance at the screen she looked at Dickce and said, “Hadley’s calling.”

Dickce moved closer on the sofa as An’gel answered the call. She set it on speaker so her sister could hear. After an exchange of greetings, An’gel said, “How are you? Have you had any news from the hospital?”

“I’m doing okay, I guess,” Hadley said. “I managed to get a couple of hours’ sleep. I haven’t heard anything from the hospital. I was hoping you might have.”

“No, I haven’t,” An’gel said. “I gave Arliss’s sister my number and I expect she’ll call at some point to let us know how Arliss is doing.”

“I hope so,” Hadley said. “I just can’t get my head around the fact that someone deliberately drove her off the road. I never expected this kind of thing when I decided to come home again.”

“Your return does seem to have acted as a catalyst of some sort.” An’gel hoped her candor wouldn’t offend Hadley, but getting at the truth behind these attacks was more important than bruised feelings.

“Yes, I suppose it has,” Hadley replied. “Excuse me a moment, An’gel.”

An’gel heard another voice in the background. A female, she thought, perhaps Hadley’s housekeeper.

Hadley confirmed that moments later. “Sorry about that,” he said. “My housekeeper came to let me know one of the workmen has questions. I’m afraid I’ll have to go in a moment because they’re at a standstill until I respond. If you hear anything from the hospital, please let me know.”

“I will,” An’gel said, frustrated that the conversation was being cut short. She wanted to press Hadley further. “I know this is an imposition, because you’re busy there, but could Dickce and I come by this afternoon sometime? I think we really need to sit down and discuss a few things.”

Hadley didn’t answer right away, and for a moment An’gel thought he’d already hung up. Then his voice sounded in her ear. “If you’ll give me a couple of hours to deal with things here,” he said, “you’ll of course be welcome. Does that work for you?”

“It does,” An’gel said. “We’ll see you around two, then.” She ended the call and set her phone down on the coffee table.

“What are these few things that you want to talk to Hadley about?” Dickce asked.

“You remember what I said to him about his return serving as a catalyst of some sort?” An’gel waited for Dickce’s nod before she continued. “Things were quiet before Hadley returned. Suddenly, here he is, and Sarinda’s dead. Arliss is in the hospital in critical condition. Remains are found at Ashton Hall. Remains that we now know are of fairly recent origin, and not an ancient burial. They’re all connected to Hadley in some way. The question is, how?”

“That’s all fairly obvious,” Dickce said. “What is it you expect to learn from Hadley?”

“I want to know what was going on forty years ago that could have led to all this,” An’gel said. “Hadley was messing around with someone. Barbie, Lottie, Reba, Arliss, Sarinda, perhaps even all of them. Sarinda and Arliss are out of the picture though, and that leaves Barbie, Lottie, and Reba. Is one of them so determined to have Hadley she’s willing to kill to get the others out of the way?”

“You’ve left two names off your list,” Dickce said, her tone bland.

“Who are you talking about?” An’gel asked, confused.

“You and me,” Dickce replied with a mischievous smile. “As I recall, we both found Hadley sinfully attractive. For a while there he seemed to be paying a lot of attention to you, and you weren’t doing anything to discourage him.” She giggled. “I was pretty jealous, if you want to know the truth. He never flirted with me the way he did with you. The question is, how far beyond flirtation did you go?”

An’gel stared at her sister, momentarily speechless as long-suppressed memories came flooding back. She felt the heat of a flush stealing over her face, and she wanted to get up and walk out of the room. Instead she remained seated and tried to will those memories away.

“Don’t worry,” Dickce said. “I’m not going to press you for details. Your expression just now tells me enough.”

An’gel’s phone rang, and she snatched it up, thankful for the distraction. She recognized Kanesha Berry’s number.

After a quick exchange of greetings, Kanesha said, “I don’t have good news, I’m afraid. When we reached Mrs. Turnipseed’s house, we found it empty. The police department is talking to neighbors to see if any of them saw something, but at the moment we don’t have anything. There was no sign of a struggle, and her car is gone. She might have gotten scared and left on her own.”

“I hope so,” An’gel said. “But there is a possibility that she was forced to leave, I presume?”

“Yes,” Kanesha replied. “We have to consider that, and we will be looking for her. I’ll be in touch when we know more.” She ended the call.

An’gel set the phone down again and regarded her sister. She repeated what Kanesha told her.

“Presumably she had a friend or a family member she could go to,” Dickce said. “We’ll simply have to hope that is what she’s done.”

“Instead of being abducted and taken somewhere to be murdered.” An’gel shuddered. “I didn’t care for her but I certainly wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

“Surely one of the neighbors saw something,” Dickce said. “There’s nothing we can do for her at the moment except pray.” After a brief silence she continued, “Now, back to Hadley.”

An’gel tensed. She didn’t want to be subjected to an inquisition by her sister. She didn’t want to lie to Dickce, but neither did she want to tell her the complete truth. There were some memories she didn’t wish to share, even with her sister.

Dickce smiled. “Like I said, I’m not going to press you for details about what went on between you and Hadley. You can stop looking so apprehensive.”

“Thank you,” An’gel said, greatly relieved. She wouldn’t put it past Dickce, however, to bring the subject up again in the future. “Hadley is going to have to come clean, there’s no way around it. I hate to say this, but I think he knows exactly what happened to Callie and how she came to be buried in the garden at Ashton Hall.”

“I suspect you may be right,” Dickce said. “I hate to think that about Hadley, though.”

“If he’s covering up for his brother’s crime, I suppose I can understand it, at least in part,” An’gel said. “Though the greater part of me knows he shouldn’t have let his brother get away with murder.”

“No, he shouldn’t have,” Dickce said. “But what if Hamish didn’t kill Callie? He certainly couldn’t have killed Sarinda, or driven Arliss off the road. Unless you think there are two murderers, Hamish forty years ago, and someone else now.”

“That’s certainly a possibility,” An’gel said. “But what I can’t figure out, if that’s the case, is why the murder and attempted murder now? Hamish is dead, and what harm could there be, really, if it became known he murdered Callie?”

“It would tarnish the family name, certainly,” Dickce said, “but would Hadley kill for that reason?”

“I just don’t know.” An’gel frowned. “I think Hadley is the key to all this, though.”

“Even more reason for us to try to pin him down on everything he knows,” Dickce said.

An’gel heard a muffled ringing. “Is that your phone?” she asked.

Dickce reached into the pocket of her skirt and retrieved her phone. “Benjy,” she said after a glance at the screen. “Have you found anything?”

An’gel watched as Dickce’s eyes widened in what appeared to be shock. “What is it? What did he find?”