Digging Up The Dirt

CHAPTER 32

An’gel turned to see a tall, striking woman in her sixties advancing into the room. White hair, cut short and styled attractively, framed a face with flawless café-au-lait skin. She was dressed comfortably in black slacks and a white blouse.

Hadley rose quickly and went to her side. “Why didn’t you stay upstairs, honey?” He appeared distressed.

The woman kissed his cheek. She ignored his question. She looked straight at An’gel and Dickce. “I’m Coriander Simpson.”

“My wife,” Hadley said.

Coriander took Hadley’s chair, and he stood, looking ill at ease, beside it. She looked up at him fondly. “Relax, love, it’s all going to be just fine.”

He touched her shoulder briefly, and An’gel could see that he adored her.

“We’re delighted to know that you’re alive,” An’gel said. “And the heartiest congratulations to you and Hadley.”

“Thank you,” Coriander said. “I know this must come as quite a shock to you. Not only my being alive, but also being married to Hadley.”

“In a way,” Dickce said. “An’gel had already figured out that it was you Hadley was probably in love with forty years ago.”

Coriander nodded. “He was, though he didn’t want to admit it for a while. He wasn’t so good at committing to one woman back in those days.” She laughed and looked up at him. “Fortunately for me, he got over it.”

“I visited with your mother,” Dickce said, her tone cool. “Either she’s a prize-winning actress, or she really believes you died forty years ago.”

Coriander closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, tears began to flow. “Mama doesn’t know I’m still alive. I wasn’t even sure if she was either. She’ll soon be ninety-eight. Tell me, how is she?”

“She looks well,” Dickce said. “She still grieves for you.”

An’gel couldn’t blame her sister for being blunt with Coriander. Mrs. Simpson had obviously made a deep impression on Dickce, and even though she hadn’t met her, she could understand some of the pain Mrs. Simpson felt.

“Perhaps you should go see her,” Dickce added. “Before it’s too late.”

Hadley pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to his wife, who was now crying softly. She mopped at her tears and nodded. “I know it was a terrible thing to do to Mama,” she said. “But at the time it seemed best to make a complete break. We didn’t think we’d ever come back here, you see.”

“It was my idea,” Hadley said. “I had to talk her into it, and I’ve regretted it often. We never really expected to come back to Athena, and we thought we might as well protect them from the backlash they could face because of an interracial marriage.” He glanced at his wife. “I know Hamish would have reacted badly.”

“My daddy would have, too, God rest his soul,” Coriander said. “He never would have understood, although Mama might have come around eventually. I thought about them every day since.” She blew her nose into the handkerchief. “Once we sent that telegram, there was no going back.”

Hadley smiled at his wife. “We’ll go see your mother tomorrow, okay?”

“I think you should try to contact another member of the family first,” Dickce said. “Break the news to them, and let one of them tell your mother before you simply appear on her doorstep.”

Coriander nodded. “You’re right. I’ll see if I can get ahold of one of my brothers. They’re going to be upset, too.”

“Why didn’t you tell us the other day you were married?” An’gel asked. “When we first saw you at the garden club board meeting. Why all the secrecy now?”

Coriander said, “I was pretty sick when we first arrived. Had a terrible case of the flu that I must have picked up on the plane, or right before we left England. I was in no condition to meet anyone. It’s only in the last couple of days I’ve felt halfway human again. I suppose you were trying to protect me, weren’t you, honey?”

Hadley nodded. “I didn’t want a lot of people turning up here when you were ill. I knew there could well be a circus once people found out we’re married, and have been all these years.”

An’gel had her own ideas about why Hadley hadn’t told them he was married. He might sugarcoat it for his wife, but An’gel would bet he wasn’t eager to confront anyone over the fact that his wife was African American.

Coriander caught An’gel’s gaze and widened her eyes. An’gel realized that was Coriander’s way of saying she understood Hadley’s reluctance.

“Now that I’m feeling good again,” Coriander said, “I’m ready to face Athena, I suppose. I know it’s going to be hard for some people to accept, even now, but they’ll simply have to deal with it. Their problem, not ours. After all we’ve been through, I’m not going to put up with their ignorance.”

“Exactly,” An’gel said. “Your marriage is your business and nobody else’s.”

“Up to a point,” Dickce said.

“What do you mean?” Hadley asked, obviously startled.

“The current situation,” Dickce replied. “If An’gel is right about the motive behind the murder and the attempted murders, Coriander could be in danger once the parties concerned find out about your marriage.”

Coriander frowned up at Hadley. “What’s going on here? You’ve obviously been keeping things from me. You never said anything about murder.”

“I know,” Hadley said. “I’m not going to apologize for not telling you about it all before now. You were too sick, and I didn’t want you fretting. I didn’t realize, frankly, that you could be in danger, though, until An’gel forced me to face facts.”

Coriander turned to An’gel. “What facts are we talking about?”

“The women of the Athena Garden Club board,” An’gel replied. She named them for Coriander, who nodded to indicate she remembered them all. “One of them, I think, is obsessed with Hadley. Obsessed to the point that she will try to remove any obstacle standing in her way. She’s already pushed Sarinda down the stairs to her death and run Arliss off the road. She even attempted to do the same to me, I think, although there’s a possibility that was simply a coincidence.”

“The point is, once she finds out Hadley has a wife, she could very likely target you,” Dickce said.

“That sounds like the plot of a movie.” Coriander shivered. “A creepy, scary movie.”

“I’m afraid it may all be too true.” An’gel looked straight at Hadley. “Have you told her about what we found in the garden?”

He shook his head. “Not at the time. She was really sick then, and I didn’t want to worry her. I told her last night.”

“I don’t understand it,” Coriander said. “I know Hadley thinks his brother killed Callie, but I can’t believe he did. He loved her, and he had never raised his hand to her in all the time I worked for her. He had a temper and even broke things sometimes, but I don’t think he would ever kill her.”

Coriander sounded completely sincere, and An’gel had no doubt she believed Hamish was innocent. An’gel reserved judgment still.

“Then if Hamish didn’t do it, who did?” Dickce asked.

“Track down that nasty woman who was housekeeper here,” Coriander said. “Mrs. Turnipseed. She hated Callie with a passion because she fancied herself as Mrs. Hamish Partridge. If anyone killed her, that old witch did.”

“Mrs. Turnipseed was in love with Hamish?” Hadley asked. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” Coriander said. “I caught her once in their bedroom, lying on the bed with one of his suits. She was stroking it and talking to it like he was there in the bed with her.” She shook her head. “It was sickening.”

“Did she know you saw her?” An’gel asked, fascinated by what Coriander had told them.

“I don’t think so,” Coriander said. “She always treated me like dirt, and I didn’t notice any difference after that.”

“Did you tell Callie?” Hadley asked.

“I wanted to,” Coriander said. “I just couldn’t, though. I know she complained to Hamish about the woman several times and wanted him to fire her, but he wouldn’t. She seemed to have some kind of hold over him.” She laughed suddenly. “She couldn’t force him to marry her, though, even after Callie disappeared.” She looked at An’gel and Dickce. “She didn’t, did she?”

“I don’t think so,” An’gel said. “If he had, it was a deep secret. Otherwise he would have had to admit that Callie was dead.”

“If he didn’t kill Callie, and someone else did, then why didn’t he call the police?” Coriander asked. “It doesn’t make sense that he wouldn’t, if he didn’t do it.”

“That’s one of the reasons I’m inclined to think he probably did,” An’gel said. “Though I wonder how it’s connected to recent events.”

“You were still here for a few days after I left and before you joined me in New York,” Hadley said to his wife. “Did you see or hear anything that might have a bearing on Callie’s death?”

Coriander frowned. “The afternoon I left the weather was pretty bad. Thunderstorms and heavy rain. I thought we weren’t going to make it to Memphis for me to catch the plane to New York in time.” She paused. “I left by the back door. I’d arranged with a man I knew in town to give me ride to Memphis. He was waiting around back when I came out. It was pouring rain by then, and I got soaked getting into the car with my suitcases. When he drove around the front to head for the highway, I saw a car there. I don’t know who it was, though, but I remember thinking I heard somebody at the front door. Mrs. Turnipseed always answered the door, and I was happy she wasn’t there in the kitchen when I left.”

“I wonder who it was,” Dickce said.

“Can you remember anything about the car?” An’gel asked.

“Let me think about it a moment,” Coriander said. After a brief silence, she spoke again. “I think it was black, or some other dark color. Probably a four-door. That’s all I can recall. It’s been so long I’d almost forgotten about it.”

An’gel looked at Hadley. “Do you have any idea whose car it was?”

He shrugged. “Who remembers what kind of car another person had forty years ago? I barely remember my own. I sold it in Memphis before I left for New York, but that’s neither here nor there.” He paused. “It sounds like a sedan, of course, and everybody was driving one back then. Reba was, and I’m pretty sure both Barbie and Lottie were, too. The color I have no idea about.”

“That’s not so sinister in itself,” An’gel said after a moment’s reflection. “Visitors came to Ashton Hall regularly, didn’t they?”

“Not all that often, no,” Coriander said. “Hamish didn’t like company all that much. In fact, he used to complain to Hadley about the women who would show up here unannounced. Didn’t he?”

“Yes,” Hadley said. “I didn’t encourage them to come here, they simply showed up. I tried to explain that to Hamish, but he didn’t believe me.”

“It’s a fatal attraction you seem to have,” An’gel murmured, “at least for some women.” She shook her head before she focused on Coriander. “What about the few days after Hadley left and before you went to join him? Were there any unexpected visitors?”

“I’ll have to think about that for a minute,” Coriander said. “The more I’m trying to recall things from then, though, the easier it seems to be getting. Yes, I’m pretty sure that both Reba Dalrymple and Lottie MacLeod turned up, looking for Hadley. They both insisted he’d failed to keep a date with them, but I thought they were both lying. They had made it up as an excuse to see him.”

“Did you talk to them yourself?” An’gel asked.

Coriander shook her head. “No, Callie did, although she told me about it.”

“Did she know that you and Hadley planned to run away together?” Dickce asked.

“Yes, we told her,” Hadley said.

“How did she take the news?” An’gel said.

Coriander looked troubled. “She was heartbroken, even though she knew it was for the best. I knew she was in love with Hadley, but she knew he didn’t return her feelings. She was talking about going away herself, at least for a little while, to sort things out.”

“Did she tell anyone else that?” An’gel asked.

“She might have,” Coriander said. “She was pretty low right after Hadley left. She might have told someone she was going away for a while.”

“If she did, that person might have assumed she was going to join Hadley,” Dickce said. “What story did Hamish and Callie give about Hadley leaving?”

“Not anything, really, other than that he was on an extended trip,” Coriander said. “Neither one of them wanted to say that he wasn’t planning to come back. Hamish thought he left because of Callie, and in a way he did, I suppose. I wasn’t going to tell him, and Hadley certainly didn’t, that it was because of me.”

“And almost everyone in town thought Hadley did leave because of Callie,” An’gel said. “I’m sure that Callie’s murderer thought that, too, and blamed her for Hadley’s going away.”

“You mean to tell me someone murdered Callie because I left town and they thought she was the reason?” Hadley asked.

“I do,” An’gel said. “Now we simply have to figure out who it was.” Before she could elaborate further, she heard her cell phone ringing. “Excuse me, I need to check this.” She pulled it out of her purse and glanced at the screen. Kanesha Berry’s name came up.

“Hello, Kanesha,” An’gel said. “Any news?”

“Yes,” Kanesha replied. “We found Mrs. Turnipseed and her car. She was dead inside, and the car’s front end was damaged. I think she was the one who tried to run you off the road.”