Solomon Key

Chapter 26

St. Mary’s Church had once been the center of the village of Ditchingham. Built in the fifteenth century, it now dominated a pastoral landscape, sitting alone in the countryside. Its hundred foot tall tower cast a long shadow in the pale moonlight. Ronald thought it might be beautiful in the daylight, but at night, it felt sinister. The weathered grave markers between which he and Cleo passed only added to the haunted aura surrounding the old church.

“Look here. This is a Haggard.” Cleo shone his torch on a grave marker that read Lillias Haggard.

Ronald shook his head. “That’s his daughter. Follow me.”

They made their way to the front door of the church. Cleo kept watch, probably unnecessarily, considering the remote location and relative insignificance of the place, while Ronald picked the lock.

Once inside, a brief search led them to Haggard’s crypt. A large rectangle of black marble marked the spot.

“O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live,” Ronald read aloud from the script ringing the slab. “The eternal God is thy dwelling place and underneath are the everlasting arms.”

“Underneath are the everlasting arms?” Cleo asked. “Makes it sound like…hell.”

Ronald nodded but didn’t reply. Something else had caught his attention.

“Seven people are buried here?” Cleo asked, echoing his own thoughts. “That’s a lot.”

“Cremains,” Ronald said. “I imagined Haggard burying the ring with his dead wife but perhaps he placed it in her urn?”

“One way to be certain.”

Cleo had brought a crowbar with him, and now he knelt and worked it between the edge of the marble slab and the surrounding tile.

“Break it if you must,” Ronald said. “We’ll take the ring and leave the urn. When the damage is discovered, they’ll find nothing missing.”

Just then, the front door banged open and bright lights blinded him.

“Police!” a voice shouted. “Put your hands in the air.”

As uniformed men poured into the church, Ronald sighed and raised his hands above his head. The cousins were not going to be happy.