The Bones She Buried

Five

Josie and Laura spent a good part of the evening making phone calls to notify friends and family members of Colette’s death. Josie went up to bed to check on Noah before Grady arrived. She was grateful to find him asleep. She changed and climbed into bed beside him, drifting in and out of sleep as Noah slept fitfully beside her, waking her every few hours when he climbed out of bed to pace the room. Each time, bleary-eyed, she called him back to bed and held him until he fell back to sleep. Josie knew all too well the horror of waking in the night to realize anew that your entire world had been shattered.

A few times during the night, Josie heard Laura and her husband talking in the guest room down the hall, their voices muffled, their words indistinct. Then, as the light seeped around the blinds in the early hours of the morning, she heard the stairs creaking as Laura and Grady crept down to the kitchen, followed by the faint sound of dishes clinking. When the scent of breakfast foods wafted upstairs and under Noah’s door, Josie’s stomach growled.

“You’re hungry,” came Noah’s muffled voice from under his pillow.

“Yeah, but I don’t much feel like eating,” Josie said. “We both need to, though.”

They got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen where Grady was cooking eggs and toast for what looked like a much larger number of people than just the four of them. Laura sat at the table, staring sightlessly straight ahead, a full glass of orange juice untouched in front of her.

Grady gave them a pained smile as they entered. Josie had only met him once and had found him nice enough; he had been very doting interacting with his wife. He was in his forties and tall with longish black hair and dark eyes, but he was thinner than she remembered. He turned off the burners when they walked in and came over to greet Noah, wrapping him up in a hard hug and clapping his back. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “This is so… I just can’t believe it. Neither of us can wrap our heads around this. We were going to give her her first grandchild—”

“Please don’t,” Laura croaked. “Please don’t talk about it. I can’t take it.”

Looking at his wife, Grady said, “I’m sorry, Laura. I didn’t mean to upset you more. We’re all devastated.” He turned to Josie. “Do you know who did this?”

“Our team is working on it,” Josie told him. “I’ll be in touch with Officer Mettner today to see if they’ve got any more information.”

Noah sat at the table across from his sister, who said, “We’ll have to start planning the funeral. I texted Theo. He’ll be here in about an hour.”

But Noah’s gaze was on Josie. “Mett?” he said. “Shouldn’t Gretchen be working Mom’s case?”

“Chief won’t let her off the desk,” Josie said. “Not even for this.”

Noah made a noise of disgust deep in his throat.

“Mettner’s good,” Josie tried.

“Not as good as Gretchen. Not as good as you. He doesn’t have the experience—”

Laura cut him off. “Did you hear what I said, Noah? We need to plan Mom’s funeral.”

He looked at her but didn’t respond.

Grady went back to the stove and cracked two more eggs into the frying pan. Confident she had Noah’s full attention, Laura smiled and turned to Grady, “Darling, I think that’s enough food.”

Grady returned her smile, and Josie saw tears glistening in his eyes. “Sorry,” he said. “I like to keep busy. Makes me feel useful.”

“I feel exactly the same way,” Josie shared as she moved over to the counter to make plates for her and Noah. “This is wonderful,” she told Grady. “Thank you for cooking.”

They ate in silence, the Fraley siblings moving in slow motion, their eyes vacant. It was almost a relief when Josie’s cell phone buzzed in her pocket. “Who’s that?” Noah asked.

“A text from Mettner. He said Dr. Feist fast-tracked the autopsy.”

“What did it show?” Laura asked.

“He didn’t say. I’ll have to call him.”

“Go,” Noah said. “I know you want to.”

Josie’s mouth hung open. He hadn’t said it with any malice, but he had said it. “I don’t want to go,” she replied. “I want to stay with you. I told you, Mettner is good. I think he can handle this.”

Noah opened his mouth to speak, but Laura talked over him. “Actually, Josie, we would appreciate your finding out whatever you can. We’ll all have to go to the funeral home to make arrangements today, after Theo arrives. Maybe you can talk to the other officer and the medical examiner and find out when our mother will be released to us. That would be very helpful.”

Josie caught Noah’s eye. “Only if it’s okay with you,” she said to him.

He rubbed a hand over his eyes and sighed. “It’s fine. Really. Go see what Mettner has turned up. He’ll probably want Theo, Laura and Grady to go in and submit fingerprints so they can eliminate their prints from any found in the house.”

“Yes,” Josie said. “He will.” Or, if he didn’t, she would make sure he did. This was his first homicide investigation.

“And one of us will need to do a walk-through to see if anything is missing. I can do it later, or even Laura.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Grady asked, addressing his wife. “I’m already worried about the stress this is putting on you with the baby. I don’t know if visiting the scene where your mother was…”

Laura put a hand over his. “It’s okay. I don’t have to do it. Noah already said he can do it.”

Noah offered Josie a wan smile. “Call me later, okay?”