Hard Hat Man (23 page)

On the other hand, both Kyle and the sheriff had her cell phone number. They could call her and ask her to come down if they wanted her there. So she decided to wait for them to come to her this time. She shouldn’t be interfering
in Kyle’s business
unless asked.

Once again, an ambulance arrived. She
put th
e
photo
album
in her box of keepsakes a
nd went back to
s
orting Horace’s office. But she couldn’t resist keeping one eye on the window overlooking the pit and the men working there.

After a while, Kyle and the sheriff strode up to the house. She invited them in. “Want some coffee or tea?”

“Thanks,” Kyle said. “We could sure use some coffee.”

She put water and coffee in the electric percolator and plugged it in to start it going. “So what’s happened?” she asked. “Was anyone hurt?”

“Nothing like that,” Sheriff Casey said. “We found more bones.”

Jan raised an eyebrow. “You mean you didn’t get all of Nancy’s bones the first time? Were they scattered or what?”

Kyle shook his head. “These are someone else’s bones. We found another person’s remains.”

“Oh, my God. There were two bodies buried there?”

“Yes,” Casey said. “Definitely another person’s remains. A man this time. Clothes and shoes,
too,
like with hers.”

Jan set out cups and poured the coffee. “So whose body was it? Do you have any idea?”

“We were hoping you’d have an idea.” Sheriff Casey’s steely blue eyes bore
d
into hers, demanding answers. He picked up his coffee and sipped, continuing to watch her over the brim of his cup.

“Me?
How
would I know?”

Casey shrugged. “What was your family told at the time Nancy disappeared?”

Jan frowned, sipping the hot fragrant brew. She needed something to push away the ice that had settled in her stomach. No wonder Esther thought these people were dangerous if they’d already killed two people. She swallowed hard and gazed at the sheriff.

“Horace told everyone
Nancy
left a note saying she was eloping with one of the silo builders. The building company claimed he was an itinerant worker and they had no address or phone number for him
,
n
or any
way to contact his
family members either.
”

“Surely they must have had a social security number
? How could they pay taxes on him without it?”

“Apparently they had an address, but it was bogus. A local P.O. Box number that wasn’t his.”

“So, our best guess is that this dead man is the silo builder. And she didn’t run away at all, but both she and her boyfriend were killed and buried,” Casey said with a scowl.

Jan nodded, the ice crawling along her veins.

Kyle put in, “And I’d say, sheriff, that the killer is still loose and the one who is causing all the trouble here now.”

Casey sighed, shifted in his chair and drank more coffee. “You are probably right. But I’d think the killer would be laying low instead of calling attention to himself by causing trouble.”

“It seems that way to me, too. And why burglarize the house? Or burn the barn? Is there something here that could tell us who killed them? Some evidence he’s trying to find and destroy?”

Casey chewed his lip. “I wonder if you’re right, Kyle.
But we don’t have the manpower to go through all of Horace’s stuff.
Jan, have you found anything like that?”

Jan swallowed her coffee.
“Not in Horace’s stuff.”

Dare she tell them about seeing Aunt Esther? Or would both Kyle and the sheriff think she’d lost her mind?

Casey eyed her. “You know something, Jan. I can see it in your face. Out with it.”

She flushed, her cheeks feeling hot. “You’ll think I’m crazy.”

“Try me. Let me decide if what you know is worthwhile or not.”

Jan drew a deep breath. “I’ve seen and talked to Esther’s ghost.”

“What?” both men said in unison, staring at her.

She sent them a scowl.
“I told you that you’d think I was crazy.”

“When was this?” Kyle said.

“The first time was
the first day we arrived and
Mom and I toured the house. She was sitting in the rocker in Nancy’s room, crying. Remember, Kyle? You thought I was ill and helped me down to the porch for fresh air and made me put my head down?”

Kyle
nodded and
glanced at Casey. “She was as white as a sheet. I thought she was going to pass out. Something had surely upset her.”

“The next day, I
was with
Mom
in the living room downstairs.
Esther
was sitting in that upholstered chair beside the fireplace, crying again.”

“Did she say anything?”

“Not th
at day
.”

“What did
Laura
say? Did she see her?” Casey asked.

Jan shook her head. “Mom said there was no one there.
She said there’s no such thing as ghosts. But I know what I saw.”

“So
you could see her, but your mother couldn’t?” Casey said derisively.

“Yes. I told you that you’d think I was crazy.”

“Yes, you said that before. So
when did she
supposedly talk to you?” Casey said. He rolled his eyes at the ceiling and drank his coffee.

Kyle watched her face, then put in, “It was upstairs last night, wasn’t it, Jan? I heard you talking to her and came up to see who you were talking to.”

Jan nodded, cringing back into her chair. She sent a wary glance at the sheriff.

“So, what did she tell you?”

“She admitted moving the family Bible
back to the living room
from the box where I’d packed it.”

“She moved the Bible?”

“Yes. She said she wanted to be sure I found Nancy’s death date and to put it on her tombstone. She
told me to
make sure Nancy was buried next to her in the cemetery and not beside Horace.”

Casey stared at her. “Which cemetery? And is there such a plot available?”

Jan lifted a shoulder.
“I don’t know yet.
Esther said she bought an extra plot next to hers.
I a
s
ked
Mom
and she
said
Esther’s buried
in
the cemetery south of town
, the one that’s
on a hill with lots of evergreen trees around it.”

“That would be St. Luke’s
,
” Casey said. “We can check it out. But mind you, I don’t believe in ghosts.
But if she bought the lot, that’s the logical use for it, I guess. As far as I know there’s no other immediate family.
”

“What else did
Esther
say?” Kyle asked. “You were pretty scared after talking to her. I don’t think talking about burying Nancy would have upset you that much. So there’s more, isn’t there?”

Casey perked up and watched her face.

Jan nodded, got up and
re
filled their coffee cups, wondering how to explain it. She sat and sipped the coffee. “I’m not sure what she meant. But she
warned me to be careful. She
said I knew too much and they’d come after me.”

“So that’s what you meant by saying, ‘tell me more,’ last night?”

“Yes. But she didn’t
say anymore
. You came upstairs and she disappeared.”

Casey frowned at Kyle. “You said you heard them talking. Did you actually hear the ghost talking? Or just Jan?”

Kyle frowned. “I’m not sure.”

Casey snorted. “So it’s probably all your imagination. You were dreaming. Happens all the time. People are half awake and think they see something in the shadows. Or hear a board creaking in the wind and think somebody said something.
All these pranks on Kyle’s project have you imagining things.
”

Jan shrugged. “Believe what you want. But can you tell me who to contact about
the plot in the cemetery
so we can bury Nancy’s ashes
?
”

Casey frowned. “
John Canby, your realtor
,
sells those plots
. You met him when you closed the farm sale.
Ashes?
Nancy’s
remains are to be cremated?”

“Yes. Mom said to ask you to call her when you release her remains and she’ll pay for the cremation. We’ll wait and have a memorial service later after Mom’s back in the states.”

“Sure
, I can do that
. Did you find anything in Horace’s records about the company who built the silo?”

“Not yet. But I haven’t gone through everything.”

“Well, let me know if you find anything. It might help identify this guy’s remains if we knew the name of the company that built the silo.”

“All right.”

Kyle frowned. “Casey, the name of the silo company was
etched into
on
e section of
the silo. I
don’t remember i
t
off-hand, but I
’ll
have one of the men check the dumpsite and
find the section that had it for you.”

“Oh. Good. That’ll help.”

“Provided it’s even still in business,” Kyle said. “All the new silos I’ve seen lately are huge and have a different company name on them.”

“Thanks for the coffee.” Casey rose and Kyle followed him to the door.

After the sheriff left, Kyle turned back to Jan. “Are you okay?”

She managed a small smile. “I’m okay.
He didn’t believe me, did he?
I’m not nuts, Kyle.”

He took her in his arms, leaned down and kissed her thoroughly. “I know you’re not.
Just looking at your face told me you’d really seen something, whether the rest of us could see it or not.
My grandmother used to tell me she talked to my Granddad after he passed away, too. So you’re not the only one who sees and hears ghosts.
”