Rest in Peace (18 page)

“Now, don’t be unkind,” Miss Evalina said. “I’m happy she finally decided to join us.”

“I am, too.” Miss Georgina darted a shamed look at her cousin. “And after the first little while, she seemed to enjoy herself. Didn’t you think so, Jane?”

“I guess.” She glanced around. “What’s the tea cart for?”

I swallowed past the sudden lump in my throat. “I need to talk to everyone.” I motioned toward the parlor door.

Each face froze with an expression of dread. Oh Lord, how could I possibly do this?

Frank took charge. “Okay, let’s go to the parlor. Stop looking like somebody die—” He stopped and peered in my face, then put a protective arm around Miss Evalina. He guided her to the parlor, and the others followed. I motioned for Mabel to take the cart in, then followed her.

Everyone settled onto chairs and sofas while Mabel poured and handed out cups of tea. She gave me mine last.

“Mabel, please sit down.” She sat on a wing chair, and I remained standing in the middle of the room, taking in every precious face.

“Aggie’s dead, isn’t she?” Miss Jane’s face crumpled. She and Miss Aggie had been girlhood best friends, and there was still a special bond between them.

Gasps and little moans seemed to emit from every inch of the room, as though the room itself were mourning.

“Wait.” I held my hand up, and five hopeful faces looked at me.

“We don’t know.” I glanced around at the hope mixed with fear on each face and knew I had to get it over with. “Miss Aggie’s suitcase was discovered in a Dumpster behind the Jefferson City bus station. It was full of clothing and personal items. One article of clothing had traces of blood.”

“Aggie’s?” Miss Jane murmured.

“Yes, I’m afraid so.” At the cries that burst forth, I once more held my hand up. “Please. They have no evidence that Miss Aggie is dead. Someone may have stolen the suitcase.”

“But the blood!” Martin cried. “How could Miz Brown’s blood get in the suitcase if someone else had it?”

“I don’t know, Martin. Benjamin and Corky are in Jefferson City now trying to get more information. They’ll call if they have anything. In the meantime, we need to think positive and hope and pray for the best.”

“Victoria is right. And the first thing we need to do is pray.” Miss Evalina bowed her head, and we followed suit. Then she led us in a heartfelt prayer that Miss Aggie would be found alive and well.

The seniors remained in the parlor all afternoon, instead of splitting up as they customarily did. Neither Benjamin nor Corky had called, but I was pretty sure I’d hear from Benjamin before bedtime, if only to say good night. As I passed through the kitchen on my way to check out the small back parlor, I heard whispers and went in.

Sarah stood on tiptoe, whispering in her grandmother’s ear. But her stage whisper wasn’t very quiet. “Grandma, why do I have to be quiet?”

“You don’t have to, Sarah,” I said. A little noise might be just what the seniors need to get their minds off things. I smiled, and she gave me her usual “I don’t care” look.

“I didn’t want her bothering the old folks.” Mabel reached over and tucked a strand of Sarah’s unruly hair behind her ears. The little girl ducked and reached up to make sure her hat hadn’t been upset.

“It’s okay. Why don’t you let her play?” I turned to Sarah. “Or maybe you’d like to go for a walk with Buster and me.”

She darted a look at her grandmother, who gave her a nod and a smile.

“Can I hold his leash?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Okay. I’ll go.” Wow. We seemed to be holding an actual conversation.

“Do we need coats? I haven’t bothered to check the weather. I’ve been inside all day.”

“Naw.” Sarah waved her hand. “It’s not cold. Are you ready to go now?”

“Sure, do you want to get the leash?”

She ran over and slipped Buster’s leash off the hook by the door. “Bye Grandma. See you later.”

“Okay baby, you mind Miz Storm.”

“I will. I promise.” She ran out the back door and into the fenced yard, where Buster greeted her with excited, ear-splitting barks.

“Do you know how to clip it on his collar?”

She frowned and threw me a look of disdain. “Of course. What do you think I am, a stupid baby or something?”

And we’d been doing so well. Or so I’d thought. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that at all.”

“Okay. Then I’m sorry, too.” She leaned over, and Buster licked her face as she hooked the leash onto his collar. Giggling, she wiped her hand across her face. “Okay Buster boy, let’s go.”

When we got to the sidewalk, she stopped and looked at me with a question in her eyes. “Which way?”

“You choose.” It didn’t really matter. Mrs. Miller was probably resting from her day at the center.

“Hey, Sarah!” The Hansen children came running across the street. “Where you going?”

“Taking Buster for a walk.” She reached down and patted Buster on the head, and the other children followed suit. He didn’t growl or bark, so apparently they’d made friends with him.

Sarah and Buster headed down the sidewalk, the dog practically dragging her, which didn’t seem to bother her a bit. She just picked up her pace, flanked by the Hansen children.

“Don’t go too fast now,” I called after them. Too late. Mrs. Miller’s cat streaked across the street, and Buster lit after it with the four children tearing behind, cheering him on.

“Look both ways before you cross that street again!” I yelled. But Buster and his gang of followers had disappeared around the corner.

I stopped in my tracks, berating myself for being so ignorant of children. I should have known better.

Someone guffawed loudly behind me. I whirled to see Mrs. Miller coming across the yard. “I see he got away from you again. You’re not very good with animals, are you?”

Indignant, I opened my mouth, then, thinking better of it, shut it again. I took a deep breath. “Actually, I never had him in the first place. Someone else was holding his leash.”

“Yes, I noticed. You don’t know too much about children either, do you?”

I bit my lip and mentally counted to ten. “No, Mrs. Miller, I don’t.” I started to head off after the children.

“You might as well wait for them here. As soon as Buster sees he’s lost Fluffy, he’ll head back this way looking for you.”

“You may be right, but I think I’d better go look for them.”

I got halfway down the block when I heard barking and laughing from somewhere behind me. Buster came galloping around the corner with all four children skipping around him. How did Mrs. Miller always know everything?

They ran up to me with grinning faces, including Buster’s. His tongue was also hanging out.

“Looks like you all had fun.” Who could keep from laughing along with those cheery faces?

“Yeah,” they chorused.

“Did Buster do his business?”

“Nope, he just chased the cat till it ran up a tree.” The youngest boy grinned. “It just sat up there on that ole branch, spitting at Buster. Boy, was he mad.”

“Can we take him around again?” Sarah pleaded.

I sighed. Why not? No harm done that I could see.

“Okay, but I’m going with you this time, and Sarah, be sure to hang on to him. Especially if you see a cat.”

We paraded around the block and arrived back at the lodge, mission accomplished and no mishaps.

The Hansens, whose names I now knew were Bobby, Charlie, and Cindy, waved and ran home. I went inside and let Sarah take care of Buster. She came in a few minutes later and hung the leash on its hook.

“Thanks for the help.” I smiled at Sarah, hoping to get one back.

She shrugged. “Welcome.”

She and Mabel left a few minutes later, and I went to wash up. When I got back down to the kitchen, Miss Jane was getting things together to take to the sideboard.

Dinner was quieter than usual. When we’d finished, Miss Evalina asked us all if we could meet in the parlor again.

I supposed she wanted to be with everyone. And that was fine with me. I didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts either.

I told them I’d join them as soon as I’d finished cleaning up. But the ladies all pitched in, and within fifteen minutes we were finished and gathered together in the parlor. Flames leaped and logs crackled in the fireplace.

Silence hung heavily in the room, and faces were long and drawn.

“All right, we need to snap out of it.” Miss Evalina’s voice was kind but firm. “I didn’t ask everyone to meet so we could sit around depressed and gloomy.”

“I don’t know why we’re in here at all.” Martin’s voice broke. “I’d just as soon go watch a movie and get my mind off everything.”

Miss Evalina shook her head. “No, we have to decide what to do.”

“What?” Miss Jane’s voice held surprise. “What can we do? Pray they find Aggie’s body so we can give her a proper funeral and burial?”

“Stop it, Jane.” For the first time, Miss Evalina spoke sharply. “Let’s not bury her until we know she’s really dead. I, for one, don’t believe it for a minute.”

Miss Jane sat up straight, hope in her eyes. “You don’t? Really, Eva?”

“No. Aggie’s too smart to get herself killed. And we all seem to forget the mysterious circumstances of her leaving.”

We looked around at each other.

“Dang. She’s right.” Martin smacked himself on the leg and chortled. “This is all just a big cover-up for whatever it is she’s up to.”

Oh, how I hoped they were right. But even if the sheriff was right about the clasp breaking on Miss Aggie’s pearls, the suitcase in the Dumpster made me worry. And, of course, Miss Aggie’s blood. But I wasn’t going to voice my fears.

“I think all the answers to Clyde’s death and Aggie’s disappearance are right here in Cedar Chapel.”

“But Eva, we searched Clyde’s shop. There was nothing there.”

I hit myself on the forehead with the palm of my hand. “Oh my goodness. I almost forgot. Be right back.”

I almost ran to my office to retrieve the envelope with its mysterious contents.

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

W
hat in the world?” Miss Evalina stared at me in astonishment. I’d plopped myself down in the middle of the parlor floor and dumped the contents of the envelope in front of me.

“Laura brought these by this morning on her way out of town. She found them in Clyde’s safe-deposit box.”

Five heads, ranging from snowy white to salt-and-pepper, leaned forward to see what I was sorting.

“They look old.” Frank reached down and picked up one of the letters.

I looked through the documents, putting them in stacks. Bills of sale, receipts, letters, and other documents I couldn’t determine.

“Okay, most of these are in German. We need to separate the English from the German.”

“Look, this one’s in German, but it has Jack Riley’s name in it.” Frank held it out to me. “And it’s dated 1947.”

I glanced over the letter. He was right. Jack Riley’s name appeared three times.

I continued to look through the others. One more letter contained Jack Riley’s name. I didn’t recognize thesignatures. Most were from someone named Frederick Heffner, with one or two from a Thomas Schmidt.

I gasped as I picked up a yellowed invoice. A fragment was torn from the document. Although it was jagged and wrinkled, the letters that were torn could very well have been ‘tunnel.’ I nodded with satisfaction. “Look. This would fit perfectly with the fragment Miss Aggie found in the bedpost.”

The slips of paper in English proved to be appointment times. There was nothing else on them except what appeared to be an occasional street address.

“What are you going to do with these?” Miss Evalina leaned forward. “You do have a plan, don’t you?”

I looked up, and her eyes stared into mine, intense and questioning. Miss Evalina wasn’t going to stand for inaction.

“Yes, ma’am. First I’m going to make several copies of each item. Next, I’ll take the originals to the sheriff, so he can’t accuse me of withholding evidence.” Of course, he wouldn’t know I had copies. “Then, I’ll take a copy and have them translated. After that, we’ll see.” I waited for her response.

Miss Evalina smiled. “Good thinking.”

A wave of pleasure washed over me. I had no idea why Miss Evalina’s approval meant so much to me. Maybe because she’d been such a close friend of my grandmother’s. Sometimes, she even reminded me of her.