Миранда Джеймс - Digging Up The Dirt

“Why did you call us last night, as opposed to other board members?” Dickce asked.

“I’m not sure,” Lottie said, appearing slightly confused. “It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. You’ve known Sarinda longer than the rest of us, and I thought you should know.”

“We appreciate you thinking of us like that,” An’gel said. “Yes, I suppose we’ve known Sarinda most of our lives, but we had no idea about the drinking.” She shot a warning glance at her sister and hoped that Lottie didn’t notice.

“She spent an awful lot of time alone in that big house,” Lottie said. “Well, except for her housekeeper, of course. That’s not the same as spending time with friends, but she did spend time with the garden club and a couple of other clubs.”

“Don’t you think it’s strange that none of us picked up on the drinking before now?” Dickce asked.

“Barbie said she thought Sarinda was drinking in secret for years after I told her last night what I found.” Lottie smiled. “Barbie likes to knock back the gin herself, you know, and I suppose she saw the signs in Sarinda.”

An’gel wanted to offer a tart reply to that, because they all knew about Barbie and her gin. They all also knew Lottie was every bit as fond of gin as Barbie. Sarinda, on the other hand, never had more than one cocktail whenever she was with the other garden club members.

“Why did you go to Sarinda’s last night?” An’gel asked.

“She called and asked me to come over,” Lottie replied. “She said she wanted to talk to me, but she wouldn’t say exactly why.”

“You didn’t press her for an explanation?” An’gel set her empty glass on a coaster on the table in front of the sofa.

Lottie shrugged. “I tried, but she wouldn’t really tell me anything. Only that it was important. I thought her voice sounded strange, come to think of it. Hoarse, kind of like when someone’s been crying a lot, if you know what I mean.”

An’gel was about to reply in the affirmative when a loud crash of thunder startled them all. “Heavens,” she said. “That storm is moving in.”

Dickce stood. “We’d better get home right away, Sister. Thanks for the tea, Lottie.”

An’gel rose as well. “Before we go, however, one more question for you. Two questions, actually. What time did Sarinda call? And when did you arrive at her house?”

Lottie thought for a moment. “I went right over as soon as I hung up the phone. It takes about ten minutes to walk over there, and it was a nice night so I walked. I guess I got there around seven, or maybe seven fifteen?”

The thunder boomed again, and An’gel hastily thanked Lottie. Then she and Dickce headed for the car, thankful to discover that though the sky had darkened considerably, the rain hadn’t yet moved in.

“I hate weather like this,” An’gel muttered as she slid behind the steering wheel and pulled her door shut.

“I don’t mind the rain.” Dickce buckled her seat belt. “I hate the wind and how destructive it can be. We’ve been lucky not to have extensive damage to the house over the years.”

“Yes, we have.” An’gel backed out of Lottie’s driveway and headed the car toward home. “We’ve had a few close calls, though. Remember the tornado three years ago that touched down about three miles from us?”

Dickce shuddered. “I certainly do. That was a terrifying night. Thank the Lord, though, it touched down in an area where there were no houses. Can you imagine if it had hit Athena?”

“Let’s just pray that whatever this storm brings, it’s not tornadoes,” An’gel said.

An’gel drove the rest of the way in silence under a rapidly darkening sky. The wind was picking up, and An’gel felt the car buffeted by the occasional gust.

The rain started moments after An’gel and Dickce gained the safety of the house. They were relieved to find Benjy and the animals in the kitchen with Clementine.

“We’ve been listening to Clementine’s weather radio,” Benjy said. “I think we’re in for some really bad weather.”

“Then you, Peanut, and Endora are definitely staying here with us,” An’gel said. “Clementine, I think you’d better stay here, too, but if you want to go home, I think you should go right away before the worst weather moves in.”

Clementine nodded. “I’d best be getting home, then, Miss An’gel.” She grabbed her purse and an umbrella and left by the back door.

“Lord, I hope she makes it home okay,” Dickce said. “I don’t blame her for wanting to be home with family, but they don’t have a basement like we do.”

“Basement?” Benjy asked. “I didn’t know there was a basement.”

“There is,” An’gel said. “We don’t use it that often, except in threatening weather. The door is in the pantry, so that’s probably why you haven’t noticed it.”

“I think we’d better check down there right now,” Dickce said. “If we have to spend the night down there, we’d better make sure the ventilation is working properly.”

“I’ll go with you,” Benjy said. “I’m curious to see it.”

“You two check it out,” An’gel said. “I’m going to see what the weather people are saying.” She went to her office and checked the forecast on the Internet. From the radar loops she watched online, she gathered that the brunt of the storm wasn’t due in their area for about three hours. Wind gusts in the system topped out around sixty miles an hour. Not quite tornado speed, she was relieved to note. Still capable of damage, however, because the storm was moving slowly. It could last for several hours in their area.

Time to close the outside shutters, An’gel decided, to protect against window breakage. She found the controller in the desk drawer where it resided, and clicked the switch to start the process. She and Dickce had the system installed several years before, and the motorized system had saved their windows from storms ever since.

If only we could protect the flower beds and the trees as easily . An’gel sighed. Tomorrow they would probably have a lot of work to do, setting the grounds to rights.

Dickce and Benjy came back to report that the basement was dry, though the air was a bit stale. They spent half an hour taking provisions down in case they ended up spending the night there. Benjy made sure there was enough food for Peanut and Endora, and he took down a litter box for the cat.

About half an hour before the heaviest winds reached the area, An’gel made the decision for them to move into the basement. They had enough to eat and drink for the evening, a small bathroom for their needs, and comfortable seating along with several twin beds. An’gel listened to the weather radio while Dickce and Benjy played cards and the animals napped.

An’gel was too preoccupied by the weather and thoughts of Sarinda Hetherington’s death to be able to focus on the card game. She thought back over her conversation with Elmo Gandy. His certainty that Sarinda was not a heavy drinker had convinced An’gel. They’d talked about the manner of her death, and Gandy was convinced foul play was involved. He’d told the police that, and the next step was an autopsy to look for evidence to confirm his assertion.

The thought of an autopsy upset An’gel, but she knew it was necessary if the truth were to be discovered. If this turned into a murder investigation, she figured Kanesha Berry, chief deputy with the sheriff’s department, would investigate. The police usually turned over homicide investigations to the sheriff’s department, and Kanesha had established a reputation for thorough investigations that brought results.

Eventually, exhausted by the events of the day and her worries over the weather and Sarinda’s death, An’gel fell asleep in her chair, even as the storm began to subside.