Миранда Джеймс - Digging Up The Dirt

The housemaid had such a distinctive name, An’gel was surprised she hadn’t remembered it last night. Coriander Simpson . Surely a woman with a name like that wouldn’t be hard to trace. An’gel hoped she was still living. She thought the woman was in her late twenties—early thirties at most—during the time she worked at Ashton Hall.

Mrs. Turnipseed had to be around somewhere, she reasoned, if Hamish Partridge had left her a pension in his will. If all else failed, she could contact Hamish’s lawyer to find out whether the firm had any contact information for the housekeeper. That would mean asking Hadley the name of the firm. She was pretty sure it hadn’t been Pendergrast and Harris, the firm now run by Alexandra Pendergrast and Sean Harris, Charlie’s son. Hamish had detested Alexandra’s father, Q. C. Pendergrast, founder of the firm. The loathing had been mutual.

But first, she realized, she needed to talk to Kanesha Berry. She wanted to propose her scheme to meet with the women to the deputy before she went ahead with it. An’gel didn’t want to compromise Kanesha’s investigation, but from what she remembered of Mrs. Turnipseed and certain of her attitudes, she thought she stood a better chance of getting information from her than the deputy did. The housemaid might be a different matter, but An’gel still thought it couldn’t hurt for her to talk to Coriander Simpson first.

An’gel shared her plan with Dickce and Benjy. When she finished, she asked, “What do you two think?”

“I think you definitely should talk to Deputy Berry first,” Benjy said when Dickce didn’t respond right away. “She doesn’t seem like the type of person who would like other people doing her job for her.”

Dickce chuckled. “No, she surely is not that type.”

“What will you do if she tells you she doesn’t want you to talk to these women?” Benjy asked.

An’gel frowned. “I would comply with her wishes in that case. I’m not going to rush in like one of those snoopy old ladies in a mystery novel and have Kanesha angry with me. I do believe, though, she will welcome my—our—help in this instance.”

“Especially with that Turnipseed woman.” Dickce sniffed. “I’ve recalled a few things about her, and I don’t think she would respond well to Kanesha. I remember Callie telling us one time she had to speak to Mrs. Turnipseed about how badly she treated the housemaid.”

“What do you mean?” Benjy asked. “I think I can guess.”

“Mrs. Turnipseed had pretty outdated ideas about race and the way other people should be treated.” An’gel grimaced. “I have no time for those attitudes, and if I do talk to her, I imagine it will be difficult not to tell her exactly what I think about that.”

“Knowing you, you’ll go all Julia Sugarbaker on her.” Dickce giggled.

Benjy laughed, too. “I know what that means.”

An’gel did not share their amusement. “If I do talk to Mrs. Turnipseed, I had obviously better do it on my own.”

“Oh, come on, Sister, don’t get huffy.” Dickce grimaced at An’gel. “You know how you can be when you get angry over stuff like that.”

“I suppose you’re right,” An’gel said after a moment’s reflection. “I do sometimes get caught up in the moment.”

The doorbell rang. An’gel frowned. “It’s pretty early for anyone to come calling. Is either of you expecting someone?”

“Not I,” Dickce said.

“Me either.” Benjy pushed his chair back. “I’ll go see who it is, and then I probably need to rescue Clementine from looking after Peanut and Endora.”

“Thank you, Benjy,” the sisters said in near unison.

“It might be Kanesha,” Dickce said. “Or do you suppose it could be Hadley?” She brightened.

“Kanesha, perhaps,” An’gel said. “But I can’t see Hadley ringing our doorbell at eight fifteen in the morning.”

An’gel heard two feminine voices in the hallway as their unexpected guests approached. She and Dickce rose from their chairs.

Benjy ushered in Barbie Gross and Lottie MacLeod. Both women appeared excited.

“Morning, girls,” Barbie said. “Sorry to burst in on you like this.” She glanced at the table. “But I see you’ve been having breakfast, so you can handle the news.”

“What news?” An’gel said, trying not to sound annoyed or impatient.

“We had to tell you in person.” Lottie’s voice dropped to a hoarse whisper as she continued. “Sarinda’s ghost is haunting her house.”

CHAPTER 14

“T hat is about the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” An’gel frowned and shook her head. “Even coming from the two of you, and I’ve heard plenty of ridiculous things from you before.”

Lottie stepped back as if An’gel had offered to slap her.

“Well, who wee-weed in your grits this morning, Miss An’gel Ducote?” Barbie snorted. “If you would stop and listen, instead of popping off at the mouth the minute somebody pauses, you’d hear the whole story.” She pulled Lottie forward again. “Why don’t you offer us coffee, and we’ll tell you all about it.”

An’gel, though annoyed with herself for her outburst, still felt irritated with Barbie and Lottie. “Dickce, would you mind asking Clementine to make us a fresh pot of coffee? In the meantime, ladies, why don’t we move to the parlor?”

“Fine with us,” Barbie said.

Dickce headed for the kitchen, trailed by Benjy, and An’gel led the two unexpected guests to the front parlor. She bade Barbie and Lottie be seated, indicating the sofa. She chose a chair facing them across the coffee table. She eyed their morning attire. Both women wore silk tracksuits and sneakers. Not exactly what she would choose to make an impromptu call on friends.

Dickce walked into the room and announced, “Coffee will be ready in a few minutes.” She took the chair near her sister’s.

“So what is all this about a ghost in Sarinda’s house?” An’gel hoped her tone didn’t sound surly to their guests. She could almost hear Dickce telling her to chill.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Barbie said. “I didn’t say I believed in the ghost, and neither did Lottie. We came here to tell you about it. I think we all need to put our heads together to figure out what’s going on at Sarinda’s house.”

“I see,” An’gel said. Why didn’t you tell us that in the first place? She kept her expression bland.

“How did you find out about the so-called ghost?” Dickce asked. “Did you see it yourself?”

Lottie’s eyes grew round, and she shivered. “No, thank heavens. I don’t know what I’d do if I came face-to-face with a real live spirit.”

“It wasn’t a ghost, I keep telling you that.” Barbie rolled her eyes. “You’d pass out and wee all over yourself if you ever did see one. Neither of us saw the light in Sarinda’s house. One of Sarinda’s neighbors told us about it this morning in swim class.”

“You really ought to come join us,” Lottie said. “It does wonders for your joints.”

“Thank you for the invitation,” An’gel said. “I’ll keep that in mind if my joints start acting up.”

“Which neighbor of Sarinda’s told you about the ghost?” Dickce asked in a more diplomatic tone.

“The one who lives directly across the street, Mrs. Harrington,” Barbie replied. “She apparently stays up late at night writing in one of the front rooms of her house, and her desk looks straight out the window at Sarinda’s place.”

“She was working last night,” Lottie said. “I believe she’s writing a cookbook. It was about midnight.” She turned to Barbie. “Wasn’t that what she said? Midnight?”

“Yes,” Barbie replied. “Anyway, she was working, and she stopped for a few minutes to rest her shoulders. She was staring out the window, and she suddenly noticed a small light moving around in Sarinda’s house. From what she said, I think it was her parlor.”