Миранда Джеймс - Digging Up The Dirt

“All right, I will, Barbara Gross,” An’gel replied. “There were plenty of rumors going around that you were one of Hadley’s conquests, and your husband was still in the picture back then.”

“I’ll admit I flirted with Hadley for all I was worth,” Barbie said. “But all I did was flirt. I loved my husband, but he was on the dull side and got duller every day he aged. Hadley was never dull. He also never got me into bed, although he tried.”

“What about you, Lottie?” Dickce asked. “There were stories about you and Hadley as well.”

Lottie blushed. “My husband and I hadn’t been married long back then, and he was gone half the time on business. I got a bit lonely, and when Hadley paid me attention, I couldn’t help but respond.”

“You never told me that,” Barbie said.

“We weren’t good friends then like we are now,” Lottie said. “Now I tell you every thing. But don’t start thinking Hadley got me into bed, either, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. My husband would have killed both of us if he’d thought I cheated on him.”

An’gel said wryly, “Hadley flirted with every woman in a two-hundred-mile radius.”

“Including the two of you,” Barbie said with a hint of rancor.

“Yes, including us.” Dickce smiled. “Hadley is mighty good at it. But flirting was as far he got with either of us.”

An’gel heard the front door open. Then Benjy’s voice saying, “Please come in. I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”

Peanut loped into the room with Endora riding on his back. He came immediately up to An’gel and woofed. Endora hopped down, walked over to Dickce, and climbed into her lap.

Barbie and Lottie appeared bemused by the sudden intrusion. Before An’gel could apologize for the animals, Benjy walked into the room, trailed by Reba Dalrymple and her son, Martin.

Reba made a beeline for An’gel without acknowledging the presence of anyone else.

“Have you heard what they found at Ashton Hall?” Reba asked, her eyes alight with excitement. She gave An’gel no time to respond. “They dug up Callie Partridge.”

CHAPTER 15

Peanut and Endora were both evidently startled by Reba’s loud voice and abrupt approach to An’gel. Endora dug her claws into Dickce’s lap before she launched herself onto the floor and ran away. Peanut chased after the cat, barking, and Benjy went after the animals.

Grateful for the thick weave of her skirt that protected her legs from the cat’s claws, Dickce thought for a minute that Lottie MacLeod’s eyeballs were going to pop right out of her face when she heard what Reba said about Callie. She knew there was nothing funny about finding remains at Ashton Hall, but she had to suppress a snort of laughter at the sight of Lottie’s face.

Barbie’s expression was almost as comical, she thought. Both women were speechless, and that was something that rarely ever happened.

“As a matter of fact, Reba,” An’gel said, “we were there when the remains were found yesterday morning. Why don’t you and Martin have a seat, and I’ll go see about more coffee, if you’d like some.”

After staring hard for a moment at her hostess, Reba accepted the offer of coffee and seated herself between Barbie and Lottie on the sofa. Martin wandered over to the desk and sat there. From what Dickce could see, he was simply staring out the front window.

An’gel had barely left the room before Reba demanded, “What were you two doing at Ashton Hall yesterday morning?”

Dickce thought Reba sounded resentful, or perhaps she was jealous. Dickce wondered why Reba would be jealous. She said, “We went over because Hadley asked us to. He wanted to talk to us about his plans to restore the gardens. He wants to bring them back to how they were when his mother was alive.”

“Mrs. Partridge did have the greenest thumb around,” Reba said. She glanced at Barbie, then at Lottie. “You two didn’t get to know her, because she died around the time you moved here. My mother was one of her dearest friends, so we naturally spent a fair amount of time at Ashton Hall.”

“Is that right?” Barbie said. “I seem to have heard that somewhere before.” She grimaced at the back of Reba’s head as Reba turned to smile at Lottie. “Many times.”

Dickce noted that Reba didn’t acknowledge the dig, although she would have sworn that Reba’s nostrils flared briefly.

Instead, Reba said in the same airy tone she’d used before, “Yes, Mother and Mrs. Partridge were the best of friends. They were at Sweet Briar together in its early days, you know.”

“Really?” Barbie said. “I didn’t think it opened until after the Civil War.”

Dickce had to work hard not to snigger this time. Reba talked about her mother going to Sweet Briar all the time, and they had all tired of it long ago. Barbie, however, was the only one who tried to break Reba of the habit by being rude about it.

Thus far, rudeness appeared to have had little effect.

Dickce figured she’d better intervene before the claws came out any further. “We were all upset at the sight of bones,” she said. “But you shouldn’t jump to conclusions. We don’t know that the remains are Callie’s. They could be far older.”

“Where were these remains?” Barbie asked.

“Near a really old tree on the side of the house,” Dickce said.

“Do you think they could be Native American?” Lottie shivered. “What if Ashton Hall is built over a Native American burial ground? That’s scary.”

“What on earth are you talking about now?” An’gel asked.

Dicke glanced up at her sister and was not surprised to see her frowning.

“We were discussing the remains,” Dickce said, “and I warned everybody not to jump to conclusions. Lottie simply asked whether they could be Native American.”

“I see.” An’gel resumed her seat. “The coffee will be ready in a few minutes.”

“But what if they really are what’s left of Callie?” Reba asked. “How did they get there? That’s what I want to know.”

“Do you think Callie was murdered?” Barbie asked. “Who on earth would want to murder her? I didn’t know her that long, but she seemed like a sweet person. Not the kind of woman who gets murdered, for heaven’s sake.”

“Hamish was terribly possessive of her,” Reba said. “When Hadley disappeared, she might have decided to go after him. But then Hamish found out and killed her in a fit of jealous rage.”

Dickce didn’t like the note of smug self-satisfaction in Reba’s voice. She looked sharply at the other woman.

“That’s horrible,” Lottie said, obviously distressed.

“I agree,” Dickce said. “You have to presume a lot to come up with those conclusions.”

“What do you mean?” Reba asked.

Dickce ticked them off on her fingers. “First, you have to presume that Hadley was in love with Callie, and second, that Hamish told his brother to leave Ashton Hall because of it. Third, that Callie was so in love with Hadley that she was willing to run away from her husband. Fourth, that Hamish was in such a tremendous rage that he killed his own wife when she said she was leaving him, and, fifth, buried her practically in his own front yard without anybody noticing.” She paused and looked at her fingers. “I think that’s it. Five things you have to presume.”

“Did anyone ever ask Hamish Partridge what happened to his wife?” Barbie asked. “I don’t remember seeing him around much, once word got out that both Hadley and Callie were gone.”

“I talked to him a couple of weeks after everyone realized Hadley was gone, and by that time, we realized no one had seen Callie around during that period,” Reba said. “Poor man. I asked about Callie, and all he would say was that she was gone. No other explanation, and I didn’t feel that I could question him further.” She shrugged. “I took it to mean she’d run away with Hadley, and that was the end of it.”