Миранда Джеймс - Digging Up The Dirt

Dickce looked up at her sister. “Benjy was trying to track down the H. Wachtel from the telegram to Mrs. Simpson. He couldn’t find anyone who might plausibly be the same person. He got curious about the name Wachtel, however, and dug into it. It’s German, and it means quail or partridge .”

“That sneaky devil,” An’gel said. “So Hadley sent that telegram?”

“It seems that way,” Dickce said.

An’gel thought for a moment. “You saw the telegram, and I didn’t. Was there anything on it that indicated it truly came from London?”

Dickce looked pensive. “No, not that I can remember. I’d have to look at it again to be sure, though. What are you getting at?”

“Only that the H could be Hamish and not Hadley,” An’gel said.

“Why would Hamish have sent a telegram, purporting to be from London, saying that his maid was killed in an accident there? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Not much about this whole situation does,” An’gel replied, her tone grim.

“If Hadley sent it,” Dickce said, “do you think Coriander Simpson ran away with him and was tragically killed? Was Hadley in love with her?”

“I don’t know,” An’gel said. “It’s certainly possible. Remember, Barbie told us she had seen the three of them—Hadley, Callie, and Coriander—in public together away from Athena. She thought Coriander was there to provide a screen for Hadley and Callie. But what if Callie was there to provide a screen so Hadley and Coriander could be together?”

CHAPTER 31

An’gel waited for Dickce’s response. The idea made sense to her, but she wanted to know what her sister thought.

“I suppose that’s a possibility,” Dickce said. “If Hadley was truly in love with Coriander, they couldn’t have been open about it without causing quite a stink forty years ago. You know what people in this town are like, even now when we see interracial couples more often.”

“And what Hamish was like,” An’gel said. “He might have had a stroke on the spot if he’d ever found out about them.”

“Would have served him right.” Dickce sniffed. “But, look here, if Coriander went to England with Hadley and was tragically killed there, and Callie was lying in the ground at Ashton Hall all this time, why the heck is someone trying to knock off the members of the garden club board forty years later?”

“My guess is frustrated passion,” An’gel said. “One of those women must have been so fixated on Hadley all these years that, now he’s come back, she’s trying to make sure she has no competition. I know that might sound crazy but, frankly, I think one of them is crazy as a betsy bug.”

“Warped by unrequited love.” Dickce shrugged. “I suppose it happens. If that’s the case, though, whoever the deranged one is, she’s done a great job of hiding it all these years.”

An’gel nodded. “Yes. I’m betting on either Lottie or Reba. I don’t think it’s Barbie.”

“Maybe,” Dickce said. “I’m still not so sure you’re right about the motive. Maybe it’s something else entirely.”

“I don’t think so,” An’gel said. Why was Dickce so hesitant to agree with her? She hadn’t come up with any other reasonable motive. “We won’t get anywhere, however, if we don’t talk to Hadley and force him somehow to come clean. Only he can tell us who he was really in love with.”

“Ashton Hall then?” Dickce asked as she put the car in reverse.

“Ashton Hall,” An’gel said and settled back for the ride.

Fifteen minutes later Dickce pulled up in front of the Partridge ancestral home. An’gel saw workmen clearing away the downed tree, while others worked on clearing underbrush from outlying flower beds and the edge of the woods that separated Ashton Hall from Riverhill.

“Things are definitely looking better, don’t you think?” Dickce asked.

“Yes, but there’s still a long way to go if Hadley’s going to have everything ready for the spring garden tour.” An’gel stepped out of the car and shut the door. She waited for Dickce to join her before they proceeded up the walk to the front door.

An’gel rang the bell, and they waited. She rang it again and held her finger on it for several seconds. Moments later the door swung open, and Hadley stood there.

He flashed a brief smile but did not step back from the open door. “Good afternoon, An’gel, Dickce. As always, it’s lovely to see you, but I’m afraid I’m really swamped at the moment. Can’t we talk later?”

An’gel glared at him. She wasn’t going to be put off by these tactics. Hadley ought to know her better.

“No, we can’t talk later.” An’gel pushed against the door, and Hadley stepped back, his expression one of resignation. “We have to talk to you, and it has to be now. I don’t care what else is going on, it can’t be as important as what we have to discuss.” She walked into the entry hall with Dickce right behind her.

“Really, An’gel,” Hadley protested, “this is high-handed, even for you. I can’t imagine you have anything to discuss that calls for forcing your way in here so rudely.”

“You shut that door, Hadley Partridge,” An’gel said. “Three women are dead, one is missing, and another one is barely hanging on to life, and it’s all due to you. So don’t you tell me I’m being high-handed. You get yourself into that parlor and start talking to Dickce and me. We have to stop this craziness before someone else gets killed. Do you understand me?”

An’gel was ready to snatch Hadley bald-headed, as her mother used to say to her and Dickce when she was aggravated with them. Hadley stared at her as if she were a complete stranger, but after a moment’s hesitation, he nodded. “All right.” He led the way into the front parlor.

An’gel was right behind him, and Dickce brought up the rear. Hadley indicated they should be seated, and An’gel chose the sofa. Dickce sat beside her. An’gel stared pointedly at Hadley until he took a seat in an armchair across from them.

“Why is it you think I’m somehow responsible for all this?” Hadley asked. “I didn’t harm Sarinda, and I surely didn’t run Arliss off the road.”

“You were always too good-looking and too charming for your own good and anybody else’s,” An’gel said, trying hard to hold on to her fast-fraying temper. “ The most eligible bachelor in Athena .” She snorted in a most unladylike manner. “I hate to admit it now, but even I fell for those so-called charms of yours. Briefly.”

Dickce coughed, and An’gel turned her head to glare at her sister. She suspected that Dickce was covering up a laugh. She turned her focus back to Hadley, who was sitting there looking like a juvenile who’d just been caught smoking or doing something else inappropriate.

Hadley opened his mouth to speak, but An’gel wasn’t done yet.

“You went around playing fast and loose with women’s hearts, and consorting with married women,” An’gel said. “Your parents raised you better than that, and you know it. Your mother spoiled you rotten, but even she didn’t want to see you running around with other men’s wives. Especially your brother’s.”

Hadley tried to speak again, but An’gel was on a roll. “I know you’ve told us you weren’t in love with Callie, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t in love with you. The same thing goes for Barbie Gross, Lottie MacLeod, Reba Dalrymple, Arliss McGonigal, and poor Sarinda Hetherington. And then there’s Coriander Simpson. What about her, Hadley?” An’gel finally paused for breath.

“What about her?” Hadley asked. “What do you mean? She was my brother’s servant, Callie’s maid. What does she have to do with anything?”