Миранда Джеймс - Digging Up The Dirt

Coriander closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, tears began to flow. “Mama doesn’t know I’m still alive. I wasn’t even sure if she was either. She’ll soon be ninety-eight. Tell me, how is she?”

“She looks well,” Dickce said. “She still grieves for you.”

An’gel couldn’t blame her sister for being blunt with Coriander. Mrs. Simpson had obviously made a deep impression on Dickce, and even though she hadn’t met her, she could understand some of the pain Mrs. Simpson felt.

“Perhaps you should go see her,” Dickce added. “Before it’s too late.”

Hadley pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to his wife, who was now crying softly. She mopped at her tears and nodded. “I know it was a terrible thing to do to Mama,” she said. “But at the time it seemed best to make a complete break. We didn’t think we’d ever come back here, you see.”

“It was my idea,” Hadley said. “I had to talk her into it, and I’ve regretted it often. We never really expected to come back to Athena, and we thought we might as well protect them from the backlash they could face because of an interracial marriage.” He glanced at his wife. “I know Hamish would have reacted badly.”

“My daddy would have, too, God rest his soul,” Coriander said. “He never would have understood, although Mama might have come around eventually. I thought about them every day since.” She blew her nose into the handkerchief. “Once we sent that telegram, there was no going back.”

Hadley smiled at his wife. “We’ll go see your mother tomorrow, okay?”

“I think you should try to contact another member of the family first,” Dickce said. “Break the news to them, and let one of them tell your mother before you simply appear on her doorstep.”

Coriander nodded. “You’re right. I’ll see if I can get ahold of one of my brothers. They’re going to be upset, too.”

“Why didn’t you tell us the other day you were married?” An’gel asked. “When we first saw you at the garden club board meeting. Why all the secrecy now?”

Coriander said, “I was pretty sick when we first arrived. Had a terrible case of the flu that I must have picked up on the plane, or right before we left England. I was in no condition to meet anyone. It’s only in the last couple of days I’ve felt halfway human again. I suppose you were trying to protect me, weren’t you, honey?”

Hadley nodded. “I didn’t want a lot of people turning up here when you were ill. I knew there could well be a circus once people found out we’re married, and have been all these years.”

An’gel had her own ideas about why Hadley hadn’t told them he was married. He might sugarcoat it for his wife, but An’gel would bet he wasn’t eager to confront anyone over the fact that his wife was African American.

Coriander caught An’gel’s gaze and widened her eyes. An’gel realized that was Coriander’s way of saying she understood Hadley’s reluctance.

“Now that I’m feeling good again,” Coriander said, “I’m ready to face Athena, I suppose. I know it’s going to be hard for some people to accept, even now, but they’ll simply have to deal with it. Their problem, not ours. After all we’ve been through, I’m not going to put up with their ignorance.”

“Exactly,” An’gel said. “Your marriage is your business and nobody else’s.”

“Up to a point,” Dickce said.

“What do you mean?” Hadley asked, obviously startled.

“The current situation,” Dickce replied. “If An’gel is right about the motive behind the murder and the attempted murders, Coriander could be in danger once the parties concerned find out about your marriage.”

Coriander frowned up at Hadley. “What’s going on here? You’ve obviously been keeping things from me. You never said anything about murder.”

“I know,” Hadley said. “I’m not going to apologize for not telling you about it all before now. You were too sick, and I didn’t want you fretting. I didn’t realize, frankly, that you could be in danger, though, until An’gel forced me to face facts.”

Coriander turned to An’gel. “What facts are we talking about?”

“The women of the Athena Garden Club board,” An’gel replied. She named them for Coriander, who nodded to indicate she remembered them all. “One of them, I think, is obsessed with Hadley. Obsessed to the point that she will try to remove any obstacle standing in her way. She’s already pushed Sarinda down the stairs to her death and run Arliss off the road. She even attempted to do the same to me, I think, although there’s a possibility that was simply a coincidence.”

“The point is, once she finds out Hadley has a wife, she could very likely target you,” Dickce said.

“That sounds like the plot of a movie.” Coriander shivered. “A creepy, scary movie.”

“I’m afraid it may all be too true.” An’gel looked straight at Hadley. “Have you told her about what we found in the garden?”

He shook his head. “Not at the time. She was really sick then, and I didn’t want to worry her. I told her last night.”

“I don’t understand it,” Coriander said. “I know Hadley thinks his brother killed Callie, but I can’t believe he did. He loved her, and he had never raised his hand to her in all the time I worked for her. He had a temper and even broke things sometimes, but I don’t think he would ever kill her.”

Coriander sounded completely sincere, and An’gel had no doubt she believed Hamish was innocent. An’gel reserved judgment still.

“Then if Hamish didn’t do it, who did?” Dickce asked.

“Track down that nasty woman who was housekeeper here,” Coriander said. “Mrs. Turnipseed. She hated Callie with a passion because she fancied herself as Mrs. Hamish Partridge. If anyone killed her, that old witch did.”

“Mrs. Turnipseed was in love with Hamish?” Hadley asked. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” Coriander said. “I caught her once in their bedroom, lying on the bed with one of his suits. She was stroking it and talking to it like he was there in the bed with her.” She shook her head. “It was sickening.”

“Did she know you saw her?” An’gel asked, fascinated by what Coriander had told them.

“I don’t think so,” Coriander said. “She always treated me like dirt, and I didn’t notice any difference after that.”

“Did you tell Callie?” Hadley asked.

“I wanted to,” Coriander said. “I just couldn’t, though. I know she complained to Hamish about the woman several times and wanted him to fire her, but he wouldn’t. She seemed to have some kind of hold over him.” She laughed suddenly. “She couldn’t force him to marry her, though, even after Callie disappeared.” She looked at An’gel and Dickce. “She didn’t, did she?”

“I don’t think so,” An’gel said. “If he had, it was a deep secret. Otherwise he would have had to admit that Callie was dead.”

“If he didn’t kill Callie, and someone else did, then why didn’t he call the police?” Coriander asked. “It doesn’t make sense that he wouldn’t, if he didn’t do it.”

“That’s one of the reasons I’m inclined to think he probably did,” An’gel said. “Though I wonder how it’s connected to recent events.”

“You were still here for a few days after I left and before you joined me in New York,” Hadley said to his wife. “Did you see or hear anything that might have a bearing on Callie’s death?”

Coriander frowned. “The afternoon I left the weather was pretty bad. Thunderstorms and heavy rain. I thought we weren’t going to make it to Memphis for me to catch the plane to New York in time.” She paused. “I left by the back door. I’d arranged with a man I knew in town to give me ride to Memphis. He was waiting around back when I came out. It was pouring rain by then, and I got soaked getting into the car with my suitcases. When he drove around the front to head for the highway, I saw a car there. I don’t know who it was, though, but I remember thinking I heard somebody at the front door. Mrs. Turnipseed always answered the door, and I was happy she wasn’t there in the kitchen when I left.”