Beverly Connor - One Grave Too Many

“We’ll call it a day,” said Diane, standing up, observing the completed work. “You guys are doing a good job. Fast too.” She carefully walked among the grid squares, surveying the bone. All animal that she saw. A little easier than a pit of all humans, but it was death just the same. She didn’t think she could be a hunter. As she started to step out of the grids so they could cover the area with plastic for the night, she spotted the end of a bone just about to be uncovered. Diane walked over and squatted down beside the woman who was working on that square.

“See something?” the young woman asked.

“It’s been gnawed on by one of the canine family, but it’s the distal end of a human humerus-the end that fits with the radius and ulna, the bones of the forearm,” said Diane. She had expected to find an arm and perhaps a shoulder girdle close to the surface, since the original clavicle had made its way to the surface. She liked it when her expectations were met.

“Think the rest of him is close by?” asked the woman.

Diane shrugged. “Maybe. Or an animal could have separated the arm from the torso and dragged it here, or it may have percolated to the top.”

“Grim stuff,” she said.

“Yes, that’s the word for it. Grim .”

Diane went from the site to the museum to check the day’s activities before meeting Frank. Andie had left notes on her desk. Nothing urgent. She showered in her private bathroom off the conference room of her office. She slicked back her short wet hair, put on her minimalist makeup, and changed into denim pants, a black tee and maroon shirt jacket. It was good to feel clean.

There were more people in the museum after hours these days; the closer they got to the public opening, the more people stayed late. Her absence today reminded her that she needed to find an assistant director. She hadn’t liked any of the applications that had come across her desk and wasn’t sure she wanted to promote anyone in house.

She took the stairs to Jonas’ office. Inside, she studied his chessboard. She had started the game to make Jonas feel at home, and was surprised how much she enjoyed it. It had been a long time since she had played her last game with Gregory. He nearly always won, except that time she had beat him in forty-six moves. She moved her other knight to the bishop three position and left the office, locking it behind her, and went down to meet Frank.

The museum seemed to be looking gentler-not quite so harsh as her first images of it-perhaps due to the good work of the groundskeepers, who were constantly planting, landscaping and manicuring.

“Dr. Fallon.”

Diane turned from looking at the building to two girls coming up the steps-Emily, the cellist, and Lacy, the violist from the string quartet.

“Hello. You here to meet Melissa and Alix? Are they working late?”

“No. We came to see you,” said Emily.

“Maybe we shouldn’t,” said Lacy, grabbing her friend’s arm.

“You want a job?” asked Diane, smiling at them. “We can always use energetic workers.”

“No, it’s not that,” said Emily. “It’s something else.” She looked up at the windows as if looking for a spy. “It’s kind of personal.”

“Would you like to go to my office?”

“That would be better.”

As Diane led them to her office, she called Frank and told him she would be running a little late. Entering her office from the private door, she led the two young women to her conference room. The stuffed sofa and chairs in the corner were more comfortable and less forbidding than her main office. She sat in one of the chairs and motioned for Emily and Lacy to sit on the sofa.

“Now, what can I do for you?”

“It’s about Melissa,” said Emily. She hesitated a moment, and Lacy interrupted.

“We’re friends with Mike Seger, her boyfriend, too.” She stopped a moment and took a breath. “This is really hard for us. We promised.”

“Go on.” Diane sat, waiting for a revelation. She couldn’t have been more shocked when it came.

“I know you think Mike is hitting Melissa,” said Emily. “He’s not. It’s Alix.”

Diane opened her mouth, closed it and opened it again. “Alix? I don’t understand. Did Mike tell you to say this?”

“No,” said Lacy. “He doesn’t know we’re here, and we don’t want him or anyone else to know.”

“Please explain it to me.”

“Melissa and Alix have known each other a long time. I think they were even in day care together. The two of us met them in first grade, so we know both of them well. Alix has a temper and she hits. She always has. She hit me once in second grade, and I knocked her down. She didn’t do it again.”

“That’s true,” said Lacy. “She tried to hit me too, and I slapped her face hard. If you fought back, she backed off.”

“All kids hit now and then,” said Diane.

“Yes,” said Emily, “but Alix was different. She always hit with her fists-or whatever she had in her hands-and she never grew out of it. She and Melissa have been best friends for a long time, and Melissa is totally loyal to her-and never fought back.”

“Are you saying it’s Alix causing the bruises on Melissa?”

“Yes. Her parents think she’s just clumsy. Mike thought it was her father until he saw Alix punch her hard in the arm. Melissa made us promise not to tell. She says it’s not Alix’s fault.”

Diane stood up and walked around her desk and looked at the two of them sitting side by side on the sofa. They looked sincere. “I’m having a hard time grasping this.”

“We thought you would. But it’s true. Alix will hit anyone who will put up with it. She even hits her boyfriend, Dylan.”

“Yes,” said Lacy, “Emily and I both saw how she bruised him. He’s crazy about her. I don’t know how she commands such loyalty. If I beat up on my boyfriend, he’d be out of here.”

“We didn’t want you to blame Mike, or we wouldn’t have said anything,” said Emily. “Something like this could hurt him. Not just with you, but with Dr. Lymon.”

“It’s true,” said Lacy. “If we were lying to protect him, we’d have come up with a more believable story. Look, we promised Melissa we wouldn’t ever tell.”

“So don’t tell anyone, please,” added Emily.

“The two of you are adults now, and you know that there are some promises you shouldn’t make.”

“I know, but we don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Alix really is nice. She’s quick to give you help with your music if you need it. You can count on her in a crisis, and most of the time she’s real sweet.”

“I won’t tell who told me, but I will mention this to a family friend of Melissa’s.”

Emily and Lacy looked at each other and back at Diane. “I suppose that’s all right.”

“It is all right. It’s not all right for Melissa to be abused by anyone, and it’s not right that innocent people be blamed. And if Alix is truly a nice person other than this, she needs counseling, not secrecy.”

Emily wrinkled her brow. “Does this mean you believe us or not?”

“I don’t disbelieve you. It’s just hard to wrap my brain around.”

“Well, I can understand that,” said Emily. “It is weird.”

Diane escorted them out of the museum and watched them get into their car. Alix? Could that possibly be true? She walked back to her office and called Laura.

“I find it hard to believe,” said Diane. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“It’s rare,” said Laura, “but not unheard of. Melissa’s obviously dependent on Alix and their friendship. You can’t tell me who told you?”