A Bell in the Garden

by Sheri Richey

  “Here, Mandy,” Carmen said as she sat a small potted bush on the table with her little potted plant. “I’m ready to check out now.” Amanda ducked behind Cora and went quickly to the task of ringing up the purchases.

  “So, what’s with all the law enforcement?” Carmen spoke in a hushed voice but even with an effort she couldn’t be quiet, and several heads turned towards Amanda for an answer.

  “Oh, the Chief’s over there,” Amanda said with an innocuous wave. “Everybody’s looking for him today.”

  “Well, we always support the blue,” Carmen squealed. “Don’t we, Rodney?” Carmen grabbed her husband’s arm and pulled him closer.

  “Hello, Mayor,” Rodney Maddox said shyly with a small nod.

  “Hello, Rodney.” Cora returned his greeting warmly. “The sign is lovely. Amanda told me you made it and I never knew you could do such beautiful work. Maybe we have you in the wrong city department?” Cora laughed at her own joke when she saw Rodney straighten his back and smile. She always felt sorry for Rodney Maddox, but never more so than when she learned he had married Carmen Gentry. He had been a shy lonely fifth-grader everyone pushed around when he was in her class and he didn’t appear to have outgrown that yet. “Can you tell me how you did it?”

  Rodney moved closer to Cora as his wife finished her purchase with Amanda. “Well, it’s really not artistic or anything,” Rodney said looking down at his feet. “I just got the picture from Amanda and traced it on wood. Then I took a saw and trimmed it out.”

  “Well, Amanda didn’t give you a picture that was ten feet wide, did she?”

  Rodney chuckled. “No, but I just copied it. Then the painting was just like filling in a coloring book. Anybody could have done it.”

  “Well, I can tell you one thing,” Cora said defiantly. “This anybody couldn’t have done it and I’d wager a bet most people couldn’t.” Cora reached out and patted his shoulder. “Just copying the design the way you did is quite a feat. Do you draw?”

  “Some,” Rodney mused. “Doodles, mostly.”

  “What about people?” Cora said squinting to peer closely at Rodney’s reaction. “Do you draw people? I mean faces, bodies, like that?”

  When Rodney furrowed his forehead and paused, Carmen jumped in. “Tell the Mayor,” Carmen said as she elbowed him. “Yes, he draws everything. Me standing in the kitchen, the cat, the dog, the tree in the yard. He draws all the time.”

  “Well, yes, but it’s just a pastime. They’re not any good.” Carmen huffed and walked away, but Cora reached out and touched Rodney’s forearm before he could follow her.

  “Come see me sometime next week, whenever you can stop in the office. There may be something you can help me out with.”

  “Sure thing, Mayor. I’d be happy to,” Rodney said as he waved and followed his wife.

  CHAPTER 7

  Conrad blew air out through pursed lips at finding relief in the driver’s seat of his car. The lumbar support was a blessing. “So, are you tired? Too tired for dinner? I’m hungry.”

  “Oh,” Cora moaned. “I’m too old for all this. My knees are killing me from all the walking and now my backside hurts from sitting on that little stool.”

  The sun was going down as they backed out of the parking space and waved at Amanda. The sheriff’s department car was still parked on the grass, but Sergeant Cantrell had left for the day, so the parking lot was empty.

  “So, I should take you home?”

  “No, let’s go to Ole Thyme Italian. They have those big padded booths. I’m hungry, too,” Cora said as she massaged her knees. “So, tell me what happened after I left you with Bobby.”

  “Well, he seemed a little put out when he came through the door,” Conrad said glancing over at Cora with a mischievous smile. “Did you have anything to do with that?”

  “Hey, I gave him a Spicetown special escort right to Bryan’s door as soon as he tried to grandstand by pulling his car up in the yard. I even smiled sweetly when he tried to lecture me on police procedure.”

  Conrad chuckled. “I suspected as much.”

  “He thinks I’m an idiot,” Cora said scowling. “Does he treat everybody like that or is it just me?” Conrad knew that was a rhetorical question and remained quiet so Cora could vent. “Maybe it’s because I’m a woman? Or not law enforcement? Or maybe it’s just because he’s a jerk.” Conrad smirked in response. He enjoyed having someone share his viewpoint without him even speaking it. He had been careful to let Cora make up her own mind about the new sheriff and tried not to taint her opinions.

  “Was there much talk out there? Did you hear anybody asking questions about him showing up?”

  “Only that woman, Rodney’s wife, Carmen. Carmen Macedo I always call her, but she was married to Andrew Gentry and now she’s married to Rodney Maddox. She’s a nosy one. She asked, but Amanda took care of it.”

  Conrad only smiled at Cora’s crankiness. She always got persnickety when she was tired. “We’ve run into her before and I know you don’t especially care for her.”

  “Nope,” Cora said leaning back and slapping her hands on her thighs. “She’s a man-eater and she’s not discreet about it. Flirts with everybody and I know she was cheating on Andrew when they were married. Probably cheating on poor Rodney, too. I’ve never had any use for her.” Conrad remembered being warned about Carmen by Cora’s late husband, Bing, when he first hired him. He thought Carmen would try to move in on someone new to town and Conrad had kept his distance. He thought at the time Bing was speaking from experience and suspected Carmen had made moves on Bing, too.

  “I think she was Gentry when I first moved to town, but the marriage had ended.” Conrad had been aware of the rumors circulating town that Carmen had a baby that wasn’t Andrew’s child.

  “Yeah, she was having an affair with Howard Bell and everybody thinks it’s his child, including Andrew,” Cora said pointing Conrad to a vacant parking spot she had spied as they pulled into the restaurant parking lot. “That’s pretty much what ended that marriage and the talk was all over town. Although it wouldn’t surprise me if there weren’t several other potential candidates to call daddy. Carmen got around.”

  Locking up the car, Conrad walked around and up the steps to the entrance of the restaurant and waited for Cora as she trudged up the handicap ramp. Her steps were slower than usual, and he noticed an occasional wince.

  Joanne Biglioni, the owner’s daughter, greeted them warmly at the door and led them to their regular booth with promises to be back for their order as soon as she had their drinks.

  “So,” Conrad said, wondering about some of the things Cora had said during the drive. “You were saying everyone thought Carmen’s baby belonged to Howard Bell? Is that the man that Mavis used to be married to?”

  “She still is as far as I know. He’s just not around anymore. I don’t think they got divorced or anything. He just left. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mavis threw him out because of Carmen, but I think he was gone by the time she had the baby.”

  “Howard Bell?” Joanne said as she sat the drinks on the table.

  “Yes,” Cora said smiling. “We saw Mavis today and Conrad was asking about her husband.”

  “Mavis is a sweetheart.” Joanne pulled her order pad and pen from her apron. “What can I get you?”

  “Baked lasagna for me,” Cora said and looked to Conrad.

  “That sounds good. I’ll have the same.”

  “Coming right up,” Joanne said clicking the end of her pen. “You know, I saw Mavis’ daughter in here last week. I hadn’t seen her in a long time, but she must have been visiting her mom. She’s lost a lot of weight I noticed but she looked good.”

  “I saw her at Christmas,” Cora said smiling. “I think Mavis kept her kids during some of Christmas break. I’m sure Mavis would love to have her move back.”

  “Let me put your orders in.” Joanne nodded as she walked away.

  “I talked to Mavis a bit today and she sounded like
her daughter is considering moving back or she is trying to talk her into it,” Conrad said.

  “I had heard Leanne was separated or divorcing, but she has two or three kids.”

  “Two girls I believe,” Conrad said as he pulled the napkin from his silverware.

  “Speaking of that, I think her son might have been there today. I saw a young man talking to her when I was in the house. They both took off as soon as Bobby got out of the car,” Conrad said. Conrad had been looking out of the kitchen window when the sheriff’s cars pulled up and Mavis was close to the house at the time. He had wondered why they both looked at the sheriff and left, but Mavis put the clipboard she had been working with all day on the table as they had turned to leave, walking through the grass field that separated her house from Bryan’s. The timing could have been a coincidence, but he preferred to think Sheriff Bell caused it.

  “Well, if she’s ever met the sheriff, that would explain it,” Cora said huffing as Conrad laughed. “Is Bryan okay? I mean did he hold up okay after Bobby arrived? He seemed pretty frazzled when I was there.

  “Oh, yeah, he’s fine. He’s a little shaken up, but Bobby didn’t even talk to him. He gave him one long look and then went into the other room to talk to Alice. He barely spoke to me.”

  “A small blessing.”

  “Alice doesn’t cut him any slack,” Conrad said shaking his head. He had heard some of their conversation which was mostly Alice telling Bobby his purpose was purely to guard and protect her bones and nothing more. “She told him this was her jurisdiction, not his. She’s running the show right now and he can’t bulldoze her.”

  “Good,” Cora said as she pulled her napkin from under her silverware and spread it across her lap when she saw Joanne approaching with their plates.

  They ate in silence, but Conrad’s thoughts were searching for memories of Spicetown when he had first arrived almost fourteen years ago. Cora’s husband, George Bingham, who everyone called Bing, had been mayor for many years and Bing had hired Conrad as Spicetown Police Chief. Because he was new to town, Bing had introduced him around and told him countless stories about the town’s history and its people. He had filed these stories away in his memories and was trying to resurrect them while he finished his meal until Cora roused him back to the present.

  “So, what does Alice think? Did she tell you anything?”

  “She can’t say anything for sure. It’s all speculation, but she thinks it’s an adult male. They really hope the rest of the body is there so they can have a better chance to uncover some details to help identify him.”

  “How long does she think he’s been there?”

  “She didn’t say,” Conrad said pushing his plate away. “Based on the questions she asked Bryan, she must be looking back to a time before he moved in there.”

  “Did Bryan say who his folks bought the house from?”

  “He didn’t know.”

  “Well, that’s easy enough to find out. They just have to check the county records,” Cora said sliding her plate to the side. “You know, I bet Mavis knows. She’s lived there a long time.”

  “I’m sure they’ll look into that if they need to. First, they have to get it all moved out so the State can figure out what they’ve got. Alice said they could be there as early as tomorrow, no later than Monday.”

  “I hope it’s done quickly,” Cora said as she picked up her check.

  “It’s not a fast process,” Conrad said picking up his check as he saw Cora scoot across the booth seat to stand. “They bring a team in and remove it very carefully, so it doesn’t get damaged.”

  “Ugh,” Cora said. “Amanda will go crazy if this process drags on. I thought with the opening being over I would finally have her attention back on my work.” Cora turned to sign her name to her credit card receipt and smiled. “I’m sure I’ll hear about it Monday.”

  CHAPTER 8

  After a restful Sunday at home, Cora was ready to get back to work on her pet project. Learning she had an employee with natural artistic abilities had sent her imagination into high gear. She anxiously awaited a visit from Rodney Maddox.

  “Morning, dear,” Cora said breezing through the door. Seeing Amanda on her cell phone, she whispered, “Sorry” before entering her office. Putting her coat and purse away, she could hear Amanda’s agitation before ending her call.

  “If you don’t, I will,” Amanda said tersely. “I’ve got to go. The Mayor’s here now. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Twirling the wands to open all the venetian blinds, Cora pushed the button to start her computer and pulled out her chair.

  “I’m sorry about that,” Amanda said appearing in Cora’s doorway.

  “Don’t be,” Cora said with a dismissive wave. “I hope everything is okay.”

  “Well, I’m a little worried and Bryan is losing his mind. You wouldn’t believe all the people out there. They started showing up yesterday and he said there’s a dozen more today.”

  “Well,” Cora said frowning. “I guess it takes a lot of people. I wouldn’t have expected that either. Maybe that means they’ll get done faster.”

  “He’s having a fit because they are trampling his plants and wanting to dig up some of his young trees he just planted. He spent years getting those ready to go in the ground and now they are ruining them. He’s out of his mind over it.”

  “I don’t blame him. Unless there’s some good reason to destroy something, they should be respectful of this property.”

  “I told him to talk to the Chief. Maybe he could help, but he doesn’t want to bother him. I wish they hadn’t put it in the paper.”

  “He won’t see it as a bother at all. Would you like me to call him? I’m sure he won’t mind checking on things. He may have planned to do that anyway.”

  “Would you?” Amanda said squeezing her hands into fists. “I was going to if he came by. Bryan said people keep driving by and slowing down to look. It’s horrible.”

  “I’d be happy to,” Cora said turning on her desk lamp. “Did Bryan find any paperwork on the sale of his house? They asked him about it, and he said he was going to look in his parent’s papers.”

  “Oh,” Amanda said with raised eyebrows. “He didn’t mention it to me. I don’t know if he’s had time with all the chaos at his house.”

  “Oh, okay,” Cora said shrugging. “I was just curious. Bing would know if he were still here, but I can’t remember.”

  “I’ll ask him the next time I talk to him.” Amanda headed back to her desk and Cora lifted her phone. When Conrad didn’t answer, she hung up before leaving a message.

  “I’m going to go grab something to eat, Amanda,” Cora yelled out the door as she slipped her arm back into her jacket. “Can I bring you anything?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “I’ll be back shortly,” Cora said slinging her purse over her shoulder. Conrad was most likely at the bakery at this time of day and although they neither one needed it, no one could resist the Fennel Street Bakery’s cinnamon rolls.

  §

  “Hey,” Laura said peeking around Amanda’s door. “Is the Mayor gone?”

  “Yeah, come on in,” Amanda said motioning for her to enter.

  “I couldn’t believe what I read in the paper yesterday. When did Bryan find the bones?”

  “Oh, I know,” Amanda said dismissively. “It’s no big deal, really. The State will take them all away and see if they can figure out who it is. They’re really old, so it must have happened long before Bryan’s family bought the property.”

  “Kinda creepy,” Laura said cringing. “I mean, what if someone was murdered or something?”

  “It could just be an old family plot.”

  “Maybe,” Laura said unconvincingly. “You know, Mad Max used to live there?”

  “Who?”

  “Mad Max. Don’t you remember him? He was that weird kid, Max something, Pollard, I think. He moved here when we were in third grade. He was a weird little guy, and ev
eryone called him Mad Max.”

  “He lived in Bryan’s house?”

  “Yeah,” Laura insisted. “His family went to our church and my dad had to take him home after a skate party once. Our moms were friends.” Laura shrugged. “I don’t know where he is now, and I don’t think they lived there long.”

  “Bryan didn’t know who owned the place before his folks. He’s been there a long time.”

  “You might be able to find out online,” Laura suggested pointing at Amanda’s monitor. “You can see who owns land on there. I don’t know if they post the history.”

  “That’s right,” Amanda said pulling her keyboard closer and opening a browser window. Laura moved around behind her and peered over her shoulder. Finding the county’s property website, she entered Bryan’s name.

  “Look,” Laura said pointing over Amanda’s shoulder. “Who is that?”

  “Stanton Bell, LLC,” Amanda said and looked up at Laura. “I don’t have any idea but look at the date. He owned all that property for years. See, that name is all over the old plat map.” Clicking to enlarge the area around Bryan’s house, they saw the same name on every square.

  “It looks like he owned that whole side of the county back then. I don’t know anybody with that name though,” Laura said moving back around to the front of Amanda’s desk. “I guess the Pollard family must have been renting the house.”

  “Weird,” Amanda mused. “I’ll ask Bryan and see if the name sounds familiar to him. If it was an LLC though, the guy probably didn’t ever live there. He just owned the property.”

  “Yeah and we don’t even know how long ago it happened.”

  “True. I don’t know how you find old renters. There could have been lots of them over the years. I guess the State can research this better than we can,” Amanda said smiling.

  “Well, I need to get back to my desk before the Mayor comes in,” Laura whispered waving as Amanda’s phone vibrated.