by Sheri Richey
Cora walked back to the kitchen and opened the cabinet for the cat food. Marmalade rubbed against her shins as she poured some food in a bowl for her. “So, Howard Bell is a dog,” Cora said stroking her hand down Marmalade’s orange back. “Poor Mavis.”
§
“Chief,” Georgia Marks said as she peeked her head in Conrad’s office. “Miriam Landry is here to see you.”
“Thanks, Georgie. You can send her on back.”
Conrad emptied the coffee grounds from his coffeemaker and put in a new filter.
“Miriam, please have a seat. It’s good to see you.”
“Really, Conrad. I can’t believe you asked me down here,” Miriam said looking around his office with disgust.
“Well, I’ve been trying to track you down for three days, Miriam. I’ve been to the Chamber twice and your house. I can’t seem to get you to give me a minute, so short of arresting you, I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Ah,” Miriam huffed. “And what is so important? What exactly do you want from me, Conrad?”
“Would you like some coffee,” Conrad asked as he poured water into his coffeemaker and turned it on.
“No,” Miriam said tersely. “I have somewhere to be. Let’s just get to the point.”
“Well,” Conrad said spinning his chair around to sit down. “I want to talk to you about your brother, Howard.”
“Howard?”
“Yes, I saw you filed a missing person’s report on him.”
“That was years ago,” Miriam said frowning. “Did you find him? He’s not, the bones…”
“No, we don’t know who that is yet. We just want to be ready if they ask for additional information.”
“What kind of information?”
“Well, they are taking the recovered remains to the State Medical Examiner’s office to see what they can learn from them. If they do confirm the bones are an adult male and find indications they might be about Howard’s age, they will want samples to test for a possible identification.”
“Oh, I see,” Miriam murmured.
“Would you be willing to provide a DNA sample, if it comes to that?” Miriam’s gaze was trained just below the edge of his desktop and the pause was far too long.
“No, Conrad,” Miriam said raising her face up to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry, but no, I just can’t do that.”
“Well, Miriam, it doesn’t have to be a blood draw or anything. It’s just a simple swab of the inside of your cheek. It doesn’t hurt.”
“You’ll have to find somebody else, Conrad. I’m not giving my DNA to the government.”
“Why? What worries you, Miriam?”
“I don’t trust the government to have it and I’m not going to voluntarily give it. That’s all there is to it. Can I go now?”
“Wait, you said find somebody else. Are there other siblings in the area? Your parents?”
“My parents passed years ago,” Miriam said standing and brushing imaginary lint from her skirt. “I do have a sister, but she doesn’t live in Ohio.”
“Can you give me her address or phone number?”
“Well, I don’t know it off the top of my head,” Miriam screeched and then lowered her voice. “I’ll have to look. Maybe I have it around somewhere.”
“I take it you aren’t close with your family?”
Miriam scowled at his comment. “I’m sorry I can’t help, but I’ve got to get going.”
“What about his doctor or dentist? Do you know if anyone has medical records on him?”
“Ask his wife,” Miriam said as she stepped backwards toward the door. “She would know better than I would.”
“I’m asking you,” Conrad said impatiently.
“I don’t know.” Miriam fluffed her hair absentmindedly and looked out the office window. “We saw Dr. Hobbs as kids. Maybe he has old records. Howard had all kinds of health problems from his job in that filthy mine. I’m sure his prior employer knows who his medical provider was.”
“What kind of health problems?”
“He was drawing disability checks from somewhere.” Miriam threw up her hands in distaste. “Some kind of breathing problems, or that’s what I heard. I don’t know.”
“You and Howard didn’t talk much I gather.”
“Don’t judge me, Conrad,” Miriam said pointing her finger. “I didn’t approve of many things he did. We had little in common and no, I didn’t pry into his private life. From what I know, it was rather sordid, but he was still my brother, so when I heard he had disappeared, I filed the report because his wife hadn’t done it.”
“I see,” Conrad said demurely. “Well, thank you for stopping by.”
Huffing at the dismissal, Miriam turned abruptly and stomped from the room. It was no wonder Cora Mae couldn’t tolerate her.
CHAPTER 12
“Amanda?” Cora hollered from her desk to the outer office. “Do you have last year’s parade list?”
“I’ll get it.” Cora heard filing cabinet drawers open up and shut several times before Amanda appeared with the list in hand.
“How many entries were there?”
“Uh, twenty-six,” Amanda said handing Cora the list.
“Surely we can do better than that this year. What do you think about sending out some letters to businesses and community groups around the county? I’m thinking we might make it bigger this year if we invite some small towns around us to join in. They have school bands and clubs, too. I would like to see a really good crowd.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Amanda said. “The carnival after and fireworks display will draw people from the neighboring towns, anyway. I’m sure they’d rather come here than go into Paxton. What about their Chamber of Commerce offices? Maybe if we sent them some information, they’d share it with their members or give us a mailing list to use.”
“Excellent idea,” Cora said raising a fist in the air. She loved a parade and it would be especially exciting this year because of the statue dedication. The street department had decorated Main Street with potted spices and herbs. “Are my new spice labels going to get here on time? Jimmy has to have time get them all put around the downtown.”
“They should be here next week,” Amanda said. “We’ve already gotten an email that they’ve shipped.”
“Oh, good. Put a note on my next agenda. I don’t want to forget to give Jimmy Kole the details, so his employees know what we need. I told Jimmy about it but that was months ago.”
“Will do.”
“So, how are things at Bryan’s now? Is everything getting back to normal?”
“Yes, the space people are gone,” Amanda said chuckling. “They all wore white suits and masks out there. It looked like he was being invaded by aliens. He sure felt that way too.”
“I’m glad that part is over for him. Was there much damage?”
“He thinks so,” Amanda said rolling her eyes. “It doesn’t look that bad to me. They basically chopped the corner off of that hill you go up and they took out two of his trees, which he was devastated about.”
“Aw, that’s a shame.”
“Well, they didn’t really hurt them because they weren’t digging exactly. Anyway, he’s trying to keep them alive and stabilize them so he can replant this weekend. I think it will be fine.”
“Conrad said those new ones he planted were some kind of special tree, different from the others.”
“Yes, they are Fraser Firs he has been babying for about four years. That’s why he’s all upset. The big trees in the back are all Scotch Pines. He’s trying to branch out,” Amanda said and then giggled at her pun. “He’s hoping to offer a variety of tree types for Christmas in a few years.
Cora’s eyes crinkled when she smiled. “Well, I hope they survive. I hope we all survive this craziness. At least they didn’t find any other bodies up there.”
“Yes, he had visions of them bulldozing his entire tree farm and he was about to have a heart attack over it. If it had turned out
to be some ancient burial ground or something, his whole business would be gone.”
“Being self-employed is a fragile state,” Cora said handing the list back to Amanda. “I hope this doesn’t cause him a big setback.”
“Actually, it’s made him kind of famous around town,” Amanda said laughing. “Everybody knows about his business now.”
“I guess any kind of publicity is good publicity.”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you Rodney stopped by early this morning before you came in. He’s working on your picture, but he asked if he could add some things to the background. He thought it might look good to show him at a train station. Do we have any pictures of the old train station that was first here in Spicetown?”
“What a fabulous idea,” Cora called out. “I love it! Yes, we have those pictures somewhere. We need to get them to Rodney.”
“He did tell me one thing. He had one request.”
“What was that?”
“He doesn’t want his name on anything public,” Amanda said shrugging. “He doesn’t want any credit for anything because he doesn’t want Carmen to know he’s doing it.”
“Hmm, he was serious about wanting to keep the money secret I guess,” Cora said with a pinched brow. “I hate not giving him credit for his work though.”
“I was a little surprised,” Amanda said sitting down in the chair across from Cora’s desk. “He actually was venting a little. He’s not usually very talkative.”
“Venting about what?”
“Oh, about all the commotion the bones have caused him. Apparently, everyone in town is talking about Carmen again. He said someone told her she was a suspect in the disappearance of Mavis’ husband. Can you believe that?”
“Town gossip never surprises me,” Cora said shaking her head. “Carmen can handle it. In fact, she’s probably used to it, but it could really hurt her son.”
“Oh yeah, he mentioned Andy. I think it already has gotten to him. He knows some people think his dad isn’t his dad. I guess Rodney didn’t even know her back then, but this has dredged up her past and he’s having to hear about it from everybody.”
“I’m sure she’s not a suspect in anything,” Cora said scoffing. “It’s just that she’s had a colorful past and a small town doesn’t forget that.”
“Well, he said he wants everyone to know Mavis’ husband disappeared at Christmas time and Carmen wasn’t even in town that year. She and her first husband were in Chicago visiting his family for the holidays.”
“It’s a shame he has to go through all this. Maybe we’ll know something soon and this will all be over.”
§
Conrad heard too much laughter coming down the hallway and decided he needed to investigate. Walking toward the dispatch room, he saw Georgia laughing and writing on a pad while several officers in the lounge laughed and shouted out unintelligible things.
“What’s going on out here?” Conrad smiled but felt left out of the joke.
“You have some new phone messages,” Georgia said smiling and holding out pink slips with one hand as she answered the phone with the other.
Conrad glanced at them and waited for Georgia to end her call. “You’re very popular, Chief,” Officer Tabor said with a chuckle.
“So,” Georgia said spinning around to face Conrad. “Gilbert Tanner thinks it’s his brother-in-law, Mark Decker. Norma Thomas thinks it’s her neighbor’s son, Nick Sloan. And Larry Conley thinks his wife may have killed her first husband, Donald Osburn.” The lounge burst out in laughter and Georgia grinned. Conrad had been receiving similar messages for several days and it was escalating.
“I can’t believe so many people have disappeared from Spicetown over the years.”
“Oh, and the coroner called,” Georgia said handing him another message. “She sounds like she has news.”
“Good,” Conrad said turning to walk back to his office. He was hoping for something that would define what was found so the calls would stop. “Don’t you guys have anything to do?” Conrad called out as he walked away. Georgia giggled, but he heard the guys scuffle out the door.
Shifting through the folders spread across his desk as he dialed the phone, he looked for the names Georgia mentioned. Many of these calls hoping to identify the mysterious bones had named people who had never been reported missing in the police department records.
“This is Chief Harris. Can I speak to the coroner, please?”
“Conrad,” Alice said in a hushed tone. “Just a second.” Alice’s voice was muffled as she told someone she needed to take his call.
“Sorry. I’m glad you called back. I’ve got some preliminary news and Sheriff Bell said you were helping do some leg work, so I told him I’d contact you.”
“Thank you. I’m trying to help with what we have here at the PD. What do you know so far?”
“The bones are all washed, and we do have some small clues. It is an adult male, most likely Caucasian, about 5’11” tall.”
“Hmm.” Conrad looked over his desk and saw this really didn’t disqualify hardly anyone yet.
“There is an old fracture though that might help us. It looks like he had a crush injury to his right scaphoid bone that may have required surgery. It’s not too old. It’s healed but looks like it happened in adulthood. Sometimes those surgeries use pins, plates, or screws, but we found no hardware. It could have been removed though.”
“So, without the hardware—”
“Yes, we don’t have a quick answer, but it was a significant injury so anyone knowing the person would have knowledge of it.”
“That helps some,” Conrad said. Once a time frame was found it could be really useful. “Would it impair his gait at all?”
“Not necessarily. It was healed and he could probably walk without difficulty. They are still sifting debris though so something else could turn up.”
“I assume you don’t have an age or an estimate on how long ago he died.”
“No, but based on the soil, the forensic anthropologist agrees he’s been there at least eight years.
“That’s something,” Conrad said as he pushed another file folder away from his possible pile.
“There are also some other indications of small fractures that may have been much older. His left ulna was broken probably as a child and some scarring on a few finger joints. The one thing still holding them up is the skull.”
“I thought it was intact except for the jaw.”
“Oh, it was, but it has damage. There is some debate about whether blunt force trauma is involved because of the location. There’s some concern your young man, Bryan Stotlar, may have hit it with his shovel because the edges aren’t clear. They’re still working on that, so I’m not ready to call it a homicide yet.”
“So, how can I help?”
“Well, we have the DNA extracted to start running matches if you have anyone lined up.”
“You want me just to send a buccal swab kit to you when I get them?”
“Yes, that would be perfect. If we need more, we’ll let you know.”
“Will do,” Conrad said cheerily. “And thank you again for letting me know.”
With no cooperation from Miriam, Conrad took the only step he could and looked through his phone messages for Karen Goldman’s phone number.
CHAPTER 13
“Hi, Amanda,” Conrad said as he walked through Amanda’s outer office and headed for Cora’s open office door.
“Oh, Chief,” Amanda said as he turned back. “She’s not in there. She should be back any minute though.”
“I can’t find anybody today,” Conrad said huffing.
“Can I help you?” Amanda smiled at this frustration.
“I was looking for Karen Goldman and she’s not home. Miriam Landry isn’t home or at the Chamber, but that woman—” Conrad huffed. “She’s always hard to find. Then I went looking for Mavis and she’s not at the drugstore. Now I’m here,” Conrad said exasperatedly swinging his arms out to his sid
e. “Of course, the Mayor’s not here either.”
“Oh, what are you in such a stew about now?” Cora said walking in Amanda’s doorway with a chuckle. She’d watched his little performance and had to fight the urge to laugh. “I’m here now so you have finally met success.”
Conrad laughed at his own performance when he saw Amanda trying to keep her face straight.
“Come in and sit down. No need to stress yourself out.”
Conrad sat down hard in the chair across from Cora’s desk and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.
“So, I heard you’ve been chasing women all day,” Cora said giggling. “What are you in such a flurry about? Don’t you have people to do that?”
“Well, some things I just feel like I need to do myself.”
“I assume you plan to talk about some sensitive information and none of those women are going to be easy to talk to right now.”
“Karen Goldman has tried to be helpful. I just haven’t been able to locate her today and she isn’t answering her phone.”
“She’s probably at work. She’s the manager down at the Sweet & Sour Spice Shop on Ginger Street.”
“Well, I haven’t been there yet,” Conrad said shrugging and leaning back in the chair. “I don’t think I want to talk to her at work though.”
“I don’t know where Miriam is,” Cora said haughtily, “But if I did, I’d stay away from wherever that was.” Conrad chuckled. Cora and Miriam had always butted heads over town events and after his recent conversation with Miriam, he understood why.
“I talked to her last week, but it took me several days to catch her. She was never at the Chamber when I checked in.”
“She’s probably just there for meetings. I don’t know where she spends her days. Maybe she’s off somewhere shopping,” Cora said batting her eyes.
“Mavis may be off today,” Conrad said as glanced over his shoulder at the open door. “I may have to go out to her house.”
“Was Miriam cooperative when you talked to her last week?”
