“That’s down the hall,” Ray answered brightly. The sound of a little bell chiming interrupted their awkward exchange. “We’re very busy today,” Ray commented to himself, huffing slightly. He left her without another word, and she looked around the overly cheerful room feeling very tired. She was about to start unpacking when Ray’s heavy footsteps drew her attention. Thud. Thud. Thud. It was quiet for a second, and she waited patiently to see what he would do. Her patience was rewarded when he knocked obnoxiously.
“Ms. Mitchells,” he called grandly, “you have a visitor.”
"A visitor?" she asked in confusion. She had been in town for a total of five minutes. Who could possibly know that she was here? Ray kept quiet as if he was unsure how to respond. She cursed under her breath and opened the door cautiously. Ray stood to the side, looking at the man next to him in awe. Her visitor was Ray’s opposite in every way. He stood up straight and had startling blue eyes. His light summer uniform highlighted his clean-shaven, all-American, boy-next-door look. The police officer gave her a stern look and she smiled sweetly.
“Matthew Wilson,” she greeted with a friendly smile, “come on in.” Matthew smiled in return and relaxed his rigid posture. He stepped through the door and Allegra closed it before Ray could step inside too.
“I wasn’t sure you remembered me,” he admitted sheepishly. Allegra chuckled at the sight of a very uncomfortable police officer standing in the middle of her room. This was certainly not the way she pictured her day going. She shrugged lightly and moved past him to start unpacking her bag.
“What brings you here, Matty?” she asked, using his nickname. He coughed politely as she began removing clothes from her bag and putting them in the cupboard.
“Ashlee told me you were here,” he admitted. She nodded, the whole town probably knew by now. If there was one thing bigger than Ashlee’s hair, it was her mouth.
“I figured as much,” she answered when he said nothing. She looked up and caught him staring at her. He blushed and looked away, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably. She smiled to herself, same old Matty. He cleared his throat and she closed her bag, leaving only her undergarments. Matty would probably have a fit if she unpacked those in front of him.
“The thing is…” he began, talking slowly, “I’m sorry about Grumpy Dot. I know you were fond of her.” She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Nobody really understood their bond. Her mother had always been distant; she had never wanted a child. Grumpy Dot was the only person who wanted her around. Except for the incident ten years ago. Allegra shook her head, forcing herself to focus on the present and finding that she didn’t really want to do that either.
“There are just a few things you need to sign for us down at the station, you know, life insurance and stuff. So that we can release the body for the funeral. Your mother was supposed to come.”
“Have they finished the autopsy?” she asked bleakly, not wanting to think about such a gory topic.
“We don’t do an autopsy if the cause of death is natural,” Matty answered sympathetically.
“Do you know what it was?” she asked, trying to make sense of the situation. “I mean, Ashlee said something about a lung disease, but she didn’t mention what it was.”
“I think the doctor said something about TB,” he said hesitantly.
“That was quick,” she commented. Something did not sit well with her, and she sat down in the floral armchair by the window. “I spoke to her a week ago, and she sounded a bit tired. She certainly didn’t sound sick.”
“It was all very sudden,” Matty admitted. He looked uncertain as to how he should act around her and she gave him an absent-minded smile.
“Matty,” she said suddenly, “can I request an autopsy?” Something did not feel right about the entire situation. She had called her great-aunt a few days ago, and she seemed excited to see her great-niece. If she was sick, she would have tried to keep her from coming, and if she was dying, she would have told Allegra so that she would have time to prepare. Grumpy Dot was not a person who beat around the bush under the pretense of nobility.
“An autopsy?” he echoed, looking surprised. “Allegra, she died from TB. Our office isn’t equipped for that kind of thing and the nearest hospital is an hour away. Besides, you have to pay for that kind of thing.”
“You have to pay for an autopsy?” she asked in surprise. He nodded, and she deflated slightly.
“Look, it can be very expensive. I know you’re trying to make sense of this…” he trailed off, not knowing what to say. “Tuberculosis is a horrible way to die, but you have to accept that it happened,” he said kindly.
“Matty, TB takes a while to develop. A person with untreated TB will die within five years, not five days.”
“How do you know?” he asked curiously, unsure of her knowledge. The implications of an unnatural death were not welcome in his thoughts. He chalked her reaction up to grief, but the facts did not lie.
“I taught in the slums of Mumbai for a little while,” she said off-handedly. His eyebrows rose, and he looked like he wanted to say something, but she wasn’t done. “This is too strange; Grumpy Dot would have told someone if she had TB for that long.”
“She did love complaining,” he muttered under his breath. She gave him a stern look and he raised his hands in apology. “Okay, so you’re making some sense here. It would be worth doing an autopsy. I’ll talk to my boss and have him transfer her to a facility that can do it for us. It is going to take a little while though. It might even cause the funeral to be postponed.”
“Ashlee will have my head,” she joked weakly and Matty nodded seriously, causing her smile to fall. “Thanks, Matty,” she said seriously, giving him a hug. He froze for a second before wrapping his arms around her.
“Anytime, Gypsy,” he said softly before letting her go. She smiled fondly at her old nickname. Coming from a friend, it felt like she belonged somewhere again. “Well, I better go tell my boss,” he said, grimacing slightly.
“I’ll go with you,” she declared, walking out the door before he could object. The two walked out of the inn, passing a bored Ray who was busy fiddling with the vending machine.
“Not much has changed since you left,” he told her as they came out onto the street. Allegra frowned and raised her hand to shield her face from the sun. It was still very early but the streets were bustling with locals. Some stopped and openly stared at her, while others were a little more discreet.
“I can see that,” she said wryly. He smiled down at her and she realized that not everything in the town was bad or backward. It only took them a minute or two to cross the square and reach the stately old police department. "I never realized you wanted to be a cop," she commented.
“Well, we were just kids when we last saw each other,” he commented, looking proud to be wearing his uniform.
“That is true,” she laughed. He looked at her and frowned.
“Sorry Allegra, it looks like the Chief is busy right now, you might have to wait for a little bit.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said casually, “I don’t have anything else to do today.”
He nodded and offered her a seat in the waiting room. She sat down but remembered that she was tired from sitting in the bus, so she got up again, causing him to look at her strangely.
“Would you like some coffee?” he offered politely.
“Only if it’s good,” she countered. He frowned and shook his head, looking distressed, causing her to laugh.
“It isn’t that bad,” he clarified, “it just isn’t good either.” She smiled at him and the two stood in the foyer, not really knowing what to say. The receptionist looked up from her computer for a second before shrugging and looking back again. Allegra felt strange and out of place in the old building. The last time she had been here, she had been under arrest for being out after curfew.
“Thank you,” she said suddenly after a minute of awkward silence.
“For what?” he as
ked, looking confused.
“For taking me seriously.”
He gave her a small smile and opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of someone yelling loudly. The two looked over at the Chief’s office, the source of the commotion.
“This is outrageous!” a woman yelled, storming out of the office. She was a portly young woman with bouncy red curls. Her face was red, and she looked fierce enough to tear the building down.
“Greta,” a middle-aged man with greying hair soothed, following the angry woman.
“No,” she shouted, “I get it! You want us to die!”
“Don’t you think you’re being a bit overdramatic?” he asked, and Allegra winced. He was in for it now.
Greta’s mouth dropped, and she began quivering with rage, “Overdramatic?” her voice went up an octave and the Chief winced, realizing his mistake. “Pesticides are killing America!” She would have continued her rant, except in that moment, she happened to turn around and catch sight of Allegra and Matty. She went quiet and the Chief looked around in confusion. Allegra smiled sheepishly, and the woman went red again.
“Allegra Mitchells!” she yelled with high-pitched intensity.
Chapter Three
A few days later, the townsfolk all piled into the small chapel in the town square. They were dressed in their finest black attire, and soon the chapel was filled to the brim, a feat that had not been achieved since the last funeral. Although her body was not present, most people still felt that it was necessary to hold a memorial that honored Grumpy Dot. Allegra agreed, but most people glared at her as though she didn’t.
“Don’t worry,” Greta murmured from her spot next to Allegra on the front pew, “they’ll find something else to gossip about in a few days.” Allegra shook her head forlornly and sunk a little lower in her seat as she heard a group of old ladies whispering about her. Greta turned to glare at them, but her attention was torn away when her young son, Eric, squirmed in his seat. “If you don’t sit still, you’re going to be in big trouble,” she hissed. Eric settled down and stared at her with baleful eyes, but she ignored him and turned back to Allegra.
Allegra let herself smile slightly at Greta’s antics. She had not changed a bit in all the years Allegra had been gone. She was grateful for that. She felt her mind wander to the memories she had tried so hard to block when she realized she would not be coming back every summer. She and Greta had met during her first summer in the town. The two shared a love of mysteries, and an inexplicable connection from the moment they met. Allegra was not too proud to admit that Greta was her first ever friend. She had not allowed herself to think about whether or not they would still be friends after Allegra’s perceived abandonment. She had assumed the worst but was very relieved when Greta barreled into her that day in the sheriff’s office. Nothing had changed between the two. Eventually they would have to talk about what happened all those years ago, but for now they were just enjoying each other’s company again.
“Honestly,” she said loudly, everything she did was loud, “Before you came, they were all about to die from boredom.”
Allegra let herself smile at that, ignoring all the shocked glances. How dare she smile at her great-aunt’s memorial? The girl was shameless. Eric fidgeted again, trying to loosen his stuffy bowtie, but stopped when Greta glared at him. Sit still, she mouthed. He smiled sheepishly and froze.
“I swear, when Bud and I adopted Eric, they stared at him like he had two heads.”
“I’m adopted?” Eric cried loudly. A hush fell over the people sitting behind them. Allegra widened her eyes at the little boy while Greta smacked him playfully. The atmosphere relaxed as Eric started giggling and his mother smacked him again.
“He does that every day,” Greta grumbled while Eric giggled at the reaction he had caused. “So inappropriate,” she muttered as his giggling became uncontrollable and she blushed a bright red.
“Like mother like son,” Allegra teased gently. Eric held out his fist and Allegra bumped it lightly with hers, causing Greta to glare at the two of them. The organ music started playing and everyone hurriedly went to their seat. The pastor walked out in his black robe with a somber look on his face. He walked up to the dais with a battered Bible under his arm and stared dolefully at the people sitting in front of him. Before he could begin though, the door flew open. Everyone turned to look at Ashlee and Ellie enter the church. Ellie held Ashlee up with a sheepish expression on her face as Ashlee sobbed into a black handkerchief.
“Oh brother,” Greta muttered.
The procession finally halted at the front pew, where seats had been reserved for the two of them. Ashlee sat down like she had aged a hundred years overnight and her sniffing could be heard from the back pews. She glared at Allegra as she sat down as if she personally blamed her for all that went wrong in the world. Ashlee's husband, Scott, looked harassed as he tried to keep their baby son from wailing. Allegra recognized Scott as the star high school quarterback (Llewes Cove High School, home of the Fighting Sharks!). He still had his good looks, but he seemed a lot more stressed.
She tore her focus away from her old nemesis and her husband to focus on the service. They had ordered a hideous wreath made from garish marigolds. In the middle of the wreath, they had placed a photo of Grumpy Dot from fifty years ago. The entire thing seemed wrong and out of place. Ashlee wept through the entire service, and Ellie tried to hide a few tears. Allegra felt detached from the entire scene. It didn't feel real to her yet. She could feel the judgmental eyes of the congregation on her, but the service seemed insincere and failed to move her to tears or acceptance. Afterward, people slowly filed out and were greeted by the tear-stained face of Ashlee.
"Thank you for coming," she said softly as people made their way to her house for refreshments. Allegra stepped out of the chapel and felt like she could breathe again. The air in the chapel had been oppressive. Not only because of the communal grief but also because they refused to open any windows even though it was the middle of July. "Oh, there you are," Ashlee said frostily. Allegra sighed and stepped forward for her punishment.
“In the flesh,” Allegra said drily. Her patience was quickly being tested by the pretentious blonde. Admittedly, she didn’t have much patience, but it was being tested.
“I thought I should inform you that the lawyer will be reading the will at my house.”
“How convenient,” Allegra remarked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, I thought so,” Ashlee snapped. She gave Allegra a disdainful once-over before turning on her heel and walking away.
“I’m so glad she hasn’t changed,” Allegra said sarcastically, her lips twitching slightly.
“You got lucky when you left,” Greta remarked, loosening Eric’s restrictive bowtie.
“Finally!” the little boy declared in his exotic accent, punching the air in celebration.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Greta chided, “It was much hotter in Burundi.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t make us wear monkey suits,” he quipped sarcastically. Greta scoffed before shooing him away. The little boy shrugged and raced over to a group of youngsters who were busy playing tag in their Sunday best.
“Come on,” Greta said, turning to her friend. Allegra raised her eyebrows as she gathered her chestnut colored hair into a high ponytail. “We have to get you to that reading.” Allegra sighed contentedly as a breeze swept through the town, cooling her sweaty body.
"I don't want to," she said petulantly, grabbing her skirt before it blew up too high. She wore a black empire-waist dress that was more suited to an evening out than a memorial. She would have chosen something else, but it was the only all-black item she owned. And an unexpected stay at an overpriced inn had eaten into her funds. She hoped that the autopsy would be done quickly because she was running out of funds.
“Your Grumpy Dot loved you more than anyone in this town. She would have left you something,” Greta reasoned. “You have to honor her last w
ishes.”
“It seems cheap though,” Allegra protested. “She just died but we’re already trying to see what she left me. That, and I postponed her funeral.”
“Okay,” Greta agreed, “that seems bad, but Dot would have been happy that you’re trying to find out what really happened.” Allegra smiled gratefully at her friend. It was a relief to find that someone was in her corner. Everyone in town was treating her like she did not want her great-aunt to get the funeral she deserved. The Chief had made his thoughts about the matter clear and was upset that she would not leave well enough alone.
"Come on," Greta called, motioning for Eric to join them as they got into the car. The boy groaned but obeyed. Allegra got into the front seat, pushing away all the art supplies that blocked her path. "Sorry," Greta mumbled as a paintbrush left a blue smear on Allegra's dress. Greta was an amazing artist. Ever since they were children, she was always carrying a backpack full of art supplies. When they were teenagers, Greta used to ride around on a dusty old bicycle with a rickety basket up front for all her supplies. Nowadays she worked with her husband at the newspaper as a photographer. Some of her artwork was displayed in an art gallery in the next town over. Greta could have been a famous painter, but she was unwilling to part with her best work. Which was a problem when the time came to sell the work. Half the time, the work hanging in the gallery ended up back in her house after she refused to sell it to potential clients.
She shrugged and looked out the window, worrying her lip. She was worried about the results of the autopsy, and she was unsure of what the will would contain. She had not been the greatest great-niece in the world. She was so busy worrying that she did not notice Matty walk up to the car.
“Hey,” he greeted sympathetically. She gave him a small smile and rolled down the window. Greta nudged her slightly and grinned like a teenager. Allegra ignored her boisterous friend. “How are you feeling?” he asked, ignoring Greta’s antics too.
“I’ve been better,” she admitted. Suddenly someone called his name, and he turned to answer. Greta pulled away, leaving him to turn back to an empty space. He lifted his hand to wave goodbye, smiling with amusement.
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