Digging Up the Dirt

by Miranda James

  Ten minutes later An’gel pulled into the driveway of Lottie’s two-story brick house. Though not of antebellum vintage, the MacLeod home was over a hundred years old and occupied a spacious lot with a beautifully kept yard.

  An’gel and Dickce made their way up the hedge-bordered walk to the front door, and An’gel rang the bell. After a brief wait, the door opened, and Lottie’s housekeeper, Sarah, admitted them. “Miz Lottie’s upstairs. Y’all come on in, and I’ll let her know you’re here.”

  “Thank you, Sarah,” An’gel said as she and Dickce followed the housekeeper into the front parlor. They seated themselves while they waited for Lottie to come down.

  An’gel heard Lottie giving instructions to the housekeeper to bring in iced tea before she joined them in the parlor. Then she breezed into the room.

  “Good afternoon, girls. I thought y’all might drop by sometime today.” Lottie chose a chair opposite the sofa the sisters occupied. “Isn’t it terrible about Sarinda?” She frowned.

  “Yes, it is,” An’gel said. “We apologize for not calling first.”

  Lottie waved away the apology. “It’s fine.”

  “Finding poor Sarinda like that must have been an awful shock,” Dickce said.

  “Oh, it was, it surely was,” Lottie said, her eyes closed for a moment. Then she blinked at the sisters. “At first I couldn’t believe what I saw seeing. Sarinda lying on the floor like that. It seemed like a nightmare.”

  “Yes, I’m sure it must have,” An’gel said. “If you don’t mind my asking, would you tell us exactly what you saw?”

  Lottie stared at her for a moment. “Well, I guess I don’t mind. It’s not like I’m going to forget it anytime soon.” She paused for a moment. “I walked in the front door, and at first I didn’t see her. I had to find the light switch because the front hall was a bit dark. Then, when the light came on, I turned, and there she was, sprawled facedown on the floor at the bottom of the staircase.” She shuddered.

  “What did you do then?” An’gel asked.

  “I think I screamed,” Lottie said. “Then I tried to gather my poor wits about me and do something. I went over to her and knelt by her head.” She shuddered again. “Her eyes were wide-open, and I could tell already she was dead. I did feel for a pulse on the side of her neck, but there wasn’t one.”

  Sarah came into the room with a silver tray and set it on a table next to Lottie. Lottie thanked her. “We’ll serve ourselves.”

  Once Sarah left the room and her guests had glasses of tea, Lottie continued. “That’s when I noticed the bottle of bourbon on the floor near her. And the smell.” She wrinkled her nose at the memory. “I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed it before. I suppose it was the shock of seeing poor Sarinda on the floor like that.”

  “No doubt,” An’gel said. “Was there much bourbon in the bottle? Did you notice?”

  Lottie considered that for a moment. “I think there might have been a little. There was some on the floor, and I noticed Sarinda’s blouse was a bit damp when I pushed it aside so I could check her pulse at the neck.”

  An’gel exchanged a glance with Dickce. Was Sarinda drinking from the bottle when she fell—or was shoved—down the stairs? That could account for the liquor on her blouse. Or, An’gel thought, the person who knocked her down could have poured the bourbon on Sarinda after she hit the floor. An’gel felt sick to her stomach at the thought.

  “What did you do after you checked for a pulse?” Dickce asked. “Was that when you called 911?”

  “I think so.” Lottie wrinkled her nose. “Things are a bit fuzzy. I think I probably called 911 first. But I might have called either you or Barbie first. I can’t remember.” She took a sip of tea.

  “Did you call anyone besides Barbie and us?” An’gel asked. Lottie shook her head. “No, just you two and Barbie.”

  “What about today?” An’gel asked. “Have you talked to any of the other board members this morning?”

  “Barbie said she would let people know,” Lottie said. “I didn’t feel up to it last night or this morning.”

  “Why did you call us last night, as opposed to other board members?” Dickce asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Lottie said, appearing slightly confused. “It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. You’ve known Sarinda longer than the rest of us, and I thought you should know.”

  “We appreciate you thinking of us like that,” An’gel said. “Yes, I suppose we’ve known Sarinda most of our lives, but we had no idea about the drinking.” She shot a warning glance at her sister and hoped that Lottie didn’t notice.

  “She spent an awful lot of time alone in that big house,” Lottie said. “Well, except for her housekeeper, of course. That’s not the same as spending time with friends, but she did spend time with the garden club and a couple of other clubs.”

  “Don’t you think it’s strange that none of us picked up on the drinking before now?” Dickce asked.

  “Barbie said she thought Sarinda was drinking in secret for years after I told her last night what I found.” Lottie smiled. “Barbie likes to knock back the gin herself, you know, and I suppose she saw the signs in Sarinda.”

  An’gel wanted to offer a tart reply to that, because they all knew about Barbie and her gin. They all also knew Lottie was every bit as fond of gin as Barbie. Sarinda, on the other hand, never had more than one cocktail whenever she was with the other garden club members.

  “Why did you go to Sarinda’s last night?” An’gel asked.

  “She called and asked me to come over,” Lottie replied. “She said she wanted to talk to me, but she wouldn’t say exactly why.”

  “You didn’t press her for an explanation?” An’gel set her empty glass on a coaster on the table in front of the sofa.

  Lottie shrugged. “I tried, but she wouldn’t really tell me anything. Only that it was important. I thought her voice sounded strange, come to think of it. Hoarse, kind of like when someone’s been crying a lot, if you know what I mean.”

  An’gel was about to reply in the affirmative when a loud crash of thunder startled them all. “Heavens,” she said. “That storm is moving in.”

  Dickce stood. “We’d better get home right away, Sister. Thanks for the tea, Lottie.”

  An’gel rose as well. “Before we go, however, one more question for you. Two questions, actually. What time did Sarinda call? And when did you arrive at her house?”

  Lottie thought for a moment. “I went right over as soon as I hung up the phone. It takes about ten minutes to walk over there, and it was a nice night so I walked. I guess I got there around seven, or maybe seven fifteen?”

  The thunder boomed again, and An’gel hastily thanked Lottie. Then she and Dickce headed for the car, thankful to discover that though the sky had darkened considerably, the rain hadn’t yet moved in.

  “I hate weather like this,” An’gel muttered as she slid behind the steering wheel and pulled her door shut.

  “I don’t mind the rain.” Dickce buckled her seat belt. “I hate the wind and how destructive it can be. We’ve been lucky not to have extensive damage to the house over the years.”

  “Yes, we have.” An’gel backed out of Lottie’s driveway and headed the car toward home. “We’ve had a few close calls, though. Remember the tornado three years ago that touched down about three miles from us?”

  Dickce shuddered. “I certainly do. That was a terrifying night. Thank the Lord, though, it touched down in an area where there were no houses. Can you imagine if it had hit Athena?”

  “Let’s just pray that whatever this storm brings, it’s not tornadoes,” An’gel said.

  An’gel drove the rest of the way in silence under a rapidly darkening sky. The wind was picking up, and An’gel felt the car buffeted by the occasional gust.

  The rain started moments after An’gel an
d Dickce gained the safety of the house. They were relieved to find Benjy and the animals in the kitchen with Clementine.

  “We’ve been listening to Clementine’s weather radio,” Benjy said. “I think we’re in for some really bad weather.”

  “Then you, Peanut, and Endora are definitely staying here with us,” An’gel said. “Clementine, I think you’d better stay here, too, but if you want to go home, I think you should go right away before the worst weather moves in.”

  Clementine nodded. “I’d best be getting home, then, Miss An’gel.” She grabbed her purse and an umbrella and left by the back door.

  “Lord, I hope she makes it home okay,” Dickce said. “I don’t blame her for wanting to be home with family, but they don’t have a basement like we do.”

  “Basement?” Benjy asked. “I didn’t know there was a basement.”

  “There is,” An’gel said. “We don’t use it that often, except in threatening weather. The door is in the pantry, so that’s probably why you haven’t noticed it.”

  “I think we’d better check down there right now,” Dickce said. “If we have to spend the night down there, we’d better make sure the ventilation is working properly.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Benjy said. “I’m curious to see it.”

  “You two check it out,” An’gel said. “I’m going to see what the weather people are saying.” She went to her office and checked the forecast on the Internet. From the radar loops she watched online, she gathered that the brunt of the storm wasn’t due in their area for about three hours. Wind gusts in the system topped out around sixty miles an hour. Not quite tornado speed, she was relieved to note. Still capable of damage, however, because the storm was moving slowly. It could last for several hours in their area.

  Time to close the outside shutters, An’gel decided, to protect against window breakage. She found the controller in the desk drawer where it resided, and clicked the switch to start the process. She and Dickce had the system installed several years before, and the motorized system had saved their windows from storms ever since.

  If only we could protect the flower beds and the trees as easily. An’gel sighed. Tomorrow they would probably have a lot of work to do, setting the grounds to rights.

  Dickce and Benjy came back to report that the basement was dry, though the air was a bit stale. They spent half an hour taking provisions down in case they ended up spending the night there. Benjy made sure there was enough food for Peanut and Endora, and he took down a litter box for the cat.

  About half an hour before the heaviest winds reached the area, An’gel made the decision for them to move into the basement. They had enough to eat and drink for the evening, a small bathroom for their needs, and comfortable seating along with several twin beds. An’gel listened to the weather radio while Dickce and Benjy played cards and the animals napped.

  An’gel was too preoccupied by the weather and thoughts of Sarinda Hetherington’s death to be able to focus on the card game. She thought back over her conversation with Elmo Gandy. His certainty that Sarinda was not a heavy drinker had convinced An’gel. They’d talked about the manner of her death, and Gandy was convinced foul play was involved. He’d told the police that, and the next step was an autopsy to look for evidence to confirm his assertion.

  The thought of an autopsy upset An’gel, but she knew it was necessary if the truth were to be discovered. If this turned into a murder investigation, she figured Kanesha Berry, chief deputy with the sheriff’s department, would investigate. The police usually turned over homicide investigations to the sheriff’s department, and Kanesha had established a reputation for thorough investigations that brought results.

  Eventually, exhausted by the events of the day and her worries over the weather and Sarinda’s death, An’gel fell asleep in her chair, even as the storm began to subside.

  CHAPTER 9

  The next morning after breakfast, Dickce and Benjy made an inspection of the outside of the house and the grounds to assess the damage from the storm. The storm brought with it cooler temperatures, and the damp, cold air felt like a return to fall after a short warm spell. There didn’t appear to be any damage to the house, Dickce was relieved to see. Oak and pine branches of varying sizes lay scattered around the extensive yard, and the wind had flattened flowers in several places. Overall, though, the problems that needed addressing were minor.

  Peanut and Endora accompanied Dickce and Benjy on the tour, and Benjy made sure there was no digging in flower beds. Peanut twice grabbed limbs in his mouth and tried to drag them to Benjy, but his selections proved too heavy for him to shift more than a few inches. Benjy thanked the dog for being helpful, and Peanut barked and wiggled his tail in response. Endora regarded the dog’s antics with her usual calm, though she did sniff around a few of the limbs.

  “I can clear the debris away,” Benjy said. “Where should I put it all?”

  Dickce shook her head. “Most of the branches are a little too large and will need to be cut up. You haven’t ever used a chainsaw, and I’m not strong enough these days. We can get Clementine’s nephew, Ron, and his son to come take care of them, and they can have it all for firewood.”

  Benjy appeared crestfallen, and Dickce patted his shoulder. “I appreciate how much you want to help. Whenever Ron and his son get here, you can help them. Chainsaws are dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.” She paused. “Frankly, they’re dangerous even when you do know what you’re doing, as far as I’m concerned. It’s better to have someone experienced deal with this.”

  “You’re right.” Benjy grinned. “I don’t like the idea of losing a finger or a hand because I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  Peanut barked as if he agreed, and Benjy and Dickce laughed.

  “There you have it,” Dickce said. “Peanut has spoken. I think we’re done here. I don’t know about you, but I could use another cup of coffee. I’m chilled to the bone.”

  “Me, too,” Benjy said. “Coffee sounds good. Come on, guys.” He urged the animals to follow them to the back door and into the kitchen.

  Clementine poured coffee for Dickce and Benjy while they shed their jackets and rubber boots in the small mud room off the kitchen. Benjy toweled off paws as well. He knew Clementine wouldn’t appreciate wet or muddy prints on the floors she kept generally spotless.

  “Thank you, Clementine.” Dickce accepted her mug gratefully. “This will warm me right up.” She had a sip. “Do you think Ron and his son might have time today or tomorrow to come clear away the storm debris? There are some large branches down that will need to be cut up.”

  Clementine nodded. “I’m sure he can. I’ll give him a call. What do you want done with the wood?”

  “If Ron can use it for firewood, he’s welcome to it,” Dickce said. “I think it’s no more than two hours’ work.”

  “He’ll appreciate that,” Clementine said.

  “Has An’gel come down yet?” Dickce asked.

  Clementine shook her head. “No, I took coffee up to her about thirty minutes ago. She said she had a crick in her neck, and she was planning to take a long, hot shower.”

  “Poor thing fell asleep in a chair in the basement,” Dickce said. “Had her head lying back when I woke her up about four this morning when we all came upstairs. I don’t know why she didn’t lie down on one of the beds.”

  “Because I fell asleep in the chair and didn’t stir until you woke me.” An’gel spoke as she walked into the kitchen. She set her coffee cup in the sink and approached Dickce. “The shower helped the sore neck. Tell me, what’s the damage outside?” She patted Peanut’s head after he ran to her and whined.

  “Nothing major.” Dickce gave her sister a quick summary of what she and Benjy had found in the yard.

  “That’s a relief,” An’gel said. “I was worried the damage would be worse. I wonder how the people in town
fared.”

  “I didn’t hear any reports of serious trouble on the news this morning,” Clementine said.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Dickce said. “It could have been a disaster with all that wind.”

  The phone rang, and An’gel stepped over to the counter to pick up the handset. After identifying herself, she listened for a moment. “We’d be more than happy to, Hadley. We’ll be over in about ten minutes.” She ended the call.

  “What does he want?” Dickce asked.

  “He wants to consult us about some of his plans for the gardens at Ashton Hall,” An’gel said. “Sounds like he’s had more wind damage there than we’ve had here. He’s got a couple of trees down, and he’s considering his options.”

  Dickce clapped her hands together. “Wonderful.” She grinned. “Not that he’s had a lot of damage. Wonderful that he wants to consult us. I’ve been dying to see Ashton Hall for the past few years.”

  An’gel nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid Hamish neglected the house and the grounds terribly. He became so odd over the years, wouldn’t have much to do with anybody.”

  “Except Mrs. Danvers, of course.” Dickce grimaced.

  “Who are you talking about?” An’gel asked. “I thought the housekeeper’s name was Turnipseed.”

  “It is,” Dickce replied. “I was referring to the spooky housekeeper in Rebecca. Mrs. Turnipseed has always reminded me of her.”

  “Who’s Rebecca?” Benjy asked, obviously confused.

  “Rebecca is a novel by Daphne du Maurier,” Dickce explained. “A wonderful book, and the housekeeper in it, Mrs. Danvers, is truly menacing.” She shivered. “In the movie she’s really scary.”

  “Played by a wonderful actress named Judith Anderson,” An’gel added. “We have it on DVD if you’re interested.”

  Benjy nodded. “I like old movies, but I probably should read the book first.”