Digging Up The Dirt

“If he’s covering up for his brother’s crime, I suppose I can understand it, at least in part,” An’gel said. “Though the greater part of me knows he shouldn’t have let his brother get away with murder.”

“No, he shouldn’t have,” Dickce said. “But what if Hamish didn’t kill Callie? He certainly couldn’t have killed Sarinda, or driven Arliss off the road. Unless you think there are two murderers, Hamish forty years ago, and someone else now.”

“That’s certainly a possibility,” An’gel said. “But what I can’t figure out, if that’s the case, is why the murder and attempted murder now? Hamish is dead, and what harm could there be, really, if it became known he murdered Callie?”

“It would tarnish the family name, certainly,” Dickce said, “but would Hadley kill for that reason?”

“I just don’t know.” An’gel frowned. “I think Hadley is the key to all this, though.”

“Even more reason for us to try to pin him down on everything he knows,” Dickce said.

An’gel heard a muffled ringing. “Is that your phone?” she asked.

Dickce reached into the pocket of her skirt and retrieved her phone. “Benjy,” she said after a glance at the screen. “Have you found anything?”

An’gel watched as Dickce’s eyes widened in what appeared to be shock. “What is it? What did he find?”

CHAPTER 23

Dickce held up her hand to quiet her sister. She wanted to be sure she heard everything Benjy had to tell her. Once he finished, she said, “Oh, that’s wonderful, Benjy.” She paused for a moment. “No, come on home when you’re done. We’ll work out then what our next step is.”

She could see that An’gel was fairly bouncing with impatience on the sofa when she ended the call and tucked the phone back into her skirt pocket.

“Well?” An’gel said.

Dickce smiled. “He’s such a clever young man. He found a lead on Coriander Simpson.”

“Don’t just sit there grinning,” An’gel said when her sister failed to continue. “Give me the details.”

“Benjy figured that Coriander Simpson was probably a unique name, and he was right,” Dickce said. “He searched genealogical databases for birth records and so on, and he found one for her. Of course it had her parents’ names listed, too. Then he looked at census records and some kind of online phone directory and found the address in Memphis where she grew up. He thinks her family still lives there.”

“Did he find any other record of her?” An’gel asked. “Like a death or marriage record?”

Dickce shook her head. “Not that he said. I’m sure he would have mentioned it if he had. He’s going to do a bit more research before he comes home.”

“Call him back,” An’gel said. “I think we need to act on this right now.”

“What do you mean?” Dickce pulled her phone back out.

“I think we need to go to Memphis this afternoon. We can be there in less than ninety minutes.”

“We can go to the address Benjy found and talk to whomever we find there,” Dickce said. “Good idea. Wait a minute, though. What about Hadley? You were really determined to talk to him a few minutes ago.”

An’gel frowned. “Yes, I do think it’s important to pin him down.” She thought for a moment. “Why don’t you go talk to Hadley this afternoon? I’ll go to Memphis and track down Coriander Simpson’s family.”

“No,” Dickce said. “I have a better idea. You go talk to Hadley, since he’s more likely to talk to you. You being a former flame of his and all.” She grinned. The opportunity to needle An’gel was too good to pass up. “Benjy and I will go to Memphis and find the Simpsons.”

For a moment Dickce thought An’gel was going to have one of her occasional temper fits. She did that sometimes when she didn’t get her way. Evidently she thought better of it this time, though. After a brief hesitation, An’gel nodded. “All right. I’ll talk to Hadley. You go to Memphis.”

Dickce called Benjy and informed him of the change in plans. “He’ll be home in about twenty minutes,” she informed An’gel.

“Excellent.” An’gel stood. “I’ll go tell Clementine. We can all have lunch in the kitchen, and then you and Benjy can be on your way to Memphis.”

Dickce watched her sister’s retreating form and smiled. She was excited at the thought of the trip to Memphis. Usually when she and An’gel went someplace together, An’gel tended to take over, and Dickce ended up playing second fiddle. Not this time, though. Dickce loved her older sister, but she also appreciated an opportunity to accomplish a task without An’gel.