Bones in the Back Forty by Marty Eberhardt

Author:Marty Eberhardt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Artemesia Publishing, LLC
Published: 2023-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

It was inevitable. The television, radio, and newspaper reporters were like cats crazed by catnip. “Shandley Gardens: Murder and Mayhem in Paradise.” Ethan’s accident was front-page news, and his story was paired with the discovery of old bones on the back forty. The coverage was followed by a long recounting of Liz’s murder the previous summer. Marcia was quoted in the morning paper, saying, as usual, that the Tucson Police could not comment on ongoing investigations.

Bea switched on the morning news, and found the big-haired, low-cleavage reporter who’d followed the events of the summer. The reporter was positively salivating over the “connections between an old murder and a possible new attempted murder.” Bea should have known that if Joan Madsden made that connection, the media would be all over it.

“Who needs the supermarket tabloids when we have Shandley Gardens right here in Tucson?” asked a cheery male anchor with astonishingly bright white teeth.

Oh, joy. When Bea pulled into the Gardens parking lot, a live remote truck from Channel Two was already there. Ms. Big Hair, alias Stephanie Shores, was lying in wait for Bea. Last summer, she’d been able to run away from the reporters and let Ethan deal with them. No more.

She let Stephanie hook her up with a mike on her collar. She spelled her name, B-e-a-t-r-i-c-e R-i-v-e-r-s, and saw it posted under her image on the screen beside the photographer. She explained that yes, she would be acting director until Ethan recovered, and yes, some bones of a man who had died about forty years ago had been found on the property, and no, she did not know of any connections between that case and her boss’s bicycle accident. These were Tucson Police Department matters. Meanwhile, the Gardens was open for business, and spring was just around the corner!

Stephanie Shores looked disappointed. She took back the microphone, and said that Channel Two would have an update on the noon news about “possible connections between the two murders at Shandley. Some have suggested that there may be a connection with a third murder, of Liz Shandley, also here at the Gardens, last summer.”

“Ethan was not murdered,” said Bea after Stephanie signed off, pleased with herself. The anchors had said, after her report, “We’re waiting to hear more with bated breath. Tune in to the News at Noon to hear more about this breaking story!”

“No, he’s not dead yet,” said Stephanie, with a knowing smile. Bea found her breakfast rising, and she hurried to her desk.

The volunteer meeting was scheduled for 9 a.m., and clearly, she was going to have to think carefully about what to say. These were Shandley Gardens’ ambassadors to the community.

Her attempts at diplomatic wording, scratched out multiple times on a yellow legal pad, were interrupted by a phone call from Marcia.

“I saw you on Channel Two,” Marcia began.

Bea nodded. “Fun and games.”

“You should know that we have no evidence of any link between Ethan’s accident and Crow’s probable murder. That rumor didn’t originate from anything we’ve learned.

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