Crossed by Death by ACF Bookens

Author:ACF Bookens [Bookens, ACF]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Andi Cumbo-Floyd
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Before first light the next day, Sawyer and I spent a good hour running his wooden vehicles around his toy village. The police car made a lot of trips between the barn and the hospital. But then my son was very committed to watching “dogs and kitties” on YouTube, and I took the opportunity to step into my “office,” aka the back-bedroom closet, and make my phone calls.

First, I wanted to tell Berlinda. It was her family, her story, so she deserved the first call. Plus, I couldn’t wait to hear what she thought of this news. I realized it might not be a story she wanted told widely, given how prominent her grandfather had been in the community, but I knew she’d want to know. And if she didn’t want me to share the information further than the sheriff, who I felt obligated to tell, I wouldn’t.

Berlinda answered her cell with a cheerful, “Good Morning, Paisley. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

I smiled and sat down on the floor of the closet with Sawyer’s pants grazing the top of my head. “Well, I found something, and I thought you’d like to know about it. Do you have a moment?”

“I’m retired. I have lots of moments. Just let me get George. I told him all you shared with me on Wednesday, and he is mightily invested now, too.” She pulled the phone away from her ear and called for her husband.

I took the opportunity to quietly peek out and be sure Sawyer wasn’t elbow deep in the bag of sugar, a lesson I’d learned from experience. But fortunately, the dogs and cats must have been particularly funny today because he and Beauregard were still quite engrossed in the screen as they cuddled on the couch.

“Okay,” Berlinda said, her voice about bit echo-ey since I was now on speaker, “we’re ready.”

“Hi George,” I began by explaining that I’d talked to some people in town and gotten some leads. I decided to forego giving away my sources, just in case Berlinda didn’t like this news and had more reason to dislike Mary Johnson. I had enjoyed my conversation with the woman and didn’t want to taint my news with the mention of her name. I said, “One woman mentioned Alice and Henry in passing when I as leaving. I hadn’t told her your grandmother’s name, but since she knew it and paired it with Henry, I thought that might be something to go on.”

Berlinda cleared her throat. “Pardon my interruption, Paisley, but how do you think she knew the name Henry?”

George said, “Berlinda, we don’t even know why the name Henry matters. Let the woman finish her story.” The tone of his voice was gentle, but it was urgent, too. He really wanted to hear the story.

“Let’s come back to that because I have a theory to explain what she knew and how. But first, let me tell you what I figured out, okay?” I was near bursting with the news, but I also wanted to suss out my theory with Berlinda when we could focus on it.

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