Old Bones Can Be Murder by Connie Shelton

Author:Connie Shelton
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: female private investigator, cold case mystery, british crime fiction, cozy mystery series, women sleuths series, charlie parker series, bookshop mysteries
Publisher: Columbine Publishing Group, LLC

Chapter 11

I fell asleep in my favorite way, with loving words in my head from my husband. I woke the following morning to another rainy day, so I dressed accordingly and, after a muffin breakfast with Louisa, headed toward the museum.

The current archivist couldn’t speak highly enough of the previous one, old Nigel. The neatness of the files attested to the man’s dedication and—dare I call it?—obsession. No matter what prompted a guy to spend a career in the basement of the ancient stone building, sorting papers and creating files, I had to say I appreciated the efforts. My guide checked a logbook of some kind then went directly to a specific wooden file cabinet. Third drawer down, midway through the neatly organized manila folders, he came up with one labeled The MacCallum Building.

“Of course, people change the name by which they popularly call a place. But here in the archives, we always file by the oldest known name. Yours was built in the late 1500s and was called after the woman who operated the original tavern. Understand, mind you, that tavern sometimes stood in as a term for a brothel in those times. Or not. Actual evidence as to the purpose of the building generally doesn’t go back that far.”

He directed me to a table with a pair of chairs and a good reading light. “You’re free to browse the folder. I can show you a bit about how we’ve organized the information and then leave you on your own.”

“Oldest data will be at the back. That way, it’s easy for us to add new material, just to drop it in the front of the file. To begin at the beginning, you’ll turn the folder over and open the back cover, just so.” He demonstrated. “Now, this document will be the original land plot. You’ll see the streets have changed little, although at the time they were probably dirt trails which would become quite muddy. Cobblestones were added to help with that problem, normally on the most-traveled roads first. A builder would apply to the planning authority, although the required information was minimal, compared with today’s complexities.”

I saw a simple, handwritten page, with a short description: Stone and timber building, 20 meters by 15 meters.

“He doesn’t even have to list how many windows and doorways. They often just put them in as they went, and always with an eye toward keeping out drafts and making the space habitable during the long, cold winters.”

A sketch showed a simple rectangle with a fireplace at each end, a doorway near the front corner nearest the street and another one on the back wall.

“And this is the place where Brody’s Tea Shop is now located?”

“Yes’m. Right there.” He traced a finger along the sketch of the street, and stabbed at the building. “The tea shop sits, I believe, at the east end of the space.”

“That’s what interests me most, the recent history of what businesses occupied the space for the past fifty years or so.

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