The Headless Boy by Kelli Owen & Crystal Lake Publishing

Author:Kelli Owen & Crystal Lake Publishing [Owen, Kelli & Publishing, Crystal Lake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: epub, ebook, QuarkXPress
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Published: 2023-05-22T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

JAKE SPENT OVER an hour walking along the back edge of the lawn, carrying the weed whacker but not running it, as he looked in the taller grass of the tree line for the crypt. He searched for oversized rocks, out of place trees, anything that might indicate a marker of where the boy had once lain.

A metal detector might work. Jake pondered how much they might be, before realizing the crypt would have been made of stone and there would be no metal to detect. The best he found was several small brick-sized stones with smooth edges and tool marks, half buried in a straight line.

The forgotten remnants of the foundation, he surmised, imagining the Colonel had been upset enough about the situation to raze the small building to the ground and remove it from his grieving wife’s sight.

Figures.

The location and size of the stones seemed to corroborate Wanda’s story, and Jake headed back to the house, leaving the stones where they were.

Maybe that $11.99 would be worth it.

Deep in thought, rationalizing paying for a service he didn’t believe would be real anyway, but would at least verify the story even further and give him better dates, Jake didn’t see Maggie in the garden. She stepped out of the green path in front of him and he jumped.

“Whatcha doing out there?” She nodded back to the tree line.

‘Nothing, just looking along the property line.” Jake could hear the lie in his own voice and feared she had too. “You wanna watch that new Ryan Reynolds movie?” He hoped her love of the actor would make her forget his obvious lie.

“Nah, but thanks. I’m going to go take a shower and relax for a bit.” Maggie flinched slightly before she turned and walked into the house.

Jake followed her, setting the weed whacker down at the back door before entering, and stopped in the kitchen for a drink.

Ancestry.com is an option, Jake thought as he sipped cold water. He had the Colonel’s full name and could guess his age close enough. With a couple possible names for the wife and a known name for little Robert, he wondered if he could get to any death certificates to see when and if the boy died. And cause of death. Did they list those things back then, or just name and date? Jake had no idea and wandered upstairs to the laptop.

At the top of the stairs, music drifted out of his bedroom and he smiled. The sound of running water was like applause against the song playing from the Bluetooth—some tune he recognized from the radio but didn’t know the title or even artist. Jake slipped into the bedroom and approached the door to listen. She seemed off outside, like she was having a bad day or had a headache, but at least her tunes were back in the shower. He listened intently for a moment to see if she was singing.

Nope, but at least she’s not crying.

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