Digging Up the Dirt Read online

  Clementine came in with a serving tray and set it on the coffee table. Along with the teapot and cups, there was a plate of her homemade shortbread.

  An’gel thanked her, and Clementine nodded. Dickce poured the tea for them both. She picked up a piece of the shortbread and began to eat.

  They had finished the tea and the plate of shortbread by the time Kanesha arrived forty minutes later. An’gel answered the door and ushered the deputy into the parlor.

  “Would you care for anything to drink?” An’gel asked.

  “No, ma’am, I’m fine.” Kanesha perched on the edge of the chair her hostess had indicated. “What is it you wanted to discuss with me?”

  “Sarinda Hetherington’s death,” An’gel said. “I don’t think it was an accident.”

  “And if those bones turn out to belong to Callie Partridge,” Dickce said, “we think there’s a connection.”

  “I’m sure you’ve talked to Chief Carson,” An’gel said. “Did he tell you about our conversation?”

  Kanesha nodded. “He did. I’ve also spoken with Dr. Gandy, and he is adamant that Miss Hetherington wouldn’t have drunk enough bourbon to incapacitate herself enough to fall down the stairs.”

  “I believe him,” An’gel said. “So what’s being done about it?”

  “We are treating it as a suspicious death,” Kanesha said. “There is some evidence to indicate that it wasn’t an accident.”

  CHAPTER 11

  “What evidence?” An’gel asked.

  Kanesha frowned. “I can’t go into detail, and I wouldn’t tell anyone else outside the force this, Miss An’gel. But I’ll tell you and Miss Dickce. I know it won’t go any further.”

  “No, it certainly won’t,” Dickce said.

  “There are marks on the body that indicate Miss Hetherington might have been shoved down the stairs,” Kanesha said. “I emphasize might. We won’t know for sure until the examination is complete, and that could take several weeks.”

  “The important point to me, at the moment, is that you’re investigating and not dismissing it as what it looked like,” An’gel said.

  “I never accept anything at face value.” Kanesha pulled out her notebook and pen. “Now, ladies, if you don’t mind, tell me again who was at the garden club meeting and what Miss Hetherington said and did.” She slipped open the notebook and prepared to write.

  Dickce gave her the names, then turned to An’gel to let her sister relay the rest of the information.

  An’gel ran through the conversation leading up to Sarinda’s startling question. “Maybe I’m imagining it now,” she said. “At the time, however, there seemed to be an undercurrent of tension in the room after Sarinda said what she did.”

  “No, I felt it too,” Dickce said. “Though to be fair, it could be that everyone was tense because they thought Sarinda had finally gone completely around the bend.”

  Kanesha appeared a little puzzled.

  “Sarinda was inclined to be dramatic when she wanted attention,” An’gel said.

  “I see. What happened after she asked her question?” Kanesha said.

  “No one appeared to take her seriously at the time.” An’gel continued with her summary of the meeting and concluded with, “I thought it strange, even for Sarinda, to take off like that. But she could be so moody when she didn’t get the attention she wanted.”

  “Neither of you spoke to her at any point after the meeting?” Kanesha asked.

  “No,” An’gel said. “I wish now, of course, that I had called her, or that we had gone by her house to check on her. But we had other things on our minds.”

  “We’ll always regret it,” Dickce said. “The only thing we can do for her now is to help find out who pushed her down the stairs.”

  “Now that this grave has been found at Ashton Hall,” An’gel said, “and Callie’s ring with it, I have to think Sarinda did know something about Callie’s disappearance. Perhaps she even knew that Callie was dead.”

  “Those are questions I will be trying to answer.” Kanesha tapped her pen against the notebook. “I might be wrong, but I don’t think Mr. Hamish Partridge ever filed a missing persons report on his wife. I’ll have to check that out.”

  “He would be the most likely suspect, wouldn’t he?” Dickce asked.

  “We always look first at the spouse.” Kanesha rose. “You’ve given me a lot to think about, and I promise you I will consider all the possibilities. It would help me if the two of you could write down everything you remember that happened around the time Hadley Partridge left town and Mrs. Callie Partridge was rumored to have run away after him.”

  An’gel stood. “We will do that. Let me show you out.” She accompanied Kanesha to the front door and moments later returned to the parlor.

  “That’s going to be quite a job,” Dickce said. “I’m not sure how much I can remember from forty years ago. That’s a long time.”

  “Yes, it is,” An’gel said as she resumed her seat. “I’m not sure either, but we’ll have to do our best.” She thought for a moment. “I imagine it won’t take long for the news to get around about the remains found at Ashton Hall. That will be the only subject anybody’s talking about.”

  “So it won’t hurt if we talk about it to the garden club board and see what we can find out about what they were all up to at the time.” Dickce nodded. “I like that. We can be snoopy, and it ought to seem natural.”

  “Natural enough, perhaps,” An’gel said. “We’ll have to be careful, though, because there’ll be at least one person who’ll be anxious to hide what she was doing at the time.”

  “It’s hard to think of one of those women as a murderer,” Dickce said.

  “One of them very well could be, because I doubt Hamish came back from the dead to push Sarinda down the stairs.”

  “No, of course not.” Dickce shook her head. “But we can’t forget Hadley. It could just as easily be him as one of the board.”

  “Yes, you’re right.” An’gel thought for a moment. “I think we need to spend some time getting reacquainted with Hadley, don’t you?”

  “What do you have in mind?” Dickce asked.

  “First, let’s invite him here for dinner tonight. If, that is, he hasn’t already accepted another invitation.” An’gel grimaced. “I have a feeling he’s getting all kinds of invitations from the other board members.”

  “Then you’d better call him right now,” Dickce said. “Let’s not waste any time.”

  “As soon as I look up the number for Ashton Hall.” An’gel rose to search for the local telephone book. “I hope the phone is still connected there, because I don’t want to have to drive back over there to invite Hadley to dinner.”

  “I believe it’s in the drawer in the hall table,” Dickce said. “The one right outside the parlor door.”

  An’gel found the book where Dickce said it would be and came back into the room, riffling the pages in search of the number. “Here it is.” She went over to the desk by the front windows, picked up the handset there, and punched in the number. Dickce came over to stand near while she called.

  “Good afternoon,” she said. “This is An’gel Ducote. I would like to speak to Mr. Partridge if he’s available.” She put her hand over the mouthpiece to speak to her sister. “She’s gone to get him.”

  Nearly a minute passed before An’gel heard Hadley’s voice on the other end. “An’gel, my dear, how are you and Dickce? I must apologize for disappearing on you like I did. I have to tell you, I was pretty unsettled by what we found this morning. I guess my manners went completely by the wayside as a result.”

  “No need to apologize,” An’gel said. “We completely understand. It was quite a shock.”

  “Yes, it was,” Hadley said. “I’m praying that who we found isn’t Callie.”

  “We are, too,” An’gel r
eplied. “I know things are still unsettled there, and Dickce and I would love to see you. Why don’t you come to dinner here tonight? Around seven?”

  “Thank you, I’d like that very much,” Hadley said with what sounded like true gratitude. “I think it will do me good to be out of this house for a few hours.”

  “I’m sure it will,” An’gel said. “We’ll see you at seven, then.” She ended the call and replaced the handset.

  “I heard most of it,” Dickce said. “His voice came through clearly. I’m glad he’s coming. I hope we can get him to open up about why he really left Athena.”

  “We can but try.” An’gel shrugged. “Lunch should be about ready. I’d better tell Clementine that we’ll be four for dinner tonight.”

  Hadley rang the bell at seven that evening, and An’gel, who had been waiting nearby, admitted him. Hadley gave her a swift kiss on the cheek, and An’gel greeted him and took his jacket.

  “Would you like something to drink before we go in to dinner?” An’gel laid the jacket across the back of the sofa in the parlor where Dickce greeted him and received her own brief kiss.

  Hadley grinned. “I wouldn’t say no to a whisky and soda.”

  “Coming right up.” An’gel moved to the liquor cabinet in the corner and prepared his drink. “Dickce, what would you like?”

  “The same,” Dickce said.

  “I’ll make it three.” An’gel smiled. Moments later the drinks were ready, and she handed her sister and Hadley theirs and then took up her own.

  “May I propose a toast?” Hadley asked. “I know it’s usually the hostess’s prerogative.”

  “Go right ahead,” An’gel said.

  Hadley raised his glass. “To homecomings and good friends.”

  An’gel and Dickce raised their glasses to his. “To homecomings and good friends,” they said in unison.

  All three sipped their whisky. Hadley smiled appreciatively. “Let me guess,” he said. “Laphroaig.”

  An’gel nodded. “Our favorite.”

  “Mine, too.” Hadley drained his glass. “Thank you. That went down a treat, as my friends in England would say.”

  “It always does.” Dickce giggled before she too drained hers.

  “How about another one?” An’gel asked.

  Hadley refused with a smile. “I have too great a fondness for it, so I try to limit myself.”

  An’gel nodded. “That’s smart.” She set her glass on the tray on the liquor cabinet and did the same with the other two. “Let’s go in to dinner then.”

  Hadley escorted An’gel into the dining room and pulled out her chair for her. Then he pulled out Dickce’s chair before he took his own seat at An’gel’s right hand.

  “What a beautiful table,” Hadley said. “I feel honored.”

  Clementine had set the table with exquisite taste, as always, An’gel thought. The housekeeper had used linens belonging to the sisters’ grandmother Ducote, and the silver was the wedding set their parents received. The table sported the best Wedgwood china and Waterford crystal they had. Clementine had obviously been determined to impress Hadley Partridge, and it seemed she had succeeded.

  Benjy hurried into the dining room with a smiled apology and took his seat next to Dickce. “Good evening, Mr. Partridge. How are you?” he said after greeting the sisters. He exchanged pleasantries with Hadley, and then An’gel said grace.

  When she finished the brief prayer, An’gel stood. “Everything is here on the sideboard. Hadley, please go first. Clementine has prepared a traditional Southern meal for us. Fried chicken, rice, homemade biscuits, cream gravy, sweet tea, and green beans.”

  Hadley grinned. “I’ll enjoy every bite of it, I’m sure, although I’ll have to jog to Memphis and back tomorrow to make up for it.” He rose from the table with his plate and began to load it from the sideboard.

  Soon all four diners returned to the table with full plates, and eating commenced. An’gel kept the conversation general, though she had plans a little later to hone in on Hadley’s life during his forty-year absence from Athena. She waited until Hadley was nearly finished with his second helping of biscuits and gravy before she introduced the subject.

  “I’m glad to see that forty years away hasn’t affected your appetite for Southern food. I thought perhaps you had become too sophisticated for plain, down-home cooking.” She smiled to remove any sting from the words.

  “I’ll admit that I did develop tastes for a wide range of different cuisines,” Hadley said after a sip of tea. He set down the glass and smiled at his hostess. “The South is in my blood, in my DNA, as it is in yours and Dickce’s. No matter how far I strayed or how long I was gone, I never forgot my roots.” He paused, and his expression turned serious. “I never lost the desire to return home. It simply wasn’t possible as long as Hamish was alive.”

  “Why ever not?” Dickce asked.

  “He swore he’d kill me if I ever came home,” Hadley said.

  CHAPTER 12

  An’gel nearly choked on her tea. She set the glass down on the table. “He left you Ashton Hall. Surely that meant he was no longer angry with you.”

  Hadley shrugged. “I’m the last male in the direct line. Hamish probably hated the thought of anyone other than a Partridge laying claim to Ashton Hall more than he hated me. The irony is that I have no son to inherit it after me. Hamish had no idea, of course, but the end result is that the direct line will go kaput after all when I’m gone.”

  “What will you do about the property?” Dickce asked, then blushed when she caught the irritated glance An’gel shot her. “Sorry, that isn’t any of our business.”

  “I don’t mind,” Hadley said. “It’s a good question, and although I’ve thought about it, I haven’t come to any decision yet. I’m open to suggestions.”

  An’gel didn’t want to discuss this particular subject at the moment, interesting as it was. She and Dickce faced a similar situation, but with Benjy now in their lives, they did have more options. Right now she wanted to steer the conversation back to Hadley’s long absence and the reason for it.

  “I’m going to be blunt, Hadley.” An’gel regarded him with a determined expression. “You can refuse to answer, but frankly, I think you owe us all an explanation for why you disappeared from Athena. We were all your friends—good friends, we thought—and you walked away from all of us. That was painful. We are glad you’re back, but we can’t help but wonder why you left.”

  “Ah, yes.” Hadley picked up his tea glass and stared into it. He drained the contents and set the glass down again. “Yes, I suppose I do.”

  “Well, aren’t you going to tell us?” Dickce said, her tone sharp, after Hadley failed to continue right away.

  Hadley took a deep breath and looked at each of them in turn. “I loved Callie. She was my very dear friend, and I loved her. I wasn’t in love with her, however. She was more like a sister to me. She was in an unhappy marriage. Hamish became more and more jealous of any attention she paid me, and he took it out on her. He threatened me, as I’ve already said, and I was afraid that if I didn’t go, he would kill me, and possibly Callie, too. I tried arguing with him, but he had lost his reasonableness, if you understand what I mean. So I left.” He shrugged. “I thought that if I were out of the picture, Hamish would no longer have a reason to be jealous. That he might treat Callie better, and she could find some kind of happiness with him.”

  An’gel felt a sudden rage toward Hamish Partridge. She had little doubt now that he had killed his wife, even though Hadley left in order to protect her.

  “That’s horrible.” Dickce pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve and dabbed at her eyes.

  “And you had no contact with Callie after you left?” Benjy asked. He also, An’gel noticed, appeared moved by Hadley’s story.

  “I never saw her again,” Hadley said.

&nbs
p; That struck An’gel as an evasion after she thought about it a moment. She challenged him. “You never saw her again, but did you speak to her after you left? Or perhaps exchange letters?”

  “You should have been a lawyer, An’gel,” Hadley said with a wry smile. “Yes, I did talk to her. When I left I went to Memphis. I had a good friend there, and I knew he’d put me up for a few nights. Callie knew him, too, and she figured that’s where I’d go. So she called me there. She had to go into town to do it.”

  “How long had you been gone when she called you?” An’gel asked.

  “Let me think.” Hadley got up from the table and went to the sideboard to refill his tea. That accomplished, he returned to his seat. “I left the first Saturday in June, three days before my birthday. Callie called me on Monday, sometime around noon, I think it was.”

  “How was she?” Dickce asked.

  “Upset that I had left, although she understood why, naturally.” Hadley sipped from his glass. “She said Hamish was calm, almost pleasant, once he knew I was gone. She told me he had invited guests to dinner that evening, something he hadn’t done in months. I remember thinking, ‘Well, she’ll be okay now.’ But evidently she wasn’t. She disappeared, too, and I had no idea until I came back here.”

  “Weren’t you surprised when you never heard from her again?” An’gel asked.

  “Not really, no,” Hamish said. “I told her it was best if we had no contact. She didn’t like it, but I finally persuaded her it was the only way to keep her safe. I left Memphis a few days later for New York, and then on to London about a week after that.”

  “You could have called one of us,” An’gel said, now suddenly angry at him. “You should have. We could have done something to help her.”

  “I know that now.” Hamish gazed at her, and she could see the anguish he felt. “At the time, though, I thought the best thing was to disappear. Make a complete break with the past. Obviously I was wrong.”

  An’gel wanted to say, And Callie paid the price for it, but his obvious distress prevented her. She couldn’t be that cruel. “When you had that last conversation with Callie, did she give you any indication that she was afraid of Hamish?”