Dead Past

real nice lady. My Juliet works for her at the museum here in Rosewood, Georgia.”
    Ruby handed Diane the phone. “She’s feeling real good today.”
    Diane took the phone and settled herself down in a chair. “Mrs. St. James . . .”
    “Call me Elnora, dear. I prefer it. So you want to know about old Luther and his boys? They were the devil’s own.”

Chapter 52

    Mrs. Elnora St. James had a clear voice and an equally clear mind—and a strong opinion about the Glendale-Marsh Parrishes. This was a topic in which she was well versed. Diane found it easier just to let her talk about the family at her own pace and to interject a question only occasionally.
    “The two brothers, Luther and Henry, couldn’t have been more different,” Elnora began. “Henry was smart and kind. Luther was dumb and mean. The land belonged to Henry. Their father left it to him. Luther was allowed to live in a small cottage near the north boundary marker, and he was bitter about that. He made Henry’s life miserable. Henry left the land to his son, Leo Parrish, and Leo let Luther work it while Leo traveled. Leontine, Leo’s twin sister, married and moved to New York. Stop me if I’m going too fast for you.”
    “You’re doing fine,” said Diane, glad that Beth had provided her with a Parrish kinship chart or she’d have a hard time keeping up.
    “Leo Parrish was supposed to have found some treasure—I guess Ruby told you about that?” she said.
    “Yes, she did. But I’m more interested in the family history,” said Diane.
    “You’d be about the only one,” said Elnora. “Now, where was I?”
    “Leontine moved to New York,” said Diane.
    “Yes. Leo lived with her for a while there, I think. He didn’t like coming back to the family farm, and I can’t say as I blame him. We sure didn’t like being neighbors with Luther and his boys.”
    “Did Leo will the land to Luther?” asked Diane.
    “Why no. Leo willed it to his sister, Leontine. Luther just took it,” said Elnora.
    “Took it?” said Diane.
    “Stole it,” declared Elnora. “Wrote Leontine and told her it was his land, should have been his land all along, and if she didn’t like it, that was too bad. Though his language was probably more colorful.”
    “She didn’t do anything about it?” asked Diane. So far the history of the Glendale-Marsh Parrishes wasn’t getting her anywhere, but she kept hoping, and Elnora was interested in talking.
    “Not anything direct, she didn’t. She was afraid of her uncle. Isn’t that a shame, being afraid of your own kin, especially an uncle? But Luther was mean, so was his sons. They’d have as soon killed her as look at her. So Luther took the land, but in the end Leontine got the last laugh.”
    “How was that?” asked Diane.
    “Leontine was the owner of record, so the tax bills for the land went to her home in New York. And she didn’t pay them; nor did she tell Luther they weren’t paid. You’d think the fool would have realized he had taxes due. But he might have thought Leontine was too scared of him not to pay them herself. Anyway, the unpaid taxes built up over the years. And one day when Luther was an old man, the sheriff came and ordered him off the land. Said it had been sold on the courthouse steps for nonpayment of taxes. I would like to have been a bird in a tree when the sheriff came to the door. I understand ol’ Luther was fit to be tied. He died a year later, probably from stewing over losing the land. Him and the boys tried to protest, but the tax people told Luther it wasn’t his land and he had no interest to protest. I bet that made him mad all over again.
    “His boys, Martin and Owen, was living with him. They thought the land was their inheritance and now they had nothing. It was kind of sad for Owen. He had a family.”
    “Do you know what happened to his family?” asked Diane.
    “They lived around Glendale-Marsh for a while. Every now and again you’d hear about one of them getting into trouble. Owen’s boy was in trouble a lot. He got some girl pregnant and had to get married. I don’t know how long that lasted. In the end, ol’ Luther died and the two boys drifted away. We were glad to see them go. They were a mean bunch. They were always coming around and stealing stuff from us, like they was entitled.”
    “Did they ever look for the treasure?” asked Diane.
    “I’m sure they did. Martin tried to contact Leontine one time, but she wouldn’t have anything to