Dust to Dust

the police and they told her what Stacy was supposed to have died from. For some reason, Marsha was angry with you in particular. I think it was the things you said to her. I suppose she saw you as trying to rob her of her grief. It’s all she thinks she has.”
    “I’m sorry I upset her,” said Diane.
    “Wendy looked you up on the Web and discovered you are the director of the museum,” said Kathy. “We all thought you had deceived us about who you are.”
    “She didn’t find the other positions I hold?” said Diane.
    “No. I think the first item she found was the museum and she stopped there. It had your picture. That was the only listing we knew for sure was you. You aren’t the only Diane Fallon in the world.”
    “That’s true,” said Diane, smiling.
    “We didn’t quite understand why you would have anything to do with a crime investigation. Frankly, I thought you and the gentleman with you were frauds. I thought you had lied to me.”
    “Didn’t you look up the name of my osteology lab—the one on the card?” said Diane.
    “We didn’t think of it. When we found you, we thought that was it; we had found you out. None of us know very much about computers, really. I know everyone does these days, but we don’t. Wendy used Marsha’s husband’s computer. She knew how to use Google. I always thought it was simply a very large number,” she said.
    Diane smiled. “I take it you don’t follow the stock market either,” said Diane.
    “No,” she said, and almost smiled. “I was amazed at all the information on your Web site. All the things about the museum. Wendy found the museum board of directors and discovered that both her husband and father-in-law, Everett, were on a couple of charity boards with two of the members. Wendy will make good on her threat to have them make calls about you. Her father-in-law is a type A personality, if you know what I mean. He’ll pressure the board members to do something about you if Wendy asks him.”
    “Wendy will be sorely disappointed,” said Diane. “It isn’t a governing board. It’s an advisory board.”
    “Oh, she will be disappointed,” said Kathy.
    “Tell me, why is Wendy so involved in Marsha’s life?” asked Diane.
    “Same reason I am. We are neighbors and friends. We go to the same church. We got caught up in trying to help Marsha with her grieving process and were kind of pulled into it. Over the years it became our life. It’s not this bad all the time. We go though long periods of normal. Then something happens and Marsha will start drinking. It’s gotten a lot worse since Stacy Dance spoke to her. And when you and that man—Kingsley—came into our lives and that newspaper article came out.”
    “I’m sorry our visit had that effect,” said Diane. “Has Marsha been to grief counseling?”
    “Yes. It hasn’t worked—or it will work for a while until something happens,” said Kathy.
    “What triggers her relapses?” asked Diane.
    “Lots of things. My husband’s cancer and death were one thing. Wendy’s husband is head of the oncology department at the hospital, so all of them were there for us during the process. When Samantha reached the same age Ellie Rose was when she died, it set Marsha off. As I said, Stacy’s visit upset her. Sometimes a report in the news about some teenage girl who died would be enough to upset her again.”
    “You said they think you are here to talk me into recanting my findings. Why do they think that?” asked Diane.
    “When we went outside to get in the car, I commented that maybe if we had been friendlier we might have gotten somewhere. Marsha turned on me and started to yell. She’s been doing that more frequently. It made me mad and I almost told her that maybe I would be the one to recant my story. I came that close.” Kathy stopped and took a deep breath.
    “I wouldn’t,” she continued. “I saw what I saw. But I was so angry that she’d turn on me after everything. I made up my mind I wasn’t going to ride back with them. I have a friend here in Rosewood, and I can spend the night with her and we can go shopping together tomorrow.” Kathy wrapped her jacket closer to her as if she were cold.
    “Wendy said she thought I was right,” Kathy continued, “and if I came in to speak with you alone, I might get somewhere, or at least find out what you were really up to. I agreed. I just wanted to get away from them. Wendy is real good with Marsha. I’m not. Marsha agreed