E Is for Evidence

ground she walked on, though I never could quite see it myself…"
    "… tragedy… so young…"
    "… well, I always wondered about that, as narrow as she was through the chest. Who did the work?"
    I found Ash sitting on a poured-concrete bench near the chapel door. She looked drawn and pale, her pale-red hair glinting with strands of premature gray. The dress she wore was a dark wool, loosely cut, the short sleeves making her upper arms seem as shapeless as bread dough. In an-other few years she'd have that matronly look that women sometimes get, rushing into middle age just to get it over with. I sat down beside her. She held out her hand and we sat there together like grade-school kids on a field trip. "Line up in twos and no talking." Life itself is a peculiar outing. Sometimes I still feel like I need a note from my mother.
    I scanned the crowd. "What happened to Ebony? I don't see her."
    "She left just after the service. God, she's so cold. She sat there like a stone, never cried a tear."
    "Bass says she was a mess when she first heard the news. Now she's got herself under control, which is proba-bly much closer to the way she lives. Were she and Olive close?"
    "I always thought so. Now I'm not so sure."
    "Come on, Ashley. People deal with grief differently. You never really know what goes on," I said. "I went to a funeral once where a woman laughed so hard she wet her pants. Her only son had died in a car accident. Later, she was hospitalized for depression, but if you'd seen her then, you never would have guessed."
    "I suppose." She let her gaze drift across the court-yard. "Terry got another phone call from that woman."
    "Lyda Case?"
    "I guess that's the one. Whoever threatened him."
    "Did he call the police?"
    "I doubt it. It came up a little while ago, before we left the house to come here. He probably hasn't had a chance."
    I spotted Terry talking to the minister. As if on cue, he turned and looked at me. I touched Ash's arm. "I'll be right back," I said.
    Terry murmured something and broke away, moving toward me. Looking at him was like looking in my mirror… the same bruises, same haunted look about the eyes. We were as bonded as lovers after the trauma we'd been through. No one could know what it was like in that mo-ment when the bomb went off. "How are you?" he said, his voice low.
    "Ash says Lyda Case called."
    Terry took my arm and steered me toward the en-trance to the social hall. "She's here in town. She wants to meet with me."
    "Bullshit. No way," I whispered hoarsely.
    Terry looked at me uneasily. "I know it sounds crazy, but she says she has some information that could be of help."
    "I'm sure she does. It's probably in a box and goes boom when you pick it up."
    "I asked her about that. She swears she didn't have anything to do with Olive's death."
    "And you believed her?"
    "I guess I did in a way."
    "Hey, you were the one who told me about the threat. She scared the life out of you and here she is again. If you won't call Lieutenant Dolan, I will."
    I thought he would argue, but he sighed once. "All right. I know it's the only thing that makes any sense. I've just been in such a fog."
    "Where's she staying?"
    "She didn't say. She wants to meet at the bird refuge at six. Would you be willing to come? She asked for you by name."
    "Why me?"
    "I don't know. She said you flew to Texas to talk to her. I can't believe you didn't mention that when the subject came up."
    "Sorry. I guess I should have. That was early in the week. I was trying to get a line on Hugh Case, to see how his death fits in."
    "And?"
    "I'm not sure yet. I'd be very surprised if it didn't connect. I just can't figure out how."
    Terry gave me a skeptical look. "It's never been proven he was murdered, has it?"
    "Well, that's true," I said. "It just seems highly unlikely that the lab work would disappear unless somebody meant to conceal the evidence. Maybe it's the same person with a different motive this time."
    "What makes you say that? Carbon-monoxide poison-ing is about as far away from bombs as you can get. Wouldn't the guy use the same method if it worked so well the first time?"
    I shrugged. "I don't know. If it were me, I'd do what-ever was expedient. The point is, this is not something we should fool around with on our own."
    I saw Terry's gaze focus on something behind me. I turned to see Bass. He looked old. Everybody had aged in the wake of Olive's death, but on Bass the lines of weari-ness were the least