One Grave Less

her with people she was especially close to.
    “Yes,” said Diane, “Oliver was killed at the mission. As you can imagine, Simone was devastated. As were we all.”
    “Pieter said she found something among the fiancé’s effects that got her all worked up. She wouldn’t say what it was. But whatever it was made her determined —was the word he used. He said at first she seemed puzzled by what she had found, but after a while developed a sense of outrage.”
    “And he had no clue what it was?” said Diane. “He has such detail about her emotions throughout her discovery process. How did he know? They must have discussed something.”
    “I asked him just that. He said she told him she discovered some information and things she didn’t understand. She wouldn’t tell him what it was. He said that his sister tended to be secretive. I noticed he was embarrassed, and I pushed. His sister didn’t really trust him with information that she thought their mother would dig out of him. I got the idea that Pieter is a bit of a mama’s boy. Simone trusted her brother, I think, but only to a point.”
    “I see,” said Diane. “I wonder if the things we found in the museum were from the box of Oliver’s effects. If they were from Simone. I’ve assumed they were, but I don’t know. Can we examine Oliver’s effects?” asked Diane.
    “I asked,” said Garnett. “Pieter has no idea where they are. Apparently his sister is as good at hiding things as she is at keeping secrets. Janice told me the mother bought into the caller’s story. She wanted me to arrest you and David.”
    “I wonder why she was so quick to believe some stranger over the phone?” said Diane.
    “The father said that when Simone visited them during the holidays—when she was living in South America—all she could talk about was how she admired you and your work. Her mother was jealous of that. She wanted her daughter away from that place and job and she saw you as keeping her daughter there.”
    Diane sighed. “I had no idea. Thanks, Garnett. I was hoping for more answers than questions, though.”
    “Me too. I’ll keep you in the loop. You do the same,” he said.
    The last sounded more like a warning. Diane thought he was probably afraid that she, David, and now Gregory would keep information to themselves. And we would if we could , she thought.
    “I will,” Diane said.
    Diane hung up and turned her attention to David and Gregory, telling them what she had learned from Garnett.
    “I talked with Simone a lot when we worked together,” said Gregory. “Did you know she once had a sister?”
    “No, I didn’t,” said Diane.
    David shook his head. “Neither did I.”
    “Phoebe was her name. She was a bit older than Simone. She was a first child and all. When she was five she ran into the road and was hit by a lorry. Simone’s mother had a tendency to be controlling before then, but after the accident it got so much worse. Her father, I think, used up all his energy dealing with the grief. He had none left to disagree with his wife’s raising of the surviving children. At least, that was my take on him.”
    “That’s a sad story,” said Diane. “You can’t blame her for wanting to hold on tightly to her other children.”
    “Perhaps,” said Gregory. “But the ugly side of me notices that she now has complete control over Simone. Something she has never had, even when Simone was young.”

    Diane took Gregory home with her. Frank was bringing Thai from one of his favorite restaurants. David wanted to stay at his office and continue trying to find the people they worked with in South America and shake loose their memories. Not a pleasant activity for anyone, but Diane hoped David would find something that would help them understand.
    “You Americans like your four-by-fours,” said Gregory. “Does this one drive well?”
    “I like it,” said Diane. “Unfortunately, I’ve gone through several. Perps seem to like to take aim at my vehicles.”
    “Really? You deal with perpetrators? I would think the detectives did that.”
    “They do,” said Diane. “I’ve just had a lot of bad luck.”
    “Obviously you are well thought of,” said Gregory.
    “Until I started dealing drugs and being loose around men,” said Diane.
    Gregory gave a short laugh. “Nice cottage,” he said as he spotted Frank’s Queen Anne-style house through the stand of trees. “Is this where you are going to live after you are