Scattered Graves

thought Diane, standing on the steps looking at the papers she had been handed. I’m being sued. And didn’t the sweet little lady just look so touristy with her camera around her neck .
    Diane opened the paper. Jennifer Jeffcote-Smith vs. the City of Rosewood . Well , thought Diane. I’m not being sued. Rosewood is . She skimmed the document. And for a lot of money.
    She hurried up the steps and went to her office be fore any other strange person caught sight of her.
‘‘You’ve gotten a lot of calls,’’ said Andie as she handed Diane her mail. ‘‘Reporters are calling every five minutes. They want to know about the woodchipper murderer.
‘‘Refer them to Sheriff Canfield,’’ said Diane.
‘‘I do, but they want to talk with you,’’ said Andie.
‘‘Too bad,’’ said Diane.
‘‘They also want to ask about Delamore,’’ said Andie.
‘‘Tell them no comment,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Vanessa phoned. She’s back. I told her about the Neanderthal bones that Kendel bought. I hope you don’t mind. I couldn’t help it. It’s just so cool.’’
Diane smiled as she went through the mail. ‘‘That’s fine. Was she excited?’’
‘‘Oh, yes. She’s already planning the opening party for the exhibit.’’
‘‘It’s going to be a while. We have a long way to go,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Anything else?’’
‘‘You got several calls from someone who wouldn’t leave a name, some woman.’’
‘‘Probably the process server who just gave me this.’’ Diane waved the papers.
‘‘Process server? Are we getting sued?’’ Andie’s eyes went round and worried.
‘‘No. Rosewood is. Ms. Jeffcote-Smith, the newly hired forensic anthropologist, was fired. Her lawyer wants me as a witness,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Oh, well, as long as it’s not us,’’ said Andie. To her, anything associated with the museum was ‘‘us.’’ Diane appreciated her loyalty.
Andie handed Diane several pink pieces of paper. ‘‘Here are the other messages. Nothing urgent. Some one wants to donate his collection of fossil coprolites. I took his name.’’
‘‘That’s redundant,’’ said Diane.
‘‘What?’’
‘‘Fossil coprolites. Coprolites are fossils,’’ said Diane, opening a letter from the president of the local Rotary Club. They wanted her to speak next month at their meeting.
‘‘What kind of fossils are they?’’ said Andie.
‘‘Fossilized excrement,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Oooew,’’ said Andie. ‘‘It must have been a prank, like the guy last month who wanted to sell us the carved baculum coffee stirrers.’’
‘‘Quite possibly.’’ She smiled at Andie. ‘‘I’ll be in my office. You can field all the scatological inquiries,’’ she said.
Diane sat down behind her desk and went through the messages. Andie was right. Nothing urgent. Most were from various vendors. Diane sorted through her messages and put most of them aside. She picked up the phone and called Vanessa, who had just returned from a family reunion in Ohio.
‘‘How was your trip?’’ said Diane.
‘‘Lovely, interesting, and a bit tiring. Never seen so many really old people in one place,’’ she said, laugh ing. ‘‘You know it’s going to be either terribly interest ing or terribly boring when your doctors want to come along to your family reunion.’’
Vanessa’s family was long-lived and the object of study for the Center for Research on Aging. Her grand mother had recently died at 114 years old. Her mother was approaching a hundred, and several other mem bers of her family were centenarians. Diane imagined the whole family together was too much of a tempta tion for the researchers to resist.
‘‘I imagine they reveled in the data,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Oh, yes. Mother has a cousin who just turned a hundred and three, and of course my father’s side has several over a hundred.’’
‘‘Your father’s side? I don’t think side was long-lived too. Coincidence Diane asked, smiling into the phone.
‘‘That is one of your science fiction allusions, isn’t it? Heinlein,’’ said Vanessa.
‘‘I didn’t know you were so well versed in science fiction,’’ said Diane.
‘‘I’m not. I think it’s dreadful, but I have a cousin who kept going on about Methuselah’s Children .’’
‘‘One of my favorite books,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I can see how it appealed to your cousin.’’ Diane paused a moment, absently fingering the summons on her desk. ‘‘Andie said