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If I hadn’t been watching Lorna so closely, I’d never have noticed her bobble the teacup before she set it in front of Reverend Thomas.
“Thank you, Lorna,” the Reverend said, taking a quick sip before answering. “No, Daniel didn’t have any outside relationships that I was aware of. He was devoted to the church.”
“What about you, Lorna?” Jack asked. “Do you know if Reverend Oglesby had any close personal friends in the area?”
Lorna sat back down in the chair she’d vacated earlier and went through the same ritual of pleating the front of her dress before crossing her ankles.
“Like I said before, it wasn’t my business to pay attention to things like that. The only time I ever saw him was here at the church. He lived over in King George Proper instead of Bloody Mary, so he did most of his errands there. I don’t know why he chose to live so far away from the church, but he did. Maybe he didn’t want anyone knowing what he was up to in his off time. It’s suspicious behavior in my opinion.”
My eyebrows rose almost to my hairline at her presumption. For someone who spurned the sins of gossip, she sure didn’t mind dishing it out.
“Now, Lorna,” the Reverend admonished. “Let’s not make something out of nothing. Reverend Oglesby lived in King George because there wasn’t anything available for lease here in Bloody Mary at the time. He was going to finish out his lease on the little house he was renting over in King George, and then he was planning to move into the old Tompkins place down the street since it’s gone on the market. I believe he’d already made the down payment.”
Lorna pursed her lips in disapproval and Jack closed his little notebook and got to his feet. “That’ll be all for now, Reverend.”
Jack looked at me and held out a hand to help me stand. I put my hand in his without thinking. I was a little dazed, and I wondered briefly if I might have dozed off at some point. I’d run past the point of exhaustion a long time ago.
“How soon will the body be available for burial?” Reverend Thomas asked. “We’ll want to do it here at the church and bury him with the respect he deserves.”
I was very aware that Jack was still holding my hand, but I didn’t want to make a scene by pulling it away. Lorna’s eyes were glued to our attachment, no matter how innocent, and I knew she’d take every opportunity to make it more than it was.
“He’ll be ready tomorrow afternoon at the earliest,” I said. “I still have the autopsy to do. But I need a family member to sign for the body or for them to give proxy to you. We can talk about burial arrangements then.”
“I hope you’ll consider that we’re a poor church and can’t afford the price you’d normally charge for a burial. I’d hate to have to bury the Reverend with a pauper’s service.”
“I’m sure we can work something out,” I said through gritted teeth and what I hoped was a smile.
What he really wanted was for me to provide all the services and materials for free. Most people never thought further than whatmyservices cost. They never took into account that I’d already paid for the coffin and would lose money there, or that I had to pay the men who dug the grave and lowered the body into the ground out of my own pocket. Not to mention I wouldn’t get paid a dime for preparing the body. I’m sure I could add selfishness to the other sins on my list, but a girl had to make a living.
“Very good then. We’ll see you some time tomorrow after I speak with his father. Daniel’s with the angels now. There’s peace in knowing that.”
I nodded and wished I could agree with him. I’d never had a fear about the afterlife until I’d found out what kind of people my parents really were. Not until I’d stood on the precipice between darkness and light myself. Now I just preferred not to think of a heaven or a hell. Eternal darkness suited me just fine. Maybe I could finally get some rest.
Chapter Seven
“What do you know about Lorna Dewberry?” Jack asked once we were back in the car.
We’d gone inside the church and stared at the framed picture of Reverend Oglesby that hung on the wall in the vestibule. It didn’t take me five seconds to know we’d found our victim. The age and shape of the face was right, and the tiny scar on his chin was a match.
“Probably not as much as you do. She’s third generation. Never married or had any local relationships that I can remember, but she’s a good bit older than we are so that’s not saying much.”
I turned Jack’s heater up to full blast and held my hands in front of the vents. I’d forgotten my gloves when we’d left the funeral home. I just couldn’t get warm,dammit.
“She was hiding something,” he said.
I froze with my hands in front of the heater and looked over to study his profile. His face was a mask of concentration, and I knew he was running scenarios through his head—discarding and rearranging the facts we’d gathered so far. His index finger tapped on the wheel to some unknown rhythm.
“I don’t know how you could tell anything with that stick shoved up her ass. You think she knows what happened to the Reverend?”
“I don’t know, but the longer we stayed and asked questions, the more nervous she got. It’s worth getting a background check on her.”
“You should just ask your mom,” I said. “She knows everything about everyone.”
I rubbed at my gritty eyes and wished I’d remembered my sunglasses along with the gloves. Sleep was creeping in on me no matter how hard I tried to fight it. Nothing good ever came with sleep, but I wouldn’t be able to fight it off forever.
“The last thing I want to do is bring my mother in on a police investigation. She’d be running the whole damned department by the time it was through.”
It was true. Mrs. Lawson was one of the most efficient women I’d ever known. When my parents had died, it had been she who’d knocked sense into as many people as she could intimidate to have them bring meals by the house and extend their condolences, even though most of them thought I was as guilty as they were. She’d been a second mother to me growing up, and really, if I was being honest, she’d been more of a mother than my own had been.
