A Grave Denied

Katya, who had wriggled free, laughed and clapped her hands and trotted over to join in. A dancing family, the Clarks, Vanessa thought. She wished there was more music in her home. But she was lucky she had a home, she told herself. The Hagbergs, neither one of them ever said so, but she knew she could have easily wound up in foster care with strangers and probably even stranger kids. It was just so quiet on the Hagbergs’ homestead. Virgil didn’t talk much and Telma didn’t talk at all.

She looked at the tousled head of thick brown hair bent with intent over what looked like a nest of tiny, colorful snakes, and her heart did that crazy somersault thing again. She thought of him kissing her that afternoon. She wondered when it could happen again.

“Goddamn, woman,” Bobby roared, “not in front of the children!” Vanessa looked up to see Dinah, flushed and laughing, hop from the chair.

A happy family, she thought, and wished with all her heart that she was part of it.

The door was open to admit the balmy breeze that had been blowing in zephyr-like fashion all day, which was why Bobby Clark’s ugly brother could walk right in without knocking. That’s what Vanessa called him, the ugly brother. There were ugly stepsisters, weren’t there? So Jeffrey Clark was the ugly brother. Although he wasn’t that ugly. In fact, he and Bobby looked a lot alike, and Bobby was a good-looking man. Kind of like Denzel Washington in The Pelican Brief, only thicker through the shoulders and arms, and with more hair, and, of course, no legs below the knee. And his jaw was wider, and his eyelashes longer and thicker. But otherwise a dead ringer.

“Ah, Jesus,” Bobby said, unaware of the fantasy being woven about his person, “and it’s been such a fine day up until now.”

“I’m still here,” Jeffrey Clark said.

“I see that,” Bobby said. “Go home, Jeffie. Just go the hell on home.”

The ugly brother’s face hardened into a stubbor

“Would you like to stay to di

Bobby glared at her. “No, he would not like to stay to di

Jeffrey looked over Bobby’s head and met Dinah’s eyes straight on for the first time. “I’d love to stay to di

It was an interesting evening, Vanessa thought later, as she washed and Joh

When the last fork was dry, Vanessa hung up the dish towel and said to Joh

“I know.” He looked toward the door.

“What?” she said.

He hesitated. “I’m just wondering about Jim. You know, the trooper. What he’s doing.”

She was silent for a moment. “Was it awful?” she said. “The body?”

His lips compressed into a thin line. “It was awful,” he said. “I hope you never have to see anything like that.” He shuddered. “I hope I don’t ever have to see anything like that ever again.”

“What will the trooper do?”

“He’ll find the murderer,” Joh

“But he’s killed two people now, and the trooper didn’t find him after he killed the first one.”

“There’s more evidence now,” Joh

“You think so?”

“I know so.” He smiled at her, and she was reassured.

In the living room Jeffrey had enthroned himself in the middle of the couch that had its back to the window. Katya trotted over to him with a copy of The Monster at the End of this Book and pushed her way onto his lap regardless of the cup of coffee and slice of lemon cake he held. “Read,” she commanded.

He looked up to find Bobby ready to explode, and the expression on his face was all too obvious. “Why, sure, sugar, I’ll read to you,” he said, his voice as smooth as honey.

Dinah put a restraining hand on Bobby’s arm, a gesture she had perfected during the evening, and indeed during the past week. “She’s going to go right off,” she whispered, and sure enough, Katya was asleep long before Jeffrey got to the monster. Sleeping babies gain ten degrees in body temperature and ten pounds in body weight, and it was amusing to watch Jeffrey cope with both. Amusing for a while, anyway, and Dinah went to rescue Katya before she slid completely out of her uncle’s arms.

Jeffrey thanked her for the meal, said to Bobby, “I’ll be back in the morning,” accepted a terse “Don’t bother” in reply with seeming equanimity, and took his leave.

Bobby blew out a breath and let loose with a colorful commentary on Jeffrey, Dinah, di

“He’s a man on a mission,” Dinah said.

He was silent for a moment, unusual for Bobby. “Dandy keeps wandering into my mind,” he said, surprising her.

“Mine, too,” she said, looking over her shoulder. Joh

“Worthless bastard,” Bobby said.

“Harmless, though,” Dinah said.

“Somebody didn’t think so,” Bobby said. He kissed her suddenly, hard enough to hurt her lip.

“Ouch,” she said mildly when free again.

Her husband’s hands roamed, touching, fondling, caressing, possessing. “He was only ever interested in one thing. If he was going to get shot by an irate husband, it would have happened years ago.”

“I don’t think Jim thinks it was an irate husband. I think he thinks it was the same person who killed Len Dreyer.”

Bobby’s eyes narrowed. “Dreyer I could see killing, now that we know who he was and what he did. But Dandy?”

“He must have gotten close to Dreyer’s murderer.”

Bobby looked skeptical. “I wouldn’t have thought he was that bright.”

“I’m going to take Vanessa home now,” Joh

“Thanks for di

Dinah disentangled herself from her husband and stood up. “Come back anytime, honey. Joh

“I’ll take ‘em,” Jim said, standing in the doorway.

He had his cap pulled so low it was hard to see his expression, but there was a harsh line to his mouth.

“You told them,” Dinah said.

He gave a sharp nod.

“I’ll go over.”

He made a negating motion with his hand. “Don’t. I sent Auntie Vi up to their house. She’s calling their kids. I sent George into town with the body, so the kids in Anchorage can meet the plane and at least some of them can fly back out with him. They don’t want to see anyone but family, not yet.”