Crowned and Moldering

“I’ll make a note of that.”

*   *   *

I drove over to the high school as quickly as traffic would allow. Wade had promised to fill in for me until I could get there. I didn’t want the SolarLight people to think I was shirking my duties the first day on the job.

On the way, I thought about Lily and the sad fact that she was pregnant when she died. She must’ve been so frightened and alone. Or was she? What if she was happy to be pregnant, but her own father was furious to find out? Could Hugh Brogan have tracked her down and killed her for being promiscuous?

Or what if Cliff’s friend Jason was the father of Lily’s baby and Cliff was jealous? Jason was a good-looking guy back in high school. So Cliff could’ve killed Lily and then killed Jason, but not right then, since I remembered that Jason was still living in town until he left a few years after high school. Who knew where Jason was living now? Or if he was alive at all?

It was a ridiculous theory, but I liked it, along with a bunch of others I could dwell on and refine later when I had nothing better to do.

My head was spi

I climbed down from my truck cab and spotted Wade and two other men walking on the path that led from the senior parking lot to the track field. Wade turned and saw me and waved as I approached. He introduced the other two men as company engineers, and we all shook hands.

For the next hour and a half, we walked the anticipated perimeter of the new parking lot, pointing out grading and other issues. The size was going to be impressive. Unfortunately, it would take up every bit of the landscaping and walkways to the very outer edge of the track field. The new southern perimeter would leave only a few feet of pathway between it and the te

I was so glad Wade had agreed to be the point man on this job. His background was in engineering, and he had more hands-on experience than I did with grading and leveling land for pouring concrete and asphalt surfaces. I’d done plenty of smaller projects around town, but it would be dumb of me to pretend I knew more than I did, rather than handing off the job to the most qualified person. And I prided myself on being smart.

Ms. Barney joined us as we were taking down the final measurements, just in time to approve everything. “I went over the numbers with the original team from SolarLight,” she said. “I’m not concerned about the landscaping that borders the track field or the te

“I’m always happy to lay down more asphalt,” I assured her. “And you did say you were moving a lot of the flowers and plants to other areas, right?”

“That’s right,” she said, nodding. “Unfortunately, our students and parents will complain a lot more about the lack of parking than the lack of pretty flowers.”

“I guess I see their point.”

“The students will still have our beautiful front lawn to enjoy,” she said, “so I’m willing to sacrifice a little back here. And as long as you leave a narrow path around both sports areas, we’ll be okay.”

“It’s a deal,” I said, smiling.

*   *   *

That afternoon, while Wade, Carla, and I were meeting to juggle crew assignments, order supplies, and line up our asphalt subcontractor, my cell phone rang.

I saw Eric’s number and was almost afraid to answer it, wondering what new horrors the police chief intended to pass along. But I braced myself and said hello.

“Hey, Sha

“Thank you so much, Eric.” We chatted about nothing in particular for another moment; then I hung up and shared the news with my foremen.

“It’s about time,” Carla said. “I know you’re anxious to get back to work there, and Mac must be champing at the bit.”

“That’s for sure,” I said, relieved to know that Mac’s lighthouse mansion was finally on the road to becoming a real home for him. “I’ll call him as soon as we’re finished here.”

*   *   *

That night I invited Mac and Callie over for pasta and salad. Mac brought a bottle of wine. Callie had sparkling water—her favorite beverage, she said—and we toasted to the future success of the lighthouse-mansion rehab.

Robbie and Tiger were banished to just beyond the doorway, as usual. It was for everyone’s own good, because anytime I had other people helping to prepare food in the kitchen, the little ones would invariably trip someone up in their relentless quest for food droppings.

They were hardly starved for attention, though, since Callie darted over to pet them every other minute.

“Uncle Mac started writing that article today,” she said. “The one about the bones.”

I turned and gazed at Mac, who was stirring the red sauce in the big pot on the stove. “So you sold it.”

“I did,” he said with a grin. “They won’t actually print it until everything’s been resolved. I wouldn’t want the story to sway a jury.”

“No,” I agreed. “But I bet it helped sell it when you told them that the scene of the crime was your own house.”

“It definitely sealed the deal,” he said, gri

I glanced at Callie. “See what I mean?”

“I know. He’s totally not creeped out about the bones. It’s weird.”

Mac laughed shortly, but then sobered. “Please don’t get me wrong. The real story centers on Lily Brogan. What brought her to the mansion? Who were the important people in her life? And who was responsible for killing her? She was a beautiful young girl who died tragically. I’d like to make the article a sort of homage to her, but I didn’t know her. You did, Irish. So I’m wondering if you’ll consent to my interviewing you.”

I stopped slicing tomatoes to gaze at him. “Me?”

“Yeah, you. Sometime in the next few days, if you have time, I’d like to sit down and talk with you.”

“About Lily?”

“About everything that was going on back then. Not only at the high school, but all over town. The news, the politics, the gossip. I need some local background. I plan to do plenty of research and due diligence and talk to others, including the police, but I figure you know the history of just about everyone in town.”

“Well, not everyone.”

He gave me an indulgent smile. “You know the people Lily knew.”

I thought about Eric and what he would say about this. It was easy to conjure up an image of the police chief scowling at me, and it wasn’t pretty. I was always happy to help Mac, but since Eric had taken me into his confidence, I would have to walk a very thin line.

“I’d be thrilled to help you,” I said.

Mac had been watching me and now he gri

“He’s part of it.” I set three long green onions on the wooden surface and began to slice them into thin rounds. “But also I’ve sort of been doing the same thing for Eric. You know, giving him some background on who was around back then.”

Without asking, Callie pulled a knife from the drawer and joined me at the chopping block to start cutting up the cucumber I’d picked that afternoon.