Best Kept Secrets(47)

he did it? You loved Celina. If you didn't kill her--"

"I didn't."

' "Then, don't you want to know who did? Or are you afraid

that her killer will turn out to be somebody else you love?"

"No, I don't want to know," he said emphatically. "And

until you obtain a search warrant--"

"Miss Gaither?" Mr. Davis interrupted, entering the room.

"Is this what you're looking for? I found it in a file cabinet

in my storeroom." He handed her a folder, then scuttled out

under Reede's baleful stare.

Alex read the name typed across the top of the file. She

glanced at Reede, then eagerly opened the cover. After scanning

the first of several forms, she sank into her chair and reported

huskily, "It says here that her body was cremated."

Her heart feeling like lead, she closed the folder and rhetorically

asked,' 'Why didn't my grandmother ever mention that?''

"She probably didn't think it was significant."

"She saved everything, Celina's clothes, her things. Why

wouldn't she have taken the ashes?"

Suddenly, she leaned forward, rested her elbows on the

table, and supported her head with both hands. Her stomach

churned mutinously. Fresh tears were building behind her

lids, making them sting. "God, this is morbid, but I've got

to know. I've got to."

After taking a few deep breaths, she reopened the file and

began to flip through the various forms. Reading one, she

sucked in her breath sharply.

"What is it?"

She lifted the sheet out of the folder and handed it to Reede.

"This is a receipt for all of mother's funeral expenses, including

the cremation."

"So?"

"Look at the signature."

"Angus Minton," he read softly, thoughtfully.

"You didn't know?" He shook his head. "It appears that

Angus paid for everything, and wanted to keep it a secret



from everybody." Alex drew a shuddering breath and gazed

at Reede inquisitively. "I wonder why."



Across town, Stacey Wallace entered the room that served

as her father's office away from the courthouse. He was bent

over the desk, poring through a legal tome. "Judge," she

chided him affectionately, "as long as you're taking the day

off, you should really take it off."

"It's not an official day off," he grumbled, giving the

wintry view through the window a disgusted glance. "I've

needed to catch up on some reading. Today's the perfect day

for it, since I can't get to the courthouse."

"You've been working too hard and worrying too much."

"You're not telling me anything that my ulcer hasn't already."

Stacey sensed that he was extremely upset. "What's

wrong?"

"It's that Gaither girl."

"Celina's daughter? She's still pestering you?"

"She came to my office yesterday wanting a court order

to have the body exhumed."

"My God!" Stacey exclaimed in a disbelieving whisper.

She raised a pale hand to the base of her throat. "The woman

sounds like a fiend."

"Fiendish or not, I had to deny the request."

"Good for you."

He shook his head. "I had no choice. The body had been

cremated."

Stacey pondered that. "Seems like I remember that now.

How'd she take that news?"

"I don't know. Reede delivered it."

"Reede?"

"I called him last night. He volunteered. I would guess

she didn't take it well."

"Do Angus and Junior know about this?"

"I'm sure they do by now. Reede would have told them."

"Probably," Stacey murmured. For a moment she was



#quiet. Then she roused herself and asked, "Can I bring you

anything?"

"Not so soon after breakfast, thanks."

"Some hot tea?"

"Not now."

"Cocoa? Why don't you let me--"

"Stacey, I said, no thanks." He spoke with more impatience

than he intended.

"I'm sorry I bothered you," she said dejectedly. "If you

need me, I'll be upstairs."

The judge gave her an absentminded nod and dipped back

into the leather-bound legal volume. Stacey quietly closed

the study door. Her hand listlessly trailed the banister rail as

she went upstairs to her bedroom. She didn't feel well. Her

abdomen was swollen and achy. She'd started her period that

morning.

The mid-forties seemed a ludicrous time to be suffering

cramps like a teenager, although Stacey supposed she should

welcome these monthly fluxes. They were her only reminders