Mischief in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #2)(56)

“No problem,” Sabine said and jotted her cell number down on the back of one of her business cards. “I also have a question for you, Mr. Alford. I wondered if I could get a copy of my father’s medical records, after the DNA results are back, of course. I’ve had a couple of minor medical issues come up in the past, and that information would be nice to have.”

“Certainly,” the attorney said, but Sabine could tell the question has flustered him. Was the attorney aware that her father’s records had been stolen, or was he just hesitant to agree to provide any personal information about the family?

When the DNA results were back, she had every intention of pressing him again.


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Ruth Boudreaux’s home was a spacious Victorian, just a couple of blocks from Alford’s office. Sabine had called several times that afternoon but had been unable to get a hold of anyone. She asked Beau to stop by the house just in case Mrs. Boudreaux was home now and would agree to speak to her.

The woman who answered the door clearly wasn’t Ruth Boudreaux. For one thing, she was at least forty years younger, and her accent was northern. “May I help you?” she asked politely.

“I hope so,” Sabine said. “My name is Sabine LeVeche. I’ve been trying to get in touch with Mrs. Boudreaux. I’ve been doing some family research and I think she might know some of my relatives.”

“My name is Anna. I’m Mrs. Boudreaux’s nurse.” She motioned them inside to a formal living room. “If you tried to reach her today, we were probably at church at the time. Mrs. Boudreaux insists on praying daily and lighting a candle for two of her brothers. She lost them in Vietnam.”

“Do you think she will speak to me?”

“Oh, certainly. Mrs. Boudreaux enjoys having visitors. It’s just that, well, her memory’s not quite what it used to be.”

“Alzheimer’s?”

“Yes. Not horribly progressed yet, but there was an incident with the stove and the family felt it best if she had someone with her full time.”

“Of course,” Sabine said, trying to hide her disappointment. “Well, I suppose it can’t hurt then. Anything she can remember is more than I know now, and there aren’t so many alive any longer who were around at that time.”

“Oh,” the nurse brightened. “You want to ask her about the past? You might be in luck, then. On a good day, her memory of years past is very vivid. It’s more recent events that she can’t seem to recall.” She motioned them down a hallway. “If you’ll come with me. She’s sitting in the sunroom. The light is good for her and she often spends evenings in there.”

Feeling a bit more hopeful, Sabine followed the nurse down the hall and into a huge sunroom at the back of the house, Beau close behind. The room was on the west side of the house and the late afternoon sun cast a warm glow over the multitude of blooming plants, causing a burst of color throughout the room. A thin, silver-haired lady sat in a rocking chair at the far corner, gazing out the window at a group of birds playing in a fountain in the backyard. She looked up when they entered the room.

“Mrs. Boudreaux,” the nurse said. “This lady is doing some research on her family and would like to speak to you about them.”

Mrs. Boudreaux looked up at Sabine and squinted. “Do I know you, dear?”

“No, ma’am,” Sabine replied. “I don’t think we’ve ever met before. But I think you know my family.”

“Who’s your family?”

“The Fortescues.”

Mrs. Boudreaux’s face cleared and she smiled. “Why, of course. That’s why you seemed so familiar. You’re the spitting image of your father. Why don’t you and your husband pull up a seat, and I’ll see what I can do to help you.”

Sabine momentarily cringed at the woman’s assumption that Beau was her husband, but it wasn’t worth correcting. She and Beau pulled two wicker chairs closer to Mrs. Boudreaux and took a seat. “So you knew my father?” Sabine asked.

“Of course I did. We attended twelve years of school together, and goodness knows how many times we shared a pew in church. Why, William was almost a brother to me.”

Sabine immediately understood. Mrs. Boudreaux didn’t remember Sabine’s father, Adam. She remembered her grandfather. “That’s nice, Mrs. Boudreaux.”

The woman studied her for a couple of seconds. “Something I don’t understand…why don’t you just talk to William if you have questions?”

Sabine was prepared for this very question. “I’ve been estranged from the family for quite a while. We’ve just recently come together again and I don’t want to say anything that might upset the relationship. I understand that people of certain social status don’t like to be reminded of or discuss things that might cause embarrassment or sadness. I don’t want to inadvertently upset someone if I can prevent it.”

Mrs. Boudreaux looked pleased. “Very proper of you to remember the family status in your reconciliation. And I suppose since you are family and your purpose is honorable, God won’t consider my talking to you gossip.”

“I’m certain He wouldn’t, Mrs. Boudreaux, or I wouldn’t even have asked.”

Mrs. Boudreaux gave her a single nod of approval. “Well, I can honestly say that the only scandal I’m aware of concerning the Fortescues would have been that business during the war concerning William’s brother, Lloyd. He always was the disreputable one of the family. You would never have known those two boys were raised in the same household, much less born identical.”