Authors: Beth Trissel
“
They’re here about the skeleto
n Lyle and R
on uncovered
in the garden
,” he explained.
She
scarcely noticed the
police
men and
gaped at
Will
.
“When?”
He ran har
ried fingers through his hair.
“Earlier today near the excavation for the wall
.”
“Who in the world?
”
Will
shrugged
his broad shoulders.
“I don’t know
anymore
than you do.”
Detective Williams motioned
them
forward
.
“
That’s what we
’re here to try and determine.
Let’s get on with it, sh
all we,
Mr.
Wentworth
?
”
Will stepped
briskly
up the walk
and
Julia trotted at his side.
His chin was d
usted with dark whiskers and
his
jeans
were
stained with damp earth from kneeling in the garden
with her
last night
.
If he hadn’t bothered
to shave, or put on fresh clothes, he probably hadn’t eaten
yet
either.
“Here,” she said quietly, and
passed him the tea.
He grasped the mug.
“Thanks.
”
He took a
swallow,
and then
dipped his eyes to
her
s
.
The hurt
in his
mute
appeal
cut
through her
soul
.
How could she have been so call
o
us?
“I’m
truly
sorry,”
s
he said
, trying again.
He
nodded
.
“Me, too.”
They’d
have
to work
all
this out later
.
For now
, the smile curving his
lips was
irresistible
,
as if
the sun had broken through the darkest clouds.
Will
passe
d the tea
back and forth and shared
her muffin as they
wo
und around the house and into
the garden.
Daisies shone and
butterflies glimmered in the morning light
.
“
Beautiful place
,” Deputy Stone said pleasantly
from behind them
.
“Not the sort of spot you’d expect to unearth a body, but then
,
you never do.”
“No,” Will agreed.
“I hope these proceedings won’t take
too
long to conclude, we
’
re in overdrive
now
getting ready for our Midsummer
’s Eve
gala.”
“Oh, I shouldn’t think so,” Detective Williams grunted.
The personable young officer was more forthcoming.
“
From what
Mr.
McChesney reported,
the skeleton’s likely been there
for
ages.
Too long to even be an episode on
Cold Case
,” he
joked.
Julia was baffled.
“It
’s a TV show,” Will explained.
“Though not one that shows in
your home back in England, I imagine.”
“Papa frowns on most
television viewing.”
“Why does that not surprise me?”
Will said
dryly
.
“How do you like Virginia, Miss Morrow?” Deputy Stone asked.
“Brilliant.
It feels
like home, Deputy.”
“Isn’t her accent great?
Got to love the Brits
––
”
The young officer broke off
.
“Who are all these men?”
“Employe
es, and none
of them
at work,” Will answered
.
Lyle, Ron, Jon, Dave, Old Joe, and Paul were collected around
a dark
ho
le
.
The fresh opening in the earth
lay
just
inside the ruins of the
old
wall where Lyle and Ron had been excavating in preparation for restoration
work
.
Ironically,
the lilies Julia
had
huddled among
were only yards away
from their discovery
.
The flowery
fragrance
rose on the warm air as she, Will, and the two officers made their way to the partially unearthed grave.
Julia hung back
, i
ll at ease by what or who had been exposed
.
The detective peer
ed inside and nodded his approval
. “Good.
You haven’t
damaged the find.
We
’ll take it from here.
I’ve
a team coming out to process the site and finish exhuming the skeleton.
”
“Can you tell us anything about the bloke?” Lyle asked.
Detective Will
iams creased his round face, squinting
thoughtfully
.
“As you’ve already su
rmised, we’re dealing
with a
large male.
L
ikely
,
he stood
over six feet tall
and was of substantial build
.
By the
extreme
state of
decomposition,
I’
d say everyone acquainted with th
is fellow has long since died.
Still,
we must observe procedures.
”
He opened his br
iefcase and withdrew
a roll of yellow tape like they used
to cordon off
crime
scenes
.
“Deputy Stone will secure
the area and then we’ll have to ask you to stand back.”
Before they did, Julia looked
reluctantly down into the final resting
place of this unfortunate man.
The remains of a lengthy skeleton partly covered by earth lay on his side as if heav
ed into the hastily dug grave.
“His clothing has
all rotted away.
How will you tell who he was?”
Deputy Stone shook his head.
“I don’t know that we can, Ma’am, or that it really matters anymore.”
Julia had the odd feeling that it did.
Will bent nearer
the hole
.
“Wait a minute
.
W
hat’s that at his side?”
She looked
more
closely.
“It’s metal
, and heavily rusted.
”
“
But not disintegrated entirely.
May I?” Will asked
the detective
.
“I s
uppose you can gently dislodge whatever that is and we’ll take a look.” He opened his briefcase a
nd took out some latex gloves.
“Wear these.”
Will pulled on the gloves with a snap
and climbed down in beside the skeleton.
Lyle passed him a
small
trowel.
Like the artist that he was, Will
carefully
scraped at
the packed earth
and brushed with his fingers
until he gradually
revealed the long thin object.
Much had eroded into nothingness, but enough re
mai
ned for Julia to see him lift
something from
the ground.
“A sword.
”
Will
held
it
up
.
“So it is.
An unusual find,” the detective conceded, as though this case had taken on a much more interesting bent.
Depu
ty Stone perked up
visibly
.
“This
site
dates further back
than I thought.
What’s on the hilt?”
Brushing away
untold decades of dirt, Will
said
,
“There’s an
insignia
of some sort
.
Lyle, pass me your water.”
He took the bottle and lightly poured a small stream over the hilt, then finger-cleaned
away more of the earth
.
“A
coat of arms.”
Lyle motioned
to him
.
“Let’s
see.”
Detective Williams gave a curious nod, an
d Deputy Stone seemed
too engrossed
in the mystery
to object
.
Will passed
the rusted weapon
to the Aussie,
and
then climbed from the hole.
“Can you make it out?”
Lyle had a peculiar expression
on his usually sardonic face
.
“
Yeah.
It’s the Cameron crest.”
“How would you know that in Australia
?” Detective Williams asked
.
“My
grandfather was a Cameron
on my mother’s side
and on back
.
It’s
one of the oldest
and fiercest
clans in Scotland
.
There’s a story in the family about some Cameron ancestor
who travel
ed to America and was never heard from
again.
”
Julia fe
lt distinctly light-headed de
spi
te her hasty breakfast.
She had the most unnerving sensation that Lyle had
just
helped to unearth himself, or his former self.
U
rgent question
s
sprang to mind
, but not ones she could pose to this detective without immediate conveyance
to a
mental ward
.
Who
killed
Justin
Cameron, and why?
The last she’d seen of him he’d been belligerent
but
very much alive.
More importantly, had Cameron slain Cole before he fell
?
She looked at Will’s fixed gaze
and she knew
,
he was wondering the same thing.
Lyle eyed W
ill narrowly.
“Seems my long-gone
ancestor has turned up, probably stabbed through the heart by yours, Wentworth.”
Julia didn’t think that’s how events unfolded.
A vital piece of the puzzle was still missing.
Swor
ds rang out in the great hall.
Foxleigh might be temporarily closed to visitors, but the unsinkable Nora had persuaded
the
official
s that the practice must go on. Time was at a premium.
They were nearing dress rehearsal.
“Here you all are!
I had a time getting past the barricade but I managed to scoot on in.”
The sultry voice belonged to
Nelle
Patterson
and couldn’t have been more unwelcome.
Will dropped his sword arm and surveyed the voluptuous brunette sas
haying across the hall in a low
-cut
yellow sundress.
She exuded heavy musk
like pheromones a
nd reminded him of a cat in heat.