NEVER BURIED
Excerpt
Copyright 1999 by Edie Claire
Originally published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
Chapter 1
June 1999
The sounds filtered through Leigh's sleeping brain, nagging her into consciousness. She knew them all too well. First the series of short, wet, hiccups—then the muffled splat. Her cat, Mao Tse, was throwing up. Again.
Leigh groaned and pried up an eyelid just long enough to read her clock.
3:37 AM. Wonderful.
She was almost asleep again when she remembered she wasn't at home.
Get up, you ingrate. Now.
The bed was warm, the mattress comfortable. Leigh's eyes remained closed as she rationalized. The mess was probably in the kitchen on the linoleum. It wouldn't matter if she waited till morning. It wouldn't matter at all.
She lay quietly a little longer, trying to believe herself as she nestled more deeply under the covers. It didn't work. In her mind all she could see was her cousin's favorite throw pillows—liberally laced with cat vomit.
She sighed and opened her eyes. "Who am I kidding? Blasted diva heads for upholstery at the first sign of nausea."
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, letting the momentum pull her upright, then slipped on her house shoes (a lesson well learned) and hoisted herself up. The corridor outside her room was pitch dark. Yawning, she slumped over against the wall and fumbled for a light switch, using a brass sconce for a head rest. Her fingers soon found a switch. Unfortunately, it was the switch for the sconce.
By the time the dancing dots had faded, Leigh was alert. She remembered her mission and looked down. The hardwood floor seemed an unlikely place—it would be too easy to clean. The other upstairs doors were closed. She padded down the front staircase and flipped on the light in the entry hall.
Not on the Persian rug. Anywhere but the Persian rug.
Experience led her to the room with the densest concentration of fine fabrics—the parlor. The cat was there, of course, resting comfortably on one of the antique wingbacks. Leigh resisted the urge to throttle her. "All right, girl. Give me a hint. I'm really not in the mood for this."
Mao Tse, a large black Persian with an imperial attitude, turned up what little nose she had and stared blankly.
Leigh's eyes scoured the rug, the furniture, the pillows. Nothing. Good girl. She moved into the dining room and turned on the chandelier. The floor was clear. Perhaps the cat had settled for linoleum after all? The hope faded as her eyes traveled upward.
Fabulous.
Right in the middle of the handmade tablecloth.
Spouting curses, Leigh shuffled off to clean up. Two swinging doors led her to the large kitchen, dimly visible by moonlight. She sighed. She hadn't a clue where her cousin kept anything. With Cara's sense of organization, the paper towels would probably be next to the dill weed. Once again her fingers fumbled for a light switch. Nothing.
After a few more moments of grumbling, she found a set of switches by the back door, and flipped one. The outdoors turned bright as day. Squinting through the back window, she counted no fewer than six stadium-sized spots trained on the patio. Her brow wrinkled. Sure, the patio had a nice view of the Ohio River, but weren't six lights a bit excessive? Perhaps she shouldn't be surprised—most everything about her cousin was excessive.
Leigh was about to turn away when she noticed movement. It happened quickly, but she could just see the back of a head and shoulders—a person standing on the bluff below the level of the patio. One second the figure was there, the next it was gone. She shook her head and blinked her eyes. There was nothing more to see.
Her heart beat fast. She wasn't into bravery, but she did try to avoid panic. Panic could be terribly embarrassing. She took a deep breath and tried to think of legitimate, nonthreatening reasons why someone would be wandering around her cousin's backyard in the middle of the night. It took a while, but eventually her creativity won out. Someone had been walking down the Boulevard and cut through Cara's yard to see the river. No problem. She smiled. Sure, Pittsburgh’s borough of Avalon had its share of wacky residents, but most of them were harmless. The doors were locked and the security system was on. Hysterics were not called for. Neither was waking up Cara in the middle of the night.
Promising herself she would get butch and check out the backyard in the daylight, Leigh found the paper towels (next to the pancake mix) and headed back to the dining room. She tore off a few sheets and began sopping up the mess.
Damnable cat.
Mao Tse appeared in the doorway to the parlor, stretched her front paws gingerly, and let loose with a dignified yawn. Leigh wanted to throw the roll of paper towels, but her conscience forbade it. She couldn't be too hard on the beast. After all, she had missed the embroidered trim.
***
Leigh walked into the breakfast nook the next morning feeling less than vital. The ecstatic chirping of her finches, who were enjoying the morning sunshine from their cage in the bay window, only vexed her. Cara sat at the table looking bright-eyed and energetic, savoring a pastry with the morning paper. Leigh groaned. "I'm glad somebody got a good night's sleep. Hey, aren't pregnant women supposed to eat healthy? You keep this kind of food in the house and I'll gain more weight than you will."
Cara, seven months along and still leaner than Leigh would ever be, smiled cheerfully and held out the bakery box. "Consider it a special occasion—your first breakfast in the March house. Eat. I got cake donuts."
"Maggie Mae's Bakery?"
Cara nodded.
"You know me too well," Leigh sighed. "I can't fight you and Maggie Mae both." She pulled out a chocolate-frosted and sat down. Moving in with Cara temporarily had seemed like a good idea. With Gil March off globetrotting and the baby's due date fast approaching, Leigh's normally independent cousin had had a sudden yearning for companionship. Leigh, after spotting a family of roaches under her apartment sink, had had a sudden yearning to move out before her lease expired. Unfortunately, the night's events made her wonder how long her menagerie could coexist with antique furniture and parquet floors. "Um... Cara, about the tablecloth..."
Cara dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand. "No problem. I've already got it soaking in Woolite."
Her generosity only made Leigh feel worse. "You shouldn't have done that. She's my cat and we're your guests. I'll clean up after her." On cue, the cat strolled into the breakfast nook, contentedly licking her lips. Leigh knew what that meant. "You shouldn't have to feed her either, Cara, even if you are up first."
"I didn't have much choice," Cara laughed, reaching for another pastry. "She was driving me nuts meowing and pawing up my legs. I haven't had my shins attacked like that since Tiger Lily."
Leigh smiled at the reference to their shared childhood pet. She and Cara had grown up like sisters, but since high school graduation, they'd seen very little of one another.
Cara stretched out a toe and stroked Mao Tse's shaggy back. "You didn't sleep well?"
Leigh started slightly, her eyes drawn over Cara's shoulder to the window. "The bed was heavenly," she answered, "but Mao Tse kept me up. You didn't—hear anything, did you?"
"I heard you moving around, but don't worry, it didn't bother me."
Leigh got up and walked over to the big bay window.
Cara's house, perched on top of the high northern bluff of the Ohio, stood a few miles downstream from the river's birth at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers—known to Pittsburghers as "The Point." The Victorian had once stood in good company along the old brick River Road, but time and progress had been its enemy. When River Road was replaced by the busy Ohio River Boulevard, the bluff houses were cut off from the rest of Avalon and rezoned commercial. Most either fell into disrepair or just plain fell, but this one had been stubborn. It had also been lucky—Cara had wanted to fix it up and live in it ever since she was a child. And what Cara wanted, Cara generally got.
Leigh looked out the window to the East, where she could just see a sliver of brown water flowing lazily from the point. Carefully placed trees obscured the view across the river to Neville Island, whose looming smokestacks were a dead ringer for those in Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. She walked into the kitchen and opened the back door, sniffing tentatively.
Although the Pittsburgh air was practically sterile compared to the glory days of the steel industry, the blue-collar borough of Avalon could not escape an occasional foul blast from Neville Island. This morning, thankfully, the breeze was from the East. It was, in fact, a perfect warm August morning. Leigh allowed herself a deep breath. Had she really seen someone outside, so close to the house? A gray pigeon flapped down from above and landed on a patio chair. Nothing appeared amiss. Nevertheless, last night's trespassing nagged at her.
"That pigeon is aiming right for your loveseat," she called to Cara, " I'll go out and manhandle him." She walked out the back door and closed it quietly behind her.
Cara, used to such inane comments, returned to the morning paper.
Leigh stepped out onto the concrete patio, looking down at the intricate swirling pattern on its shiny new surface. The old Victorian seemed more of a plaything than a home. Gil's high-profile consulting work had provided plenty of cash to fix it up, but little time to enjoy it. And because nothing short of advanced pregnancy could keep Cara from tagging along with her husband, the house had, up until the last month, been little more than a weekend hideaway.
Walking purposefully around the expensive patio furniture, Leigh tried to remember if everything was in the same place it had been the night before. She came within two feet of the pigeon, which didn't seem to notice her.
Take a number, beakface.
If the furniture had been moved, she couldn't tell. Remembering where she had seen the figure, she crossed to the patio's edge. Had he been standing on the steps to the terrace?
Beyond the patio, the yard dropped off suddenly in its descent to the railroad tracks and river below. Trees and thick undergrowth blanketed the lower portion of the slope, but the upper part had been cleared to make the river visible. Jutting out from the hillside below the patio was a narrow terrace, just wide enough for a hammock with a tree-top view. Leigh leaned over the short stone wall that bordered the upper yard and glanced down. She would say she didn't jump. But she did.
Lying there, in Cara's hammock, was a small man in a pinstriped suit. An old-fashioned top-hat shielded his face; his hands were clasped serenely over his chest. He wore black dress shoes, dull and scuffed with dirt.
Leigh frowned. Whatever she had feared in a nighttime visitor, this wasn't it. This bizarre little person had cost her a good night's sleep, and she didn't appreciate it. She started down the steps to confront him. She was almost to the bottom when she stopped cold.
Something was wrong. This man wasn't lying in the hammock. He was levitating in it. His head and feet touched the nylon mesh, but his midsection hung above it. His body was straight as a board.
After several seconds, she exhaled. "Its a dummy," she decided finally. "Somebody's stupid old mannequin."
She moved towards the hammock, her uneasiness wrestling with her annoyance. The scene was just too bizarre. Who would leave a life-sized dummy in someone else's backyard at three o'clock in the morning? Especially one dressed like an idiot?
She peered down closely at the moth-eaten hat. It was of a greenish fabric, with half a red feather stuck in a dusty brown band. Wondering if this dummy had a face as demonic as the one from Magic, she lifted the brim.
Later, she would say she hadn't screamed. Nevertheless, the sound that echoed through the backyard and into the house was shrill enough to make waves in Cara's decaf.
Leigh attempted a dignified retreat, but her legs didn't seem to be working right. She tripped up the last of the steps and fell on her face, eye level with Cara's approaching feet. Struggling up, Leigh grabbed her cousin's arm and propelled them both back into the kitchen.
"What on earth is wrong with you?" Cara demanded, "Why did you scream like that?"
Leaning against the back door and taking deep breaths, Leigh slowly regained her poise. "I didn't scream. But I need to call Maura. Now."
Before Cara had time to respond, Leigh grabbed the phone and dialed. She asked the dispatcher for Officer Polanski, and soon heard a woman's voice, deep and pleasant.
"Avalon Police, Maura Polanski. What can I do you for?"
"Get over here now, Maura," Leigh said intently. "I want you to look at a corpse."
***
The husky voice on the other end of the line chuckled.
"Yeah right, Koslow. Don't tell me—some plumber called you 'Ma'am' and you smashed his head with a pipe wrench. Am I right?"
Leigh breathed deep. "Will you just get your carcass off that chair and get down here, please!"
She heard the squeak of Maura's ancient swivel stool. "Chill out, Leigh! Just tell me what the problem is."
"I already told you what the problem is. There's a corpse in my cousin's backyard. Now, are you coming over or do I have to track down Mellman?"
The only answer was a loud click, then silence.
Leigh hung up the phone. When she turned to speak to Cara, the kitchen was empty.
Breaking into a run, she caught up with her cousin about six paces from the edge of the patio. "Don't, Cara. Don't. It's not a pretty sight. Stress is bad for the baby, remember?"
Cara's mouth opened as if to protest that Leigh was being ridiculous. Then awareness flickered in her eyes and she closed her mouth in a petulant scowl. Leigh felt a sweet sense of triumph. Trying to stop Cara from doing something was like trying to hold back the tides, but the baby was proving an excellent trump card. Leigh had promised Gil, her aunt, her mother, and half of the Greenstone United Methodist Women's Association that she would do her best to make Cara follow doctor's orders, and she wasn't going to let them down.
Cara sulked as Leigh pulled her back into the kitchen and steered her to a chair. "I'm not an invalid, you know," Cara said with a pout. Then she smiled slyly—a fresh gleam in her blue-green eyes. "I'm supposed to avoid stress, not intellectual challenge. You know I’m good at detective work!" She leaned towards Leigh expectantly. "So spill it. You said there was a body?"
"Well... yes," Leigh answered, uncertain what to say. Finding a bright side to the discovery of a body in one's backyard was vintage Cara, but hearing morbid details surely qualified as stressful. Perhaps the less Cara knew, the better.
"I can't tell you much more than that," Leigh said unconvincingly.
Cara shook her head sadly. "You're a wonderful actress, dear, but a pathetic liar. Now, talk."
Leigh searched for an unalarming way to describe the dark, cracking lips, the thin lids parting over shrunken eyeballs... it just wasn't possible. She squirmed in her seat and waited for inspiration. What she got was an interruption.
Leigh and Cara both jumped at the sound of pounding on the front door. Even though the six-thousand-person borough of Avalon covered only five-eighths of a square mile, it was physically impossible for Maura to have arrived from headquarters so soon. But then, Maura always seemed to do things that were physically impossible.
Leigh leapt up and opened the door to admit six feet two inches and over two hundred pounds of Avalon's finest. Maura Polanski was a big woman, period. Ordinarily she was rendered less imposing by a cherubic baby face, but no dimples could obscure her current displeasure.
"Leigh Koslow!" she boomed, hands on hips. "You had damn well better not be jerking me around." Beads of sweat stood out on Maura's broad forehead, and dark brown hair clung limply to the sides of her face.
"Would I do that to you?" Leigh's sarcasm held respect. Four years as Maura's college roommate had taught her how to defuse her friend's wrath. The skill was necessary, as she was also expert at invoking it. She led Maura through the parlor and dining room to the kitchen, where Mao Tse uttered a trademark hiss and took cover under a stepladder. Then Leigh pulled open the back door and swept her arm across the opening. "After you!"
Maura nodded politely to Cara, scowled at Leigh on principle, and ducked outside.
Leigh turned to Cara. "Stay here," she said firmly. "Have some more decaf." She started out the door, but ducked back in. "Just think about that baby!"
Leigh pointed Maura down the steps and followed close behind her. She couldn't suppress a sadistic sense of glee. Maura was always telling Leigh she overreacted to things, always accusing her of being melodramatic...
Not this time.
Maura's ability to remain cool in a crisis irritated Leigh to no end. Never mind that the policewoman came from law-enforcement stock (her late father had been the police chief and patron saint of Avalon), Leigh just didn't find it normal. She could make her friend blow a fuse on a moment's notice, but had never managed to spook her.
Maura's department-issue shoes clomped heavily down the concrete steps. When she reached the bottom she let out a sigh and walked casually over to the hammock. Leigh stayed at the base of the steps and held her breath.
Maura looked carefully at the folded hands, the position of the body, and the odd clothes. She pulled a notebook out of her breast pocket and began to write.
Leigh exhaled with a groan. "Aren't you at least going to flinch?"
Maura kept scribbling and replied without looking up. "You would prefer hysterics?"
"Well yes, actually," Leigh retorted, coming closer. "How many bodies have you seen before, anyway?"
"More than you care to know about. Did you touch this hat?"
"Of course I touched the hat! I thought it was a dummy. I only knew it was real when I saw the head.”
Maura lifted the brim of the hat with her pen and slid it off the face.
It was a man's face, no doubt about that. An old man. Wrinkled skin hung loosely off his facial bones, and his head was bald except for a few short wisps of gray hair. He might have looked like any other old dead man, but he didn't. His skin was unnaturally dark and shriveled, the folds above his collar looking dry enough to crumble off his neck.
Leigh stepped back again and waited. Maura said nothing, but began a rhythmic tapping of her pen against her notepad. Leigh waited some more.
"Well?" she finally asked. "Is there a dead man in Cara's hammock or isn't there?"
The tapping ceased.
"Oh, yes," Maura answered in her police voice, sliding the notebook back into her pocket. "That's a dead man all right."
"So," Leigh continued, "What do we do about it?"
Maura clucked her tongue. "We don't do anything. I make some calls." She left the body and started up the stairs. Leigh followed, trying to catch up.
"Don't you need to dust for fingerprints or collect hair samples or something?"
Maura snickered. "That's not my job, Koslow."
"Well it's somebody's job isn't it?" Leigh stifled her irritation. Maura had an annoying habit of not saying whatever she knew Leigh wanted to know. "This is a possible homicide, right? The man is dead. I'm no coroner, but I don't think he just keeled over while taking a snooze. He looks to me like he's been dead longer than he's been in that hammock."
"Ooh..." Maura answered, pursing her lips. "You're right about that one. Mr. Vaudeville there didn't die last night."
They reached the patio, and Leigh stepped around to face her friend. "Well then, how long do you think he's been dead?"
"Hard to say," Maura answered. "They decay a lot slower after they've been embalmed."
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