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.”