“Thanks,” Caleb said, taking the seat.
Everyone started talking at once, stepping on each other’s words, and he tried to keep up the chatter until a waitress came and took their orders. He opted for the fish of the day and wondered why the others all gave him funny looks.
As soon as the waitress left, the conversation turned to the skeletons in Sarah’s house.
“How long do you think it will take them to remove them all?” Renee asked.
“It can take months—years, even—at some sites,” Barry said glumly.
Sarah glared at him.
“Sorry,” Barry said.
“You don’t have to let it take months,” Caleb said to Sarah.
They all stared at him. “You have training in the field, too, so you can call the shots. So far, you’ve done all the right things, brought in the authorities and the experts. Now you can take control. You know the right people, so keep the process moving. Whatever crime took place, it was over a hundred years ago. You can see to it that everything is done right, that people are respectful of both the bodies and the historical record. And then you can let the forensic anthropologists have their day once the bodies are out of your house.”
Sarah stared at him and nodded slowly. “I…guess so.”
Caroline tossed her hair back. “Don’t just guess. Caleb is right. Take control.”
“It’s true. This is the kind of work I was doing in Virginia, but I certainly wasn’t in charge. In a lot of ways, historians are really just record keepers, secretaries for the past. Once the bodies are removed and the remains dated…come to think of it, it will be intriguing to research the situation. And it is my house, damn it!” She slammed a fist on the table and grinned. “If there’s investigating to be done, there’s no reason why I can’t do it.”
“And Caleb there can help you, I bet,” Barry said.
His words were followed by a moment of silence as everyone stared at Caleb.
“Well, you’re an investigator, right?” Barry asked.
“Yes, I’m an investigator,” Caleb agreed.
“Yes, but I’m a historian,” Sarah said. “And the bodies in my house are over a hundred years old. It’s not a police matter, because there’s no one left alive to arrest. It’s all a matter for the historians now,” Sarah said, then stood, as if agitated. “Excuse me, I’m just going to say hello to a friend at the bar.”
Caleb noted that no one standing at the bar seemed the least bit interested in their little group.
He stayed at the table with the others. It never hurt to know as many locals as he could. It wasn’t likely that this foursome could help him find Jennie Lawson, but they might know someone or something about the area that could be pertinent at some point.
And Sarah’s house…well, he had to admit it fascinated him. Historian or not, he was drawn to it, and when he got a feeling like that, it almost always meant something.
“She’s touchy tonight,” Will said, apologizing for Sarah.
“I would be, too,” Caroline said defensively.
“It will better once those bodies are out of her house,” Renee said.
“Seriously,” Barry said. “She just found out she’s been sleeping with a bunch of bodies. You talk about a haunted house…Their spirits are probably all running around screaming, ‘Let me out, let me out!’”
“Oh, Barry,” Renee protested, giggling.
“So tell us about yourself,” Caroline said, inching her chair closer to Caleb’s. “You met Will today, right? Diving? And you found a body in a submerged car. Did he drive off the road?”
“I found the body, and it’s in very bad condition. The medical examiner is on it now. As to how he ended up in the water, I’ll leave it to the police to figure that out,” Caleb said.
“There were no bullet holes in the car or anything like that?” Renee asked, intrigued.
“Not that I saw, but then again, I wasn’t looking for any. The police have custody of the car now, as well, and they’ll find out what happened,” Caleb said.
“So Will says you’re here to find a girl—but not our missing girl?” Barry asked, perplexed.
“Right,” Caleb agreed. “You probably read about the case at the time. Her name wa—Her name is Jennie Lawson, and she disappeared a year ago on her way here. But of course I’ll share whatever information I discover with the local police, because it could help with the search for Winona Hart. They might have been abducted by the same person.”
“Maybe they both ran off to join a cult,” Renee said. “That kind of thing happens, you know.”
“It does, but usually someone who knows the person is aware that they’re dissatisfied with their lives, or that they’ve fallen under the influence of some sect,” Caleb explained.
“But the cases might not be related at all,” Barry speculated.
“That’s true, too.”
“So where do you start?” Caroline asked him.