Lovely in Her Bones (25 page)

Elizabeth sighed. “So they’d have gotten the land anyway. Amelanchier didn’t have to protect the secret. She’s going to prison for nothing!”

“Don’t count on it!” said Milo bitterly. He would never forgive the old woman for the murder of Alex. “She spent about twelve hours in jail, and I’d be surprised if she ever saw the inside of one again. By eight yesterday morning some hot-shot lawyer from Atlanta was up here taking her case for free. He specializes in minority rights. Also in movie rights, from what I hear.”

“Well, she is an old woman,” Elizabeth pointed out. “You couldn’t put her in the penitentiary. Is there going to be a trial?”

“Oh, sure! Everybody is looking forward to that. Half the Cherokee Wigwam Motel is already booked up to newsmen. They’re comparing this to the trial of Geronimo.” He shook his head sadly. “I’ll tell you who
is
going to jail, though. Bevel Harkness.”

“Really? Is he the one who broke your computer?”

“Yes—and he swears Amelanchier put him up to it, too. She must have tried that before resorting to
murder. But that’s the least of Harkness’ problems. I doubt if he’ll even be tried for it.”

“Why not?”

“Because when Pilot Barnes went out to arrest him for breaking and entering, the strip-mining company was out there on the Harkness farm. They were scheduled to do a test strip on his land.”

“That isn’t illegal, is it?”

Milo shrugged. “It’s not what they arrested him for. You see, while he was arguing with Pilot over being arrested, the bulldozer turned up a skeleton.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “The ringer?”

“Pilot says there was a deputy’s badge alongside it. He came to the hospital yesterday and asked me to help Dr. Putnam with a positive I.D. We still have to check dental records, but we’re already sure it’s the sheriff’s nephew.”

“It seems I missed most of the excitement while I was camping at death’s door,” said Elizabeth dryly.

“You provided a lot of it, too,” Milo told her. “We were pretty worried about you.”

“Good.”

“How did you like the dig?” asked Milo hesitantly. “I mean, aside from the … ah … unusual circumstances?”

“I think I’d like to try again,” said Elizabeth softly.

Milo understood her to mean more than her choice of careers, but he decided not to press his luck just then. Before he could phrase another question on the subject, the nurse appeared in the doorway carrying an arrangement of flowers.

Elizabeth looked questioningly at Milo, who coughed and said: “Jake is bringing one from me.”

“It isn’t from Bill,” she said thoughtfully, taking the envelope out. “I know him better than that.”

Elizabeth took out the card, read it, and looked up at Milo with a puzzled frown. “Milo, who is Duncan Johnson?”

Don’t miss the exploits of Elizabeth MacPherson, forensic anthropologist and not-so-amateur detective, in the novels of

Edgar Award–winning author

SHARYN McCRUMB

Published by Ballantine Books.

Sharyn McCrumb’s

ELIZABETH M
AC
PHERSON NOVELS

SICK OF SHADOWS

LOVELY IN HER BONES

HIGHLAND LADDIE GONE

PAYING THE PIPER

THE WINDSOR KNOT

MISSING SUSAN

MacPHERSON’S LAMENT

IF I’D KILLED HIM WHEN I MET HIM …

THE PMS OUTLAWS

Published by Ballantine Books.
Available at your local bookstore.