The Final Reveille: A Living History Museum Mystery (8 page)

Before Hayden and I were able to move in, the Cherry Foundation covered the expenses to have the home brought up to the twenty-first century, which included running water, an interior bathroom, and Wi-Fi. I didn't take my passion for history as far as wanting to use an outhouse in the middle of winter.

The front door of the cottage banged against the siding. I winced when I thought about the dent the doorknob must have left in the siding. Hayden flew down the walk, Tiffin on his heels. The corgi's belly skimmed the grass beneath his feet.

Justin held out his arms and his nephew threw himself at him. Justin caught him as if the thirty-five-pound child weighed no more than a pillow. Hayden's uncle swung my son upside down. I bit my tongue to hold back the reminder to be careful. Tiffin barked encouragement.

Dad came through the front door. Again he was sporting his reenactor-light ensemble. He wore a colonel's jacket over jeans and had a cow horn tethered to his belt. A slouch hat, which resembled a modern-day cowboy hat, sat crookedly on his head.

“Are you coming to see the reenactors?” Hayden asked his uncle. “Mom didn't tell me that you were coming.”

“She didn't tell me either,” my dad said, arching a bushy eyebrow. I got my talent for eyebrow-raising from my father. It was well-suited for the stage.

“Your dad is here too,” I said.

Hayden's face lit up. “Really? He never comes here.”

“Kelsey,” my father began, but before he could finish, Detective Brandon stepped out of my cottage followed by Officer Sonders. He held a syringe inside an evidence bag.

Thirteen

“What's going on?” I
asked, looking from my father to the officers and back again.

Justin set Hayden back on the ground.

My father licked his lips. “After Officer Sonders finished interviewing me, the detective showed up with a warrant to search the cottage.”

Justin stepped forward. “May I see this warrant? I would also like an inventory of everything that you took from Kelsey's home.”

“Who are you?” the detective asked Justin.

“I'm Kelsey's legal counsel, Justin Cambridge.”

Her eyes flickered when Justin said his last name, but she made no mention of it. She'd find out in her own time that he was my former brother-in-law. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if she knew already.

“Can you please tell me what you took from the house?” Justin asked, sounding more grown up than I had ever heard him.

The detective removed a folded document from the inside pocket of her jacket. As she moved, her gun was clearly visible. Unlike the reenactors' weapons, hers was loaded and lethal.

Justin took the document from her hand and read it quickly. “The judge granted them permission to search your private residence, personal office in the visitor center, and the grounds for insulin, syringes, and beekeeping paraphernalia.”

Officer Sonders held up the evidence bag. “We found the needle and insulin.”

“That's—that's not the needle that killed Maxwell, is it?”

“No.” Detective Brandon said as if this was a great disappointment. “But we would like to compare it and your father's insulin to the insulin in Maxwell's system.”

I started to protest, but my father jumped in. “Kelbel,” he said, using his pet name for me. “Just let them take it. If it doesn't match the needle and insulin that was used on Maxwell, we'll be able to put this all behind us.”

But what if it matches?

Justin handed the document back to the detective. “You were certainly quick on getting a court order.”

“When someone like Maxwell Cherry dies in our little town, it gets the attention of the county courts.” She slipped the paper back into her inside jacket pocket. I noticed a scratch on the inside of the detective's wrist as she replaced the paper. She caught me looking at it. Her eyes narrowed. “Your cat did not welcome us into your home.”

I take back every bad thing I ever said or thought about Frankie.

Hayden and Tiffin were running around the yard in circles. I wished I had the kind of energy and freedom from worry as my two boys did. “You searched my house in front of my son.” I felt my body tense up.

“We were sensitive, knowing the boy was there. We didn't say anything in front of him that might be damaging to you.”

I balled my hands into fists. Justin stepped lightly on the toe of my sneaker. It was a warning to keep my temper. I took a deep breath.

Overhead two squirrels chased each other through the trees. Tiffin sat on his back paws and barked at them. The squirrels knocked a maple leaf from its branch, and it landed at the detective's feet. She ignored it.

“We appreciate your cooperation during this investigation. If you really are innocent as you claim, you have nothing to worry about.”

I wondered at how Chase and the detective could have ever been a couple. She seemed too rigid for him. Granted I hadn't known Chase for long, but in the short time I'd known him, I pegged him as someone who owned a whoopee cushion and knew how to use it.

“I don't have anything to hide,” I said. “If you need that needle and some of my dad's insulin for tests, then take it,” I continued, as if she needed my permission.

She nodded. “Very well. I hope you and you ex-brother-in-law will continue to cooperate.” She waved at Officer Sonders, and the pair headed down the path.

So she already knew who Justin was. She already knew everything about me.

After the police officers disappeared into the trees, Justin whistled. “Jeez, Kel, what did you do to her?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She took one look at me and hated me.”

He brushed his hair out of his eyes. “Let's hope she hates her ex, Chase Wyatt, more.”

Hayden and Tiffin galloped over to me. “Can we go see Dad now?” Hayden asked. “I still can't believe he's here. He says the Farm is a waste of money.”

I bit the inside of my lower lip.
Don't react, don't react.
“We'll go find him now. He's here with Krissie. Do you remember Krissie?”

“Oh, yeah, Dad said that she was going to be my new mommy, but I already told him that I had a great mommy and didn't want another one.” He threw his arms around my legs and hugged me.

I shot Justin a look over Hayden's head.

He raised his hands in surrender. “Don't look at me like that. He's just my brother.”

I sighed and knelt in front of Hayden. “I'm going to have to work extra-long today, so you'll get to stay with Pop-Pop and Dad, okay?”

“Will Krissie be there too?”

“Yes.”

He sighed. “Okay, but I don't like her. She's always talking to me like I'm a baby. I'm not a baby. I'm a big guy, and I'm going to kindergarten next year. They don't let babies into kindergarten.”

“No, they don't,” I agreed. I kissed him on the top of his head.

My father grunted. I knew he didn't like the idea of spending the entire day with Eddie. Where I forgave Eddie—well, sort of forgave Eddie—for the affair, my father had never even tried.

“Justin, can you take Dad and Hayden to the camps and find your brother? I need to take a shower and clear my head.”

“Sure,” Justin said good-naturedly.

Tiffin seemed torn as the guys started down the pebbled path. Dad and Justin walked, but Hayden took the path at a skip. His blond hair bounced on the top of his head.

“Go on, Tiff,” I said.

The dog gave me one last look, then raced down the path after his boy.

I picked up the leaf that had fallen at the detective's feet and twirled it in my fingertips. I carried it through the white picket fence that marked the edges of my front yard, and before entering the cottage, I tossed it on the ground.

In my tiny living room, I chewed on my thumbnail and ignored the taste of blood. If the chief believed that I or, worse yet, my father was behind Maxwell's murder, I had no choice but to prove him wrong. An arrest for me could cost me much more than my job and the Farm's survival. It could cost me Hayden. It would give his father cause to press for full custody. That wasn't something Eddie had shown interest in before. He and I both seemed happy with the arrangement that we came to together outside of the court. We always had been on the same page when it came to how to raise our son, but that was before Eddie got engaged. Krissie's appearance in our lives could change everything.

I knew that I had to talk to Eddie and find out everything that I could about Krissie. I sighed. I thought my biggest problem this weekend would be keeping the reenactors from fighting over hard tack. Murder and a new stepmother for my son had never been in the realm of possibilities.

I headed to the shower. I had mud from the brick pit encrusted on my polo shirt and under my fingernails. I would feel better when I was clean; at least that's what I told myself.

Frankie met me at the top of the stairs, appraising me with his one good eye.

I leaned down to pet him. “Thanks for scratching that mean police detective.”

The tiger cat arched his back and hissed.

I retracted my hand. “Okay, cool. We'll go back to ignoring each other. That's fine with me.”

He ran down the steps.

Twenty minutes later I was showered and dressed in clean cl
othes. With my trusty notebook in the back pocket of a fresh pair of jeans, I was ready to face the rest of the day. I glanced at my watch. 9:45. The Farm doors would open in fifteen minutes.

I was tightening the rubber band at the end of my long French braid when my radio crackled as I hooked it on my belt. “Kelsey, come in?”

I immediately recognized Ashland's timid request.

I removed the radio from my belt. “What is it, Ashland?”

“We need you at the battlefield.”

I headed to the door, still talking into the radio. “Is something wrong?”

“You have to come and see for yourself.”

Not another dead body, please.
One of those was more than enough for me.

Outside the cottage, I ran down the path through the maple grove back to the main part of the Farm. As I broke through the maple trees, I heard shouts and cries coming from the battlefields. The encampments were empty. I saw a line of gray and blue backs facing me. Everyone was staring at the field. I elbowed my way through men standing shoulder to shoulder, just as they would have in battle. The method of attack was the greatest contributing factor to the high number of casualties during the Civil War. That old Napoleonic style of attack wasn't suited for the rifle used during the war, a rifle that was accurate at two hundred yards. As I pushed my way through, I muttered apologies.

Finally, I fought through the ranks and reached the split-rail fence that encircled the battlefield. In the middle of the field, Chief Duffy and three of his deputies stood in a semicircle around two men, one in blue and one in gray, wrestling in the middle of the field. I climbed over the fence. “What's going on here?” I asked anyone who would listen.

The chief shook his head. “There's a dispute over a musket.”

“Why don't you try to stop them?” I demanded.

He pointed at one of his officers. “Parker tried.”

The young officer held a tissue to his bloody nose.

The Confederate soldier laid a blow on the Union soldier, whose face I could not see. The soldier in the blue clothing reeled backward and landed flat on his back, holding his chin. It was Wesley, Portia's ex-boyfriend.

The Confederate bent over and ripped the musket out of Wesley's hands. “Don't touch what doesn't belong to you, Yank.”

The Rebel soldiers in the infantry line cheered and whooped.

I stepped forward and helped Wesley to his feet.

He rubbed his chin. “Thank you.” His complexion was bright red. He stomped away, and the audience started to break up.

“Chief, did you interview Wesley?” I asked.

“I did.” Duffy chewed on a new stick. “He said that he didn't know about Maxwell's death.”

Detective Brandon joined us. I wondered where she came from, as I hadn't noticed her before. She pursed her lips. “We have interviewed him, Ms. Cambridge. At this time, we have no reason to take him under arrest, but rest assured that we are keeping an eye on him and everyone”—she gave me a pointed look—“who may be involved in Maxwell's murder.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hayden slip under the fence an
d run toward me. “Mom, the camps are so exciting! Can we have a reenactment next weekend too?” Hayden jumped in pla
ce.

I shivered at the very thought and scanned the crowd for Eddie or my father. I wished they had taken Hayden somewhere else during the fight. I didn't want my son seeing two grown men behaving like children.

The chief looked down at Hayden. “Who's this?”

I wrapped a protective arm around Hayden's shoulders. “This is my son, Hayden.”

Chief Duffy scratched his impressive sideburn. “You enjoying the reenactment?”

Hayden nodded eagerly. “Yep. My mom planned the whole thing. She's really good at making plans.”

I felt Detective Brandon watching me. Just because I could plan an event, it didn't mean I could plan and execute a murder, but I couldn't say that with Hayden standing there.

The chief tipped his hat at us. “Well, I hope you will be watching our battle. It's sure to be exciting.”

There had already been too much excitement at the Farm for one day as far as I was concerned.

Eddie hopped over the fence and joined us. Thankfully, Dad and Krissie stayed on the other side. I didn't see Justin. I hoped he wasn't flirting with that sixteen-year-old girl again.

Eddie put a hand on Hayden's shoulders. “H, you can't run away from Krissie and me like that.”

Hayden looked up at his father. “But I was going to see Mom.”

“Who are you?” Detective Brandon asked.

Eddie's eye grew wide when he looked at the police detective. I suspected he noted her beauty. His reaction made me feel bad for Krissie and better for myself. Other women would always catch Eddie's eye. I hoped the twenty-two-year-old physical therapist knew what she was getting herself into.

“I'm Edward Cambridge. Hayden is my son.”

The detective looked at me. “Did you invite the entire family to the occasion, Ms. Cambridge?”

I clenched my jaw. “Eddie's here to look after Hayden since I have to work.”

The detective opened her mouth, but the chief interrupted her by clapping his hand on Detective Brandon's shoulder. “You had better head out, detective.” He dropped his hand. “Or you will be late for that interview in town.”

The detective scowled. Clearly, she didn't want me to hear that. What interview did she have in town? Who was it with? It had to be related to Maxwell's murder. That was the biggest case in the town, possibly the biggest case the county has ever seen.

The detective left, and the chief returned to his men. Apparently the murder of a prominent heir in the community wouldn't keep him away from his reenactment weekend.