7 Never Haunt a Historian (21 page)

Stop. Rewind.

Leigh gave her head a shake. “What did you say? Archie went to see Dora? When?”

“A week or so ago,” Adith said dismissively. “Didn’t I tell you that?”

“No,” Leigh said tightly. “I’m quite certain you didn’t. And neither did Dora.”

“No?” Adith considered. “Well, it wasn’t a secret, for heaven’s sake. She said when I called that she’d just visited with Archie and wasn’t it nice to hear from so many neighbors. I told you that Archie asked Harvey if he could come up with a list of people who’d lived at the farmhouse since the Carrs—but Harvey’s list just had the names. I don’t know how Archie found out where Dora lives now, because I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know my friend Barbara Jean down in Bellevue. Then again, you never know who Barbara Jean knows. Why, back when Doc Shepherd’s first wife Coreen had her eye surgery—”

“Mrs. Rhodis,” Leigh interrupted, “Why did Archie want to see Dora?”

Adith threw her an exasperated look. “Because of the haunting, of course! He wanted to know what she’d seen when she lived there. When I told her he’d gone missing, she was so upset—she seemed quite fond of him. Everybody loves Archie, you know.”

“Yes, I know.” Leigh’s mind drifted back to her conversation with Dora. The older woman had indeed been concerned about Archie’s disappearance. Leigh could envision the two of them hitting it off famously, comparing notes on supernatural visitations while Archie casually threw in his actual questions. But what questions were they? And more importantly, what were her answers?

If Archie had talked to Dora a little over a week ago, that meant he had talked to her only a few days before he rented the excavator. A few days before the children found the map. A few days before he disappeared.

What had Dora told him?

Harvey
… Lester’s muttered words continued to drum in Leigh’s brain.
He knows, Arch… He knows.

“Mrs. Rhodis,” Leigh asked urgently. “Did Harvey know about Archie’s visit with Dora? Do you know if Archie came to see him afterwards?”

Adith’s brow creased. “Oh, I couldn’t say about that. Before he went missing Archie used to pop in here all the time, either to see Lester or to mooch from Emma’s kitchen. But if Harvey knew that Archie had already found Dora he sure didn’t tell me about it when he gave me the list. Would have saved me about a hundred phone calls!”

Leigh’s pulse rate increased. She was getting close to the truth at last. “I need to talk to Harvey,” she announced, turning toward the door to the house.

“He ain’t here,” Adith informed.

Leigh’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? He’s always here. Does he have a doctor’s appointment or something?”

Adith shook her head. “No. A friend of his came and picked him up. He said they were going to the library.”

Leigh blinked. “Has he done that before?”

Adith shrugged. “Every once in a while. Harvey’s a book man, you know. Doesn’t care for computers. When he’s got the yen to do some researching he heads off to the Carnegie. At least I think that’s where he goes. That’s how he came up with the list of farm owners. You’d think Archie could find out that stuff for himself, with his being a teacher once, but he’s got no patience for that kind of thing. Neither does Lester. Hell, Emma wanted a recipe for pot pie one time and Lester got on her computer and came back with directions on how to bake marijuana into a graham cracker crust! Then of course Emma went back and found the right thing herself in about ten seconds—”

“Do you know when Harvey will be back?” Leigh asked anxiously.

Adith shook her head. “By dinner, I’d expect. He gets his pills at six. Why are you so anxious to talk to him, anyway? What’s he supposed to know that I don’t know? He’s not even a believer. Telling me my orbs are
flashlights!”
She gave a derisive snort. “Ridiculous. I ask you, how could an ordinary, everyday flashlight turn Lester into a zombie? Huh? Huh?”

Leigh’s cell phone rang. She pulled it out quickly. “Hello, Emma?”

“Yes, honey.” Emma’s voice sounded considerably more chipper than the last time Leigh had heard it. “I just wanted to see if you could come down and see Lester now. He’s asking for you, and it’s visiting hours.”

Leigh drew in a shaky breath. “I’d love to,” she said sincerely. “I’ll be right there.”

***

“Hi, Lester,” Leigh said warmly, taking a seat by the bedside of the short, stout man she realized now had always subconsciously reminded her of a teddy bear. This realization was made plain by the fact that an actual stuffed teddy bear was propped up on the table beside him, mimicking his roundish figure, protruding ears, and smiling brown eyes to a T. The teddy, however, had a small black nose, whereas Lester’s was still swollen and fire-engine red, in colorful but unhealthy contrast to the puffy, blue-black rings under his eyes.

“Hi there,” Lester returned. He gestured toward the stuffed animal. “How do you like that? Grandkids got it for me. I think they figure they’ll get to keep it for themselves.”

“Which they will, of course,” Emma added proudly. “Smart bunch of kids, I’d say.”

“Sounds like it,” Leigh agreed, glancing at Emma. The woman had seemed a trifle miffed ever since Leigh had arrived, which was out of character. Leigh sat awkwardly and watched as the couple proceeded to stare at each other for several seconds without speaking.

“All right!” Emma said finally, gathering up her purse and rising. “I’ll leave! But I’m not going any farther than the cafeteria, you hear me? Such nonsense! Men and nonsense…” She was still muttering as she closed the door behind her.

“Sorry about that,” Lester apologized. But he did not explain. “I hope it wasn’t too much trouble for you to come out here, but I had to ask…”

Leigh moved closer.

“Well, they tell me you were the one who found me. You know, after I passed out.”

Leigh nodded. “You don’t remember?”

Lester started to shake his head, but winced at the motion.

“Yeah, I know,” Leigh said with a smile. “I got conked on the head once, too.”

Lester’s eyes widened. “I don’t think I… I mean… well, what did you see, exactly?”

Leigh wanted to ask questions a whole lot more than she wanted to answer them, but she forced herself to proceed carefully. The fear in Lester’s eyes was hard to miss; it was in his voice as well. “I went down to the cellar to feed the dog,” she explained. “The dog was gone but you were there, lying curled up on the floor. I didn’t know if you were asleep or unconscious at first, but then you started moving. You had a bump and a cut on your head, so I called an ambulance.”

“When you… Did you…” Lester stammered. He seemed unable to choose the right words. “You didn’t see anyone else around?” he asked finally.

Leigh shook her head. Then she took a chance. “Did you?”

Lester’s pupils dilated; his breathing sped up. “Oh, no. I just went to check on the dog too, you know.”

Leigh’s jaw tensed. The man was about as convincing as a child who insists, through a mouth smeared with frosting, that he never touched the cupcakes. “Was she there when you got there?”

Lester stiffened. “Who?”

“The dog,” Leigh replied. Whom did he think she meant?

“I’m…” Lester hesitated again. “I’m not really sure. I can remember walking down the steps to the cellar. But that seems to be the last thing I can remember, until the EMTs were talking to me.”

Leigh believed him. “Why did you go down the steps?”

“Well, to see… I told you. I wanted to check on the dog.” Fine beads of sweat broke out on his bald forehead.

Leigh exhaled sadly and softened her voice. “Lester, I know you’re worried about Archie. I am, too. I also know you didn’t go outside and walk across the creek in the middle of the night to check on a stray dog you knew perfectly well I was already taking care of. You went there because you thought that, somehow, you were going to help Archie. Am I right?”

Lester drew up against his pillows. His face reddened. “No, I wanted… I mean, the dog was… why would I do that?”

Leigh tried not to cringe. But she had seen better acting in her kids’ kindergarten Thanksgiving pageant.
We Native Americans bring you food. Be thankful for future holiday. We eat now.

Of course, one could only act so well when the script was ludicrous. And Lester’s script was as ludicrous as they came.

Leigh decided to go ahead and lay it on the line. “Lester, please listen to me,” she pleaded. “I’m not sure why you think it would be a bad idea to level with the police, but I have to disagree with you on that. If someone has… well, if someone
has
Archie, that’s kidnapping. The police know how to deal with these things—they have the experience to handle these situations so nobody gets hurt. You and I do not. Don’t you see, that’s
why
such people don’t want the police involved!”

Lester’s face paled. “I didn’t say anything about kidnapping!” he insisted, his voice breaking in the middle of the last word. “Why are you talking like that?”

“Because you’re not talking at all, so I can only guess at what you’re hiding,” Leigh retorted. “I told you about the map my kids found. I know you and Archie were looking for something. It’s pretty obvious that someone else is looking for it, too. What I don’t know is why you thought that going to the cellar of the tool shed in the wee hours of the morning was going to help anything. Can you make me understand?”

“Who else is…” Archie’s breathing had become distressingly rapid again. “I mean… what makes you think anyone is looking for something?”

“Who else do
you
think is looking for it?” Leigh pressed.

“I don’t know who!” Lester stammered. “I mean… I didn’t say anyone was… Oh, hell!”

Leigh softened her voice again. “I’m only trying to help you help Archie,” she assured. “If you know who might be trying to keep Archie from finding this… this
whatever it is,
then please, you’ve got to tell the police. I don’t know. I have no clue. I can’t tell them anything. Right now they’re not taking the risk of foul play to Archie seriously, but they will if you cooperate… all you have to do is be honest with them about what you and Archie were doing and what really happened to you down in that cellar.”

Lester’s eyes turned away from her. He grabbed a tissue from off his bedside table and dabbed at his sweating forehead. “I don’t know, Leigh. I just don’t know. Arch said…”

Leigh leaned in. “What did Archie say?”

Lester went mum. He pressed his lips together stubbornly.

“Lester,” Leigh said, drawing sudden inspiration. “Perhaps it would help your decision to know that a 10,000 pound hydraulic excavator was delivered to Archie’s driveway this morning?”

Lester stared at her a moment. Then he uttered several words no teddy bear should hear. “I forgot all about that,” he added.

“Yeah, we figured as much,” Leigh said sympathetically. “But now that the police know about both the excavator and the map—”

“Arch was having troubles with his septic, you know,” Lester offered.

Leigh raised one eyebrow and looked at him.

After a long moment, he sighed. “I made a promise,” he said miserably.

“Archie couldn’t possibly have anticipated these circumstances,” Leigh reasoned. “Besides, it doesn’t really matter what he was after. All that matters is figuring out who else was after it. Does that help?”

Lester made no response.

Leigh took a breath. “Here’s what I think. I think that you looked out your window Saturday night and saw a light out by the creek heading toward Archie’s place. You went to see who it was, and you followed them to the cellar. But before you knew what happened, they hit you with something and knocked you out—or at least knocked you down. How close is that?”

Lester blinked back at her, his eyes confused. “I didn’t see any light,” he said softly.

“You didn’t?”

His moved his head slowly from side to side. “I went out on my own, like I said. To… to check on the dog. But when I got closer, I heard something.”

Leigh’s pulse sped up. She was getting somewhere at last. “What did you hear?”

His eyes assumed a distant look. “A buzzing sound. Like a motor of some kind. It was strange. There’s no electric down there, you know. I thought maybe… but I don’t remember. I wanted to see you so I could ask… what was down there? I mean, when you found me?”

Leigh shook her head. “There was no machine. The only thing I saw on the ground was your flashlight. But…” she hesitated only a moment. “Since yesterday, someone has chiseled out a good bit of mortar from around one large stone.”

Lester’s eyes widened. “No,” he said bleakly, barely above a whisper. Then he repeated, much louder,
“No!”
His hands scrabbled at his blankets and he attempted to swung his feet toward the edge of the bed.

“Lester, don’t!” Leigh begged, trying to settle him back on his pillow.

“Do you really think they hit me?” he asked. “Really, honest to God, knocked me out? If they’d do that, what would they do to Arch?!”

“Tell the police,” Leigh pressed. “Tell them everything you can. It’s the best thing we can do.”

“The police!” Lester said derisively. “They think Archie’s hiding out to commit
fraud!”

“Not after you tell them the truth, they won’t!”

Lester grunted and leaned back. His face was flushed and he looked terrible, but at least he was no longer trying to get out of bed.

“My head is killing me,” he said gruffly. But his sulky pout once again put Leigh in mind of a teddy bear. She felt like a heel.

“I’m going now,” she said apologetically. “You rest. And try not to worry. But do think about what I said. Okay? Please?”

Lester grunted again. He closed his eyes.

His head hurt; Leigh could see it in his face. She rose and walked toward the door.

“Leigh?” he called.

She stopped and turned around. “Yes?”

“Thanks. For caring so much about Arch. But you need to be careful. You need to stay out of this. It could be… dangerous.”

No freakin’ kidding.

“And could you…” he continued. “Would you tell Harvey to stay out of it, too? I worry about that man.”