Page 26 of Gem Warfare

“Did you drive over?”

“Solomon drove.”

“Then you had time to call me! I would have ditched work for that! A body! And you left me out!”

“I was going to call you!”

“When?”

That was a good question. Technically, I hadn’t lied, but I had neglected to call Lily. “As soon as I had more news to share,” I said, skirting the truth. “I didn’t want to give you just the basics.”

“Your mom seems to have the basics.”

I cringed at that. “That’s right! I wanted to really clue you in beyond that.”

“So what do you have?”

“Nothing,” I admitted. “But Garrett is happy to officially work together so long as MPD don’t have to pay our fee. He says it looks like the body has been there a long time. More than a decade, maybe even two. I don’t remember anyone going missing from our street but I’m not sure Iwouldremember. I’m not sure that the person would even be registered as missing if another occupant wanted to conceal the disappearance. Garrett’s checking that out too.”

“We’ve been friends for more than twenty years,” said Lily. “I’m sure one of us would remember a big event like a missing persons case from your street. I remember when the dog went missing on the next block, and I remember that afternoon when Caleb Telsey got off the school bus but didn’t go home and half the neighborhood went out searching for him.”

“And they found him in Johnny Lombardi’s basement eating ice cream and playing video games,” I said, nodding as Iremembered.

“Yeah. Caleb didn’t even know he was missing! Imagine not knowing you’re missing!”

“To be fair, he did know where he was. Just no one else did.”

“You know what else I remember? When Mrs. Thurber threw all her husband’s clothes out the window when she caught him playing hide the sausage with her cousin that time she got home from work early.”

“I remember that too. She put all his books out on the lawn the next day and it rained. They all turned to mush and he cried.”

“She yelled at him to get a new library card to go with his new life.”

“We definitely would have remembered a man going missing,” I decided. “Do you remember any of the people who lived in the end house?”

“The one with all the renovations? That’s where they found it?”

“We’re calling the corpse Roger,” I said.

“Weird, but okay. No. I don’t remember anyone from there. I suppose there’s no reason for anyone to stand out unless we hung out at their house or they did something heinous. Did we ever hang out there as kids?”

“I’m pretty sure no, never.”

“Then no kids our age twenty years ago and we didn’t know anyone there when we became adults either,” said Lily as I made a note. “I do remember that house going up for sale a few years ago. I remembered thinking it would make a great family home one day. Glad I didn’t buy it! Who did?”

“Carrie and Pete Dugan. Carrie’s pregnant and they have a little girl. They’re in their thirties. She’s a doctor at Montgomery General. Pete is a…” I pulled out the paperwork and ran my finger down the page. “Marketing director.”

“I guess that rules them out. A doctor would dispose of abody better than that; plus, if it was buried during her medical boards, she’d be way too busy. Plus, I bet they have a five-year-plan. A plan that doesn’t include buying the house where they historically buried Roger.”

“I was ninety-five percent sure they didn’t do it but when I hear you say it all out loud, I shoot up to ninety-nine percent. I think I need to plunder my family’s memories and find out what everyone remembers. Between all of us, we should have all the decades covered although Garrett doesn’t remember anything distinctive about the house or its occupants ever.”

“Whoa! You’re calling family dinner.”

“I’ll even cater if it makes them say yes quicker.”

“I’ll supply the booze. Let’s get those lips loosened.”

“I’ll send out a message and get everyone together tonight. Your job is to accept and pressure everyone else too.”

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