Page 35 of Gem Warfare

“It’s cordless!”

“She doesn’t want to see your drill. She wants to pump us for information,” cut in Mom.

“And lunch,” said Dad.

“Terrific idea,” I said. “Garrett is going to come by too.”

“I thought you picked a convenient time to drop in,” said Dad skeptically. Just as I was going to remind him, again, that Mom invited me, he continued, “I thought our grocery bill would go down once you all moved out but no.”

“Shush, dear. Lexi has questions. What were they?” asked Mom.

“The former occupants,” I reminded her. “Did you know any?”

“A few yes. You should have asked me last night. Did the Dugans ask you to take the case? I knew it was a good idea to call you!”

“They did, and thanks. The residents?” I prompted again as Mom started unloading her bag onto the kitchen counter.

“When you were a baby, we used to go to barbecues at the Batleys when they lived there. Now I wonder if I was standing on a corpse eating a hotdog. You probably crawled over it. It’s tainted the memories somewhat. I must tell them when I send a Christmas card.”

I swallowed and resolved to wash my hands more often. “Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes, absolutely. There will be more information to tell them at Christmas. If I tell them now, they’ll only have questions and there are no answers and then what will I have to write at Christmas?” Mom gave me a stern look. “Can you wrap this up by Christmas?”

“It’s months away!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Roger probably wasn’t in the ground when I was a baby.”

“Oh, well, that’s a relief. I’ll tell the Batleys.”

“Who’s Roger?” asked Dad.

“The corpse. Keep up, darling,” said Mom.

“Can you remember any other residents as…” I stopped at the sound of the front door opening and footsteps in the hallway.

Garrett called out, “Hello?”

“In the kitchen,” called Mom. “Should I make food for everyone? I got fresh rolls from the bakery this morning. I can do cheese salad. And there’re fresh cookies.”

“Sounds good,” I decided as Mom headed to the refrigerator. “Garrett wants to hear everything too,” I told her.

“I feel like I’m the star witness,” said Mom, brightening.

“You are,” I said and she straightened, making herself a fraction taller, apparently ready to give her star turn in the witness kitchen.

“I’m glad I sprung for the good cookies,” she said. “What a treat.”

“I was just asking Mom about the past residents,” I said when Garrett appeared in the doorway.

“And I told your sister she probably played on the corpse as a baby.”

“We concluded I probably didn’t. Mom’s worried she was standing on the corpse at some point.”

“We probably all did,” said Dad cheerfully.

“When the ME narrows the dates down, I’ll be sure to let you know,” said Garrett. “So whom do you remember? Have there been many residents?”

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