I told Ben goodbye, and got Liam out the door and into the car. This mystery got kookier by the hour. With everyone in town shuttling bones to their neighbors like some macabre game of hot potato, how would we ever find out who started it to begin with?
* * *
Ben leanedback in his chair groaning and rubbing his stomach. "I can't eat another bite."
I'd made his favorite dinner. At least, his favorite that I could cookâlemon and garlic chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans. Mia even cleaned her plate, which was the equivalent of a miracle.
I could tell Ben was worried. He'd turned over all the information about Irene to Sheriff Reins and the Franklin County Sheriff. Essentially, she'd done the same thing Soapy did, which he said Soapy might be arrested for doing. I knew there were a ton of scenarios spinning through Ben's head and he was trying to figure out how to stay in the good graces of his fellow law enforcement officers while doing everything possible to keep his mom out of jail.
"Dad," Mia said, gathering her plate and silverware to take it to the sink, "if grandma and grandpa get that timeshare, can we go to Florida with them this summer?"
"Grandma Angela's wedding is this summer," I said, jumping in before Ben had to explain that Irene might not be around this summer. "We'll have to see. A wedding takes a lot of time and planning."
"Oh yeah," she said. "When are we getting our bridesmaid dresses?"
Thank goodness for weddings. The promise of a fancy dress and big party was enough to keep a teenage girl's mind busy for a little while at least.
"We'll have to try them on and order them soon. Maybe next weekend we can go."
"Cool. Can Steph come too?"
Those two were attached at the hip. "Yes, she can come with us."
Mia cleared the table. I told her I'd get the dishes in the dishwasher so she could start her homework. She picked up Liam from under her chair where he waited for her during dinner and she sneaked him bites of food and thought we don't notice, and ran upstairs to her bedroom.
"I'm okay," Ben said, before I had the chance to ask. "I know you're worried about me, but I'm really fine."
"What do you think will happen? Will they want to press any kind of charges?"
"Could be something like tampering with evidence. If it turns out to be a murder victim, that's a big punishment."
"Even if it's from so long ago and nobody was looking for him? Not to downplay the situation or the importance of finding out who he is and what happened to him, but..." I shrugged. If the bones had never been placed in the trash can beside the gazebo and the raccoons had never infiltrated our town, would anyone even know there was a skeleton of an unknown man to be identified?
"I know," Ben said, "but this is what we're dealing with. It doesn't change because it implicates a friend or my mom."
I'd given him such a hard time the day before about Soapy and here he was being an upstanding officer in the face of his mother potentially being charged. I reached over and took his hand. "She's lucky to have you. So am I, and Mia, and our stinky dogs, and your furry cat brother."
He laughed. "It's quiet around here without those stinky dogs. When are they coming home?"
"Tomorrow or the next day. Quinn wanted to evaluate where they were after today's session."
He eyed me and raised his brows. "Well?"
"Well, what?"
"I know you're dying to ask me."
"I am, but I don't want to be insensitive."
He rolled his eyes like Mia. "The ring was gold and had the initials JLA engraved on the face."
"JLA?"
"Yes, like the name James Lee Anderson, for an example."
"Who's James Lee Anderson?"
"Nobody. It was just an example."