Read Online Cemetery Silk by E. Joan Sims - Free Book Online Page B

sauce. Cassie and I had no choice but to stand and applaud in awe and admiration. Mother curtseyed gracefully in acknowledgment, then we all dug in like piggies.
    When nothing was left of our magnificent dinner but a smudge of chocolate on my upper lip, we carried the dishes to the kitchen. I gratefully left them to Cassie who promised to take kitchen duty. Mother already had coffee brewing. When it was ready, we carried our cups into the living room with an extra pot for refills.
    The time for getting down to work was at hand. I fetched a yellow legal pad from Dad’s desk. When I returned, Cassie had joined Mother and was helping her lift a large cardboard box onto the coffee table. We let Mother be the one to empty the box item by item. Cassie examined and I cataloged.
    Everything was neatly arranged, either tied in heavy twine or wrapped in thick rubber bands. Somehow this surprised me.
    â€œHow did William have time to do all of this after Abigail’s funeral? I can’t imagine him having the presence of mind to go through and straighten out all of Abigail’s papers.”
    A pained look crossed Mother’s face as she answered.
    â€œSue Dibber came over and offered to help. William let her go through Abigail’s things.” She looked at my astonished face and went on, “I know, Paisley. I felt the same way. They were such private people. I would have never thought William would allow that kind of personal invasion. I didn’t even suggest doing it, and I was Abigail’s closest relative. He must have been at a very low ebb.”
    â€œOr maybe she was just an evil pushy witch!” snarled Cassie.
    â€œThat too, Cassie, dear,” agreed Mother sadly.
    â€œWell, she has some nerve. She cut all the stamps off these old letters.”
    Cassie held out Christmas and birthday cards from years past with neat little squares missing from the upper right hand corner of the envelopes.
    Mother had that pained look again. “Yes, William was embarrassed about that. She told him her children collected stamps. He knew as well as I that stamps that old could have some real value and she was stealing them for herself.”
    â€œThat is so incredibly tacky!” I was angry now. “This broad must be some piece of work. I wish I could remember the remarkable Mrs. Dibber from the funeral.”
    â€œI hate to sound unkind, but she’s really not very attractive.” Mother closed her eyes to describe her. “Tall, scrawny, dreadful taste in clothes—definitely catalogue couture. Bad complexion and lifeless dingy hair. As a matter of fact, she looks quite unhealthy which is surprising since she is a nurse and should know better.”
    â€œA nurse? She’s a nurse?” I shuddered as I thought of those bony hands guiding a needle into my veins or touching my naked flesh.
    â€œYes, as a matter of fact, she was the nurse on William’s floor at the hospital when he died.”
    Cassie mirrored my astonishment.
    â€œWow, Mom! The plot thickens.”
    I looked at Mother in amusement. “Be sure and let me in on any other little gems you are keeping to yourself.”
    â€œNonsense, Paisley. I am not keeping anything to myself. I just don’t quite remember everything I know all at once. I did say that I had quite a few reasons to suspect Abigail’s demise was untimely.”
    We spent the next two hours perusing musty old letters and photographs. Now that I knew these things had already been pre-examined by Madame Dibber I lost my enthusiasm. I was sure that we would not find anything to help our cause unless she was incredibly stupid and I was beginning to doubt that.
    There were some very sweet photographs of Abigail as a child. On her first day of school she had posed in a stiffly starched sailor dress with a big ribbon in her pale blond hair. There were lots of pictures of picnics at the lake: Abigail’s parents, my grandparents, and the two