The Body in the Wardrobe (20 page)

It was a delicious thought, but it was also blackmail, Faith promptly told Pix, who shook her head vehemently in disagreement. “They're the miscreants! Besides, you don't have to do a thing. The photo went viral, and they've both resigned for ‘personal' reasons. In Tony's case, I'd say it's the fact that his wife, who was with her sick father in Florida, was taking it all
very
personally. Just sit tight. I hear that Amy's elementary school principal will be the acting superintendent. The assistant superintendent doesn't want the job.”

This
was
good news. Faith was about to ask Pix whether she
should try to get Amy moved before school started again when Ben rushed in. Like his father he never seemed to feel the cold and was wearing only a sweatshirt. For the short journey to the parish hall for First Day, Faith had put on one of Mr. Bean's long down coats, the extreme version used for arctic expeditions.

“Bonjour, Maman et Madame Miller! Comment ç
a va?”

“
Très bien,
and I have something for you.” Pix smiled, getting up to give him an envelope. “Bon voyage from us.”

“Wow, thank you so much!” Ben said, opening the envelope and discovering some euros.

“You've worked so hard to raise money for the whole group that we wanted you to have some cash that was just for you, but we expect a postcard!”

He gave her a big hug. “Don't worry. I have everybody's address.”

Amy wandered in. The film was over. Ben showed her the euros. “They're so pretty,” she said. “What's for dinner, Mom?”

Her daughter was on the mend, Faith thought happily, and the whole Mean Girl problem might be, too. Life was good.

Sophie slipped on a jacket and walked over to the office to see if she could find a hard copy of Ruth's application in one of the file cabinets behind the desk where Ruth had worked. They were wooden ones from Will's grandfather's day that Anson insisted they keep for hard copies, claiming he didn't trust computers when it came to saving records.

Letting herself in, Sophie was surprised to see her husband going through the file drawers. “Will, I thought you were going home to rest!” She went over and put her arms around him. It seemed ages since they'd received the call about Ruth's death.

He held her tight. “I'm so sorry,” he said. “For us, but particularly for her family. To lose a child . . .”

She knew he was thinking of his mother and grandmother.
Even though Amanda hadn't been Aurora's daughter in name, she was in spirit, and to have her predecease was against nature.

“Did you find Ruth's application?” she asked.

“No. Randy hired her, so it may be in his office, but his door is locked. Her computer is password protected. Maybe you can get in?”

As a partner, Sophie could, and while Will began searching, she had another thought. From the way they had greeted her that night at the Olde Pink House bar, Ruth had obviously been close to her running mates. Sophie needed to let one of them know, and it was also possible that that person might have more information about the woman—a local emergency contact and others who should be notified. Maybe, even, why Ruth had resorted to such a desperate act. Sophie hated to give news like this over the phone, but it would be worse to hear it on the news or read it in the paper. She had no problem recalling the name of one friend—Esmeralda Higgins. Emmie.

Sophie found E. Higgins in Savannah on Switchboard, but would she be home on New Year's Day? The phone rang several times and Sophie was about to hang up when a breathless voice said, “Hello?”

“Hello. Is this Esmeralda, Emmie? I'm Sophie Maxwell. We met before Christmas at the Olde Pink House.”

“Yes, of course I remember you. The carol singing! Sorry, I just came in from a run. Happy New Year.”

Her tone of voice clearly indicated that she was wondering why Sophie was calling. Sophie took a deep breath.

“I'm afraid I have very bad news. Ruth Stafford died early this morning.”

“What!” Emmie screeched. “No! No! That's impossible! I saw her yesterday. She's my running buddy. Because we're both the same height, have the same stride. No! No! A drunk driver! She was hit?”

“I'm afraid Ruth took her own life.”

There was complete silence on the other end of the line.

“I'm so sorry—” Sophie said at last, but Emmie cut her off.

“Maybe she didn't get along with her family all that well—they were total jerks, treated her like shit—but she was definitely not the suicidal type. It
must
have been an accident.”

“It wasn't. Some of the people at the office thought she had seemed depressed. Maybe running was her way of coping and then she couldn't anymore.”

“But we ran yesterday. She was ecstatic at our times! Best ever!”

Sophie didn't want to say anything more, but this fit with what Faith had said about a manic mood preceding a suicide in some cases.

“The only emergency contact information we have for her is her parents, and we haven't been able to reach them. I remembered you because of your unusual name, but are there others in the group we should notify?”

Emmie was sobbing quietly. “We were
all
her friends. I'll let people know. She got in touch with me about the club initially. I'm the secretary; I can check what she filled out when she joined. Now, if you want. The file is on my laptop.”

“Thank you,” Sophie said softly. She sensed that Emmie needed to get away from the phone.

While she waited, Sophie quickly told Will. He seemed intent on what he was doing and gave her a brief nod.

It didn't take long for Emmie to find the information. “Here it is,” she said. “Ruth listed Mr. and Mrs. Randall Watson with a local address first and her parents second. Do you know who the Watsons are?”

“Yes, Randall Watson is a partner here. He hired Ruth.”

Emmie seemed calmer. Resigned. “I'll call her friends. And let me give you my cell. Will there be a service here in Savannah, do you think? I know everyone will want to pay their last respects.”

This hadn't occurred to Sophie, but of course they would. “I'll be in touch as soon as I know anything.”

“Thank you.” Emmie paused. “Would you like to get together
sometime to talk? You seemed close to Ruth that night and she talked a lot about how much she enjoyed working for you . . .” Her voice trailed off.

“I would like that very much.” Now Sophie started to choke up. “I'll call you soon.” She hung up and felt hot tears start to stream down her face. Will was talking to someone on his phone and motioned her over, pulling her tight. She could hear Randy's voice, but not what he was saying.

“See you soon after we stop at home a minute,” Will said and slipped the phone into his pocket. “Ruth's parents got back to Randy. We'll hear more out at Bells Mills. Randy said they'd been afraid of this. That she
had
suffered from depression, and this impulsive move away from their support had been worrying them. I want to get out of these clothes and then we'll head out there, okay?”

Sophie nodded, wishing she could crawl into bed and sleep for days, sleep with Will beside her.

It was a somber group gathered around the big dining room table. Anson said the blessing, adding a special prayer in memory of Ruth. The housekeeper, Blanche, had prepared a succulent pork roast to go with the Hoppin' John and other side dishes.

It wasn't long before Patty Sue broke the silence. “Well, I for one am starving and I'm sorry for the poor girl, but nobody knew her. I mean she wasn't even from here.” She put a mouthful of peas in her mouth.

Sophie was having trouble even looking at the food and Patty Sue's words completely destroyed any appetite she might have been able to summon up. Remembering Emmie's question, she asked Randy, “What arrangements are the family making? One of her friends from the running club wondered if there would be any kind of service in Savannah.”

Randy shook his head. “She'll be cremated here and the
service will be at the family's church in Illinois. The funeral home has set up a site for condolences. I have all the information, and I was wondering how to get it to these friends, so if you would do that, I'd be very grateful.”

Sophie nodded. “Emmie—that was her closest friend in the club—was very shocked. None of them had seen any evidence of depression.”

“Isn't that always the way?” Carlene said sadly. “I feel terrible. We should have done something. And if only we had gotten the message she left earlier.” She put down her fork.

Randy, who was sitting next to his wife, put his arm around her. “Now, sugar, if it hadn't been last night, it would have been another time. Her family said there had been several serious attempts starting when she left high school. I want you to try to put this out of your mind, at least for the next week.”

“Listen to him, Carlene. You two haven't been away for a dog's age and you'll love Nassau,” Gloria said.

“I don't know that we should go tomorrow. It doesn't seem respectful,” Carlene said.

Patty Sue jumped in. “Now that's just silly! Canceling your trip for someone you saw, what, five times? I'll go if you don't want to!”

“Carlene's going, sis,” Randy said firmly. “Stop playing the field and find a good man like me to take you places.” Sophie was surprised. For once he didn't sound as if he were teasing.

Anson spoke up. “We'll all miss Ruth. She was a lovely, bright young woman. But life goes on. Randall spoke to her parents about setting up some sort of scholarship at the high school she attended in her memory, and the firm will start the donations off.”

If Anson had intended to change the topic, it worked, and the conversation turned to Carlene and Randy's upcoming trip. Sophie had never been to Nassau, so she concentrated on trying
to swallow some of the peas and rice. Will had planned to leave tomorrow also, but on the drive out to Bells Mills, he'd told her he was staying until Monday.

After dinner, Will suggested a walk out to the dock. The late afternoon light was beautiful. Anson and Gloria said they'd join them.

“There won't be too many more days like this,” Anson said. “You'll be surprised at how cold it can get here come February and March, Sophie.”

She took his arm. “I believe I will. So far I haven't had to wear any winter clothes. I should pack them all up and send them to Maine. There's a group that distributes warm things to people in need.”

“That is so sweet,” Gloria said. “I swear you remind me of Will's mother more every day—so kind. When my late husband and I moved to Savannah from Atlanta, she and Anson took us under their wings. Introduced us to everyone, and the four of us just loved being together. My family was from here, of course—” She gestured at the house as they walked toward the water. “But I'd been gone awhile at school and then after I was married we were away for years. When Randy turned four, I put my foot down and said we had to come home. I didn't want him to grow up in a foreign place.” She gave a little laugh. Somehow Sophie thought she wasn't kidding. Atlanta might as well have been on some other continent—or Mars.

They sat for a while in companionable silence on the same bench where Sophie and Will had sat after the Lowcountry boil. That evening seemed a very long time ago and recalling how miserable she had been, Sophie gave her husband's hand a squeeze. All was well now.

“You got yourself a pretty little house, Sophie, and I hear from my son that you are an excellent chef. I plan to be your first guest,” Anson said. He stood up. “Now I want some of Blanche's coconut layer cake and after that a titch of something.”

Inside, Sophie went to freshen up, making sure this doorknob functioned. She'd put that whole incident from her mind, but with the day's tragedy it had come back. She still needed to ask Will who'd said Sophie was feeling ill and had left.

Ask him when no one else was around.

Tom had been dismayed when Faith told him about the comment made in Pix's hearing at First Day, but not overly so.

“Actually we should consider it pretty amazing that it didn't happen sooner. I guess I'd better let the Vestry know.”

“Know what?” Faith asked, startled. Tom hadn't even been inside the other church yet.

“That I've been asked to be a guest preacher and that they are looking to fill the position permanently.”

She was surprised at how relieved she felt. He hadn't made his mind up.

“I'd like you to come,” Tom added. “It's a week from Sunday. Ben will be gone, but Pix could look in on Amy if she still isn't a hundred percent.”

“Of course.” Faith wanted to see the church—and meet the congregation. Very much. She also realized she had forgotten to fill Tom in on the principal/superintendent scandal.

“And some people say there is no God!” he said. “She can surely go to the other school now.”

“I thought I'd call the acting superintendent Monday.”

The next afternoon Faith drove Ben to the home of one of the students whose parents had a minivan and were taking everyone to the airport. She wished it had been like the old days at airports and she could have walked down to the gate with him, waving good-bye from the big windows as the plane taxied off. Instead, she had to satisfy herself with a quick squeeze at the car door. Ben returned it even more quickly. He had been on his way in his own mind for days, maybe weeks.

Back home Amy was in the kitchen. “Finally! What took so long, Mom? I want to make cupcakes for you to drop off at Cindy's house. I know you'll say I can't go to the party, but this way I'll kinda be there.”

“Cindy?”

Amy looked impatient. “From my English class. She called last week and wanted my cell so we could text. She's giving a surprise party for Isabel. We've been texting, too. She goes to Maine, but not as long a trip as Sanpere. Camden. But that's not all that far, right? And, Mom, I'm going back on Facebook, okay? A lot of people were mad about what Cassie did.”