Read Corpus de Crossword Online
Authors: Nero Blanc
Corpus de Crossword (6 page)
“We'll do what we can.”
“That's why I wanted you along ⦠As an EMT, I'd hoped you'd be able to tell if we were ⦠well,
missing
anythingâi.e., parts.”
“I'll try ⦠but I've got to tell you, Lonnie, this isn't anything I've been trained for ⦠I'm pleased to say that all the bodies I've dealt with in the past have been alive and kicking.” Amanda studied the skull for another minute. “Now, assuming this
was
a grave, and that nothing else has been disturbed, my guess is that the rest of the body should be lying in that direction.” She pointed.
“Sounds about right ⦠So, what do you say we dig a trench along the perimeter, then slowly remove the dirt as we move to the center where the skeleton should be.” Lonnie pushed his shovel into the earth. “Surprising how loose this soil is. No rocks at all ⦠You'd think the earth would have compacted by nowâ”
“That's
if
the remains were buried a long time ago.” Amanda tossed a shovel load of dirt off to one side. “I'm guessing we're only at a depth of five feet here ⦠Sort of belies the old âsix foot under' concept, doesn't it?”
“Maybe people didn't used to be so choosy back then ⦠whenever âthen' was.”
“Maybe. But I'll tell you this, bad news travels just as fast nowadays. I heard about the discovery up here long before you called me. It was all anyone could talk about in the teachers' lounge ⦠same down at the P.O., I'd guess.”
“And Eddie's bar ⦠Small-town living.”
“One thing's for sure, there's not one resident of Taneysville who isn't happy about that backhoe being shut down. It was even driving me up a wall.”
Lonnie chuckled slightly. “Yeah, but it's gonna pick right back up again as soon as we get an okay from the honchos down in Newcastle. I don't know why people can't see that. They're only putting off the inevitable.”
They continued to dig for another ten minutes, until they'd excavated the area adjacent to where they suspected a body might lie.
“I guess this is it,” Amanda said. “Let's move in and see what we find.”
“Wait, hold on, I almost forgot: I want to shoot some photographs as we go along. I want to make sure we're covered. I picked up a disposable at Hoffmeyer's. It's in my truck.”
He returned with the camera and two pairs of work gloves, then snapped a quick photo before continuing where the excavation had left off. They were working now at a much slower pace and using their hands more often than the shovels. Lonnie photographed the site as they moved along.
Eventually, what appeared to be a complete skeleton was revealed, the bones arranged somewhat intact, except for the arm bone and skull Taki had previously unearthed.
Both Amanda and Lonnie straightened up, then stood staring down, momentarily silenced.
“Wow ⦔ Amanda finally murmured. “I feel like ⦠well, I don't know what ⦔
“Yeah ⦠me, too ⦠kind of speechless ⦠And if this
is
legitâa proper burial of some long-forgotten Quigley, or a Native American Indianâthen we'reâ”
“Grave robbers,” was Amanda's muffled response.
Lonnie nodded. He took a deep breath. “We're not robbing the site. If anything, we'll be moving these remains to hallowed ground.”
“Right ⦠Unless they're Native American.” Amanda tried to smile.
“In that case we'll see that they're repatriated.” After another quiet moment Lonnie asked, “What do you think? Do we leave the dirt that's in the chest cavity? Or do we shake it out?”
“Leave it there, I thinkâif it doesn't fall out when we lift that portion. I'm not sure what these forensics people look at, but we should probably give them as much as we can.”
“Right. Let me get one last picture before we put him in the bin.” Lonnie lifted the camera and pressed the button. The flash left a stark and bleak image in their minds.
Amanda released a slight sigh. “It makes me kind of sad ⦠looking at this poor guy ⦠I wonder who he was.”
“We'll have to wait and see what Newcastle discovers.” Lonnie checked the camera. “One shot left. I'll get one for the newspapers.”
“What for?” She made no attempt to hide her surprise.
“It seems like sensationalism, I know. But how else can I handle that side of it? I mean, if I don't inform the press that skeletal remains were discovered ⦠What I mean is: It might seem like a cover-up ⦠And what do we have to hide? Nothing that I can see.”
“I guess you're right.” Amanda looked down as Lonnie snapped the final photo. She wrapped her arms around herself.
“Cold up here,” he ventured.
“Autumn in New England ⦔ She tried for another smile; the effort failed.
“Okeydoke,” Lonnie said with false heartiness. He removed the lid to the plastic bin, and he and Amanda placed the remains in it, doing their best to keep the body in the position in which it'd been found, but it was a futile effort. Finished, Lonnie covered the container, and they both carried it to the bed of his pickup truck.
“Is it okay if I give your name to the press ⦠as a witness?” Lonnie asked as he climbed into the cab.
“Is that really necessary?”
“Your name's going to appear in my official report. Sorry, but I really want to play this thing entirely aboveboard. If there are secrets hidden here, I don't want it to look like I was a party to it.”
“So, I have no choice.”
“Sorry. I just wanted you to know I'd be passing your name along.”
Unconsciously, Amanda sighed again. “You know, I started off the day feeling on top of the world.” She grimaced. “Well, no time to mope ⦠got to get back to my kids ⦠Sure, Constable, of course you can supply my name. What have I got to lose?”
“It'll give your students a thrill.”
“Oh, you betcha ⦠Hallowe'en's going to take on new meaning this year.”
CHAPTER 8
Snow hadn't yet been predicted, nor had the days begun to take on the relentless cold of winter, but they would. They would. And when the first storm came (mid-November, most likely), rural Massachusetts would turn its back on progress and the dismaying march of time. Villages and hamlets would be cut off from one another; farms would become inaccessible; mountain roads would turn into lethal slopes of ice. At least, that's the way it had been once.
Once upon a time. When the world was a different place. Once upon a time, when a boy and his girl
⦠The old eyes closed; the head sagged toward the sunken chest while a hundred dreamland pictures began cavorting through the sleeper's aging brain. Some of the images were joyful; some were not; and some wereâ
“Ready for your lunch, now, hon?” The door banged as the nurse's aide nudged it open with her foot. In her hands she bore a brown plastic tray covered with containers of white Styrofoam and plastic. “Oopsy-daisy, you plumb fell fast asleep on me again, didn't you? You know that wouldn't happen if you were downstairs in the lounge with everyone else. Shared activities, a little chitchat with your pals ⦔ The aide plopped the tray on a rolling table and bent toward the floor to retrieve a fallen newspaper. “And look, there's that paper I brought you yesterday ⦠I don't believe you've even readâ”
“I did,” was the irritable answer, followed by a stubborn: “I don't have âpals.'”
The nurse's aide retained her professional good humor. “And whose fault is that, I'd like to know? You're not winning the congeniality award, that's for sure ⦔ As she spoke she fussed over the meal tray, removing the lid from the soup, the Saran Wrap from a yellow-colored pudding. “Tea, like always, toast without butter, banana custard ⦠Oh, don't go making a face like that! You know you like bananas. Everybody likes bananas ⦠And today's soup is clam chowder ⦠Real New England-style, not Manhattan ⦠You want I should help you spoon it up?”
“I can manage.” The tone was now slow and hollow.
The aide cocked her head and pursed her lips. “I'm happy to sit here and jaw, if you'd like.” She hefted the newspaper and opened it. “You did the crosswordâand perfect, too. Not even one letter out of place. They say these puzzles will keep your brain real sharp ⦔
A dismissive shrug greeted the compliment while the aide turned the page, searching for further items for conversation. Naturally the news of skeletal remains accidentally unearthed on a farm in rural Taneysville was high on the list of attractions. “Did you see where they found a body on some old property out west of here?”
Again, a noncommittal shrug.
“Well, you're just a bundle of gab today, aren't you?”
“An Indian, probablyâ”
“Native American,” the aide corrected.
“Humph. I'm a native American,” her charge insisted. “I was born in the same America as everybody. I'm as ânative' as anyone else.”
The aide sighed; the paper was folded. “You're right about that, I guess ⦠Tell you what ⦠Maybe you'd like ⦠Well, remember that problem you were fretting over the other day ⦠the bad thing ⦠Maybe you'd like to talk aboutâ”
“I don't have any problems.”
“A secret, you saidâ”
“I don't have secrets, either! Not anymore.”
“You needn't bite my head off.” The nurse's aide turned on a professional smile. “Tell you what. You finish all your lunch like a good little babyâ”
“I'm not aâ!”
But the aide brushed aside this new complaint. “Then we'll see about a game of checkers. Or cards, if you'd like. I seem to recall that you're partial to gin ⦔ She bustled toward the door, a cotton pantsuit exuding purpose. “But don't you go dozing off on me again ⦠or start up on one of your kooky rants ⦠You know I don't like it when you get peculiar like that ⦔ The aide turned, her expression hopeful, almost beseeching. “You want I should leave the door open this time?”
“No.”
“You're gonna go nuts keeping all to yourself. No one else does it.”
“I like being by myself.”
“Old age can be fun, if you make the most of it.”
There was no response to this platitude. The aide shook her head. “I'll be back in a while with those checkers. Don't you run away now, you hear?” Then the door shut behind her.
The lumpy chowder was swallowed, the cold toast perfunctorily nibbled, the tea sipped at, the offending neon-hued pudding pushed aside. Then the work of the day took precedence. From a drawer came a sheet of graph paper, already densely decorated with boxes of black and white; a list of numbered clues was painstakingly printed at the paper's edge.
A thin and sinewy hand took up a pencil; the heavy heart gave a quick leap of hope. The envelope to whom the crossword would be mailed was already stamped, addressed, and waiting. Maybe the truth could finally see the light of day.
A BURNING QUESTION
Across
  1.  Pitches
  4.  Honey or spelling add-on
  7.  Like some windows
 13.  Bump into
 14.  “⦠out like a___”
 16.  Look up to
 17.  “Suspicion” producer
 18.  “Sayonara” setting
 19.  Visit
 20.  Hard wood
 21.  Struggle
 23.  Reeve role
 24.  Struggles
 26.  Vale of___
 28.  Amb. crew
 29.  Burden
 30.  Quick, in music
 34.  1-Down, e.g.
 36.  Beat
 37.  Early video game
 38.  Magic device
 41.  Some hatters
 42.  Movie locale
 43.  Nigerian coastal town
 44.  Nutty
 45.  Wise one
 46.  Ieoh Ming___
 47.  “Who, me?”
 49.  Some laughter
 52.  Mr. Crosby
 55.  Like most “i”s
 57.  Day-___
 58.  “Now!”
 60.  Chilly
 61.  Roscoe
 62.  Slots spot
 63.  See 56-Down
 64.  Certain Shoshonean
 65.  Shirt sizes
 66.  Buck's kin?
 67.  Mr. Beatty
Down
  1.  Cupid's missile
  2.  Capital of Senegal
  3.  Posse ploy
  4.  Lays into
  5.  Bridge positions
  6.  Turkish title
  7.  Witch town?
  8.  “Much___About Nothing”
  9.  False front
 10.  March
 11.  Leprechaun's land
 12.  Fender-bender
 15.  Sleazy sales move
 22.  Provoke
 25.  Airy announcement
 27.  Early “Tonight Show” host
 29.  2,000 pounds
 31.  Proof positive
 32.  Bern's river
 33.  Part of MIT