Page 10

Angus stood by the garage, watching as the forensics team from the college dug and sifted through each pile of dirt they removed. So far, they had one dime, two pennies, and an old Matchbox car. He had to wonder if Scott was around, and if he was, if the car was one he'd used to play with as a child.

Neighbors wandered by, curiously looking down the driveway to try and see through the open gate and into the yard where they worked. He could only imagine what they were saying to one another since so far, he hadn't heard anyone talking about the old murder.

One of the favorite rumors he'd overheard was one neighbor telling another that he bet Mr. Mayburn had buried all his money in the backyard and they were now digging it up. Little did they know that it was something a lot more serious than money that they were digging up .

"Hey, Jared." Franks pushed away from the wall and headed out to the driveway.

"Let him by," Angus called as he saw the young man walking to where the yellow tape kept people back.

"Have they found anything?" Jared asked as he joined them.

"Not yet." Franks led the way back into the yard. "It's slow going. They have to sift through everything, so they don't miss a tiny bone. So far, they're only about two feet down. I think they have a way to go before they come across a body."

"It's just like an archology dig, isn't it?" Jared looked at the tented area where the dirt was being sifted.

"Exactly like one. It's good practice for the college kids. The Medical Examiner's Office will take anything they find. At that point, they may call in an osteologist to help. They study human bones and will have the best idea of what we're looking at," Franks explained. "It will be a long process. I don't think they'll rebury her for a few weeks or even months."

"Mr. Thomas will handle all that. I'm glad I don't have to. Scott had everything planned ahead of time and even paid Mr. Thomas to deal with it all. He thought about everything. I can't believe he had a trust set up for me. I was worried I'd be dealing with courts and everything when I heard I'd inherited, but nope, it's a simple transfer once everything is signed." Jared shook his head. "I just can't believe he left me everything. I'm no one to him. "

"It sounds as if you were everything to him. Not one other person has shown concern for Scott since he died. You're the only one who has a key to his home. If he had other friends or visitors, we haven't found them." Angus watched as they dug even deeper.

"I never saw anyone else around. I know he had friends when he worked at the hotel. He'd go to events and parties, but the last few years, he's always been alone. That's why I tried to come over more often. I knew he was lonely. Even if we just sat and watched TV together, he wasn't alone for a bit." Jared stared at the house. "I would never let him pay me for doing stuff. I figured he was living on social security and might be struggling. I had no idea he had that kind of money."

"How did you start helping him?" Angus asked.

"My mom was big about helping around the community. She volunteered at a lot of places. When I was eight, she told me it was time I started doing some stuff. She suggested I find the older neighbors around us and offer to mow their lawns for them. I did. From there, Scott would ask for my help painting, or weeding the yard. I did whatever he needed. He always offered to pay, but my mom's words stuck in my head. I refused any money. Even when times were hard, I'd refuse. That was when grocery deliveries would randomly show up at my house. I figured it was him, but he denied it when I'd ask. I wish I could tell him thank you."

"I'm sure he knows. I think that's why he picked you. You were a good friend in his last years, but he also knew you wouldn't squander the money he left you. He was sure you'd use it for what you needed and not turn into some playboy." Angus shrugged. "Accept what he left you and use it to give you and your brother a good life. Get that degree you want, buy a safe house, a safe car, and maybe spoil yourselves with a good vacation or by buying something you've wanted but could never afford."

Jared laughed. "I'm going to surprise my brother with an Xbox as soon as I can. He's always wanted one, but we could never afford it. Other than that, I'm going to take my time and think about what we really want to do before I jump into buying a home or anything else. I need to stick around here to clean out Scott's house. I don't want to move into it. I admit, having a body in the yard freaks me out a bit. It would creep my brother out too. We'll keep paying rent until I can sell this place, then get a new one for us." Jared stared at the dig site. "You have no idea how many times I helped him put flowers right in that spot over the years."

They stood in silence for a while watching them dig. Angus smiled when they found another toy. This one was a small metal army figure that he thought might predate anything even Scott would have been playing with as a child.

"If he hadn't left that letter, no one would ever know there was a body buried here," Jared said softly.

"I think he wanted the truth out there. I'm sure it wasn't easy having everyone think his mother ran off and left him. I just wish there could be some kind of justice. His father died without ever having to face what he'd done." Franks frowned as they sifted more, noticing them holding up something that looked a lot like bone to him. "Did they find something?"

Angus looked where Franks was staring and saw it. It looked to be a leg bone. It was in much better shape than he'd expected it to be in after so many years. "I'm going to call Lance." He was sure the forensic team would be in contact with the medical examiner, but Angus wanted to let him know right away. He pulled out his phone and stepped away from the others.

"Miss me?" Lance answered.

"Always. I wasn't sure you'd answer. I was ready to leave you a message." Angus smiled at the sound of Lance's voice.

"About how you can't wait to have your way with me tonight?" Lance teased.

"You better be sitting in your office alone if you're talking to me that way." Angus stepped a bit farther away from the others.

"I am. I was just debating on whether to go grab lunch or just grab something from the vending machine. What's going on with you?"

"I'm at the Mayburn house. They just found what looks to be a leg bone. At least that would be my uneducated guess." Angus watched as people gathered around to look at the bone. "I wasn't sure it you needed to know or what happens now."

"Nothing much will happen until they finish. They'll collect the bones they find, and we'll take them and try and put them back together. I'm sure you won't get a full skeleton, but we'll work with the pieces we do get. We'll run DNA on them and match them with Scott. Once that's done, we'll release the body for burial. Since there's no need to build a case to charge someone, this is pretty cut and dry," Lance told him. "I'll let Sam know. There's a chance one of us may drop by with Brayden. We thought he might enjoy seeing how this works. This doesn't happen often and it's a great chance to teach him how things are handled should he ever get a case like this."

"Well, Franks and I will be here all day if you want to drop by. I'm not sure how long this will take. I honestly didn't expect them to find anything this soon. She must not have been as deep as we guessed."

"It will be a while before they are done. After so many years, the bones could have moved a bit from where they were. Think of any seismic activity we've had in the last seventy years, not to mention just how the ground settles. One section might have gotten more water than another. Too many factors to guess. They'll keep going until they're sure they've found everything to find. I'd guess you will be there at least another day," Lance informed him. "You'll have to have an officer guarding the site tonight if they don't finish. I'm sure the activity has drawn attention from everyone in the neighborhood."

"Yep, all the looky loos are gathered in front of the house trying to guess what's going on. If you come over, bring the M.E.'s van. It will make them wonder even more." Angus laughed.

"You're horrible." Lance was laughing as well. "I think Scott's there with you. He said he wanted to watch. I haven't seen him around this morning. It's quiet here. We only had one body come in. I can't recall the last time it was this slow. I actually have time to catch up on my reports."

"Considering what you do, that's a good thing. Don't say it out loud again and jinx it. I should be home on time unless something breaks. I know Amy's got her case and has asked us to back her up should she need anything. They really need to hire her a new partner." They all worked independently when they had to, but somehow it seemed like Franks and Angus just ended up working together all the time. It was easier with a partner by his side.

"So how will they handle that case now since we found both bullets could have killed the victim?"

"She's pushing to have both charged with the murder. We could argue all day about which bullet hit first or caused the worst damage, but the fact they were fired seconds apart and both were kill shots, I say both should be held responsible." Angus was glad that case wasn't his. He imagined the court case would be a nightmare.

"I agree." Lance sighed. "Horrible case no matter how you look at it."

"Yeah." Angus sighed. "Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update that we have found bones. Try and come by with Brayden if you can. I'd love to see you. "

"It will probably be Sam if they come out. He was curious to see the scene. He said his brother worked at the Mayburn as a desk clerk for a few years. Sam said he was allowed to use the swimming pool there while his brother was working. He met Scott Mayburn several times, but he was really young then and didn't think much about it."

"Small world." Angus laughed. "Alright, get back to work and I'll do the same. Love you."

"Love you too."

Angus shoved his phone in his pocket and walked back over to Jared and Franks. "We need chairs."

"There's some in the garage." Jared pulled out his keys and went to the door that led into the garage. He unlocked the door and flipped on a light.

Angus followed him in. The garage was a single wide and with the older model Toyota parked there was just enough room to walk around the car with about two feet of storage space in front of it. He saw the fold-up chairs as Jared walked toward them.

"There's only four. I used to drag one out for Scott to sit in while I worked on the far side of the yard. He'd keep me company while I weeded or planted." Jared handed two to Angus, then grabbed two more.

"Thanks." Angus looked around. "Looks like you inherited a nice tool chest and some fishing gear."

Jared smiled. "Would you believe I've never been fishing?"

"No, well now you have no excuse not to go. You'll have to take your brother. I know some great lakes not too far from here." They walked back out and fell into an easy conversation about fishing and camping.

"My brother is going to freak when hears about all this. I mean, he'll be shocked about the murder, but the money we're getting, he won't believe it. I'm not even sure how to tell him." Jared shook his head. "I still have trouble believing it all and I've seen the paperwork."

"When will you tell him?" Franks asked.

"Tonight. He's fifteen and I think he's mature enough to hear about the murder and not freak out. I'm hoping he won't tell a ton of people about the money part. I'm not sure I'll tell him exactly how much money we have now. I'll let him know it's enough to be life changing, but I may wait to be fully open with him. I just don't want him to suddenly think he can have everything he wants or go to every concert that comes to the area. I don't want this to change us as much as I fear it might." Jared stared at the forensics team as they appeared to find another small bone. "I'm even thinking of donating some of the money to a domestic abuse charity or doing something good with it. I don't feel right just taking it all."

"Give yourself time. You don't have to make any decisions now. I'd find a good financial advisor and talk to them. This is life changing. I'm sure there will be struggles," Angus told him. "I can't even imagine the pressure you're under just because of the money."

"I'm not sure I really believe it all yet. I'm a bit in shock. And with this murder, I keep waiting for something to happen. I expect the media to knock on my door, or an old family member of Scott's to show up. I don't dare let myself believe all my problems are solved." Jared leaned back in his chair and took a hard breath. "I'm just overwhelmed. Tomorrow, I go back to work, and I'll try to go on with my normal life for a while, but in the back of my mind I can't help imagining what it will be like to register for college instead of working sixty hours a week just to squeak by."

"We have a skull," someone said from the dig site.

Angus stood, as did the others. They slowly made their way closer, careful not to get in the way or disturb the area, but still able to see what they'd found. Angus's breath caught at the sight of pieces of a small skull that one worker held in their gloved hand. It was so tiny that he was sure it had to be Myrtle's baby.

"That breaks my heart," Jared said softly.

Angus nodded. "I knew it was probably there, but seeing it hits hard." He glanced around, wondering if Scott was there witnessing everything. He had to imagine this was devastating for the man. It was the brother or sister he'd never had the chance to know. The pieces didn't really resemble a skull, but as the person who collected them held them against each other, you could imagine what it looked like.

"Does this make this a double murder?" Jared asked.

"No. Sadly, that law wasn't passed until two-thousand-three. If there was someone still alive to charge, it would be just for the mother's murder," Franks informed him.

Angus was impressed that Franks knew the date of the law. He watched as the forensics team separated the bones from the rest of the dirt they were sifting, then went back to work. It was going to be a long day, and while Angus was glad not to be stuck in the office, being here wasn't going to be any better. Just imagining a crime like this could go unnoticed made him wonder how many crimes happened they never knew about. Sometimes it just seemed like he wasn't doing enough. Today was one of those days.