His brows beetled with displeasure. “You think I had her body cremated to destroy evidence, is that it?”
“I don’t know!” she exclaimed, rising from the love seat.
She moved to the window and stared out at the empty paddocks. Lights shone through the doors of various stables, where horses were being groomed, fed, and exercised. She had thoroughly researched Minton Enterprises. Angus had millions invested in this facility. Was he reticent because he had so much to lose if she won an indictment, or because he was guilty, or both?
Eventually, she turned to face the men. “You’ve got to admit, in retrospect, that it seems an odd thing for you to have done.”
“I only wanted to relieve Merle Graham of that responsibility. I felt I should because her daughter had been killed on my property. Merle was out of her mind with grief and had you to take care of. If what I did seems suspicious now, that’s just too damn bad, young lady. I’d make the same decision if I had to do it again today.”
“I’m sure Grandma Graham appreciated what you did. It was an unselfish thing to do.”
Shrewdly, Angus looked at her and said, “But you wish you could believe it was entirely unselfish.”
She looked him straight in the eye. “Yes, I do.”
“I respect your honesty.”
For a moment there was no sound in the room other than the friendly, crackling noise of burning firewood. Alex broke the awkward silence. “I wonder why Grandma didn’t take the remains.”
“I wondered about that myself when I offered them to her. I think it was because she couldn’t face the fact that Celina was dead. An urn of ashes was tangible proof of something she couldn’t accept.”
Knowing how obsessed her grandmother had been with Celina’s life, his explanation was feasible. Besides, unless Merle came out of her coma and Alex posed the question to her, she had no alternative but to accept as truth what Angus told her.
He was absently massaging his big toe through his sock. “I couldn’t see storing her ashes in a mausoleum. I never could stand vaults and tombs. Goddamn spooky things. The very thought of them gives me the creeps. Went to New Orleans once. All those cement graves sitting on top of the ground… ugh.”
He shook his head in repugnance. “I’m not afraid of dying, but when I go, I want to become part of the living again. Dust to dust. That’s the natural cycle.
“So it seemed fitting to buy a cemetery plot and have Celina’s ashes buried in the soil she grew up on. Guess you figure I’m a crazy old man, Alex, but that’s how I felt about it then, and that’s how I feel about it now. I didn’t tell anybody because I was embarrassed. It was so sentimental, you see.”
“Why not just scatter the ashes somewhere?”
He pulled on his earlobe as he pondered the question. “I thought about it, but I reckoned you might turn up one day and want to see where your mama was laid.”
Alex felt her spirit slump, along with her posture. Lowering her head, she studied the toes of her suede boots, which were still damp from walking through the sleet. “I guess you think I’m a ghoul for wanting to open her grave. Reede did.”
Angus made a dismissive gesture. “Reede’s trigger-happy when it comes to forming opinions. Sometimes he’s wrong.”
She drew a shaky breath. “This time he is. Believe me, it wasn’t an easy thing to even consider, much less ask for. I just thought that an extensive forensic investigation might shed some light…”
Her voice trailed off. She lacked the will and conviction to continue. Yesterday she had thought that an exhumation might provide the physical evidence she needed. As it had turned out, she was no closer to learning the truth, and all she had to show for her efforts was the traumatic upheaval she’d put herself and e
veryone else through.
Angus’s explanation sounded so damned plausible and guileless. Paying all the funeral expenses, making all the arrangements, had been an act of charity to alleviate her grandmother’s grim responsibility and financial burden.
Alex earnestly wanted to believe that. As Celina’s daughter, it made her feel good inside. As a prosecutor, however, it left her empty-handed and frustrated and more suspicious than ever that something had been swept under the rug.
“You ready to go back to town, or what?”
Reede was standing in the doorway with his shoulder propped against the frame, insolently maneuvering a toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other. He might have eaten breakfast, but his tone of voice let her know that his foul disposition remained intact.
“Yes, I’m ready, if you’d be so kind as to drive me.”
“Good. The sooner I get back to work the better. Somebody’s got to ride herd on the crazy sons of bitches out driving in this.”
“As long as you’re out here, why don’t you spend the day by the fireplace?” Junior suggested to Alex. “We could pop popcorn. Celina used to love that. Maybe we could talk Lupe out of a batch of pralines. I could drive you back later when the roads have cleared.”
“It sounds wonderful, Junior, thank you, but I’ve got work to do.”