Page 44 of Alibi for Murder
The dirty object he withdrew didn’t look like the one in the photos. A frown worried her brow. Wait…
He wiped the dirt away, and there it was…the stainless-steel cylinder-type canister she’d seen in the photos.
Maybe she would finally have the evidence she needed to uncover the truth.
Chapter Eleven
3:50 p.m.
After Steve had covered all the holes made to protect the lilac bush, they brought the canister inside. Despite her earlier insistence about the bush being her grandmother’s favorite, Allie really hadn’t wanted to take the time to cover the holes, but Steve pointed out that the agents could show up at any moment. It was best not to leave anything too obvious for them to find. They couldn’t ask about something they didn’t know.
And she and Steve weren’t sharing this find with anyone—at least not until they had time to evaluate what they actually had.
Now, after waiting patiently for longer than she wanted, Allie’s heart was about to burst from her chest. Steve struggled to get the canister open. Her father had closed it tightly, and it had been in the ground for more than three decades. A serious round of elbow grease and some extra time was required, but he finally loosened the top. Then, without so much as a peek inside, he handed it to Allie.
She nodded and gave the twist-off top a final turn. Holding her breath, she turned it up to pour the contents onto the table.
Nothing came out.
Allie shook it harder. Still nothing. Panic building, she looked inside. Oh, okay, there were papers stuffed inside.
The evidence Rivero had been looking for?
Allie unfurled the paper…not evidence. A newspaper from the day she was born. She set it aside and turned up the capsule once more. This time several items tumbled out. A baby rattle. She touched it, smoothed her fingertips over the pink flowers painted on it. Then there was a shoe, her first presumably. She tucked a finger inside, found nothing. A silver spoon. And photos. Several of Allie and her parents along with a couple of her with her grandparents.
Disappointment bled through her. “Looks like it’s a bust.”
“Maybe.” Steve had opened the newspaper and was perusing the pages. He smiled. “Copy this down.”
Anticipation zinged Allie again. She pulled out her cell, which promptly rang again with a call from Rivero. She tapped the decline button and opened her notes app. “Ready.”
“L…o…o…k. Look,” he murmured.
“Yep.” Allie’s finger was poised for the next letter.
“H…r…w…s…e…h…e…e…”
“Where or here…he or she,” Allie said as she put the letters in order to spell out whatever words best fit.
“Here’s more,” Steve said. “R…i…b…u…d…e.” He flipped through the pages. “That’s all the circled letters I see.”
Allie couldn’t help grinning at the idea that her mother or her father had thought to send a message this way. “Where she…where he’s… Does theshave an apostrophe with it?”
“Damn.” Steve turned back to the necessary page. His gaze bumped into hers. “It does. The final word isburied. Where he’s buried.”
“The child?” Allie nerves were jumping now. “Where the little boy’s remains are buried.”
Steve skimmed the pages once more. “That has to be it.” He folded the newspaper carefully and put it aside. “So where is Tommy Madison buried or were his ashes spread somewhere—assuming he actually was cremated?”
Her cell started to ring again. This time, she answered. “There was no evidence in the time capsule.” She waited until Rivero finished spewing expletives. “Do you know the location of the little boy’s final resting place?”
Rivero did not know where the child was buried, but he did know the name of the man who had worked at Wembley Funeral Services at the time of his death—a man who liked his Jack, as in Jack Daniel’s, when he could afford it. Allie ended the call with another promise that she would keep him up to speed on their movements.
“He gave me a name and an address.” Allie gathered the precious items from the time capsule and placed them back inside. “We should go there.”
Steve grabbed his keys. Allie decided she wasn’t leaving the time capsule here for someone to break in and steal. At this point, she didn’t trust anything or anyone…except this man.
Griggs Residence
