Free Dead Secret by Beverly Connor Page A

if she would ride with me to church. The children are taking Mother. I love them all dearly, but right now the three of them are too much.”
    “Certainly. Would you like to go now?”
    She looked at her watch. “It’s a little early. I thought I’d just enjoy the museum until it’s time to leave. You go about your business. Maybe I will take a cup of tea.”
    Andie hurried off to make a cup. Diane led Vanessa into the private sitting room adjacent to her office.
    “Feel free to stay in here if you like. I just need to check in with the crime lab.”
    As she spoke, raised voices—between Andie and someone whose voice Diane didn’t recognize—filtered in from Andie’s office.
    “I demand you allow me to see her now,” the disembodied voice said. Diane and Vanessa raised their brows at each other.
    “I suppose I’d better go see about this. Andie will be in with your tea shortly.”

Chapter 8
    Diane walked through her office and into Andie’s, where she stood with her arms folded, literally barring the door. Two women were facing Andie, one about her age, the other maybe twenty years older. It was the younger who threatened to go through Andie to get to Diane’s office; at least it had been a young voice.
    What struck Diane first about her was that she was purple. She had hair dyed black with burgundy highlights, wore low-rise dark-purple jeans with glitter in the fabric, and a light purple cami covered by a darker purple cotton blazer. On a silver chain around her neck hung an amethyst crystal about the size of the woman’s little finger. She also wore purple eyeshadow and lipstick. Odd as it might seem, she actually looked good.
    The other woman had no particular matching color scheme. She wore a plain navy cotton-blend pantsuit with a stark white shirt. Her red hair was streaked with gray and, Diane noticed when she turned her head, stuffed into a sloppy bun on back of her head. Several strands had escaped and now hung down on each side of her face. She wore no makeup to camouflage her drooping eyelids and slight jowls.
    “Can I help you?” asked Diane.
    The young purple woman looked surprised, as if she never really expected to see the person she was asking for.
    “I’m Caitlin Shanahan. This is Charlotte Hawkins. We’ve come to speak with the head of the museum.”
    “I’ve come a very long way to see Diane Fallon,” said Charlotte Hawkins.
    Caitlin Shanahan had a Midwestern American accent. Charlotte Hawkins’s was British. Diane thought she knew who they were.
    “I’m sorry,” said Andie. “They somehow slipped through security. I told them the museum was closed today.”
    “It’s all right, Andie. I’m Diane Fallon.” She led them into her office. “I only have a little time this morning, but please sit down and tell me what you’ve come about.”
    The two of them sat in the stuffed chairs that faced Diane’s desk. The younger woman, Caitlin, spoke first.
    “Charlotte just came from England. She has asked my coven to help her reclaim the bones of her ancestor.”
    “Coven?” This ought to be good, thought Diane.
    “I’m a Wiccan. Charlotte is a Druid. Though not the same, we share a kindred spirit . . . if for nothing else than that we are both misunderstood minority religions.”
    “What do you want with me?” asked Diane, although she suspected she already knew.
    “Annwn is my ancestor,” said Charlotte. “We know that her bones were sent here from the Rose Museum in Dorset.”
    Diane raised her eyebrows slightly, surprised that the witch had a name. It intrigued her. She wondered if it was her real name, or just families filling out the legend over the years. “Exactly what are you asking of me?”
    “That you give the bones back so that I can take them home and bury them properly.”
    “Surely you must know that I can’t do that.”
    Charlotte tucked her stray locks of hair behind her ears, leaned forward, and looked earnestly at Diane. “People of goodwill can do