Free Smarty Bones by Carolyn Haines Page A

in his life. Well, at least in the last twenty years. He lived in the Falcon family home, Magnolia Grove, and survived off the fortune his parents had amassed and he’d cheated Cece out of.
    “Jeremiah never comes to town. He’s virtually a recluse. How did he hear about Olive?”
    Frances considered. “I guess Buford called him. Those two have been thick as thieves since grade school. They had the potential to do amazing things, and both have squandered their lives.”
    That they were in cahoots didn’t surprise me, but it did concern me. Every kook in town had come out of the woodwork. “Does Cece know?” Jeremiah had been a total jackass about her sexual reassignment and was instrumental in getting Cece disinherited. He’d done everything in his power to make sure his sister, who was smart and talented and kind, had been left out in the cold.
    “She knows by now. Everyone in town knows, except you.”
    “I’ll call her right away.”
    “People will be hurt by Olive Twist. She’s doing a lot more than digging up graves. She’s resurrecting a lot of pain and hurt. And your friends are the ones who will suffer, Sarah Booth.”
    I could clearly see that. “Gather the Daughters of the Supreme Confederacy and get them all to call Judge Colbert down in Holmes County to stop the exhumation. We each have as much standing to stop it as Olive has to request it.”
    Graf interrupted. “If Olive presents a case the Lady in Red was murdered, that could weigh in her favor.”
    He was right. But my immediate worry was Cece. She’d been wounded by her family’s reaction to her sexual reassignment. They’d told her they would rather see her dead than a “thing.” Sometimes words hurt more than a bullet. “I need to talk to Cece.”
    “I’ll discuss this further with Frances,” Graf said. “You check on Cece.”
    My love for Graf was a constant, but his offer to chat with Frances, a woman he’d just met, so I could attend to Cece sent my love spiking off the charts. “Thank you.”
    He kissed me lightly on the lips. “Sarah Booth and I will be married in the spring,” he told Frances. “I’m the luckiest man alive.”
    She beamed at both of us. “I think Libby would approve of your choice, Sarah Booth. He puts me in mind of James Franklin, your daddy.”
    “Me, too.” I could barely get the words out past the lump in my throat. I grabbed my car keys from the table and whistled up my hound. Sweetie loved to ride in my convertible, and I had reason to believe she could comfort Cece in a way I could not.
    “Take your time, Sarah Booth. Pluto and I will feed the horses.”
    “You are a saint.” I blew a kiss and ran out the front door.
    I tried calling Cece on my cell phone as I drove toward her house. When she didn’t answer I tried Harold, Oscar’s right-hand man at the bank and a member of Delta high society. He might be a good ally in figuring out how to handle Jeremiah and minimizing the damage to Cece.
    Harold answered instantly. “What can I do for my favorite girl detective?”
    I gave him a rundown on what was happening.
    “I’ll meet you at Cece’s house.”
    “Thanks.” I hung up and called the newspaper just to be sure she wasn’t working late. No dice. The receptionist told me Cece had left around noon and hadn’t been back.
    I wasn’t worried. Not really. Concerned. A little. When the phone rang, I was relieved the ID showed Tinkie. But the relief was short-lived.
    “Oscar’s disappeared.” Tinkie was close to tears, judging by her voice. “He isn’t at Hill Top, or the bank, or The Club. It’s just not like him to disappear. This whole thing with the Lady in Red and Buford acting a fool has upset him more than he lets on. Cece, too.”
    “You don’t think Cece has gone hunting Jeremiah, do you?”
    “I hope not.”
    I didn’t have to be a mind reader to know Tinkie and I envisioned the same bloodbath. Cece had fought Jeremiah in the courts over the Falcon estate, and