Free Casket Case by Fran Rizer Page B

job. That’s usually handled by one of the Middletons.”
    I stepped out of the room and saw Otis headed down the hall. “Dr. Melvin’s widow and her brother are here,” I said. He joined them as I stood at the door and asked, “Could I bring anyone coffee or bottled water?”
    Odell got this idea that if we offered bottles of water instead of soft drinks, we wouldn’t need to stock a variety. Personally, I thought if we served water, it could be tap on ice in a glass. Even less expensive than bottles. Irrelevant at the moment. Roselle and Levi both agreed coffee would be fine.
    When I returned with the silver coffee service, planning sheets and contracts were spread across the table. As I served the coffee, I took a good look at Levi Pinckney. The South isn’t nearly so inbred as Jerry Springer would have folks believe, so tell me why I was jealous of Roselle Dawkins.
    Levi said they were siblings, but he’d also said they hadn’t known each other very long. I thought about one of my brothers being concerned enough to move to a strange town to watch out for me if we’d only known each other a few months. My brothers are protective, but they’ve known me my whole life.
    My blue eyes turned green again, and I wondered if Levi’s interest in Roselle was anything other than brotherly. That brought a quick consideration of brother-sister romance, and I gagged while fighting down the urge to upchuck all over the papers Otis had on the table for Roselle.
    “Mel gave me this not long after we married,” she said and handed a large manila envelope to Otis. She turned toward me. “Callie, this coffee is good,” she said, “but could I have some water, too? I need to take some pills.”
    Otis looked through the papers in the envelope, smiled, and said, “There won’t be any problem. Your husband has left you well provided for with insurance naming you the beneficiary and his will making you his sole heir. All I’ll need is for you to sign papers giving Middleton’s an assignment against the policy.”
    I went for the water while Otis continued examining the papers. When I returned and handed the bottle to Roselle, Otis was saying, “Here are suggestions for Melvin’s funeral. It’s not written in such a way that it legally binds you, but as a letter telling what he’d like.”
    Roselle unscrewed the cap from the bottle of water and set it on the table. She removed a small bottle from her purse and poured almost a handful of capsules and pills into the palm of her hand. She tipped the whole lot of meds into her mouth and chased them down with about half of the water. Then she looked at the paper Otis offered.
    “May I see that?” Roselle reached out and accidentally spilled her coffee. I dabbed it up with some of the napkins on the silver tray. Though we use mugs and paper towels in our offices, Otis insists on cloth napkins and Wedgwood china for the bereaved. Silver coffee service and real china, but he gives people water in plastic bottles. Go figure.
    “What are all those pills you’re taking?” Levi asked.
    “Just Mel’s vitamins and nutritional supplements. He had them all counted out by days, and I figure I need extra strength going through all this.” Roselle’s face crumpled, and tears flowed from her eyes, but after a minute or so, her mouth curved into a smile. “Mel’s done it all for me. Just follow his directions there, a wooden coffin, the church and cemetery he names. All we have to do is set the date and time.”
    “We can’t do that until Mr. Dawkins comes back from Charleston,” Otis said, “but we’ll call you as soon as we hear something.”
    Roselle turned to Levi and said, “See? I told you I could handle this without your help. Mel took care of everything. He’s taking care of me. Why, I’ll even have enough money left from the insurance to buy a condom to lease out.”
    Otis raised his eyebrows at me. Levi squirmed and said, “Yes, you may be able to buy a condominium