Free Ellen McKenzie 04-Murder Half-Baked by Kathleen Delaney Page B

something and it didn’t seem I had much choice but to find out what. First, though, I needed to get her to my car. I had a little trouble with that; she didn’t bend very well but finally made it. She leaned back against the seat. “Well? Get going.”
    “I am. Just sit back and try to relax.” I wanted to sound soothing. Instead I sounded as unnerved as she. “Where did you say he is? If he’s hurt ... I have my cell phone.” I wasn’t at all sure what this frail little woman had seen, but it was certainly possible Doctor Sadler, or someone, had had an accident and needed help. However, I wasn’t so unnerved that I was going to call anyone before I knew what I was calling about.
    I followed her directions and drove into a parking area that contained only one very old, very large car. Its back passenger door was open, and a mat lay on the gravel.
    “Up there.” She pointed up a path that wound peacefully between old monuments. A huge oak reigned sedately at the top of the rise. The dead slept here, but in peace and tranquility. Violence and blood seemed to have no place.
    I started up the small hill, convincing myself with every step that there was nothing to find. I was wrong.
    At least I knew enough not to go too close. In any event, it wasn’t necessary. Even at a distance, I could tell that the elderly man who lay across the grave would soon be in one of his own. I felt my knees give way and came to rest on a fat marble bench at the foot of a grave. I didn’t know whose it was but sent h i m or her a thank you anyway. It took a little fumbling before I was able to get my cell phone out of my pocket and another minute before my fingers would dial 911. My eyes never left the body. I don’t know if I thought I could will him to move, or what, but I couldn’t seem to see anything else.
    “Ida.” I hardly recognized my own voice. “It’s Ellen. Listen — ”
    “Did you get that poor woman away safely?” she interrupted. “That kind of thing just makes me sick. Gary said he was so rude, I — ”
    “Ida, listen. I’ll tell you about her later. I have another problem.” She was silent for a few seconds after I finished telling her what I had found, then immediately went into dispatcher mode. “Did you touch him?”
    “No.” Touch him? I shuddered. “I know better than that. I’m just sitting here, on someone’s bench, looking at him. Can you get … u h … you know, the right people out here?”
    “ Stay on the line, Ellen. I’m making the calls right now. Don’t move.”
    As if I could. “Ida, there’s an old lady in my car. She was the one who found him. Make sure the ambulance people take a look at her.”
    “Will do. Who is she?”
    “I’ve no idea. But if she’s feeling like I am, she’s going to need a little help.”
    “Oh oh. Are you going to be sick? Put your head between your legs.”
    I thought that was for fainting but didn’t bother to say so. “I’m fine. Just get the troops here.”
    I wasn’t fine. Not one bit. I’d seen dead people before, but this! My head was swimming, and Ida’s advice seemed pretty good. At least I wouldn’t have to look at what remained of what I supposed was Dr. Sadler.
    Sirens. Screaming loudly and getting closer. Help was on the way. I couldn’t see the front gates from where I sat, but I could see the road. It filled up fast with police cars, fire trucks, and an ambulance. I r o se to my feet, vowing I wouldn’t get sick on what might be crime scene grass, and walked down the trail toward the parking lot.
    Two black and whites pulled into the lot, followed by an ambulance. My friend Gary was in the first car.
    “You’ve had a busy day,” he observed. “Where’s this body?”
    “Up there.” I pointed up the hill. “Right under that oak tree, on the grave by the fallen angel.”
    The officer who unwound himself from behind the wheel of the second car was new to me. Young, tall, very serious, he looked appalled at my