“Today, you mean?”
“Early this morning. Leslie was pissed.” She paused to write the names and numbers, then handed the notebook back to me. “He wanted to wait until the other cops arrived, but I talked him into going ahead. We took turns with the shovels until we got close, then we waited. After that, with a dozen uniforms and detectives watching, we used trowels and brushes, which took damn-near forever. They weren’t impressed by what we found. I don’t blame them.”
I checked the names she’d written down. Both were unfamiliar. “I bet I know why-Theo stole all the valuable stuff. The coins-of course he took those. Could Dr. Babbs tell from his radar unit if they were gold or silver? I know a man-a former lieutenant governor, in fact-he has a metal detector that supposedly can tell the difference.”
“Not so fast. There’s no evidence that Theo took a damn thing. That’s the problem, which was no surprise when we saw what was there. No coins, just stacks of crumbling cans and jar lids. You know, metal that looked like coins in the photos. That’s probably why Theo filled in the hole. Oh, and a pocket watch. That was interesting, at least. And the bones might be cattle bones.”
I said, “All that work for a garbage dump? Dr. Babbs told us he’d made a remarkable discovery.”
“You’ve got a lot to learn about archaeology. Garbage collectors from the future, that’s what field scientists are. Leslie was happy as a kid on Christmas morning. Apparently, canned food was a big deal during the Civil War. The Borden Company, same one as today. Food in cans was issued later in the war, mostly, and mostly to Union soldiers. To an archaeologist, that’s a great find. How did Union supplies end up in the middle of nowhere Florida? Pocket watches were a new thing, too. Every cop there was, like, What a waste of time, but not Dr. Leslie. He’s a kook-a lot of them are-but cute in his way.”
I said, “No more tequila for you if you think Leslie Babbs is an attractive man. Were the cans and things too fragile to touch? I’m wondering why they were found in one pile. People weren’t fussy about littering in those days. What I’m getting at is, why did they bury it all in one place?”
“Of course he didn’t touch anything. I helped him rig a scaffolding so he could use a handheld macro lens and a laptop to snap stills. All he had to work with was the surface layer, but he got some decent shots-the name Borden Meat Biscuits was stamped into a couple of lids. That was pretty cool. Contextually, Theo had done very little damage. I don’t know why unless it’s because he got interrupted-or it didn’t cross his mind there might be something under all that rust and tin.”
I said, “That’s it? Theo’s not going to be arrested?”
“For what? No eyewitnesses, no proof. You and I saw him inside Leslie’s camper, but you heard Leslie’s version this morning. He said he doesn’t remember giving Theo permission. There’s a reason he doesn’t want to press the issue, I think.” Birdy stood, walked to the nightstand, and picked up the seedpod, not particularly interested but before I could stop her.
“What’s this?”
“I’m not sure yet. Now that you’ve touched it, go wash your hands.”
She dropped the thing as if it were hot. “Why?”
“I just told you-I’m not sure what it is. But, if I’m right, it might explain why so many bad things have happened at the Cadence house.”
“My god, you could have warned me.” She went to the sink, hands up, palms turned inward, like a surgeon awaiting gloves. As she washed, she asked, “Those are poison, you mean? What’s that have to do with the Cadence house?”
I said, “You’ll be the first to know when I find out. You were talking about Dr. Babbs. That he didn’t want to press some issue, but you didn’t say why.”
“Oh. Leslie and Theo got drunk together one night and something happened. I’m not sure what. It was in Leslie’s camper… Weren’t you there this morning when he told me?”
“You don’t have to scrub the skin off,” I said. “I tried to eavesdrop but missed that part.”
Birdy shut off the water and found a towel. “Oh… Leslie said he got a little carried away-he didn’t say carried away doing what-but told me not to believe Theo no matter what Theo claimed. That means it was either illegal or immoral. So I’m thinking drugs-Theo’s a druggie, remember. He experiments, whatever the hell that means. Or Theo brought Lucia and her friends to the camper and Leslie had some wild fun with them-or maybe Theo. Or maybe all of the above.”
The idea didn’t shock me, but I must have appeared shocked because Birdy laughed when I said, “Group sex with those women? Dr. Babbs?”
“Don’t underestimate nervous little men with doctorates. I had this professor at BU”-Birdy turned with the towel in her hands-“well, let’s just say skill is more important than the toolbox.”
When she didn’t elaborate, I said, “You always do that.”
“What?”
“You know. I can’t help liking those kind of stories-everyone does. Which is why you dangle them out there, then leave me hanging.”
Birdy, still laughing, said, “Dangle,” and walked past me to the window. Stood there, the late sun flooding in, and thought while she folded the towel. “You know, the spot Theo dug up is only about fifty yards south of the Cadence house. That might explain why he was spying on us last night.”
“I knew it was Theo. What did the deputies say about him?”
“I asked about his family, too. They were carnival people-exotic animals and sideshows. His parents moved from somewhere near Fort Myers and got into the antivenom business. Snakes, they already owned a bunch and knew how to handle them. This was a long time ago. No one was sure when but Theo’s mother supposedly died of a snakebite. But the woman I mentioned, this prick of a detective, she said that was just a rumor.”
I said, “It would explain why Theo’s so bitter about the vaccine business.”
“Maybe. Or maybe he was acting. People like him, they’re chameleons. That’s probably why he has a fairly clean record. He was arrested only once for possession, but the county cops have been called out on several complaints. Mostly complaints about animals running loose.”
I said, “Don’t tell me.”
“Chimps or monkeys. I asked the same thing but no one was sure. They definitely had a lion for a while and a trained bear-carnival animals left over. Complaints about Theo, though, there was one for conning some guy, but the rest were nine-one-one calls from women. Usually Peeping Tom stuff, and one almost-assault, but she backed down and refused to press charges.” Birdy’s eyes found me over the rim of her tea glass. “Sexual assault-as in attempted rape.”
I said, “That son of a bitch.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not spending a night in that house with Theo around. Not alone anyway.”
Birdy said, “You don’t need to. I talked to Bunny on the way here. She agrees it’s not worth it.”
“Your aunt said that? I left a message for her an hour ago. There’s something I want to discuss.”
Had Birdy asked me, I would have shared my theory about her aunt’s astrologer being a gossip-or possibly even knowing Lucia and the witches. But Birdy didn’t ask. Instead, she told me why we were all but done with the job I’d been hired to do. “With what I found out today, and what you already have, it should be enough. The only problem is, Bunny’s attorney wants photos of the grave sites. Human bones are good for dramatic effect, I guess. I didn’t see you take any this morning. Or did you?”