"Who does that leave me?” Lauren asked.
"I have two things for you. First, if Terry shows up, stick with him. Second, I'd like you to check at regular intervals with Mavis. Mavis, you can keep your eyes open for anyone who seems out of place. Most people should identify themselves to you if they knew Gerald but not you. If you notice anyone who avoids you or in any other way seems out of place, tell Lauren."
"What about Sarah and Carla?” Lauren asked.
"Since they aren't here, all we can do is tell them to keep their eyes and ears open. I know Carla was planning on attending the funeral, but I'm not sure if Sarah's coming."
"Anyone have any objections?” Aunt Beth asked.
No one did, and they finished their drinks with a discussion of the raffle quilt they were going to be starting for an auction benefiting the Foggy Point No Kill animal shelter. The group was split over the concept, with DeAnn and Connie pushing for dog-theme blocks, while Jenny and Robin wanted something less cutesy. Lauren said she didn't care and frankly, Harriet thought, neither did she.
"There's a family viewing tonight,” Mavis said. “I've been going back and forth about going. But after all this…” She gestured toward the group. “…I'm thinking I should go, just to keep an eye on things. Beth, maybe you and Harriet should come with me."
"I think that's a good idea,” Robin said. “I mean about taking Harriet and Beth, if you're going to go."
"Does anyone here speak Dutch?” Lauren asked. The Threads looked at each other, but no one shook her head in the affirmative.
"I know the basics,” Mavis said. “We visited the cousins, but they speak English, so I never really had to go too far with my Dutch."
"I was hoping you could tell if they were saying anything revealing about Gerald,” Lauren said.
"They're too polite to speak Dutch in a group of English speakers,” Mavis said, “so it won't matter."
"Of course, we'll go,” Beth said. “If you're sure you're up to it."
"I'm fine,” Mavis said. “And no offense, Beth, but I'll drive."
"I'm wounded."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Harriet said. “I think we all know who would have been in the back seat."
Mavis and Beth agreed they would all three meet at Mavis's cottage in a half-hour. The rest dispersed after making their various transportation plans for the funeral the next day.
With her good hand needed for driving, Harriet had to wait until she was home before she could call Aiden. She left a message on his cell phone telling him about the viewing she was attending in a short while and then called the animal clinic. The receptionist told her he was with a patient and promised to have him call when he was free.
She went upstairs to search her closet for an appropriate black outfit. Her whole wardrobe had been built around black when she was living in Oakland, but at Aunt Beth's urging, she had purged the black and replaced it with other, neutral-colored basics. She awkwardly pulled a suitcase from the overhead shelf above the hanging bar in the closet. Inside, she had secreted her favorite black sheath and a black three-piece suit far from Aunt Beth's prying eyes.
She opened the case, pulled out the sheath and gave it a shake. She would add a black-and-purple print scarf and it would do just fine.
Chapter 26
"I wondered what you were going to show up in,” Aunt Beth said when Harriet had arrived at Mavis's cottage at the agreed-upon hour. “I was pretty sure you hadn't been shopping."
"She looks okay to me,” Mavis said, unaware of Aunt Beth's attempt to ban the black from Harriet's closet.
"You always have been an insolent little twerp,” Aunt Beth said with a smile.
She was wearing black pants with a purple rayon blouse and a black hip-length vest. Mavis had chosen black linen pants and a loose-fitting jacket over a cream-colored T-shirt-style linen blouse. Harriet had noticed both her aunt and Mavis were opting for pants more and more often on dress-up occasions to avoid having to wear non-sensible footwear. Today, they both had on their black SAS shoes. Aunt Beth kept encouraging Harriet to try the comfortable shoes, at least while she was working on the long arm machine, but Harriet just couldn't go there yet.
"I guess we better leave,” Mavis said. Harriet could hear the reluctance in her voice.
"You don't have to do this,” Aunt Beth said.
Mavis squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. “No, I don't have to, but I need to. We may not learn anything new, but we won't know unless we go find out.” With that said, she led the way to her Town Car.
Several vehicles were in the parking lot of the Methodist Church when they arrived a few minutes later. Harriet recognized Ilsa's rental car and Pastor Hafer's mini-van. She assumed the rest belonged to the Willis brothers.
"Welcome,” Pastor Hafer said as they approached the open door to the church, and pointed them to their left. They walked down a hallway that led away from the sanctuary and toward the fellowship hall, a smaller public room that adjoined the kitchen area and could be configured with tables for dining or with rows of chairs for smaller meetings. Today, the chairs were arranged in a horseshoe shape, with three rows of chairs in the curved section and Gerald's casket at the open end of the shoe. The half-lid of the dark wooden casket was open, but a standing spray of flowers was strategically placed to prevent premature viewing.
Ilsa stood with the Dutch cousins and nodded to the trio when they came into the room. Harriet noticed Marit had been left elsewhere for the evening. Gerry and James were in front of the pass-through window to the kitchen. Their wives were on the other side with two women who looked familiar to Harriet. She assumed they were involved in the after-funeral food for tomorrow.
Pete was sitting in a chair by himself on the far side of the room.
"Could you all take a seat please?” Pastor Hafer asked as he ushered Harry and Ben in and shut the door. “I won't keep you long.
"This is a time for family to come together and support each other. We have a rather unusual situation here, so I'd like to do something before we move on to the actual viewing.
"Gerald Willis left his family nearly twenty years ago. We can only guess why. He began a new life in the Netherlands, and again, we can but speculate about why he never told his new family about his life in Foggy Point. God knows, and that has to be enough.
"Everyone here has suffered a loss, some more recently than others.” He went on to suggest they set aside any anger they had over the situation for a few minutes and share a few stories of life with Gerald… or Gerard.
It sounded like a terrible idea to Harriet, but Pastor Hafer started the group out with a story one of the ushers had told him about the time Gerald was helping out during a Christmas Eve service and accidentally lit the manger on fire when he dozed off and dropped the candle he was holding. The organist had a pitcher of water, and had gotten up and dumped it on the manger, putting out the fire. Gerald had never lived it down.
Before long, both groups were laughing and talking and sharing their memories.
"He's good,” Harriet said in a low voice to her Aunt Beth after they had moved away from the group, standing near the now-empty kitchen.
"Who?"
"Pastor Hafer. I was having a little trouble seeing how this was going to be anything but a disaster, but look at them."
"Gerald was a good man. It only stands to reason both of his families would be good people."
"I hope we can give them all some peace by figuring out why all this happened."