A Circle of Dead Girls Read online

  Daniel did not speak as he preceded Rees upstairs to the office. Elder Jonathan was already inside and, when he saw the two men appear at the door he pushed the ledger aside and stood up. He was a rigid and rule-bound man and so he and Rees frequently butted heads.

  As Jonathan took the first chair down from its peg, Daniel said, ‘I’ll fetch the Sisters.’ The sound of his feet clattering down the stair echoed loudly into the office. Frowning, Jonathan shook his head in exasperation.

  ‘Daniel is young,’ Rees said, lifting two additional chairs from their pegs. As he lined them up opposite those Jonathan had placed on the floor – men and women sat on opposite sides, although far enough apart so that there could be no accidental touching – he wondered why he felt the need to defend the young man.

  Without replying, Jonathan added another chair to each end of the rows. Then Rees and Jonathan took seats on the men’s side and waited for the others to arrive.

  Daniel returned with Sister Agatha, the older of the two Eldresses. ‘I couldn’t find Sister Esther,’ he said.

  ‘She may still be at the icehouse,’ Rees said. ‘I saw her there, preparing Leah’s body for burial.’ He stumbled over the final word. He did not want to think of that child’s body disappearing into the earth.

  After a moment of silence, Jonathan said, ‘Of course. She will be here directly. And Leah is the reason we wished to speak with you, Rees. We have need of your special talents.’

  ‘I’ll be glad to help in any way I can,’ he said.

  ‘When you first visited us,’ Jonathan said in his slow precise way, ‘you were able to discover the murderer of one of our Sisters. Since then …’ His voice trailed away.

  Rees wondered if Jonathan was recalling the other murders that had occurred here in this community. Although Rees had successfully identified the culprits every time, the resolutions had not always been to everyone’s liking.

  He thought back to his first visit here more than two years ago. Although he’d seen some of the members of this community as individuals, he’d been naïve enough then to believe they were alike in their beliefs and usually in total agreement. Since he’d lived among them, however, he was aware of the subtle signs of disagreement. Now, for example, Sister Agatha’s lips were pursed as though she’d been sucking on a lemon. Rees guessed she did not concur with the current course of action. She probably had not ever consented to his presence here and if pressed would argue that he had been mistaken in the past when he’d identified the murderers.

  ‘Now another of our number has met a violent end,’ Jonathan continued. ‘This time the victim is a child. Will you look into the death?’

  ‘I will,’ Rees said quickly. He had intended to do so anyway. Zion had done so much for his family – from the time David had fled here as a boy to the most recent past when Rees had brought his family to this refuge – that he could refuse them nothing.

  At that moment, he heard someone hurrying up the stairs. When he turned he saw Esther. Although her eyes were red and puffy she forced a smile when she saw him looking at her.

  ‘Our concern, of course, is justice,’ Jonathan continued when the sister was settled. ‘But we are most anxious that none of our number be accused.’

  ‘None of our Family would ever commit such a heinous crime,’ Agatha said. ‘No matter who might think so.’ And she shot Rees a look before dropping her eyes to the hands folded in her lap. He bit back the retort that sprang to his lips.

  ‘Although we want to ensure none of us are unfairly accused,’ Esther said, emphasizing the word ‘unfairly’, ‘we must also assist the search for the villain who treated Leah so cruelly. Her mother assigned Leah to our care. We broke our promise to her. And we failed Leah. It is our responsibility to make this right.’ She looked around at her fellow Elders.

  ‘Of course, that is so,’ Jonathan muttered.

  ‘Do you suspect anyone?’ Daniel asked Rees.

  ‘The constable has already settled upon one of the circus performers,’ he replied.

  ‘Well then,’ Agatha said, ‘this incident is for the World to handle.’

  ‘I’m not entirely convinced of the man’s guilt,’ Rees said.

  ‘If the murdering villain is one of us, don’t you want to know it?’ Esther asked, speaking into the silence. ‘Do we wish to protect a wolf who is stalking our flock?’

  ‘Do you think the murderer is one of us?’ Agatha asked Rees, staring at him in dislike.

  Put on the spot, now Rees considered the question seriously. ‘No, I don’t,’ he conceded. ‘But it’s possible.’

  The Elders glanced from one to another, some unspoken communication passing among them.

  ‘Very well,’ Brother Jonathan said at last. ‘Please undertake this commission for us. Now we have only the question of payment to discuss.’

  ‘Payment?’ Rees said in surprise.

  ‘This will be taking you from your farm chores,’ Jonathan said.

  Rees saw the slight twitch of Agatha’s face and recognized it as contempt. Still, Rees thought, Jonathan was correct: searching for a murderer would take Rees away from the necessary work that would feed his family. These people did not have to know how happy he was at that prospect. ‘I owe you far too much to take money from you,’ he said. ‘I was promised some help plowing and seeding my fields. Is that still possible?’ If he could prevail upon his son David to lend a week as well – that might be enough help.

  ‘You already have the child Annie helping over there—’ Agatha began.

  Esther put a hand upon her Sister’s and she instantly stopped talking.

  Jonathan and Daniel exchanged a glance. Although Rees could not read Jonathan’s face he thought Daniel was relieved. After several seconds of silence Jonathan nodded.

  ‘We will be happy to do so. We don’t want to see your family starve.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Rees said.

  ‘And keep me informed. I don’t want the constable arriving to arrest one of my Brothers without warning,’ Jonathan added sternly. Rees simply nodded.

  The four Shakers rose as one now that the business was concluded. While the Sisters made their way to the Women’s stairs, Jonathan and Daniel accompanied Rees down the Brother’s steps. Rees heard Esther say to Agatha, ‘He is of the World, Sister. It is better he investigate this wickedness than one of us.’

  Rees wondered if he should feel insulted.

  When he stepped out of the Dwelling House he found the street thronged with members of the community making their way to the big white Meeting House. Of course, he thought, it was time for prayers. The noon dinner would be served immediately after. He could smell cooking meat, lamb, he thought.

  He realized he was hungry too and Lydia would be waiting for him. He crossed the road to the stable. One of the Brothers had fed and brushed down Hannibal and placed Rees’s wagon tidily to one side. He hitched the gelding between the traces and climbed into the wagon seat knowing there would be no moving until the crowd of people in the street reached the Meeting House. Idle, his thoughts jumped around like a cricket on a hot pan. He couldn’t erase the image of Leah’s body from his mind. Dumped in the buckwheat field like garbage, her young life snuffed out before she even had time to live. He shuddered and closed his eyes.

  But mixed in with that horrible scene was the memory of Bambola smiling up at him in the jail. Her clear, pale skin against those dark eyes and hair and those dimples! This time when he shivered it was for an entirely different reason.

  Suddenly realizing all was quiet, he turned to look at the street. It was empty. He could hear the strains of the first hymn emanating from the Meeting House. He backed away from the barns and drove up the dirt road, heading north to home. As Hannibal trotted onto the Surry Road, Rees experienced an involuntary lift of his heart at the prospect of going home to his family.

  TEN

  Humming as she set the table Jerusha uttered a squeak of protest when Rees embraced her. He had come straight inside,
and seeing his oldest daughter engaged in her domestic chores had inspired in him a surge of protectiveness. ‘I’m busy,’ she said, pushing him away.

  ‘Did you speak with the constable?’ Lydia asked, smiling at him.

  ‘I did although he is going to be no help at all. He’s convinced the circus rider …’ Rees stopped, glanced at Jerusha, and then continued again after a second’s pause. ‘Rouge thinks he’s solved the case already. Then I went to Zion—’

  The crack of shattering crockery interrupted him. When he looked over Annie was staring down at one of Lydia’s treasured teacups broken on the floor. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry. It just slipped from my hand.’

  Sister Agatha’s sharp comment flashed into Rees’s mind. Now that he thought of it, he realized that he had seen Annie here quite often lately. Rescued from a brothel in Salem, she had been living with the Shakers for the past two years. He guessed she did not care for the Shaker lifestyle. But then she’d always said she was waiting for the boy she knew in Salem to return from the sea. His letters arrived only sporadically and Rees thought Annie’s dream would never come to pass.

  ‘Won’t the Sisters be looking for you?’ he asked the girl now.

  ‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘But I had permission to help Miss Lydia for a few hours …’

  Rees looked at her, really looked at her. He did not think William would recognize her. No longer the scrawny malnourished girl she’d been, Annie had grown almost as tall as Lydia. And she was heavier, with rosy round cheeks. But dark circles framed her eyes and she’d bitten her nails bloody. ‘Did you know Leah?’ Rees asked gently.

  She nodded. ‘She was like me, you know. Not quite an orphan. And not one of the Family either.’

  Rees threw a quick glance at Lydia. She did not look surprised and Rees had the sense some conversations had gone on without him knowing. ‘Tell me about Leah,’ Rees began but Lydia put a hand on his arm to halt the flow of words. When he looked at her in surprise she jerked her head at Jerusha, leaning forward and listening for all she was worth. Rees covered his sudden grunt with a cough and said instead, ‘Don’t you like living with the Shakers?’

  Annie bit her lip. Finally, as the silence stretched on and on, she said, ‘I don’t dislike it.’

  ‘But what?’

  ‘It’s just that I’ll never make a Shaker.’ Now she looked up at Rees, meeting his eyes with directness. ‘I know that. I want to get married, have my own family.’ Sharon let out a wail, almost as though she’d been listening, and smacked Joseph with his wooden horse. Annie began to move toward them but Lydia shook her head.

  Breathing out an exasperated sigh, she separated the children. ‘After dinner, naps for both of you,’ she said to her two youngest.

  ‘I’m a big boy,’ Joseph said. ‘I’m too old for naps.’

  ‘We’ll see,’ Lydia said.

  ‘I’d like to ask you a few questions about Leah,’ Rees said to Annie under the cover of the wailing from the children.

  ‘I don’t know anything.’ Tears filled her eyes and began spilling down her cheeks. ‘She didn’t tell me she was going to town. I should have been with her.’

  ‘You couldn’t have done anything,’ Rees said, sharper than he intended. All he could imagine just then was Annie, lying dead in the field beside Leah.

  ‘But I would have liked seeing the circus too,’ she said wistfully. ‘When I was in Salem I saw the strange beast brought from the Orient – the elephant. I was just a little girl then.’

  ‘Only men are permitted to attend the circus,’ Rees said, trying to speak softly. Although Annie did not seem aware of the danger she’d avoided, he saw it only too clearly. ‘Did Leah have any other friends in Zion?’

  ‘We are not supposed to have friends,’ Annie said. ‘That was why she …’ she stopped and started again. ‘She liked Shem and was always being scolded for slipping away to speak with him.’

  Rees nodded slowly.

  ‘Enough talk about such a disturbing topic,’ Lydia said. ‘It’s time for dinner and civilized conversation.’

  After the noon meal was finished, Lydia sent Jerusha and Annie upstairs to put the younger children in for their naps. Then, as she began picking up the dirty plates and carrying them to the sink, she said, ‘Did Brother Daniel find you? He came here looking for you.’

  ‘He did,’ Rees said. ‘And I went to Zion. The Elders want me to look into Leah’s murder.’

  ‘As if they could stop you,’ Lydia said with a smile.

  Rees grinned. ‘I know. And they promised to help with the planting.’ He saw some of the tension in her shoulders drain away and knew she’d been worrying about the farming chores. ‘I also thought I’d ask David to visit,’ he added. ‘I’d like to see him anyway.’

  ‘Good.’ Lydia turned, the dishtowel in her hands. ‘I know you prefer to weave and identify murderers than plow.’

  ‘But my family needs to eat,’ Rees finished the thought, speaking more sharply than he intended. He would dutifully do his farming chores but he didn’t have to like it.

  Lydia bit her lip and Rees felt a spasm of shame. But he did not apologize and several seconds passed in an awkward silence. When she spoke again it was about the murder.

  ‘You began telling me about the man Constable Rouge thinks is guilty?’

  ‘Yes.’ Rees was relieved by the change in topic. ‘Rouge arrested one of the circus performers; the trick rider I told you about.’

  ‘Do you think he’s guilty?’ Lydia took a dishtowel, one of Rees’s weaving failures, and put it on the counter next to the dishpan.

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe.’ He thought back to the man peering through the bars. ‘Maybe not. He told me he saw a man, one of the Shakers, following Leah and Shem.’

  ‘I hate to think the murderer could be one of the family,’ she murmured. One of her Shaker Family she meant. ‘Maybe the Brother was just going into town and happened to be on the road at the same time.’

  ‘Maybe but unlikely. The Shakers don’t leave their community.’ He stared at Lydia until she sighed and nodded. ‘And I got the sense Boudreaux thought the man was following the kids. I’ll ask him though. And I’ll speak to the Reynard boy again. He saw Boudreaux. He would have noticed the Shaker as well.’

  ‘What about Shem?’ Lydia asked the question reluctantly. ‘Could he be the murderer? He was with Leah.’

  Rees pictured Shem. A lanky boy with a shock of dark hair, he was several inches taller than Leah. But he was also very skinny. And it looked as though he had grown several inches recently; the sleeves of his shirt did not quite reach his wrists. ‘I’m not sure he would be strong enough,’ Rees said. ‘Besides, her body was positioned as though she were thrown from a height.’

  ‘As though from horseback?’ Lydia asked.

  ‘Exactly,’ Rees said with a nod, ‘I thought so at first, anyway, but now I’m not so sure. There were some odd scrapes on her back.’ He paused, recalling those burn-like injuries. ‘I’ll question Shem again. I think he has more to tell me. He was close-lipped when I spoke to him before.’

  ‘He is probably afraid he would be scolded by the Brothers,’ Lydia said.

  ‘Yes,’ Rees agreed. Wiping his mouth on his napkin he stood up. ‘I want to spend a few hours weaving and then I’m going back into town.’

  ‘Back into town?’ Lydia’s voice lifted in surprise.

  ‘To see the circus. Mr Asher invited me. I’ll stop at the Reynard farm on the way.’ He stopped speaking as Lydia’s body had stiffened into that stillness he recognized as disapproval.

  ‘It’s Friday night,’ she said. ‘Many of the farmers will be driving into town.’

  ‘Yes, it will be a rowdy evening,’ Rees agreed. ‘But I want to question Mr Asher and some of the other performers as well after the performance.’

  ‘I wish I could join you,’ Lydia said softly. Now Rees knew it was not disapproval Lydia felt but envy.

  ‘I know,’ he said, crossing th
e kitchen to drop a kiss on her forehead. ‘But you would not be permitted entry anyway.’ Eyes downcast, she nodded. ‘Perhaps you can accompany me when I return to Zion to speak to Shem,’ Rees suggested. Lydia sighed and said nothing. Rees knew his offer was a poor one, especially when compared to a circus, but it was all he could think of to propose.

  Leaving her to finish cleaning the kitchen, Rees went upstairs to the weaving room. The sun poured through the southern facing window in a hot bright flood and, despite the cool breeze outside, the room was warm. He peered at the cloth on the beam. He thought he’d made a few mistakes but, with the varying thicknesses of the yarns, he couldn’t be sure. He prepared a few more bobbins and then he sat down to weave.

  The sounds of the children giggling in the other room faded from his consciousness. Gradually the emotions connected with Leah’s murder – the horror and the grief – began to ease. He was able to visualize the body without wanting to turn his eyes aside. As he recalled the bruises around her neck, especially the thumbprint, he pondered the murderer’s hands. Who among the men he’d met had such large hands and long nails? He would make a point of looking at everyone’s hands when he attended the circus this evening.

  It wasn’t much but it was something to go on.

  Why was her body dumped in the buckwheat field? Anyone on the road or walking down the lane could have seen the murderer throwing her body in the field. It was not a clever hiding place. Even in the worst case her body would have been discovered within a week or two. At the most. Why hadn’t the murderer deposited the body in the strip of forest running along the other side before the turn-off to North Road? He would have been less noticeable. It could have taken weeks – maybe months – before her body was discovered and by then the circus would have left town.

  A sudden wail from the room next door levitated him from the bench and the shuttle flew from his hand. Sharon was awake. Rees looked at the window. The flood of midday sun had diminished to low, honey-colored rays. He’d lost track of time and now it was mid-afternoon. As Lydia’s footsteps hurried up the stairs, Rees picked up his shuttle and put it on the finished cloth. Another few sessions would complete this commission and he was glad. He would use his free time to look into the murder.