hard for us. We promised.”
“Go on.” Diane sat, waiting for a revelation. She couldn’t have been more shocked when it came.
“I know you think Mike is hitting Melissa,” said Emily. “He’s not. It’s Alix.”
Diane opened her mouth, closed it and opened it again. “Alix? I don’t understand. Did Mike tell you to say this?”
“No,” said Lacy. “He doesn’t know we’re here, and we don’t want him or anyone else to know.”
“Please explain it to me.”
“Melissa and Alix have known each other a long time. I think they were even in day care together. The two of us met them in first grade, so we know both of them well. Alix has a temper and she hits. She always has. She hit me once in second grade, and I knocked her down. She didn’t do it again.”
“That’s true,” said Lacy. “She tried to hit me too, and I slapped her face hard. If you fought back, she backed off.”
“All kids hit now and then,” said Diane.
“Yes,” said Emily, “but Alix was different. She always hit with her fists-or whatever she had in her hands-and she never grew out of it. She and Melissa have been best friends for a long time, and Melissa is totally loyal to her- and never fought back.”
“Are you saying it’s Alix causing the bruises on Melissa?”
“Yes. Her parents think she’s just clumsy. Mike thought it was her father until he saw Alix punch her hard in the arm. Melissa made us promise not to tell. She says it’s not Alix’s fault.”
Diane stood up and walked around her desk and looked at the two of them sitting side by side on the sofa. They looked sincere. “I’m having a hard time grasping this.”
“We thought you would. But it’s true. Alix will hit anyone who will put up with it. She even hits her boyfriend, Dylan.”
“Yes,” said Lacy, “Emily and I both saw how she bruised him. He’s crazy about her. I don’t know how she commands such loyalty. If I beat up on my boyfriend, he’d be out of here.”
“We didn’t want you to blame Mike, or we wouldn’t have said anything,” said Emily. “Something like this could hurt him. Not just with you, but with Dr. Lymon.”
“It’s true,” said Lacy. “If we were lying to protect him, we’d have come up with a more believable story. Look, we promised Melissa we wouldn’t ever tell.”
“So don’t tell anyone, please,” added Emily.
“The two of you are adults now, and you know that there are some promises you shouldn’t make.”
“I know, but we don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Alix really is nice. She’s quick to give you help with your music if you need it. You can count on her in a crisis, and most of the time she’s real sweet.”
“I won’t tell who told me, but I will mention this to a family friend of Melissa’s.”
Emily and Lacy looked at each other and back at Diane. “I suppose that’s all right.”
“It is all right. It’s not all right for Melissa to be abused by anyone, and it’s not right that innocent people be blamed. And if Alix is truly a nice person other than this, she needs counseling, not secrecy.”
Emily wrinkled her brow. “Does this mean you believe us or not?”
“I don’t disbelieve you. It’s just hard to wrap my brain around.”
“Well, I can understand that,” said Emily. “It is weird.”
Diane escorted them out of the museum and watched them get into their car. Alix? Could that possibly be true? She walked back to her office and called Laura.
“I find it hard to believe,” said Diane. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“It’s rare,” said Laura, “but not unheard of. Melissa’s obviously dependent on Alix and their friendship. You can’t tell me who told you?”
“No. And I don’t want to spread rumors either. I don’t know for sure if this is true, but the source seemed very sincere, and is in a position to know.”
“So you’re putting it all in my lap?”
“Yes.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. How about lunch at the museum sometime? We’re opening the restaurant in a few days.”
“You’re on. What’s this I hear about you digging again? You found a body?”
“I’d prefer not to go into that right now. Where did you hear?”
“On the TV news. Something about the Abercrombie farm. I just caught the tail end of it. Wouldn’t have caught that, but your name jumped out at me.”
“Oh, great. I suppose Grayson and his bunch heard it too.”
“So what? I think it would be good for the museum to have a forensic anthropology unit.”
“Don’t even think it.”
“Talk to you later.”
Diane hoped this was the last of her involvement in the Melissa saga. As much as she wanted to stop any abuse, this was turning out to be an odd can of worms. She locked up her office and walked out of the museum just as Frank drove up.
“Thanks for coming,” he said. “Maybe we can have a late dinner after we see Star.”
“Maybe, but I need to get in bed early. I’m working two jobs now.”
“I appreciate that too.”
“I guess you heard we were on the TV news,” she said.
“What? You mean. .”
“Digging at the Abercrombie farm,” she said.
Frank groaned. “We’ll have to ask the sheriff to double security around the clock. The place will be crawling with TV newspeople. It goes with the territory, I guess.”
Frank called the sheriff on his cell phone. The sheriff had already heard the news. Diane could hear his cursing coming from Frank’s phone.
On the way to the hospital, Diane explained what they had accomplished at the animal pit. “The last thing we found before shutting down was another human bone-an arm bone.”
“Another one? Are you sure?”
“I wish you wouldn’t keep asking if I’m sure. Yes, I do know the bones of the human skeleton.”
“I wasn’t doubting you. I’m just-surprised, I suppose. I’m still surprised at this whole thing-George, Louise, Jay. It still doesn’t seem possible.”
They parked in the visitors’ area at the hospital and entered the building. Diane didn’t like hospitals. She didn’t suppose many people do. She didn’t like the antiseptic smell, nor passing rooms where people lay sick with their relatives around them. On a primal level it was frightening, like a dark room or hanging your arms or legs off the bed at night. She saw Star’s room up ahead-the only one with a guard sitting outside the door. As they drew nearer, they heard a raised voice inside the room, apparently directed at Star.
Chapter 26
“Don’t try this passive-aggressive shit with me, girl. It won’t work. I’ll let you sleep all night in your own urine.”
Frank shot ahead and entered the room before Diane. The guard, a policeman that looked to Diane like he might still be in high school, let him pass unchallenged. He stopped Diane.
“I’m with Frank Duncan,” said Diane.
He lay the book he was reading under his chair. “I’ll have to search your purse.”
“Sure.”
Diane opened her purse, which was basically a large billfold with a shoulder strap, and the policeman looked around in the zippered areas. Diane couldn’t imagine what kind of weapon he thought he would find in the small spaces.
