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cocked a brow. “I have some funeral business to take care of first.”
    â€œThen you need to get John Howard in here to dust and make the big raise you gave him count for something.” She stormed out, clicking her fancy heels a little louder.
    Mamie stuck her cane out right as Charlotte Rae stormed by. Charlotte looked like one of those whirly twirly beanie hats with her arms going around and around. First she teetered on the toe of one foot, and just when she thought she was safe to put the other heel down, Mamie stuck her cane out again. Charlotte Rae tumbled to the ground.
    â€œAnd that!” she screamed, grabbing her ankle. “Get the carpet guys here to stretch out this old shitty carpet! Or get it replaced with hardwood floors like the rest of this shit hole!”
    I choked back laughter and tears.
    â€œNot funny, Emma Lee, ” she said with theatrical bitchiness. “Go find John Howard!” She hobbled down the hall.
    John Howard Lloyd was not going to like coming in here to dust. He was great at digging the holes at the cemetery and doing all the landscape work around the funeral home, making sure it was tidy, but he didn’t do open caskets.
    I waited until I heard Charlotte’s office door shut before I went outside to fetch John Howard. He was bent over the flower bed in the side yard between the funeral home and Pose and Relax.
    â€œHettie Bell told me she loved looking out the window during her yoga classes at the flower bed.” He stood up and dusted his dirty hands on the bibs of his overalls. “Says it relaxes her.”
    â€œDoesn’t he know that’s her Southern way of getting him to really keep it looking nice?” Mamie Sue shook her head. “Men always fall for a Southern woman’s charm.”
    I glanced at her, wondering if what Granny said was true. Had Mamie Sue really been a single virgin all her life? And who had her wealth?
    â€œDid she?” I smiled and took note of how much time he had spent on the flower bed. “It looks nice. Now,” I clasped my hands in front of me and rocked back and forth on the heels of my shoes, preparing myself for his bemoaning, “I’ve got some funeral business to take care of before Junior’s funeral. I need you to go in the viewing room and dust the crown molding on the ceiling. I think there is one of those long-­handled dusters in the closet. Make sure it’s good and shiny.”
    â€œDidn’t y’all put Junior in there already?” he asked with a quiver in his voice.
    â€œYes, but he’s not going to hurt you,” I assured him. “He is dead.”
    â€œYes, ma’am, but you know I don’t like being around no open casket with them looking at me.” John Howard took a step back. “Can’t it wait until after I get the closed casket in the ground after the ser­vice?”
    â€œYou know we have the repast after the ser­vice.” I turned to walk away. “And I just gave you that big raise too, which means you can have a few more duties. I’ll be back to check on your progress.”
    I didn’t wait around to hear what he had to say. It was time to get some answers.

 
    Chapter 5
    T he old abandoned mill on the outskirts of town was owned by Leotta Hardy and her daughter, Mary Anna Hardy, the owner of Girl’s Best Friend Spa.
    Not too long ago, the mill was in an unfortunate situation, when it was blown up with me in it. Luckily I escaped, which was another story on a different day, and the bones of the mill remained standing.
    Leotta and Mary Anna had come into a little bit of money from Leotta’s deceased husband and my former Betweener client, Cephus Hardy. The two women used a little bit of the money to restore the mill.
    Fluggie Callahan’s old, beat-­up, wood-­paneled station wagon was parked in the gravel lot. She said it was all she could afford on a poor man’s newspaper