Read Cemetery Silk for Free Online Page A

decided to strike out on his own, he had purchased a barge and gone down the river selling whatever the farmers needed. After meeting a Scottish farmer’s pretty daughter, he married her and settled down. The small coalmining town where they lived had neither dry goods store nor bank. He furnished both for the next few decades.
    According to what I could remember of William’s stories, it was his mother’s thrift as well as his father’s success at making money that made their life so comfortable. She had sustained them during difficult times, most notably when the bank went under during the depression.
    William had grown up in that little mining town, and when he showed no real talent for merchandising, his father sent him to school to study bookkeeping. He came back and worked for the bank for the rest of his life.
    Ernest Dibber was the young man William trained to replace him at the bank when he retired. Dibber was a tax specialist, too. He’d probably prepared William’s taxes: the only other person in the world to know how much money William really had. My neck started to prickle as the hairs stood on end. There was something really wrong here!
    I heard the screen door slam shut and looked up to see Mother coming back outside. She looked more disheveled than I had ever seen her and more distraught than I thought possible.
    She knelt in front of me and clasped my hands tightly in her cold fingers.
    â€œPaisley,” she whispered hoarsely. “Paisley, don’t you see? Ernest Dibber was the only person who knew about William’s money. Now that money is all his. I think he coerced William into writing that will and then murdered him! Maybe, he even.…”
    I managed to cushion her head from the hard concrete as she sank slowly and gracefully down in a dead faint.

Chapter Four
    Mother’s regular physician, Ed Baxter, was recovering from open heart surgery, and the only other doctor in town, a younger man named Winston Wallace, was taking his calls. I explained my concerns about Mother to his nurse, and the doctor came out within the hour. After staring much too long at Cassie as she returned from her walk in the field, her tee shirt clinging with sweat, he allowed himself to be hustled into Mother’s bedroom.
    She sat propped up in her bed wearing a soft lavender cashmere bed jacket. Her face was very pale but she had managed to comb her hair and make herself presentable. She held her chin up and smiled, knowing that everything that happened here would be gossip in town tomorrow.
    Mother was angry at me for calling the doctor, but at the same time I could tell she was a little frightened and needed some reassurance that all was physically well.
    I have to admit that Dr. Wallace seemed to know his business even though I could not stand his condescending manner. He gave Mother a quick but professional examination. Her heart, blood pressure and pulse were all checked and pronounced to be normal. Then he sat beside her for awhile talking softly and asking her questions about her health. After a few minutes, he patted her hand and stood up. He carefully adjusted his jacket and then his trouser pleats. I’m sure he thought, as he preened in front of us, that he was a handsome figure of a man. His clothes were obviously expensive but just this side of flash instead of class. A shiny, gold Rolex hung grandly large on his right wrist and a heavy gold bracelet banded the left. I tried to see if he had a real suntan or used makeup on his smooth, round, face but I didn’t want to get any closer. His aftershave was overpowering.
    â€œYou’re doing just fine, Mrs. Sterling,” he pronounced. “I can understand your having a delayed reaction to your cousin’s death. You’re such a tower of strength for your family. Dear lady, you need time to do your own grieving. Your granddaughter certainly seems to be healthy enough, as well as your daughter. Let them take