Read LC 02 - Questionable Remains for Free Online Page B

a kid, you make it a point to
listen to adult conversations. And a child as smart as
Marilee could understand a lot of what they talked about,
but she still had a five-year-old's fears and anxieties, and it
worried her when her mother cried.
    Marilee nodded. "Are you going to look for him? Will
that make Mommy feel better?"
    "I'll try to find out what happened to him," Lindsay said
as she carried Marilee back to her room.
    "I hope you find something," said Marilee.
    Lindsay tucked her in. "I can't promise anything. Sometimes a person just can't find the answer. But I'll try."

    Lindsay awoke early to the confusing sound of a rooster
crowing and the aroma of bacon frying. She smiled as she
realized where she was and that today she would be starting, for sure, her long-needed vacation. She showered and
dressed, stripped the sheets from her bed, and folded them
to be put in the hamper before she carried her things to the
Rover. On the way back to the house she met Grace at the
door.
    "I've made breakfast. We can't send you on your way on
an empty stomach."
    The Lamberts' kitchen was a sunny farm kitchen: large,
bright, and shiny clean. Lindsay sat down to a meal of
bacon, eggs, fried apples, and biscuits. Miles and Marilee
were already at the table. Grace called for Joshua. He came
carrying something wrapped in a handkerchief and handed
it to Lindsay.
    "Joshua, what is that?" asked Grace.
    "That's what I want to find out."
    Lindsay unwrapped the object. It was a rusty piece of
metal.
    "Joshua, don't bring that dirty thing to the table," Grace
said.
    "Where'd you get it?" Miles asked.
    "I traded Marilee my tooth for it."
    "Joshua!" Grace cried.
    Marilee laughed.
    "Well, you guys would only give me a dollar. Marilee had
a better deal."
    Miles shook his head with a bemused smile.
    During the conversation Lindsay had been examining the
object. "Joshua, I'm not sure, but I believe you have a fivehundred-year-old Spanish knife."
    "What?" Marilee slapped her hand to her head.
    Grace, who had been passing the food around the table,
stopped and looked over at the object again.
    "Wow, really?" said Joshua.

    "You're kidding," said Miles. "A five-hundred-year-old
Spanish knife? You can tell that from that chunk of rusty
metal?"
    "I'm not sure, but I believe it may be. We know that expeditions of the Spanish conquistadores passed through this
general area, and I have seen similar objects recovered from
archaeological sites in Georgia. If you like, I'll have it
cleaned for you."
    "You can make it like new?" asked Joshua.
    "No, not like new, but it may clean up so that we can tell
more about it."
    "Yeah, I'd like that."
    "Find a box for it, and I'll mail it to someone at the university."
    "Well, I like the tooth," said Marilee.
    Lindsay grinned at her. "It's a fine tooth."
    "Do you think the knife belonged to the gentleman in our
field?" asked Grace.
    "It might very well have," said Lindsay. "There is no real
way to know for sure."
    "Well, we just have all kinds of interesting things on the
property," said Miles.
    "Dr. Terry said it's a rare tooth," said Marilee.
    "It is," said Lindsay, trying not to laugh.
    "Yeah, that's what he said about my back teeth," said
Joshua. "What did he mean?"
    Lindsay wrapped the knife back up in the handkerchief.
"Your tooth has an extra cusp," she said as she went to the
kitchen sink to wash her hands. "Those are the lumps on the
tooth that help you chew food."
    "Does that mean I chew better?" asked Joshua.
    "Could be," said Lindsay, taking her seat again and helping herself to fried apples that Miles passed to her. "This is
good."
    "Grace is an excellent cook," said Miles, smiling at his wife.
    "My niece is coming over sometime this morning," said Grace. "I hope you're here to meet her. You'll like her. She's
the first one in our family to get a college degree. We're real
proud of her."

    "She's a lawyer," said Joshua.
    "She's dating the children's pediatrician," said