Family Vault Read Online Free

unlocking the door. Yes, those primitive old locks would probably be simple enough to jimmy if one knew how. She wouldn’t have the faintest idea, herself. One would have to ask—she’d stopped herself just in time from saying, “my husband.” This was not the time or place to advertise that Alexander had also taken a course in locksmithing.
    The Homicide people worked as meticulously as archaeologists, photographing the skeleton from various angles, packing up as much of the moldering costume as they could salvage, making especially sure not to overlook any ruby chips that might have fallen out of the teeth. It was a long time before they completed their task. Sarah was chilled to the bone, half-starved, and desperate for a ladies’ room before the police showed any inclination to let the Kellings go on with their personal business.
    “This old man who said he knew the woman,” somebody asked her for about the sixth time, “where did you say he went?”
    “I didn’t say because I don’t know,” she replied somewhat waspishly. “He was with me when I went out to call for help, and he wasn’t when I got back. I don’t remember seeing him go off because I was talking to the policeman.”
    “How long was he here?”
    “I couldn’t tell you. He was in the cemetery when I got here, that’s all I can say.”
    “Did he say why he was in the cemetery?”
    “Oh, I doubt if he had any particular reason…”
    “How did you happen to start a conversation with him?”
    “As I recall, he made some remark about the weather, then asked me if I was a tourist. I thought he might be hoping to get a tip for showing me around, so I explained about having to meet my cousin. Then we chatted a bit, to kill the time. I’d got the impression my cousin wanted me to meet him right away, but as it turned out, I had quite a wait because he stopped to do some other business first.”
    Dolph had taken it for granted, of course, that Alex’s wife had nothing better to do than hang around a chilly graveyard waiting on his convenience.
    “Did this old guy know the vault was going to be opened?”
    “Not until I told him, if that’s what you mean. Even then, I’m not sure he grasped what it was all about. He kept asking me whom we were going to dig up. I didn’t know what was happening myself, until my cousin phoned this morning, and I don’t believe he did, either, till shortly before he called us.”
    The man from Homicide turned to Dolph. “Is that right, Mr. Kelling?”
    “It is correct,” Dolph replied sourly. “As to whether it’s right, I leave you to decide. I’d naturally assumed Uncle Fred would want to be buried at Mount Auburn with the rest of us. I made all the arrangements, put the notice in the papers, called the relatives, went over to see Uncle Fred’s lawyers first thing this morning, and got hit straight between the eyes with this outrageous codicil. That gave me roughly twenty-four hours to undo everything I’d done and do it over, and now this infernal trollop has to get herself planted in our vault! Hardly seems decent to go on with it now.”
    Dolph sputtered awhile longer, then sighed, “Well, it’s what Uncle Fred wanted, so I suppose we’ll have to go ahead with it come hell or high water. Haul away the bricks and sweep up the rubies, eh? Gad, what a situation! Sarah, do you think Alex is back yet?”
    “No, I don’t,” she replied, “and there’s not a thing he could do if he were. Officer, if you don’t need us any more, could we please get on with what we came to do?”
    “I guess so.”
    The police lieutenant gave Sarah a remarkably human smile which, for some reason, made her want to burst into tears. “You folks go ahead with your funeral. We’ll see that everything’s in order for tomorrow. Right, Ralph?”
    “Right,” sighed the foreman. “Mind if I grab a bite to eat first?”
    Adolphus Kelling brightened. “Now, there’s an excellent idea. Come on, Sarah, I’ll buy