The 731 Legacy Read Free Page B

was some kind of mix-up. Somebody released the body to a mortuary before the coroner picked it up to do the autopsy."

    Cotten rolled her eyes. "How does this happen? Typical of the right hand not knowing, blah, blah, blah. Incompetence at its best. I guess they'll get it straight in the end. So, where did they take the body? You can follow up with the mortuary."

    "That's just it. Nobody could find the documentation identifying the funeral home."

    DEVIL'S DEATH PING

    Luther Sutton stared out the farmhouse window at the grave markers where generations of Suttons rested atop a distant crest. Two hundred fifty-five acres of land in the middle of West Virginia had been in the family for over a hundred years. At the age of sixty-three, he was the eldest of Big Thelma's

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    brood. And as such, he had ambled up to the graveyard yesterday morning and checked out her spot. A long time ago, she'd laid claim to the space beside Hubert, her husband for over forty years.

    "All the good plots is taken," she said to Luther when they put Hubert in the ground. "Them first Suttons was buried under the trees when the roots was small. Can't dig under 'em now. Oh well, Hubert liked the sun. Hated the winter, he did. Sweat didn't bother him like it does me."

    The thought of laying his mother to rest without benefit of shade made his bottom lip quiver.Gotta plant a goddamn tree, he thought. It wouldn't be right for her to suffer eternally just because

    Papa tolerated the heat. Course in the winter, it would be a different story. And they had some mean West Virginia winters.

    Turning away from the window and memories of his father's passing, Luther's stare returned to the front room where twelve other Suttons had gathered at his request. His step-daddy, Daniel, sat in the corner whittling. Daniel was a good man, but had lost his mind over the last few years. Dementia, the doctors called it. Sometimes Daniel knew where he was and who his family members were, but most often he was no different than a stranger.

    Luther sat on a chair near the window and stroked his gray beard before taking out his watch from the pocket of his flannel shirt. He dangled it by the chain before palming it to see the time. "Guess Mary couldn't make it," he said, referring to one of his sisters. "She's been feeling down in her back lately."

    He returned the watch to his pocket, rested both hands on top of his cane, and propped it between his legs. He took another visual assessment of all those present before rapping the cane on the wood floor. The sound had the effect of a courtroom gavel.

    "I've called this meeting cause of being the oldest child of Big Thelma. Mother is tired now and says she wants to go home to her Maker. I know it makes us all full of sorrow, but she's a good woman and has led a long life. She'll be rewarded in Heaven. She's wanting to say her goodbyes and—"

    "Luther, why aren't you taking her to the hospital over in—"

    Luther slammed the cane on the floor and glared at the interrupter.
    "Quiet, Everett Roy. I'm not finished yet." He cleared his throat. "Mother said Grandpa Calvin came to her last night in a vision and said he was coming to take her home. She said she's ready to go."

    "But Luther," cousin Belle said. "Why—"

    Luther's eyes darted to her. He lifted his cane shoulder height, like it was an extension of his arm, and pointed it at her. "I said I ain't finished yet." His voice, harsh with anger, filled the parlor.

    Everyone lowered their eyes, staring at the worn plank floor. Then Luther spoke again. "Mother said she don't want us taking her back to that new Oriental doctor she saw last week. And she definitely don't want to go to no hospital. Says that's why she didn't let nobody know she was sick. If I hadn't picked up Daniel from his sister's last Sunday and brought him home from his visit, we

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    wouldn't have found out Mother was in a bad way. Guess one of us would have checked on her sooner or later. No mind all