19
Crystal and I arrived at Abie’s house before eight-thirty the next morning. Abie was sitting out front in a lawn chair. She offered us a coffee, and we eagerly accepted, even though we chugalugged one earlier at breakfast. It was a beautiful, sunny August morning at that hour but was supposed to turn quite warm by afternoon. Around nine-fifteen, Rod’s police cruiser and two other vehicles turned into the driveway. After Rod introduced the seven members of the archeological club to us, he took them around the side of the house to where the action would soon begin. I knew two of the club members from Mantle. One was the father of a former student of mine. The other was a retired nurse my mother had known since grade school. Abie, Crystal, and I followed them around to the backyard. This
