PART 15: THE MAN IN THE CEMETERY
Nobody said a word.
The deputy’s report echoed through the sanctuary.
“…he watched every one of us walk into this church.”
Every instinct I had told me to look out the nearest window.
I didn’t.
If someone had been watching us, I wasn’t about to let him know he had frightened me.
Linda was the first to move.
She turned to the deputy.
“Lock every entrance.”
The deputy nodded.
“It’s already being done.”
“What about the cemetery?”
“We’ve got two units searching it now.”
Janice slowly walked to the stained-glass window overlooking the old headstones.
Her face had lost all its color.
“He always liked cemeteries.”
Paula looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“They’re quiet.”
“No cameras.”
“No witnesses.”
“And people never question a stranger standing beside a grave.”
A cold shiver ran through me.
Dale spoke quietly.
“He’s here.”
Janice nodded.
“If Richard abandoned his vehicle…”
“…he’s still close.”
The church doors suddenly opened.
Another deputy hurried inside carrying a clear evidence bag.
“Sheriff.”
“What did you find?”
“This was lying beside the Ellis family plot.”
He held up the bag.
Inside was an old silver pocket watch.
The moment I saw it, my breath caught.
“No…”
Paula looked at me.
“You know it?”
I nodded.
“It belonged to Harold.”
I hadn’t seen that watch since the week before he died.
The sheriff carefully examined it.
“It wasn’t buried.”
“It was placed on top of the headstone.”
“When?”
“Very recently.”
Linda frowned.
“Why leave it behind?”
I reached for the evidence bag.
On the back of the watch was a tiny scratch.
Not a scratch.
A letter.
The letter H.
I smiled through my tears.
“I gave him this on our twentieth anniversary.”
The sheriff looked puzzled.
“Then why would someone leave it here?”
Janice’s expression changed.
“Because Richard never leaves gifts.”
“He leaves messages.”
The sheriff carefully opened the watch.
Instead of a photograph…
there was a tiny folded piece of paper.
Everyone gathered closer.
Using a pair of gloves, he unfolded it.
Only one sentence had been written.
YOU’RE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.
Silence filled the church.
Dale whispered,
“He’s playing with us.”
“No,” I said.
Everyone turned toward me.
I looked at Harold’s watch.
Then at the note.
Finally, I smiled.
For the first time that day…
I smiled.
Linda noticed immediately.
“What?”
I looked at the watch again.
“This isn’t Richard’s message.”
“What?”
“It can’t be.”
Janice frowned.
“Why not?”
“Because Richard wouldn’t return Harold’s watch.”
“He would destroy it.”
I gently tapped the evidence bag.
“But Harold…”
“…Harold loved puzzles.”
Colleen suddenly gasped.
“Oh, Maggie…”
“You’ve figured it out.”
I nodded slowly.
“The message isn’t telling us we’re wrong.”
“It’s telling us where to go.”
Paula frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
I turned the watch over once more.
Harold had never carried it in his pocket.
He always kept it…
“hanging beside the map.”
Linda’s eyes widened.
“What map?”
“The cemetery map.”
“The one in the caretaker’s office.”
My heart began to race.
“The watch wasn’t left at the grave.”
“It was left to point us somewhere else.”
Just then, Father Michael hurried back into the sanctuary.
“Mrs. Ellis!”
I turned.
“The retirement home called again.”
“What is it?”
His voice trembled.
“Father Donnelly says you must come immediately.”
“He keeps repeating the same sentence.”
“What sentence?”
Father Michael swallowed hard.
“He says…”
‘Tell Maggie not to trust the Bible…’
He paused, struggling to catch his breath.
“…’because the real secret was never inside it.’”
