Chapter Twelve

by Nelson



Warning: None needed for this final chapter.



Colin stared at the bones they had uncovered, the skeletal hand still lying in the bowl of the shovel as though extended for a kiss.

"I can't believe it."

"Me neither," Riley said, studying the cufflink with fascination. "How is he wearing that?"

"I guess he had them on when he died." Colin felt as much as saw Riley's eyes on him, and he looked away from the grave to his partner. "What?"

"Then how did they get in the trunk?"

Colin looked back at the cufflink then shifted his attention to Riley. "They *were* in the trunk, weren't they?"

"Yep," Riley stated.

Colin blew out a lungful of air and raked his fingers through his hair. "I'm looking at a hundred-year-old skeleton - *in* my basement - after just seeing our house flip to God knows when and back again. Moving cufflinks isn't a stretch for me all of a sudden."

"Good point," Riley commented. "So what do people usually do when they find a body in their basement?"

"Besides move?"

"We're not moving. What do we do with the body?"

"It's not the body I'm worried about so much," Colin commented.

"No?"

"No. I mean, the medical examiner can come get the bones. It's the rest of him that makes me nervous," Colin said, a tingle tapping down his spine with the thought. "How do we get him to take the spirit when he takes the bones?"

"Samuel doesn't mean any harm," Riley defended. "I think he just needed someone to know."

Colin stood and brushed his hands together, leaving the shovel where he laid it earlier rather than disturb the body any further. "Let's just hope he doesn't have anything else to tell us."

He held out a hand to Riley and helped him to his feet. Riley asked, "Do we call the police?"

"I'd say we start there. I don't know anything else to do. Let them figure out who to send out here."

Colin reached for the string on the light but couldn't bring himself to pull the switch. Being thrust into darkness right then was about as appealing as finding remains in the basement. It was bad enough to know two deaths took place there, but to have the evidence still hanging around was unsettling to say the least.

Half expecting the door to the basement to slam shut on them, Colin was surprised when it allowed them out with no resistance. He closed the door behind them, watching it for a second to be sure it didn't swing open once again as it had a tendency to do lately. Once he was convinced that it was going to stay closed, he took a deep breath and picked up the phone. Riley interrupted him before he could hit the first button.

"Wait!" he exclaimed anxiously.

Colin jumped at the sharp command, his nerves raw and on high alert. "What?" he asked after he was able to breathe again.

"What are you going to tell them?"

"That we found a body in the basement," Colin replied matter-of-factly.

"And why were you digging down there, sir?" Riley parroted the expected question in a nasal rendition of a police switchboard operator.

Colin searched his partner's eyes then looked away as his shoulders slumped under the pressure of the circumstances. Putting the phone down, he said, "Hell, I don't know."

"Why would we be digging in the basement?" Riley mused aloud. "We have to figure that out before we call, in case they ask."

"Let's come up with something that won't make us sound like junior ghost busters, ok?"

"Deal." Riley pulled out a chair at the table and took a seat gingerly. "Can't say we smelled something. There wasn't anything left on the bones I saw except disintegrating clothes."

"No," Colin agreed. "The flesh was gone a long time ago."

With his nose curled up, Riley said, "I wonder if it smelled here after James buried him?"

Colin shook off a shudder. "I don't know. I'd rather not think about that."

Riley tapped his fingertips on the tabletop as he thought. Finally, he said offhandedly, "Too bad we hadn't started cementing down there. We could have let some other poor slob find the bones."

Colin snapped his fingers. "That's it!"

"What?"

"We could say that we were digging down there because—" he paused again then deflated. "Never mind."

"What?"

"I was just going to say that we could tell them we were breaking it up for cementing but why would we burrow down a couple of feet in one spot?"

"Oh, yeah," Riley agreed. "That doesn't make sense."

"No."

"Why do we have to tell them anything?" Riley questioned. "Can't we just tell them we'd rather not say?"

"I don't think they'll go for that. Do you?"

"You know what? I don't care," Riley said resolutely, squaring his shoulders. "Tell them I was having nightmares about the basement and got curious after looking in the trunk. That's partly true."

"Do you really want them having access to the trunk?"

"Not really," Riley said after thinking about it. "I don't care if they look but I don't want them taking it or anything."

"I'm not sure they would anyway. Even if they might suspect foul play, the statute of limitations has to have run out after a hundred years."

Riley grabbed Colin's forearm in alarm. "Oh, God, Colin. What if they think we did something to him?"

"We weren't here a hundred years ago."

"No, but they won't know how old it is at first. Not until they do whatever they do to tell that sort of thing."

"Why would we call the cops on ourselves?" Colin pointed out. "Would guilty people do that?"

"Sure they would. To cover up. Maybe they'll think we did it to prove we didn't kill him."

"I'm not worried about that. They'll be able to tell how old the body is and know that we didn't do it. They can tell all that stuff these days. Besides, we haven't lived here long enough for a body to decompose to that extent."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Those bones are bare."

"That's true. They can tell just about anything with forensics these days."

Colin glanced at the phone in his hand. "We really don't have a choice except to call the police."

Riley leaned his chin in his palm. "I guess," Riley agreed half-heartedly.

"Are you ready for me to call them?"

Riley stalled before committing to an answer. Seeing no other option, he agreed. "Yeah, I guess we should."

Colin nodded and pressed 9-1-1.

~~~~~~

"Oops, sorry," Riley said, stepping out of the uniformed officer's way. He wove his way through what seemed like a throng of people to get to Colin's side. "We've been invaded."

"In more ways than one," Colin remarked as he moved out of the way of another man in a navy jumper. "Want to go to the living room and get out of their way?"

"Not really," Riley confessed. "I don't want to miss anything. That's the M.E."

"The older guy right there?" Colin asked discreetly as the grey-haired man Riley pointed toward disappeared down the steps.

"I think so. He looks all serious and official. No jumpsuit, either, like he's risen above the rank of the blue-suited worker bees. Wonder if we can ask him some questions."

Colin cast Riley a skeptical expression. "It will be more like them asking *us* questions. Besides, they didn't want us in the basement."

A skinny policeman sidled up to Colin and Riley, his baby-smooth face making him look more like a teen dressed up for Halloween than an adult in what could potentially be a life-threatening career choice.

"Excuse me," he interrupted.

"Hi," Riley said.

"Hi. The captain needs to ask you two a few questions." Colin raised an 'I told you so' eyebrow at Riley. "He asked me to invite you to the living room."

Invite? Riley almost smirked at the irony of being "invited" anywhere in his own home by a rank stranger. It looked like they were going to be heading for the living room after all.

"Can't we talk in here?" Riley asked.

Colin interjected, "The living room's fine. We don't know much, but we'll be glad to tell you what we can."

"Thanks. He's right in here," the officer said.

As though they didn't know the way, the young man led them to the living room where the captain was chatting with another officer, who he dismissed as Colin and Riley approached. The captain looked to be in his late fifties, his dark hair grayed slightly at the temples and swept back away from his face. Despite his height, he had managed to grow an impressive beer gut. Or donut gut, Riley thought, barely managing to contain a nervous grin.

The captain turned to greet them and extended a hand to Riley. "I'm Captain Hamilton. I appreciate you gentlemen calling."

"We didn't know what else to do and we really didn't want to keep our visitor in the basement," Colin said, smiling as the captain's hand caught his hand in a firm grip.

"You did the right thing. I just have a few questions for you. Some preliminary things to help us sort this all out, hopefully."

"No problem," Riley said, the confidence in his voice overshadowing the uneasiness quivering in his belly. "We don't know much, unfortunately."

"That's more than I know," the captain said amiably.

The inquisition about to be launched left Riley feeling guilty even though he hadn't done anything. It was the same feeling he had whenever a cop rode behind him; guilty whether he was speeding or not. He wasn't nearly as certain as Colin that they wouldn't be suspected of anything.

Riley and Colin sat next to each other on the sofa and Riley stopped bouncing his knee when Colin subtly bumped against it with his own.

The captain flipped a small notepad open and found a fresh page. "Let's see. I guess the most obvious question is how did you come to find a body in your basement?"

Damn. Riley knew he was going to ask that! He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. "It's sort of a long story."

Captain Hamilton smiled patiently. "I have time."

Riley cleared his throat and glanced nervously at Colin. "We had been hearing some things around town about the original owners of the house. Brothers."

"What kind of things?" the captain questioned, scribbling a note on his pad.

Colin said, "Just that two brothers built this house, ran a local restaurant together. Margaret's around the corner was theirs originally."

"Ah, Margaret's," Captain Hamilton nodded. "Good burgers."

"Yeah, they are," Colin smiled.

"People were telling you things about these brothers?" the captain asked, gently moving them back on track.

"We heard some odd things about them," Riley offered. "One of the brothers disappeared suddenly and the other brother said he had to go take care of their sick father. Apparently everyone believed that."

"But you didn't?" the officer asked.

"Well, not after we heard what happened right afterward," Riley pointed out.

Colin picked up the story. "The brother that was left, James, was pretty depressed it seems. Depressed enough to hang himself not long afterward. Right upstairs in our attic."

"Interesting," the captain commented. "I'd have to agree that's odd. So you believe the body belongs to one of those brothers?"

"Definitely," Colin said.

"It's the one who 'left'," Riley noted, etching invisible quotes in the air. "Samuel."

"How do you know their names?"

"From people around town," Riley said quickly, without a blush from the near untruth.

"I might need to know who you talked to in case I need more information later," the captain advised.

"You can call anytime or come by," Colin stated.

"Thank you. What else did you hear?"

"Not a lot more than that," Colin said.

The captain wore a curious frown. "But something you heard led you to assume there was a need to search the basement."

"Um… not exactly," Riley confessed. "Do you really need to know why?"

The captain smiled warmly. "Yeah, I do."

Riley took a deep breath and exhaled. "I don't want this to get spread all over town."

"Then I'd stick to 'no comment' when the Sun people start calling. It won't get spread by me unless it's an official statement that's needed."

"Official statement?" Riley asked uncertainly.

"Don't be uncomfortable, son. Any official statement would be high-level. But I need to know what you know."

Riley nodded and swallowed, taking his time to settle his nerves and mentally check what he and Colin had discussed before he spoke. "I had a nightmare," he confessed in part.

"A dream? That's what made you go down there?" he asked.

"It was vivid, believe me," Riley said emphatically. "Vivid enough to make me want to check the basement. Between the dream and the stuff I had heard, I needed to know."

Colin explained calmly, "We were planning to cement the basement anyway, so we decided we'd check a little to put his mind at ease."

"Are you saying something supernatural was going on here?" the captain asked with an eyebrow cocked.

"No, that's not what we're saying," Riley corrected defensively. "You can draw that conclusion if you want to, but we aren't saying it."

The captain smiled and nodded knowingly. "I understand why you wouldn't want to broadcast that. A lot of people think only kooks believe in the supernatural. Me? I've consulted psychics in the occasional investigation during my career. Took a hell of a lot of ribbing from some of my counterparts, too."

The captain's admission overcame Riley's uneasiness. "Really?" Riley asked, sliding to the edge of the sofa, quickly captivated by the captain's words. "Did any of them help you?"

"Actually, yes. One case would probably still be unsolved if I hadn't gotten a tip or two from a psychic." He laughed, reflecting on the past. "Shut those assholes up who were giving me grief over using her, too."

"We're not psychics," Colin replied resolutely. "But Riley was bothered enough that it didn't hurt to check."

"What was the dream?"

"A dead guy being dragged to the basement by another man," Riley stated simply.

"What made you think the body belonged to this brother and not someone else who had been in the house?"

"Oh, the cufflinks," Colin said. "We found some pictures of the brothers, and those cufflinks downstairs were the same cufflinks Samuel was wearing in the picture."

"Can I see the picture?"

"Sure," Colin said. He excused himself to go get the single picture, leaving Riley and the captain alone.

Riley nervously picked at a loose thread on the seam of his jeans, trying to think of something to say in the uncomfortable silence left in Colin's wake.

"So," he said, "I'm guessing you don't get cases like this every day."

"No, I sure don't."

"What happens next?"

"Oh, we'll take your buddy down there to the morgue and the doc will do his thing. He'll be able to give us an idea about what happened, when he died – actually, if it's a he at all."

"It's a he," Riley said confidently. "I'm sure of it."

"You might be right," the officer agreed.

"Ok, here it is," Colin said, coming back into the living room. "This is the one where you can see the cufflinks."

Captain Hamilton took the picture and studied it carefully. "I see the cufflinks. They look like the ones I saw downstairs. Good detective work, guys."

Riley smiled proudly. "Seemed obvious to us. We had noticed the cufflinks before in the picture and then there they were again."

The captain tucked the picture in his breast pocket and Riley's eyes grew wide. "Wait. You're not taking that, are you?"

"Don't worry. I'll be sure you get it back," he assured them. Riley's face fell into a troubled frown and he stared at the captain's pocket as though it were a vault. "I won't forget, I promise."

Riley relaxed slightly, unsure if the captain would remember to keep his word. Hundred-year-old cases couldn't be a priority.

Colin turned to Riley and noticed the lines of concern still crossing his forehead. "We'll remind him if he forgets."

"How about this: I'll make a note of it," Captain Hamilton said, and followed suit with a scribbled reminder in his notepad. "One more thing. Did you touch anything?"

Riley shook off a chill at the very thought of touching the body they found. "No way," he said quickly.

"No, nothing," Colin stated. "Just with the shovel."

"Ok," he said, nodding and jotting more notes. He snapped the notepad closed. "I think that's all I need for now. I'll be in touch in case I need more information."

He stood and offered his hand once again.

"Thank you," Colin said, shaking the officer's hand as he stood.

"Can you leave out the dream part in your report?" Riley asked, his eyes pleading with the officer. "Or any official statements?"

Captain Hamilton chuckled. "I won't embarrass you. If you're right about who that is, no one's going to be too interested in this thing once the M.E. puts his John Hancock on the age of the body. The statute of limitations only goes so far, you know. Even if that wasn't an issue, the murderer would have to be dead, too by now. Lord knows, we have enough living criminals to chase without dredging up the dead ones."

"I think it was an accident," Riley offered immediately. "He fell down the stairs according to my dream."

"Maybe," the captain said uncertainly. "Buried bodies in basements usually mean someone wanted to hide something, though."

Hell, yeah, he wanted to hide something. Riley shuddered at the thought of having to keep his and Colin's relationship a secret. He had no problem understanding why James did what he did. It was fear, plain and simple. Fear of being found out as well as falsely accused. James couldn't afford to have their secret revealed, not in that day and time. They would have been forever labeled as "sick" or worse, simply because they loved another person of the same sex. Even if their secret stayed hidden, would the officials have believed James wasn't responsible for Samuel's death? That it wasn't a murder?

"Or someone was afraid of something," Riley countered.

"Could be," the captain said doubtfully. "Even if there was foul play, there's nothing we could do to a dead culprit, anyway. We'll see if the doc can offer any answers."

"What will you do with the body after you're finished with it?" Riley asked.

"The state takes care of it."

"Takes care of it?" Riley asked in concern. "What does that mean?"

"Well, with no one to claim the body, they'd probably cremate it."

Riley's eyes widened in alarm. "They can't do that!"

"Riley," Colin responded with a supportive squeeze to Riley's shoulder. "They have to do what they have to do."

"I don't know that they'll cremate, but I can't see them spending more money than they have to on a body with no family around," the captain said.

Riley shook his head and looked away, troubled. They couldn't do that to him! Riley wasn't sure why, but it felt like adding insult to injury. To be first cast off into the basement without ceremony only to be found and then burned without ceremony… it just wasn't right. Samuel wasn't a piece of trash just to be gotten rid of like yesterday's garbage.

"He's what they call an 'unclaimed body'," Captain Hamilton explained. "With no family to make interment decisions, the state will…take care of it."

Unclaimed?! He was claimed! He was just claimed too long ago to matter. No one at the state would give a shit about what happened to Samuel's body, not one soul. No one was left to care but Riley and Colin.

Riley looked up at the captain suddenly, his eyes bright. "I have an idea."

~~~~~~~~

"Almighty God, into your hands we commend your son, Samuel Clemons, in sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen," the Presbyterian pastor prayed. "This body we commit to its resting place, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

The pastor solemnly closed the leather-bound book of rites and gave a single nod to Riley and Colin. Riley stepped forward and reverently placed a cluster of daisies in front of the headstone marking Samuel's new grave.

"Thank you, pastor," Colin said, extending a hand of gratitude.

"I'm glad to do it. He was clearly a parishioner and deserves to be buried respectfully by his church with his family."

"We thought so," Riley said.

"It was a nice thing you did for him. It would have been unforgivable to not bury him with his family. And like you said, the state wouldn't have arranged anything."

"No, they wouldn't have," Colin agreed. "Thanks again for your time."

"No problem at all. Hope to see you in church on Sunday," he hinted unashamedly.

"We just might be there," Riley answered.

"Nice to see you both again, even if it's under somewhat dark circumstances. See you later."

"Good to see you, too," Colin replied. "Bye."

The preacher waved and walked toward his car, leaving Riley and Colin alone at the gravesite. The wind blew softly, twisting the leaves of the big oak tree, its limbs stretching protectively over the aged tombstones. Riley knelt down beside the newest headstone in the cemetery, careful of the recently overturned soil and avoiding it out of respect for what lay beneath. He ran a hand over the cool face of the marble, tracing the etched lettering underneath his fingertips.

"Do you think he minds that we used James' last name for him?" Riley pondered.

"Not at all. For one thing, we didn't know his last name. We only knew James' from his tombstone. Plus, I think it's what he would have wanted if society had allowed it in his day."

"True. Unless James would have taken Samuel's name instead."

"Hard to tell from what little we know about them."

Riley grinned and glanced up at Colin. "Except we know Samuel isn't a fan of certain people spanking their partners."

"Not because he had firsthand knowledge, I'm sure," Colin said wryly. "That's not to say he couldn't have used it."

"You're mean," Riley announced with a twinkle in his eye. "What makes you think he'd be the one on the receiving end, anyway?"

"Come on," Colin said dismissively. "You're kidding, right?"

"What?" Riley replied with a grin.

"No way would he be the one on the giving end. Call it a gut feeling, but I'm right on this one."

"Like you were right about the wind? About the door sticking? About the weak shelf? About the—"

"All right," Colin cut him off as he held out a hand. "You've made your point, smart ass."

Riley laughed and used Colin's hand to pull himself up. "It's a nice stone."

"Yeah. I'm glad he's at rest now,"

"Me, too," Riley agreed. "And I'm glad they didn't think he was murdered."

"They said 'possible' homicide," Colin reminded him.

"Possible, not probable. The only thing they knew for sure was that he died from head trauma."

"Right. It's pretty neat how they compared the picture and his bone structure to identify him."

"It's amazing what they can do these days," Riley commented.

"It is. Let's go home," Colin said, and they headed back across the yard toward their house hand in hand.

Riley stopped abruptly in his tracks and Colin walked two paces before he was anchored in place by his unmoving partner. "What?"

"Do you think he's really at rest now? Did we do enough?"

Colin sighed and rolled his eyes toward the heavens. "Don't start, Riley. The house has been quiet since we got him out of there. We've done enough."

"I don't know, Colin. It's only been a week. He could still be there but just hasn't had anything to say."

"As long as he keeps quiet, that's fine with me."

Colin started back toward the house and Riley tugged his arm to stop him once again. "What now?"

"Do you think he approves of what we did for him? We did the best we could with what the state would spend."

"*And* we paid some toward it ourselves." Colin turned him by the shoulders to face the graveyard they'd barely managed to leave and threw his arm around Riley. "Look at that. They're together for the first time in about a hundred years because of us. I'm sure they're both happy. We have no control over what they do in the afterlife, but we did what we could here."

Riley's countenance fell as he gazed at the neighboring tombstones of James and Samuel. "I didn't even think about that," he declared sadly. "What if they can't find each other in the afterlife? Maybe we need a psychic to be sure they're ok now. Being together physically is only part of the equation when you're dead."

"Quit it," Colin demanded firmly. "I'm done with my short stint as a ghost hunter and so are you. We'll have to hope for the best."

"But Colin!"

Colin opened his mouth, ready to staunch the pending argument, but the words were stolen from his lips.

"Riley."

The single word sent shivers down Colin's spine as he heard his partner's name uttered by a voice that was not his own, and while soft and distant, it demanded their attention. Riley's head turned quickly toward the call that cut through the conversation between Colin and him.

The images appeared as smoky, unstable shapes, hovering just in front of their two headstones, becoming more solid yet still transparent as the spirits gathered the energy to be seen. There was no mistaking who they were. The spirits were focused only on each other, disregarding their audience as they reconciled beyond the grave. Looking into the eyes of the smaller man finally by his side, James' spirit caught the underside of Samuel's chin and tipped his spectral face up for a kiss.

Riley stared in awe at the homecoming he was allowed to witness as the kiss ended and the men locked hands. They turned away from Riley and Colin and the apparitions began to float away from them as though softly carried along by the wind. Just before the gossamer figures faded into eternity, Samuel cast an appreciative glance over his shoulder. His ghostly stare pierced Riley and he smiled just as the two blinked out of sight.

"Shit," Colin whispered, as he rubbed the fine hairs standing upright on his arms. He tore his eyes away from the point where the spirits had been to find his partner wearing a satisfied expression as he stared into the void. "I can't believe you're smiling."

"It's nice, Colin."

"Nice yes, but they don't have to keep doing stuff like that. Doesn't it freak you out?"

Riley shook his head as he searched the graveyard for any signs of the men before he turned to Colin. "Not anymore."

Colin shivered and hugged his arms to his chest. "Well, it freaks me out."

Riley's smile spread victoriously. "We did it, Colin."

"Thank God. Can we finally call this chapter of our lives closed?"

"Yeah. They're going to be ok."

"You think they'll find somewhere else to live?" Colin asked hopefully. "Please say, 'yes'."

"I think maybe James is taking Samuel home, wherever that is. He was never stuck in the house anyway. It was just Samuel."

"You're sure about that?"

Riley thought it over for a second then nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure."

"Good," Colin replied, taking Riley's hand again. "I'm glad they're gone."

"Why? They weren't going to hurt us or anything."

"I beg to differ," Colin said ruefully as he thought back to flinging books and invisible slapping hands.

"He was protecting me."

"Whatever," Colin said dismissively as he opened the front door.

"He just didn't understand, Colin. I think he knows now that you weren't trying to hurt me. Well, you were hurting me, but you know."

"I swear, I should have tried to explain a few things to James."

Riley closed the door behind them. "You didn't need to be giving James any ideas."

"Samuel had it coming for scaring the crap out of me if for no other reason. Let alone slapping me and throwing things. Don't try to protect him," Colin teased.

"I have to. I owe him one."

Colin yanked Riley to him and kissed him hard. "I love you, babe. I hope we get to spend eternity together."

Riley laced his arms tightly around Colin and said, "'Hope'? Are you kidding? You're never getting rid of me."

End