“Exactly!” Sara said.
“So we lower the drawbridge and let the great unwashed enter,” Jack said. “Then what?”
“We can’t let just anyone in,” Kate said. “Even for a memorial service, it would be worse than an open house at a mansion. We have to vet people.” She got off the stool. “It must be invitation-only. We send out invitations to Cheryl’s classmates and to anyone we can find who knew Verna. Surely someone in town knew them well enough to know their secrets.”
“Mom,” Jack said and they looked at him. “She runs the Lachlan High School Alumni Association. She has addresses of people who attended in what year.”
“All right,” Sara said. “This is good. But how do we get them to talk?”
“Charge them,” Jack said. He was rubbing hard under his cast. “In order to get in to view the castle, get a free autographed book and lots of cheese and bacon, they have to tell what they know about the Morris girls.”
Kate and Sara were staring at him.
“A pirate with a brain,” Kate said. “Will wonders never cease?”
It was such an odd remark that they laughed. This was something they could do. Not sit and accept what was being handed out to them, but an action. At the very least, it would honor two women whose lives had been cut short.
“We can try,” Kate said and they agreed.
Jack took out his phone, called his mother and filled her in.
“Of course I’ll do it,” she said. “What’s Sara’s niece like?”
“Stop trying to matchmake.” Jack was watching Kate put pans in the dishwasher. “Ol’ Alastair Stewart has already laid claim to her.”
“Is that jealousy I hear?”
Jack didn’t answer. “Could you go to the funeral home and set this up?”
“For Tuesday morning at ten, right? I guess you guys got the sheriff’s permission for all this, didn’t you?” When her son was silent, Heather groaned. “Really, Jack! That man thinks he’s the king of this town. You can’t put on a huge funeral and a memorial service for the victims in his case and not tell him. He’ll be so mad he’ll give you speeding tickets for walking too fast.”
“The pirate’s mother isn’t dumb,” he said.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing. It’s just Kate’s sense of humor. She likes to make fun of me.”
Kate rolled her eyes.
“Oh?” Heather sounded like she was ready to defend her son.
“It’s not like that. She can be pretty funny. I’m a pirate and her boyfriend is a Viking.”
“When do I meet her?” Heather asked eagerly.
“As soon as you show up with the current names and addresses of Cheryl Morris’s classmates.”
“Like they keep me up-to-date. Ha! Half the emails I send them get that Mailer-Daemon thing. What does that mean, anyway? Wait! I know. I’ll call Janet.”
“Who?”
“Janet Beeson. Church secretary. She’s good at finding people.”
“Get whoever you need to. I better go. I have to tell Sara and Kate that we have to go to the sheriff.”
“And Kate,” Heather said softly. “I’ll be over as soon as I can. Love you.”
“Back at you.”