“But you can see how that stone has been propped up recently.”

“Oh, not so recently, I think. It was like this the first time I saw it several years ago. Of course, it was probably taken down a few times when the General’s coffin was removed, although it doesn’t seem as if the earth here has been disturbed for a long time. I imagine the stone was knocked down a few times too, by some of the General’s ill wishers.” He moved back toward the gate. “Here’s where his poor wife is resting, do you see? Hannah Caine’s mother. Really bad taste, wasn’t it, to later put his mistress next to his wife.”

The small stone, almost hidden in the grass, was engraved Ada Danvers Caine 1850–1881.

“Do you think Margaret Dorn’s coffin has been dug up?” I was very nervous, for some reason.

“It looks like it, doesn’t it. That’s a new twist.” He went back to Margaret’s grave, stopped and picked up a handful of the soil. “There are several possibilities,” he said finally. “One, Margaret is still here. Two, her body has been removed. Three, Margaret and the General are both here. Partners in evil resting together. Four, perhaps the General was put here with Margaret a long time ago, and has only recently been disinterred. Five, if Margaret and the General were both here, maybe both were recently taken away.”

“But why would anyone want to dig her up?”

“She was an important figure too—maybe even second-­in-command of the group during her lifetime.” Dr. Tully took my arm and we left the graveyard. “There’s another point of which I’m sure you’re unaware. I only discovered it myself after your recent visit to my office prompted me to do some research into county records. I think I have found that your Mrs. Reddy is a granddaughter of Margaret Dorn.”

“And the General?”

“No, I don’t think she ever bore any children by him. But she had a daughter before she came to him. The girl was put in a county home, and in the Ashland courthouse there is a record of her marriage in 1899 and the birth of a daughter named Hazel in 1901. Then in 1930 the marriage of Hazel and a man named Steven Reddy was recorded.”

“And that’s Mrs. Reddy down the road?”

“I’m reasonably sure of it. She was away from this area for a long time, and then came back with her daughter Rose in the late forties or early fifties. Then Rose married Emil Weber, and later Hazel took the job here with your aunt. I’m sure your aunt knew nothing of Hazel’s connection with Margaret Dorn, or she would never have taken her on.”

We were at the front of the house now, and I saw the school bus approaching. I steered Dr. Tully toward his car.