CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Everyone was searching for the gravesite of Cressida Hymel. And everyone was hitting a brick wall, even the team known for their exceptional research. It appeared that she hadn’t died in Louisiana at all. But where did she go?
“This is giving me a headache,” said Rachel.
“I know, honey,” said Kennedy, “but we have to figure out where this woman went after potentially killing her grandmother. And why kill the grandmother?”
“Four?” frowned Rachel. “Were any named Cressida Hymel?”
“No. Cressida Westworth. Cressida Merriman. Cressida Jones. And finally, we have Cressida Bourgeois.”
“Parker, that can’t be a coincidence. That’s an unusual name, just like Beryl. What if,” she said hesitantly, “what if Cressida became very good at killing off family members. Especially husbands.”
“Shit,” muttered Parker. “Hymel’s first name was Jordie. He died in 1834. That’s only a few years after the incident with Hezekiah.”
“I think we’ve found our witch and it isn’t Beryl,” said Suzette. “I think Cressida learned a few things from her grandmother and put them into practice. We need to follow her trail and see what happened with this woman.”
With everyone heads down, searching the internet and online databases for marriages and deaths, they uncovered a horrible truth about the innocent Cressida. When Hezekiah asked Beryl to come to them once again, she did so without hesitation.
“Hello, Beryl,” he said with an empathetic smile.
“You’re being very kind to a woman that cursed you,” she said with an apologetic grin. “I do feel terrible for that.”
“That tells me all I need to know,” said Hezekiah. “Besides, we have other things to discuss and address.” Hezekiah turned to Luke to allow him to take over.
“Beryl, was Cressida aware that you were her grandmother?” he asked cautiously. The old woman stiffened, looking at the expectant faces.
“No. I did not tell her. There didn’t seem to be a reason. She was but an infant when she was left with me. I was still a relatively young woman of childbearing age. It didn’t feel wrong.” She hesitated and then looked up at them all again. “Was it?”
“I’m not sure it was wrong, Beryl,” said Kennedy. “That’s not for us to decide. However, we do think that Cressida found out.”
“But how? No one would have known. No one…” She slouched, nearly crumpling to the earth, then straightened again. “No one except her mother.”
“Yes. Yes, we think your daughter was helping her in some way. Cressida was married seven times, Beryl. Each time her husband died suspiciously. By the time the sixth one died, people were getting very suspicious. She was accused of poisoning her husbands.”
“But you said seven,” she said looking at them.
“Yes, well apparently one of her lawyers was quite smitten with her. She must have been very beautiful,” said Luke.
“She was exceptionally beautiful,” smiled Hezekiah.
“It appears that Cressida paid more attention to your lessons on plants than you thought. She’d become quite adept at mixing potions that killed her husbands.
She married here in Louisiana several times, once in Mississippi, and twice in Alabama.
When she died, she blamed her mother for everything. ”
“Rosemary? Why would she blame her?” asked Beryl.
“Beryl, she claimed to others that Rosemary was her sister. She openly accused you of haunting her, telling her to poison her husbands, mix the potions, all of it.”
“B-but why? I gave her a good life. She went to school, she learned cooking and sewing skills, I tried… I tried to give her a good life.”
“You did,” said Hezekiah trying to console his fellow ghost. “I just think she wanted more and decided to take it.”
“Can we speak with her? Can we find her so I can speak to her and apologize?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Luke. “She came back here to face trial and this is where her last marriage took place. Her mother was living here as well. She always lived here, Beryl. Just up the road.”
“No. No, Rosemary ran off. She said she would never return to this land, to these people. Why?”
“Beryl, we’ve done a complete assessment of the property that once belonged to you. It’s a rich property, with very interesting soil. Some of it, not so good,” said Rachel.
“Yes, that’s my fault I suppose.”
“No. No, not entirely. You had the greenhouse for your own benefit. Cressida used it for her own devices. Although the tar was helpful, and later somewhat harmful, there are more interesting things to see here.”
“Like?” she asked expectantly.
“We’ve found oil,” smiled Rachel. “You won’t benefit from that but Harmon, the new owner, will. It’s a nice sized find and will support him through his retirement and beyond.”
“Did she know? Did Cressida know?” asked Beryl.
“She may have known after your death but much later,” said Luke.
“You have to remember, as soon as you died, she married the Hymel boy and left the state.
Then married several more men. The land, although destroyed by the storm was still in your name.
She saw it as a quick opportunity to sell and move on. Which she did.
“We can see the title change happening, so we don’t think she knew there was oil there. In fact, we don’t think anyone ever knew or they would have certainly drilled for it.”
“I just can’t believe this,” she said shaking her head. “When my daughter left Cressida with me, I fought to make a life, a living for us. Here I was sitting on hundreds of dollars.” The men chuckled, shaking their heads and Rachel stepped forward.
“Beryl, we estimate that it’s worth millions. You would have been the wealthiest woman in New Orleans.”