If Our Stones Could Talk

By Sharon Christensen

Perhaps most of us don't think twice when we go to a cemetery about who is there. We are likely there only because a friend or loved one has passed away. But have you ever thought about the connection between the grave markers and who belongs to them? Lucy Campbell and her siblings probably didn't either. It wasn't until one day when they each received a letter in the mail did the mystery begin. Lucy came to realize that indeed there were now more questions needing answers to what happened that tragic day. Would this newfound information question her values? Her Faith? As much as she wrangled about it, the fact remained. At the end of the day her mother was still gone. And more importantly, when Lucy found out the truth, could she forgive who she needed to forgive in order to move on with her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781640030091

Book preview

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If Our

Stones

Could

Talk

Sharon Christensen

ISBN 978-1-64003-008-4 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64003-009-1 (Digital)

Copyright © 2017 Sharon Christensen

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter One

M ore mail. Can you believe it? Lucy Campbell sighed. Can’t even a day go by when we check and see an empty mailbox?

Oh, come on, Lucy, George, her husband, said, sitting on the coach, turning on the television with the remote. It wouldn’t be any fun getting no mail. Everyone has to get more than just bills. There has to be some junk mail once in a while to make them feel needy.

Yeah, well, the spread of neediness can go to someone else once in a while, she said, laughing.

So what kind of junk mail did we get today? Oh, wait! Let’s see if I can guess. Today’s Saturday, so it must be coupon day! Oh yeah, and don’t forget, it’s toward the end of the month, so it must be time we get our monthly ‘will your family survive after you’re gone’ pieces of mail.

Okay, Mr. Know-it-all, I’ll humor you, Lucy said, picking through the stack. Let’s see, bill, bill, advertisement addressed to you for life insurance, and of course, here’s some of those fun coupons you’ve been anxiously waiting for!

Ah hah! Have I got it pegged or what?

Lucky guess, I’d say.

Just then the doorbell rang.

Oh, hi there, Mrs. Campbell, Mr. Billings, the mail carrier, said, smiling. I have a certified letter for you. Sorry I forgot to deliver it with your other mail.

That’s okay, she said, signing the green certified mail card. Thanks, Mr. Billings. Have a good day!

You too, he said, walking off.

And you didn’t think life could be so good on a Saturday now, could you? George said, teasing Lucy.

I’ll hold that opinion until I see what this says.

Fair enough. So open it. Let’s see what the great news is!

I’m not quite sure, Lucy said, standing in the middle of the living room, reading through it. It looks like some kind of life insurance policy claim letter regarding my mother.

Your mother?

Ah, yeah, Lucy replied, sitting down on the coach next to George.

So what does it say?

It says Dear Lucy Rose Downing Campbell, Lucy started to read.

So much for starting out on a personal note, George said, snickering.

Yeah, right, Lucy responded sarcastically. Anyway, Dear blah, blah, blah. Our company has recently gone through a merger between our company, National Life of Peoria and Millennium Life Insurance Company. While the actual process of merging the two companies has gone smoothly, our company has discovered several files that needed our attention. It has come to our attention while going through old records that a woman named Rosalinda Harris had purchased a whole life insurance policy through Millennium Life. Your name appears as the beneficiary. If you are not the named beneficiary to this whole life insurance policy, please accept our apologies and disregard this notice. If the person named as the purchaser of the policy is now deceased, and if you are the above-named beneficiary, please contact us. Please include with your correspondence a certified copy of your birth certificate as well as a certified copy of the death certificate of the purchaser in question. Upon receipt of the proper identification, we will release the funds to you. Very truly yours, Melvin Thompson, Lost Claims Representative.

Now that’s what I call interesting mail, George replied.

Hey, Mom? Dad? Gabe Campbell, Lucy and George’s youngest son, called out.

We’re in the living room, Gabe, Lucy responded.

Mom, Gabe said in a hurried voice, as he skateboarded into the living room.

Gabe! Lucy said.

Sorry, he said, stepping off the skateboard. Can I borrow some money so the guys and I can go to Shopmart?

Shopmart? What for?

Oh, I don’t know. Probably something for my board.

How much do you need? George asked.

I don’t know. I have $20 already, so maybe another $10?

Sounds reasonable. Here you go, son.

Thanks, Dad.

Be home for dinner, okay?

Oh, by the way, can we have a sleepover here tonight?

Tonight? George, what do you think? Can we handle an extra set of boys for the night? Lucy asked, laughing.

Oh sure, why not? George responded, laughing too. The more, the merrier.

Thanks, Mom, Dad. See you guys later then. Bye, Gabe said, skateboarding out of the house.

I swear, this third one’s either going to kill us or keep us in hair dye!

You got that right!

Anyway, back to that letter, Lucy said, placing her attention back to the letter.

Is there a copy of the policy with the letter?

No, there isn’t. Just a bunch of file numbers near the top. Looks like there’s a toll-free number listed. I’ll call and talk with this, what’s his name, Melvin to see what this is all about.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful. Lucy decided not to tell her brother and sister until she received more information from the company. Not long after arriving at her office, she placed the call to the company.

Good morning, National Life Insurance Company of Peoria, how may I direct your call? the receptionist answered.

Good morning, Lucy said. May I please speak with Melvin Thompson?

Certainly, I will connect you. Have a good day, she said before transferring the call.

You as well, thanks, Lucy replied.

Hello, this is Melvin Thompson, may I help you?

Ah, yes, hello. My name is Lucy Campbell. I received a certified letter from you the other day, and I wanted to find out more about it.

Of course. Do you happen to have the name of the purchaser or a policy number?

Yes, it’s regarding a whole life insurance policy that was purchased by a Rosalinda Harris. The file number is RH-94283478.

Thank you. May I please put you on hold while I look this number up?

Sure.

Okay, this will just take a moment.

While Lucy waited for a few minutes on hold, classical music played in her ear. What a strange way to start your Monday morning, she thought. Not that thinking about her mother was strange, but the reason why she was making this call. What’s this all about? she thought. Waiting on hold for some guy to tell her that her long-ago-dead mother had probably taken out some small insurance policy that she named Lucy as a beneficiary? What else could it possibly be?

Okay, Ms. Campbell, I’m back. If I could just verify your full name and birth date?

Sure, she responded. It’s Lucy Rose Downing Campbell, and my birth date is December 27, 1958.

Okay, Ms. Campbell.

Oh, please call me Lucy.

All right, Lucy. It seems that your mother, Rosalinda Harris, had taken out a few policies with us.

A few?

Yes, there appears to be three of them.

Three?

Yes. It looks like maybe, given the dates, ah, do you have siblings?

Why, yes, I do. That would make sense, wouldn’t it? I have a brother, James Peter Harris, and a sister named Dottie. I mean Dorothy Jean Harris-Faulkner.

Can you tell me their birth dates?

Um, sure. James’s birth date is June 22, 1960, and Dorothy’s is April 12, 1962.

Great. Looks like we have three accurate matches.

Okay, so tell me this, Mr. Thompson, how did you track us down all these years?

Well, we let computers actually do the work for us. Let me explain. When the two insurance companies recently merged, we basically were cleaning house, so to speak. We ran a listing of all old policies, focusing in on the ones that had never been collected upon. Yours and your siblings were some that came up. It looks like this is your lucky day.

Why do you say lucky? How much are these policies worth now? A few hundred dollars each?

Quite the contrary, Lucy. It looks like in 1962, when your mother took out the three policies, they were each worth $100,000. Each of you were named a beneficiary to their individual policy.

My word. How much do you estimate them to be worth now?

Well, I’d have to run the numbers on them officially, but I would guess, conservatively speaking, of course, and off the record, mind you, I would guess they would be around the $500,000 mark for each policy.

Seriously?

Like I said, those aren’t the official numbers, mind you, but I would estimate them to be pretty close.

I don’t really quite know what to say. I’m in shock.

I bet you are. Most people are when I tell them about their long-lost policies.

Mr. Thompson, did you send similar letters to both my siblings as well?

Yes, they each would have received one. If they didn’t receive it today, it should be no later than Wednesday.

Okay, so what’s the next step in this whole process?

What you need to do is have you and your siblings obtain a certified copy of your individual birth certificates and just one certified copy of your mother’s death certificate. The only other document you would need is to have each of you sign permission for the others to discuss these files.

Sounds simple enough. I’ll contact them and get things rolling. I know they’ve both been on vacation with their families, so I’ll leave them a voice mail and give them a heads up as to what’s happening.

Very good. It’s been a pleasure talking with you this morning, Lucy. That’s all the information I have for you so far. I look forward to hearing from either you or one of your siblings soon.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. You can count on me getting this project going right away.

No sooner had Lucy hung up with the insurance company when she placed calls to her brother and sister.

Hey, James. It’s Lucy. When you get this message, please, please, please check your mail right away. And then call me. You should have received a letter from an insurance company named National Life Insurance Company of Peoria. Don’t throw it away, it’s not an advertisement. I’ll explain more when we talk. So call me, okay? Love ya. Bye.

Lucy then called her sister, Dottie. Dottie, it’s me, Lucy. Call me when you get this message and after you’ve checked your mail. You should have received a letter from an insurance company named National Life Insurance Company of Peoria. Don’t throw it away, it’s not an advertisement. I’ll explain it to you when we talk, okay? Love ya. Bye.

Over the course of the next few days, while she waited for James and Dottie to call, Lucy kept busy with the ever-growing stacks of files on her desk. After her initial shock over the news, Lucy decided that she could at least start by getting all the paperwork needed for her and her siblings to get this claim rolling. Working downtown has its advantages sometimes, Lucy thought while she decided to slip away on a lunch hour to get the documents.

Okay, Mrs. Campbell, the clerk at the Health Department said. Here are the certified copies of the three birth certificates you need. Is there anything else I can help you with?

Yes, I also need a certified copy of a death certificate as well, Lucy responded.

Sure. Just fill out this form and bring it back to the counter when you’re done.

Okay, Lucy said, taking a seat at the table. When it came to the part about the date of her mother’s death, Lucy drew a blank. She took the form up to the counter and explained it to the clerk.

You don’t remember when she died? the clerk asked, rather confused.

Not exactly. You see, my siblings and I were very young. All I know is it was in 1962. Like September or October.

Okay, well, we’ll start with that. Hold on.

Thanks.

After a few minutes, the clerk came back with the death certificate in her hand.

Here you go, the clerk said, handing Lucy the document.

Oh, good, you were able to find it, Lucy responded, handing the clerk the money.

Not a problem. It helps to have it narrowed down by a month or two for that year. Is there anything else I can help you with?

No, thanks. I believe I have everything I need. Have a good day.

You too.

Before she left the building, Lucy took a quick look at the death certificate. Date of death, October 18, 1962. Okay. Looks right, she guessed. Glancing down at the cause of death was what Lucy found quite disturbing, stopping her in her tracks. The main cause of death was listed as a homicide, with a secondary cause of death listed as brake lines severed and a blow to the head with a blunt force object. Lucy could only focus on the word homicide. This couldn’t be right, could it? Her mother wasn’t murdered. Her death was caused by a single car accident. That’s what she had always been told. Lucy brought the death certificate back up to the counter.

Oh, hi, back again? Something else you need? the clerk said.

Ah, no. I just have a question, Lucy said, putting the death certificate down on the counter. I wanted to make sure this death certificate is accurate.

Accurate? How so?

I mean the cause of death that’s listed on it. It says the main cause of death was a homicide. This doesn’t make sense. It can’t be hers.

Why not?

Well, I was always led to believe my mother died due to injuries caused by a single car accident, not murder.

I can’t tell you if it’s accurate, the clerk said, looking at the document. It is clear how it’s stated here.

Could someone have gotten my mother’s reason for death mixed up with someone else that died around the same time?

I suppose it might be possible. Pretty rare, but I can check if you would like me to.

Could you?

Sure. I can check the deaths for the surrounding dates. I’ll be right back.

Thanks.

The clerk came back after a few minutes with no encouraging news for Lucy.

I’m sorry, but it looks as though this was it. Nothing around that date at all that it would have been switched with. If it really was murder like it says, there has to be, at the very least, some sort of police report, perhaps a newspaper article, something that tells about it. Maybe something about an investigation, any arrests, a trial, that sort of thing. Another possibility to check into would be the autopsy report.

Hmm, do you know where I could get a copy of the autopsy report?

You would have to contact the individual county’s Medical Examiner’s Office.

Okay then. Thanks a lot for all your help. I appreciate it.

Any time. Good luck with your search.

Thanks.

Lucy walked back to her office and called George, explaining what she had to do in order to obtain her mother’s autopsy report. She asked him if he could pick up some precooked food on his way home from work.

Thanks for bringing food home tonight, George, Lucy said, as she walked into the kitchen that evening. It’s been quite a day.

No doubt, George said, dishing up some food. So tell me more about this discrepancy on your mother’s death certificate. What did it actually say?

It said the main cause for her death was homicide.

Homicide? How can that be? I thought you always said she died from injuries sustained in a single car accident.

I always thought that too. I even questioned the clerk at the Health Department as to the validity of the certificate. I thought maybe it might be that someone got mixed up and put the wrong cause of death on the certificate.

What did the clerk say?

She said it probably wasn’t a mix up. She checked for surrounding dates of death but there wasn’t any. Before I left she suggested that I contact the Medical Examiner’s Office in the county where she died to see if I could obtain a copy of the autopsy report.

That might tell you something. How are you going to get a copy of it?

I have to either put my request in writing or actually go to Pearl River.

Well, it’s something to think about, George said, sitting down at the kitchen table. Okay, enough talk about dead people. No offense, but I’m hungry. I personally am going to start eating.

While Lucy waited over the next few days for calls back from James and Dottie, she couldn’t help but wonder what really happened.

Hello? Lucy asked.

Hey, sis. It’s James. Got your message. So what’s up?

Hey, James. Glad you called back. Do I have news for you. Let’s try to get Dottie on the phone too. That way I don’t have to go through all the information twice.

Okay.

Hello? Dottie asked.

Hey, Dottie. It’s Lucy and James here.

Oh, hey, guys, what’s up? What was that message that you sent me all about, Lucy? Oh, James, how was your trip?

Great. Took a million pictures, of course. And yours? James asked.

Perfect, as usual, Dottie responded.

Hey, guys? Lucy said. Remember the purpose of this call?

Sorry, sis, James and Dottie chimed in.

Did either one of you open that letter I told you about in my voice mail to each of you?

The one from National Life of something or other? James asked.

Yeah, that’s the one, Lucy responded.

No, James and Dottie responded in unison.

Well, open it! Lucy shouted. Trust me. You two are going to be in shock.

James was the first to open his.

Okay, so it looks like Mom had some sort of life insurance policy on each of us? James said. But what does this mean now? I mean, she’s been gone for over forty years.

It means, dear brother, by the way it reads, Dottie said, after reading hers, that we can cash in each of our policies.

I spoke with the rep from the insurance company, real nice guy, Lucy said. He told me all we have to do is come up with certified copies of each of our individual birth certificates and a certified copy of Mom’s death certificate.

That’s it? James asked.

Can you help us out with that since James and I are out of town? Dottie asked.

I’m one step ahead of you guys for that part of it, Lucy responded. I’ve already obtained a copy of all your birth certificates and a copy of Mom’s death certificate. All you two have to do now is send me a few lines stating something like it’s okay for me to handle this for you two. Then we should be set.

So it’s a done deal then, right? James asked.

Ah yes, from that end, it is, Lucy responded. But I do have some startling news for you two. Are you both sitting down? It’s about what was written on Mom’s death certificate.

Yeah? James and Dottie responded together.

Mom didn’t die the way we’ve been told all our lives.

What do you mean?

How did she die then?

"Ready for this? Oh, she was in a car accident, all right.