The Hedge — Charlotte Lewis

When she retired, Abigail Stone bought a little house in Vancouver, Washington. She had been drawn to the property by the huge arborvitae hedges on the east and west side of the property. After a moderate wind storm took down one of the trees in the east hedge, Abigail decided it might be wise to have the hedge pruned.

The arborist she hired stated he had never seen an arborvitae hedge so tall. It was his guesstimate that the trees were at least seventy five years old and had never been pruned. Midway through the pruning of the massive hedge, the arborist stopped work. Wrapped around the ninth tree in the tall, dense hedge was a human skeleton.

Abigail Stone has solved several mysteries since she moved to Vancouver. But this was her biggest challenge. Skeletons don't have pockets to carry identification. She and a reporter from the local newspaper followed many leads and were able to identify the bones as well as solve another mystery connected to them.