CHAPTER 25
It’s true what they say about doctors being the worst patients. Once Richard started feeling better, he became cranky and bossy—totally unlike his usual self. But Brenda and I suffered through his moods, keeping him company from the time visiting hours started until the nurses threatened us with the hospital security forces to get us out at night.
Maggie visited several times, bringing him flowers and us care packages. Her presence forced Richard to be almost as nice as usual. Brenda and I bought a chess game at the toy store before visiting one day, and that kept Richard—and me—occupied for hours on end, while Brenda patiently worked on her needlepoint or read magazines.
Sharon Walker wasn’t as lucky. No one came to visit her in jail. Three days after her arrest, the cops found her hanged in her cell. Hayden called me even before the press was notified to ask if I’d seen it coming. I hadn’t. Once the cops had taken her away from the church, I didn’t give the woman more than a passing thought. I wondered if the guilt trip I’d laid on her about her father had influenced her that much. Had I inadvertently caused her death?
I didn’t like to think about that.
They buried her in her family’s plot at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Some macabre part of me wondered if Ted Schmidt had dug and then danced on her grave.
The police found enough evidence at her house to convict her, and although he was only four years old, her son turned out to be a credible witness to Sumner’s murder—for all the good it did. In my mind, justice had more or less been served.
Sharon had no other family and true to form, Rob Sumner did not claim his child from Social Services. I felt bad for the kid. I hoped little Jackie—or Jimmy, as his mother had called him—would be placed in a foster home where he’d find some semblance of a normal life. Maybe one day be adopted. Toward that end, after I told him what happened, Richard called his lawyer and set up a trust for the kid, assuring psychiatric help and anything else the boy needed. It was the first step in what Richard called “unloading some of that damned money.”
The kid would probably have a better life without Sharon.
Yeah. Sure he would.
As a result of Sam Nielsen’s newspaper articles, I received several job offers; two were from crackpots, one seemed genuine. That is, until I inquired about their health care benefits and outlined my particular problems, then they no longer wanted to interview me. The answering machine took the bulk of the crank calls.
I stopped by the bakery—twice—for more placek and conversation, but Sophie wasn’t around. I wasn’t about to give up on her. I’d just have to keep trying.
Spring sunshine warmed the air six days after Richard was shot—the day he was released from the hospital. The crew from the sporting goods store had only been gone five minutes when the Lincoln pulled up the driveway. Richard and Brenda were late getting home from the hospital.
Richard got out of the passenger side of the car, looking pale, but smiling. Other than his arm in a sling, there was no outward sign of his near-death experience.
I greeted him with a basketball tucked under my still-healing arm.
“Looks great,” he said, indicating the new backboard over the garage door.
“Yeah, and in another couple of weeks we can use it.” I dribbled the ball on the driveway, tried a one-handed lay-up shot and missed. The ball bounced once and rolled away from me.
“Yeah,” I repeated, embarrassed, “another couple of weeks.”
Brenda got out of the car and joined us; her body language said she was wired. I looked at the two of them, sensing something was definitely going on.
“What’s up?”
Richard glanced at her. “Do you want to tell him, or should I?”
In answer, she peeled off the leather glove on her left hand, flashing a large diamond ring. “We stopped at the jewelry store on the way home. Isn’t it gorgeous?”
Delighted, I took her offered hand, noticing how the sunlight reflected off the many-faceted stone. “Nice. Congratulations.” I stopped myself. “No, you get best wishes,” and I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “You get congratulations.” I shook Richard’s hand. “When’s the date?”
“Oh, who knows,” Brenda said and laughed, “but sometime soon. And we want you and Maggie to stand up for us. Then we’re going to Paris for a honeymoon. Won’t that be great?”
“Yeah, it will.” A swell of wellbeing coursed through me. On impulse, I drew them into an awkward group hug.”
“It really will.”
==========================
Other Books in the series:
Dead In Red
When The Spirit Moves You (short story)
Room At The Inn
Cheated By Death
Bah! Humbug (short story)
Bound By Suggestion
Dark Waters
Evolution: Jeff Resnick's Backstory
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About the Author
The immensely popular Booktown Mystery series is what put Lorraine Bartlett’s pen name Lorna Barrett on the New York Times Bestseller list, but it’s her talent -- whether writing as Lorna, or L.L. Bartlett, or Lorraine Bartlett -- that keeps her there. This multi-published, Agatha-nominated author pens the exciting Jeff Resnick Mysteries as well as the acclaimed Victoria Square Mystery series and has many short stories and novellas to her name(s).
Visit her website at: http://www.llbartlett.com/
(You can also find her on Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter
Writing as Lorraine BartlettThe Tales of Telenia (Fantasy)
ThresholdJourney
Treachery (2014)The Victoria Square Mysteries
A Crafty Killing
The Walled Flower
One Hot Murder
Recipes To Die For: A Victoria Square Cookbook
Short Stories
We’re So Sorry, Uncle Albert
An Unconditional Love
Love Heals
Prisoner of Love
Writing as L.L. Bartlett
The Jeff Resnick Mysteries
Murder on the Mind
Dead In Red
Room at the Inn
Cheated by Death
Bound By Suggestion
Short Stories
When The Spirit Moves You
Bah! Humbug
Cold Case the inspiration for the novel Bound By Suggestion
Abused: A Daughter’s Story
Writing as Lorna Barrett
The Booktown Mysteries
Murder Is Binding
Bookmarked For Death
Bookplate Special
Chapter & Hearse
Sentenced To Death
Murder On The Half Shelf
Not The Killing Type
Book Clubbed (2014)
YOU ARE READING
Murder On The Mind
Mystery / ThrillerAfter a brutal mugging leaves him with a fractured skull, insurance investigator Jeff Resnick reluctantly agrees to recover at the home of his estranged half brother, Richard. At first, Jeff believes his graphic nightmares of murder are just the wor...
