Authors: Dianne Yetman
June knew as much about Withers as any of his colleagues
. She knew
he was a bachelor, lived alone
somewhere
in the burbs, had a passion for motorcycle
s
, l
oved to race the
m on the
dark highways late at night
thanks to the information
provided by one of her faithful customers
,
Constable
Shirley Proctor
.
“Are you alright Withers?” Kate asked. “You’re flushed and your breathing isn’t great. Are you coming down with the flu?”
“No, it’s the tea; doesn’t agree with me.”
“I’ll get you a drink of water.
”
“No. I’ll be fine.”
Roger listened to their conversation and bit his lip. What’s with Kate these
days?
Figured she’d twig to what’s wrong with Withers before anyone else
, t
his woman needs to get out more.
He
munched on his
tiny
sandwich
,
the kind his aunt would make when the
Baptist
m
inister came to call. So tiny, they slid down his throat without hitting his taste buds.
He took three, downed them at once and
decided it was time to help
alleviate Wither’s misery.
Poor bastard, he’s tormented just being in the same room as
June Grayson.
Th
is kind of situation needs the work of a pro matchmaker like my Aunt Gertrude. She could persuade a fox to mate with a rabbit.
He turned to Kate
.
“
Withers and I could be working on those background checks
Shirley
needs help with. I
f we left now, we can get in a couple of hours before the evening shift comes on.
You mind finishing up here on your own?
”
“Go
ahead;
I’m going to be taking off shortly myself. Withers,
pay attention to that reaction, your throat starts to swell, get to the hospital.”
A relieved Withers and a smug Roger made their exit.
Kate
decided
to mingle.
She
walked over to
Eleanor
who was standing next to
a dark haired young woman who was introduced
herself
as Brenda
Parsons
.
So this is
the
bubbly Brenda
,
Withers spoke about
.
Kate murmured something about how sad it must be for Jeffrey’s family.
“Yes, very sad”, Brenda said. “You only have to look at Catherine to see how much pain she is in.”
“Did you know them well”, Kate asked.
“
We met socially from time to time.
Jeffrey invited my husband,
Jim
and
me
,
to dinner just the other week. He and Catherine were perfect hosts
. They were a lovely couple.”
“
I understand
you’re a writer.”
“Yes.
I have written a couple of one act plays.
One of my biggest fans was
Jeffrey;
we
talked collaborating on a script some day.
” A
look
of
sadness crossed her broad, freckled face
, but no tears.
“But that was not to be.”
“I’m sure we will be reading your books someday, Brenda”, Eleanor said.
“Are you planning on staying with the theatre group”, Kate asked.
“I want to but it depends on whoever is in charge of the next production.
”
Eleanor and Brenda started
tossing around names.
Kate excused herself and drifted over to j
oin
Hanya and the dour looking man dressed in black.
Henry
made his way to the men’s room and splashed cold water on his face.
His body ached from the lack of sleep and dark circles ringed his eyes. He had spent most of the evening sipping scotch and struggling with the short address he had
delivered.
The drinks he had weren’t helping. Red blotches covered his neck and face.
He couldn’t stand to see her suffer like this. The bastard didn’t deserve it. He’d make it up to her once a decent interval had passed.
He dried his face with a paper towel and went back to the reception.
Andrew stood by the heavy drapes drawn across the window looking at Kate talking with the large women who spent most of her time
standing by
the food table
.
He strolled over, introduced himself and joined the conversation. He lucked out when Jeffrey’s son came to speak with the two preachers.
He was alone
with Sgt. Kate.
“Would you like a cup of coffee (
back rub, ear nibbled, sleep over
)”, he asked.
“No, thanks”, Kate said.
“
Excuse
me;
I was on my way to speak with Catherine.”
He
sighed and
feasted his eyes on the untouchable as she made her way to say good-bye to the widow. Why the hell do I bother to torture myself
, he wondered
? I’m a damn suspect and she’s a cop but, oh, such a delectable cop.
An hour later the room
started to
empt
y.
June
helped the staggering Charlotte to James’ car.
“Thanks so much
,
June,” Charlotte said, “I do appreciate your assistance. Rather appropriate
, don’t you think, m
y
hair and makeup
assistant giving me assistance
.”
She laughed loud and long.
James rolled his eyes at June
as
Charlotte hoisted herself into the front seat
.
W
itness
ing
the
impact Big Daddy and Big Mama made on the two front tires
, June turned her head, waved to a departing mourner, then leaned
in the window and gave the tee-totalling James a quick kiss
,
waved a good-bye to an oblivious Charlotte
and walked to the nearest bus stop
.
Kate and Hanya stood
together
on the front door step
.
“So did you drop the net in hopes of catching a killer”, Kate asked.
“No, I decided it wasn’t appropriate. Today was
for paying tribute to Jeffrey Stone and his life.”
“
Good choice. Leave the rest to us.”
She gave Kate a kiss on the cheek
,
said goodbye
, and promised to repent of her lie later
.
She had dropped her bombshell in every ear except Kate’s and Catherine’s.
“Can I give you a lift”, Kate asked.
“No, I think I’ll head over to the office. It’s only a ten minute walk from here
.
”
Kate stood and watched her friend leave. She grabbed her keys out of her purse, lowered her head to hide the tears, and walked to the car.
Weaving
her way in and out of traffic, she
made her way to the precinct.
Having shied away from the buffet table and nothing in her tummy since breakfast this morning, she was ravenous.
Leaving her car in the underground parking lot, she headed for Toni’s Deli
. A
place avoided by all on or off on duty police
. She had no choice. After all,
it’s impossible to screw up a
ham and swiss cheese sandwich
.
She was wrong. She tossed the
3 day old
sandwich in the garbage and reached for her stash of
jelly beans
.
Roger opened the office door, stuck his head in and asked her if she wanted anything to eat. He and Withers were going downtown to Ernie’s Pizza.
Her response was a loud “
yes
”.
She
pulled out
the folder containing all t
he copies
of interviews
conducted to date. There has to be something buried somewhe
re, some small clue that could break
the case wide open.
She stopped reading long enough to eat her delivered pizza. The thoughts of last night running through her head curbed her appetite. She forced herself to keep eating. The talk about their relationship had been painful for both her and David but she stuck to her guns. They agreed to take a break, he hopeful of reconciliation that wasn’t going to happen. He left as soon as they agreed on the temporary halt. The sight of his bowed head as he walked out the door hurt her. Life sucks, she thought, as she hurled the half eaten pizza in the garbage.
She refocused on the files.
Forty minutes later,
she stumbled across an interesting piece of information. Eleanor
had mentioned the death of her teenage daughter but she didn’t mention that she may have been under the influence of drugs while driving the car. She had been prescribed anti-depressants by a doctor and there had been no restriction against operating a motor vehicle while taking the drug.
Still, Kate thought, youth, drugs,
and car
accident - a lethal combination. Was it more than an accident?
It was something to explore.
She looked over at Roger who had just
hung up
the
phone.
He spoke before she had a chance to.
“
Report
’s
in from the taxi driver
who had picked up the m
ysterious passenger
outside the theatre
.
Th
e guy can’t say if it was a man or woman, hat pulled down to eyes, no hair visible, talked in a low, monotone voice
,
said it reminded him of an actor’s voice, whatever that’s supposed to mean. The passenger a
sked to be dropped off by
the bus terminal building in Dartmouth, didn’t say another word, threw a $20 bill at him, and left. The last thing he saw was his passenger climbing
the long hill up towards the intersection.”
“Is it a residential area?”
“Once you get past the
intersection.
We’re dealing with a very crafty mind, Kate. We can’t be sure if the perp even lives in Dartmouth and we don’t know if it’s a he or she.”
“He or she will slip up and we’ll be waiting.”
She pulled out the sheet of information on Eleanor’s daughter but Roger
was standing. “I’m off to talk with the research
scientist at
the Darmouth hospital about hydrogen cyanide. I want as much information about it as possible before speaking with Donald Sutton. I’ll grab a bite then I’m off to turn the screw a little tighter on Henry Ward. He’s hiding something and I need to pop him. I’ll be back to the precinct tonight, not sure when.”
“Okay. I’ve found something that needs looking into. I’ll tell you about it tonight. I’m meeting with one of the theatre’s Board members to look at his personnel record. I’ve set up a time to speak with the New York Producer who worked closely with Jeffrey Stone for the past ten years this evening at 7:00pm. Catch you sometime after that.”
The office door closed and Kate returned to reading the files.
***
Kate and Roger sat across from each other, fresh cups of coffee from the deli, in their hands. They began their debrief.
“
I got
an interesting phone call while you were out getting coffee.
Paul
, my partner at the Drug Squad
, called earlier. The w
ord
on the street is someone’s out to do me harm.
C
hrist, I’ve been off the squad for
two
years now, and as far as anyone knows, my cover was never blown.
It’s got to be a hoax.
”
“
I
remember
Paul from my rookie days. Always seemed to have his feet on the ground. I can’t see him sharing
anything he didn’t think had substance.
Did he say anything else
?”
“
No,
said he’d keep me
posted.
”