Read Online Nutty As a Fruitcake by Mary Daheim - Free Book Online

Judith. “Not that! I mean in the cul-de-sac! Firemen, medics, police! I think they’re at the Goodriches’. Do you suppose George had a heart attack?”
    â€œGoodness!” At a near run, Judith led the way into the kitchen, through the dining room and the entry hall, and out onto the front porch. Sure enough, the emergency vehicles filled the cul-de-sac, their red-and-blue lights flashing in the morning drizzle. The two women slowed their step as they started around the curving sidewalk. Three firemen came out of the Goodrich house and headed for their truck. Judith could hear a voice coming over a radio band but couldn’t make out the words.
    â€œLook,” Judith said, lowering her voice for no apparent reason other than the sense of tragedy that the scene conveyed, “there’s Art’s Toyota parked in front of the Ericsons’.”
    Arlene gave a brief nod, but her attention was elsewhere. “Oh, my! This must be something really terrible! The front door is open!”
    Judith grimaced. “You’re right. Enid doesn’t let people come in that way.” She moved closer to the police car, noting its number. Judith knew the officers who came on duty after eleven A . M . But the vehicle that was parked in the middle of the cul-de-sac didn’t belong to Corazón Pérez and Ted Doyle who were assigned to the afternoon beat on the south side of Heraldsgate Hill. This was the morning shift, and while Joe knew the pair by sight, Judith did not.
    With some tricky steering, the fire truck pulled out into the intersection. Judith frowned. “It’s serious if the firefighters weren’t needed. When did you notice all this?”
    Arlene glanced at her watch. “About fifteen minutes ago. The firemen came first, then the medics. The police were just pulling up when I ran over to your house. I can’t believe you didn’t hear the sirens.”
    Judith started to explain about Phyliss and the vacuum, but at that moment, the medics exited the Goodrich house. Somewhat to her dismay, she recognized one of them. Ray Kinsellahad come to Hillside Manor some five years earlier, when Madame Gushenka was poisoned.
    â€œRay!” Judith called, waving her arms. She trotted past the Ericson gate with Arlene at her heels. The medic stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, peering at Judith through the rain.
    â€œDo I know you?” he inquired, as his partner opened the van’s back doors.
    Judith gestured over her shoulder at Hillside Manor. “Yes, certainly. The fortune-teller? January of…”
    Kinsella nodded abruptly. “Mrs. McSomething, right?” He shook his head. “This is a hard-luck neighborhood, I’m afraid.” Moving quickly, he helped his partner roll a gurney into the Goodrich house.
    â€œI’m Mrs. Flynn now,” Judith shouted. “Mrs. Joe Flynn.” But Ray Kinsella and the other medic had disappeared inside the house. “Rats,” breathed Judith.
    Arlene regarded Judith with disillusionment. “I thought you were going to find out what happened. Should we bar their way when they come out?”
    Judith looked askance. “Hardly. Whoever they’re hauling off must be in bad shape.” Aimlessly, Judith began pacing the sidewalk. Despite the holiday decor, the cul-de-sac wore a mournful look. Bare branches of maple, hawthorn, horse chestnut, and plane trees reached up into the dead, gray sky. The air smelled damp, decay mingling with the rain and a hint of the salt water in the nearby bay. Judith felt depressed and helpless. Or maybe, she reasoned, she felt depressed because she was helpless. It wasn’t her style to stand aside and let others take charge. Life had demanded much of her, and she had been forced to meet the challenges in order to survive.
    Kinsella and the other medic emerged from the house with the gurney. One of the policemen, a young man with blunt features and almost no