Read Online Sticks & Stones (A Hollis Morgan Mystery) by R. Franklin James - Free Book Online
Authors: R. Franklin James
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mood, so I didn’t ask.” Evelyn got up went into the kitchen and returned with the keys.
Hollis pocketed the keys but remained silent, not wanting to distract her from recalling the memory.
“She said: ‘To be a great fisherman, it is important to know how to bait and switch.’ ”
When she got back to the office, Hollis checked that she had no messages. The visit with Evelyn Briscoe had depleted her. Shutting her office door, she settled in her desk chair and closed her eyes. Her own relationship with her mother came with a skull and crossbones label. She had no doubt that her mother would, in similar circumstances, blame her.
Opening her eyes and taking a deep breath, Hollis decided that she needed a distraction. She pulled the Koch box out and read the next letter. It was written in 1939.
Maggie,
Mama died two weeks ago. She never told us where you were. We found your letters when we was packing her things. She was sick for a long time. Jenny and I knowd there was a reason why you up and left. But you can come home now. It’s just us. And we miss you. We are sorry.
Love from the heart ,
Roy
According to DataCheck, Margaret never moved back to Rowan. Roy was Margaret’s older brother by four years. There was a Pierson file cross reference to a Roy Shalisky . From the date of the letter, he died in a flu epidemic just over a year later.
She opened the next letter.
Margaret,
I know you told me not to contact you, but I needed to say some things. You are so young and pretty I don’t blame you for leaving an old man like me. I don’t know art and I don’t know music and things, but I do know I love you. It doesn’t matter about the money. I told you it was yours. I hope it makes you happy.
People say I’m an old fool, and that you used me. But you and I know different.
Have a good life.
Yours,
Granger
Hollis flipped the envelope over. A Chicago postmark , dated 1940. Margaret would have been twenty-two years old when she received it. She was suddenly very curious to find a picture of Margaret Shalisky Hitchcock Ferris Koch. She must have been attractive. Hollis reached for the private detective’s file. There were two color photos, but Margaret looked to be in her sixties or seventies. Even so, she was a striking and handsome woman. It wasn’t too hard to imagine a young and vibrant Margaret.
There were several black and white photos clipped to the back of the folder. Hollis quickly scanned through what appeared to be family members gathering for different holiday occasions. One photo caught her eye : a young girl of about three or four stood next to a seated, middle-aged Margaret. The face bore a faint resemblance to the young woman, Kelly Schaefer.
But then that was impossible, or so the investigative report would imply.
Hollis wanted it to be the end of the day, but only a couple of hours had passed. She was feeling uncommonly emotional and she didn’t know what to do.
She read the letter, dated 1941:
Dear Margaret
I am glad to hear you are doing well. You said those business courses you took would give you a head start, and I guess you were right—an executive secretary, my goodness.
Well Tim and I are getting along better, especially when he found out we were going to have another baby. I hope it’s a girl so she can share the room with Laura. If it’s a boy, well the other boys will just have to move over. I hope this is our last one. Doc Riddle said that we need to space them better. Actually he said I shouldn’t have any more, but I didn’t tell Tim. He likes me pregnant. But I have to tell you I am so tired these days. I can’t seem to catch my breath.
I was in the post office yesterday, and everybody was talking about how all the jobs are gone with the men leaving their farms to go to war. Tim is deaf in one ear so the Army wouldn’t take him. The depression is lasting longer than we all thought, for us anyway. Well I’ve got to go fix
Hollis pocketed the keys but remained silent, not wanting to distract her from recalling the memory.
“She said: ‘To be a great fisherman, it is important to know how to bait and switch.’ ”
When she got back to the office, Hollis checked that she had no messages. The visit with Evelyn Briscoe had depleted her. Shutting her office door, she settled in her desk chair and closed her eyes. Her own relationship with her mother came with a skull and crossbones label. She had no doubt that her mother would, in similar circumstances, blame her.
Opening her eyes and taking a deep breath, Hollis decided that she needed a distraction. She pulled the Koch box out and read the next letter. It was written in 1939.
Maggie,
Mama died two weeks ago. She never told us where you were. We found your letters when we was packing her things. She was sick for a long time. Jenny and I knowd there was a reason why you up and left. But you can come home now. It’s just us. And we miss you. We are sorry.
Love from the heart ,
Roy
According to DataCheck, Margaret never moved back to Rowan. Roy was Margaret’s older brother by four years. There was a Pierson file cross reference to a Roy Shalisky . From the date of the letter, he died in a flu epidemic just over a year later.
She opened the next letter.
Margaret,
I know you told me not to contact you, but I needed to say some things. You are so young and pretty I don’t blame you for leaving an old man like me. I don’t know art and I don’t know music and things, but I do know I love you. It doesn’t matter about the money. I told you it was yours. I hope it makes you happy.
People say I’m an old fool, and that you used me. But you and I know different.
Have a good life.
Yours,
Granger
Hollis flipped the envelope over. A Chicago postmark , dated 1940. Margaret would have been twenty-two years old when she received it. She was suddenly very curious to find a picture of Margaret Shalisky Hitchcock Ferris Koch. She must have been attractive. Hollis reached for the private detective’s file. There were two color photos, but Margaret looked to be in her sixties or seventies. Even so, she was a striking and handsome woman. It wasn’t too hard to imagine a young and vibrant Margaret.
There were several black and white photos clipped to the back of the folder. Hollis quickly scanned through what appeared to be family members gathering for different holiday occasions. One photo caught her eye : a young girl of about three or four stood next to a seated, middle-aged Margaret. The face bore a faint resemblance to the young woman, Kelly Schaefer.
But then that was impossible, or so the investigative report would imply.
Hollis wanted it to be the end of the day, but only a couple of hours had passed. She was feeling uncommonly emotional and she didn’t know what to do.
She read the letter, dated 1941:
Dear Margaret
I am glad to hear you are doing well. You said those business courses you took would give you a head start, and I guess you were right—an executive secretary, my goodness.
Well Tim and I are getting along better, especially when he found out we were going to have another baby. I hope it’s a girl so she can share the room with Laura. If it’s a boy, well the other boys will just have to move over. I hope this is our last one. Doc Riddle said that we need to space them better. Actually he said I shouldn’t have any more, but I didn’t tell Tim. He likes me pregnant. But I have to tell you I am so tired these days. I can’t seem to catch my breath.
I was in the post office yesterday, and everybody was talking about how all the jobs are gone with the men leaving their farms to go to war. Tim is deaf in one ear so the Army wouldn’t take him. The depression is lasting longer than we all thought, for us anyway. Well I’ve got to go fix
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