Read Online The Cinco de Mayo Murder by Lee Harris - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Lee Harris
Ads: Link
Joseph wanted to see were the Stations of the Cross spread on the hill beyond the buildings. We walked up to the first two, then came down again. It was getting late, and we had a long drive back to the hotel. This had been our last day in Arizona, and we had packed more into the week than I had expected.
As I had promised and Jack had insisted, I took Joseph out to a memorable dinner. I think by then I had fallen in love with Tucson and was hoping to arrange to get our family out here. I had been amazed by the amount of art I saw, not just for sale in shops and galleries, but also along the roads we traveled, in the restaurants, and out-of-doors, where people passed it and appreciated it daily. By contrast, our lovely town of Oakwood in New York seemeddull and colorless. It needed a few murals, I thought, or some handsome pieces of sculpture, or an artistic bench one could sit on while contemplating a clear blue sky. Not much chance that we would ever achieve anything so lofty, but it was nice to dream.
In the morning, we drove to the airport, returned the car, checked in, and went through security. I had never felt so sad at leaving a place that I hardly knew. When we were at our gate with time to spare, I stood at the large window and looked at the bluest sky I had ever seen, at the mountains that turned gold and pink and purple at sunset.
“This was a wonderful trip,” Joseph said at my side. “I know I will miss this place.”
“So will I. I think I finally know what love at first sight means.”
“I thought that applied to relationships between men and women.”
“It may do that also. Look at that sky, Joseph. Look at those mountains. I've never seen anything like it. Imagine waking up every day to those mountains.”
Joseph was silent. A moment later our flight was called. Half an hour after that, I saw the city and the mountains for the last time as we headed north and east. I felt very lucky.
For the first time, I found it hard to get back to my routine. I haven't visited many places—although our trip to Israel a couple of years before was as good as traveling gets—but the Southwest had worked its charm on me, and I continued to feel its pull for several days after my return. It was May in the East, too, but the sky was duller, the air chillier, my daily tasks more of a burden. I kept this to myself while talking about the trip and telling Jack how much he and Eddie would enjoy Arizona.
Sunday was my buffer day, time to get back to normal, performing the mundane but necessary tasks of life like doing laundry. After mass, Jack took us all out to a buffet brunch, including my cousin Gene, who lives in a residence for retarded adults here in town. Grandma Brooks was already back home in Brooklyn, having left me enough meals and desserts for several days. That lessened the impact of running a household again, and I expressed my gratitude to her in the afternoon after we returned to the house and Eddie and Gene went outside to play.
“You want me to apply for chief of police in a small town in Arizona?” Jack asked with a twinkle after I got off the phone.
“Wouldn't that be nice. But I'm not ready for that yet. I'dmiss Joseph and the nuns. And what would I do without Mel across the street?”
“Just askin'. You haven't talked about Mrs. Gruner's son.”
“We learned some interesting things, Jack.” I walked to the window to check on the boys, who were more than thirty years apart in physical age. They were sitting at the patio table and playing some game. I came back and told him our theory that Heinz had made the climb with another person who had a car parked at the base of the trail.
“That's new. I looked through that file before I gave it to you and nothing like that was even hinted at. The guy was thought to be alone and it was a simple case of falling off the trail.”
“Maybe not so simple.” I told him about our meeting with the Towers, about the backpack that wasn't there and
As I had promised and Jack had insisted, I took Joseph out to a memorable dinner. I think by then I had fallen in love with Tucson and was hoping to arrange to get our family out here. I had been amazed by the amount of art I saw, not just for sale in shops and galleries, but also along the roads we traveled, in the restaurants, and out-of-doors, where people passed it and appreciated it daily. By contrast, our lovely town of Oakwood in New York seemeddull and colorless. It needed a few murals, I thought, or some handsome pieces of sculpture, or an artistic bench one could sit on while contemplating a clear blue sky. Not much chance that we would ever achieve anything so lofty, but it was nice to dream.
In the morning, we drove to the airport, returned the car, checked in, and went through security. I had never felt so sad at leaving a place that I hardly knew. When we were at our gate with time to spare, I stood at the large window and looked at the bluest sky I had ever seen, at the mountains that turned gold and pink and purple at sunset.
“This was a wonderful trip,” Joseph said at my side. “I know I will miss this place.”
“So will I. I think I finally know what love at first sight means.”
“I thought that applied to relationships between men and women.”
“It may do that also. Look at that sky, Joseph. Look at those mountains. I've never seen anything like it. Imagine waking up every day to those mountains.”
Joseph was silent. A moment later our flight was called. Half an hour after that, I saw the city and the mountains for the last time as we headed north and east. I felt very lucky.
For the first time, I found it hard to get back to my routine. I haven't visited many places—although our trip to Israel a couple of years before was as good as traveling gets—but the Southwest had worked its charm on me, and I continued to feel its pull for several days after my return. It was May in the East, too, but the sky was duller, the air chillier, my daily tasks more of a burden. I kept this to myself while talking about the trip and telling Jack how much he and Eddie would enjoy Arizona.
Sunday was my buffer day, time to get back to normal, performing the mundane but necessary tasks of life like doing laundry. After mass, Jack took us all out to a buffet brunch, including my cousin Gene, who lives in a residence for retarded adults here in town. Grandma Brooks was already back home in Brooklyn, having left me enough meals and desserts for several days. That lessened the impact of running a household again, and I expressed my gratitude to her in the afternoon after we returned to the house and Eddie and Gene went outside to play.
“You want me to apply for chief of police in a small town in Arizona?” Jack asked with a twinkle after I got off the phone.
“Wouldn't that be nice. But I'm not ready for that yet. I'dmiss Joseph and the nuns. And what would I do without Mel across the street?”
“Just askin'. You haven't talked about Mrs. Gruner's son.”
“We learned some interesting things, Jack.” I walked to the window to check on the boys, who were more than thirty years apart in physical age. They were sitting at the patio table and playing some game. I came back and told him our theory that Heinz had made the climb with another person who had a car parked at the base of the trail.
“That's new. I looked through that file before I gave it to you and nothing like that was even hinted at. The guy was thought to be alone and it was a simple case of falling off the trail.”
“Maybe not so simple.” I told him about our meeting with the Towers, about the backpack that wasn't there and
Similar Books
