Read Online Who's sorry now? by Jill Churchill - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jill Churchill
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Howard?”
”Not so good. My deputy is in love and will probably marry soon and move away. I’m wondering how you’re getting along with your deputy?”
”Not well. And I received a letter today from an officer in Buffalo who sent his list of accomplishments and education in police work. He’s so desperate to get farther south that he’d take a slight cut in pay. You want Parker? I’d really like to hire this guy from Buffalo.”
”I certainly do want Deputy Parker,” Walker said. ”I got along with him just fine.”
”I can’t imagine how. The boy is bone-deep shy. When do you need him?”
As soon as you get your new deputy. When will he start?”
”We can get this done in a day or two, I imagine. How ‘bout if I tell Deputy Parker today that you want him to start next Tuesday. What’s that? The second of May, I think. And I’ll call my new man and tell him to be ready to start here the same day?”
”Suits me. Thanks, Ed.”
Howard sat back in his chair. He’d have to fire Ralph, but he was apparently marrying into a family that might take in the newlyweds anyway. Especially if there were a baby on the way already.
As it turned out, he didn’t have to fire Ralph. His deputy burst into the office moments later.
”Chief, I’ve got bad news for you. Jeanette and me are getting married Monday. Her father says so.”
”Jeanette is pregnant, right?”
Ralph didn’t even blush. ”Yep. And it’s not a church wedding. Just a judge and two witnesses. Her own folks. So I can’t invite you.”
”That’s okay.”
”Sorry to leave you in a lurch.”
”I’ll get by,” Howard said with a smile.
”I’ve got to go pack all my stuff. Like I said, I’m really sorry.
The moment the office door closed, Howard called his former landlady. ”Have you rented both my old rooms yet?”
”Not even one of them,” she said in a surly voice. ”Then I can help you out with one of them. The one with the phone connection. I’m getting a new deputy next Tuesday. Will you arrange to have the phone reconnected by then?”
On Friday when he drove to Yonkers, there were a great number of McBrides listed in the birth certificate files, but only one Edwin. Born in 1899, mother Sharon McBride. No father listed. So he was probably born out of wedlock. Not that it mattered. At least they knew his age. Walker checked for a death certificate for Sharon McBride and came up with nothing. He then searched in the city rosters in Yonkers and found her address given five years earlier. He found the house but Sharon McBride no longer lived there. A friendly neighbor told him where she’d moved.
Much as he hated giving anyone such bad news, he felt obligated. Sharon McBride turned out to be much older and more shop-worn than he’d imagined. Her gray hair straggled out of a red-and-white handkerchief tied around her head. She smelled of lemon oil.
She took the news badly.
”Poor little Edwin. He was such a nice little boy. Very popular in school. Why would anyone murder him?”
Walker had felt obligated to tell her the truth. If she saw her son’s body, she’d know it wasn’t a natural death. ”That’s what we don’t know. When was the last time you heard from him?”
”Oh, dear.Several weeks. But I’ve had so much cleaning up to do in this place I hadn’t got around to giving him my new address yet.”
”Do you have a cemetery plot for him?”
”Yes, I bought two. One for myself and one for him.”
”Is your husband there already?”
”There was no husband. He bolted when he learned I was pregnant. That’s why Edwin has my maiden name.”
”We’ll see to sending his body for burial when the pathologist is done. I’m really sorry to be the bearer of such bad news.”
”No. Don’t be sorry. I needed to know this. Otherwise I’d have never known what became of my son.”
CHAPTER NINE
MRS. MCBRIDE seemed to be hanging on to her emotions by a fine thread. She’d removed the
”Not so good. My deputy is in love and will probably marry soon and move away. I’m wondering how you’re getting along with your deputy?”
”Not well. And I received a letter today from an officer in Buffalo who sent his list of accomplishments and education in police work. He’s so desperate to get farther south that he’d take a slight cut in pay. You want Parker? I’d really like to hire this guy from Buffalo.”
”I certainly do want Deputy Parker,” Walker said. ”I got along with him just fine.”
”I can’t imagine how. The boy is bone-deep shy. When do you need him?”
As soon as you get your new deputy. When will he start?”
”We can get this done in a day or two, I imagine. How ‘bout if I tell Deputy Parker today that you want him to start next Tuesday. What’s that? The second of May, I think. And I’ll call my new man and tell him to be ready to start here the same day?”
”Suits me. Thanks, Ed.”
Howard sat back in his chair. He’d have to fire Ralph, but he was apparently marrying into a family that might take in the newlyweds anyway. Especially if there were a baby on the way already.
As it turned out, he didn’t have to fire Ralph. His deputy burst into the office moments later.
”Chief, I’ve got bad news for you. Jeanette and me are getting married Monday. Her father says so.”
”Jeanette is pregnant, right?”
Ralph didn’t even blush. ”Yep. And it’s not a church wedding. Just a judge and two witnesses. Her own folks. So I can’t invite you.”
”That’s okay.”
”Sorry to leave you in a lurch.”
”I’ll get by,” Howard said with a smile.
”I’ve got to go pack all my stuff. Like I said, I’m really sorry.
The moment the office door closed, Howard called his former landlady. ”Have you rented both my old rooms yet?”
”Not even one of them,” she said in a surly voice. ”Then I can help you out with one of them. The one with the phone connection. I’m getting a new deputy next Tuesday. Will you arrange to have the phone reconnected by then?”
On Friday when he drove to Yonkers, there were a great number of McBrides listed in the birth certificate files, but only one Edwin. Born in 1899, mother Sharon McBride. No father listed. So he was probably born out of wedlock. Not that it mattered. At least they knew his age. Walker checked for a death certificate for Sharon McBride and came up with nothing. He then searched in the city rosters in Yonkers and found her address given five years earlier. He found the house but Sharon McBride no longer lived there. A friendly neighbor told him where she’d moved.
Much as he hated giving anyone such bad news, he felt obligated. Sharon McBride turned out to be much older and more shop-worn than he’d imagined. Her gray hair straggled out of a red-and-white handkerchief tied around her head. She smelled of lemon oil.
She took the news badly.
”Poor little Edwin. He was such a nice little boy. Very popular in school. Why would anyone murder him?”
Walker had felt obligated to tell her the truth. If she saw her son’s body, she’d know it wasn’t a natural death. ”That’s what we don’t know. When was the last time you heard from him?”
”Oh, dear.Several weeks. But I’ve had so much cleaning up to do in this place I hadn’t got around to giving him my new address yet.”
”Do you have a cemetery plot for him?”
”Yes, I bought two. One for myself and one for him.”
”Is your husband there already?”
”There was no husband. He bolted when he learned I was pregnant. That’s why Edwin has my maiden name.”
”We’ll see to sending his body for burial when the pathologist is done. I’m really sorry to be the bearer of such bad news.”
”No. Don’t be sorry. I needed to know this. Otherwise I’d have never known what became of my son.”
CHAPTER NINE
MRS. MCBRIDE seemed to be hanging on to her emotions by a fine thread. She’d removed the
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