The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club - Book One (19 page)

But it’s not just the book I’ve been asked
to contribute to. Myrtle also wants money for some cancer fund.
When she came to ask me for a donation, I said I would write a
check and get it to her shortly. But I have no intention of doing
any such thing. Any pennies I have to spare go to my granddaughter,
Amanda, who I’m determined to see attend a good college without
worrying about money.

Maybe I’ll write an inspirational message.
Or maybe I won’t. But I definitely won’t be writing a check.

~ ~ ~

My son, Baxter, who visits me more frequently than Josephine’s son
visits her, even though he lives in Indianapolis and Josephine’s
son lives in Cincinnati, recently brought me some wonderful news.
With my help, he’s just added $39,000 to Amanda’s college fund.

A year ago, his news was not so wonderful.
“The market downturn has hit me and the firm hard. Unless she gets
a scholarship, Amanda won’t be able to go away to college,” Baxter
told me that day, which I now remember as being overcast and
dreary.

I knew from conversations with Amanda that
she dreams of going to a top university as an undergraduate, and
then on to graduate school. She’s as bright and beautiful as anyone
could wish for, and she deserves a chance to follow that dream.

“You know you can count on me to help,” I
told Baxter the day he said money was tight.

“I do know that, but I’m afraid you can’t
afford it.”

“What do you mean, I can’t afford it? Of
course I can.”

“No, Mom, you can’t. In fact, it’s lucky you
moved into Brookside when you did. If we were facing the initial
buy-in now, there’s no way we could afford it.”

“I thought that money came from the
estate.”

“Some of it did, about half. I paid the
rest, and since then I’ve had to supplement what you’re getting
from Social Security to pay the monthly fees.”

Although I’m excellent with figures,
everyday budgets and expenses have never interested me. When
Charles died, I was more than happy for Baxter to step in and take
over where his father left off, but it meant I had no clue anything
was amiss.

“You should have told me.”

“I didn’t want you to worry.”

Of course he didn’t. Baxter is a loving son.
He wasn’t born until I was nearly forty and had given up all hope
of having a child. I’d thought more than once that it was my
penance for lying to get Charles to marry me, so when I discovered
I was pregnant at last, I was nearly dizzy with excitement. This
financial news left me dizzy as well, but not in a good way.

I insisted Baxter send me all the
information on my accounts and expenses. When that arrived, I went
through everything and found what he’d told me was true. I am a
drain on his resources. Every month I live, I further stifle
Amanda’s chances.

I immediately economized. A simple measure
was to cancel my cable and my meal plan. I miss the cable, but
since the food wasn’t all that good, I don’t feel too deprived,
although I miss having company at meals.

Beyond those steps, it occurred to me that
one solution would be to kill myself. I’d have to be subtle about
it, of course. I wouldn’t want Baxter or Amanda to know that’s what
I’d done. I figured I could easily manage that, though. We average
a death a week here, and if I took pills, I doubt anyone would
question I hadn’t died from natural causes.

I asked my doctor for a prescription for
something to calm my nerves. When he refused, I began collecting
pills from my friends’ medicine cabinets. Well, not friends
exactly, but people I doubted would miss a pill or two.

A couple of Ambien here, a Vicodan there,
but it was taking time to accumulate enough. And in the meantime, I
discovered I wasn’t sure I’d have the guts to go through with it.
It’s one thing to know you’re so old you probably have less than
five years to live; it’s a cat of a different color contemplating
doing something to hasten your demise.

The day I decided that not only would I be
unable to take the pills after all, but that it wasn’t the only
solution to my problem, was the day I was visiting the Todhoffers,
and Herman showed me his stamp collection. That visit changed my
perspective and my thinking 180 degrees. You see, I discovered I
didn’t need to die to free up resources. There were resources going
to waste sitting right under my nose in the apartments of other
residents.

On the fateful day when Herman invited me
into his study to see his stamps, I almost said I wasn’t
interested. But Dot insisted I go with him. We left her watching,
well, not watching, listening to something on the television.

The star of Herman’s collection was a stamp
with an old-fashioned airplane on it. What made it valuable was
that the airplane had been printed upside down. An inverted Jenny,
I think he called it. He claimed it was worth $40,000. I didn’t
believe him, but when I checked on it using the computer in the
community room, I discovered he was right.

When he died suddenly a couple of weeks
later, I visited Dot and helped myself to the stamp. I simply asked
to use her bathroom and then took a quick detour into the study
where Herman kept his stamps, right there in a drawer that he
didn’t even bother to lock.

I slipped it between the pages of the book
I’d brought for that express purpose, then I made sure I wiped my
fingerprints off the desk, just in case. But I really wasn’t
expecting Dot to miss the stamp anytime soon, if ever. She’s nearly
blind, you see, and Herman told me she’d always found his stamps
boring.

I waited several months to see if it would
be missed, but it seemed I’d got clean away. Until recently, that
is, when it came to light the stamp was missing. By then I’d given
it to Baxter to sell. I told him the stamp originally belonged to
his grandfather and that it was only by chance I’d checked and
discovered it was worth a good deal of money. I requested he sell
it anonymously because I didn’t want to deal with any
publicity.

The fact it’s now known to be missing is a
bit concerning, although I do think I’ve covered my tracks.

I have several more items I plan to give
Baxter to sell. I’ll tell him the baseball card belonged to his
father and the necklace belonged to my mother, since Baxter might
remember that Charles never gave me presents.

I do think it’s best that I wait, though,
until the current fuss with the police dies down.

Mac

The day after Eddie attacked Devi, our dispatcher had news for me
when I arrived at the station mid-morning. I’d been delayed on the
way in by a shoplifting incident at Kroger.

“You know that suspect you talked to
yesterday?” she said.

“You don’t mean Eddie Colter, do you?”

“I do indeed. Mr. Colter is alleging
entrapment, and he’s filed a complaint against you. He’s also filed
one against someone named . . .” she looked down,
obviously checking her notes, “Devi Subramanian for assaulting
him.”

“I hope you’re kidding me.”

“Nope. Paperwork’s on your desk, and the
chief wants to talk to you.”

The chief, who’s been in that position for
over twenty years, takes citizen complaints very seriously. Feeling
uneasy, I knocked on his door and was invited to come in and sit
down—a good sign. Anyone not offered a seat knows they’re in
serious difficulty.

“Just wanted to check on a couple of things
about this kerfuffle at Brookside yesterday,” the chief said. “I
had an Eddie Colter and his attorney in here first thing this
morning, complaining. Saying you didn’t tell him you were recording
the session, and you didn’t Mirandize him. He also claims you took
advantage of him when he was in great pain from the attack and
didn’t know what he was saying.”

“I didn’t Mirandize him since I wasn’t
arresting him. I was simply trying to clarify his complaint.”

“I know. I’ve listened to the interviews,
read the report. And I’ve seen the man. Frankly, I’m surprised he’s
willing to admit that a woman managed to do that much damage.” He
sighed. “I don’t think Judge Judy would give him ten seconds, but
he’s got a lawyer, so we’ll have to be careful how we follow this
up.”

“If you’ve listened to the recording, you
know he has no basis for pressing charges against Ms. Subramanian.”
I wasn’t worried about the other complaint since in Ohio it’s legal
to record a conversation as long as one of the parties knows it’s
being recorded.

Besides, not only did I inform Eddie I was
recording, as an officer of the law, it’s standard procedure for me
to record interactions with citizens. But the complaint against
Devi could cause problems—for her.

“He’s the one who initiated their
interaction by grabbing her and then shoving her.”

“That may well be,” the chief said, “but
he’s alleging an overreaction on her part, and I have the
impression he plans to push this thing all the way, although I
expect him to drop the complaint against the department. I think
that tactic was merely an attempt to get the recording thrown out.
But even if his case is weak, he can force Ms. Subramanian into
court, and that could cost her a considerable amount.”

“The man is delusional. She was defending
herself.”

“Sure of that, are you?”

“I am.”

The chief sat back and gave me a long look.
Then he sighed again. “You’re a good detective, Mac. And I happen
to agree with your assessment of how this went down. But I’m not
the judge here. You better let her know she needs to hire an
attorney.”

While I was glad to have another excuse to
see Devi, I was also frustrated, on her behalf, that Colter
wouldn’t just quietly accept defeat and go away.

~ ~ ~

I called Devi, and she agreed to a meeting at a café near
Brookside. When she arrived, the sight of her made my heart lift,
and the otherwise dull day seemed suddenly brighter.

Despite my determination to avoid a
relationship with her, I was beginning to wonder if the universe
might have other ideas, the way we kept being forced into each
other’s company.

Once we had cups of coffee and tea
respectively, we chose a table in the corner by the window.

“How’s your arm?”

She pushed up her sleeve. A bracelet of dark
finger marks on her upper arm was turning shades of purple, green,
and yellow.

“Sore?”

She nodded.

“And your head?”

“It hurts, and I have a headache.”

I sighed, knowing I’d be making the headache
worse. “Colter has decided to press charges of assault against
you.”

She set her tea down and swallowed, then she
bent her head. I reached out and tipped her face up. She wasn’t
crying, but I judged it a near thing. Had Colter walked in at that
moment, it would have been a struggle not to throttle the man.

I took my hand back. “The good news is that
I recorded him admitting he’d shorted people on their change. He’s
also on the record saying he initiated the interaction with you,
contradicting his first version.”

“Why is he doing this?”

“Revenge, I expect. You made him look weak.
He’s also going to claim I recorded him without his knowledge in an
attempt to get my recording thrown out. It’s unlikely to be
successful, but if it is . . . well, he did look a lot
worse for the encounter than you did.”

“What am I going to do?”

“You need to hire a good lawyer.”

She shook her head. “I can’t afford it.”

“You can’t afford not to.” I wanted to add
that I’d help, but that was so highly inappropriate, I clamped my
mouth shut.

Her hands restlessly pleated her napkin.
Without thinking, I took those hands between mine, hoping to
provide warmth and comfort. Wishing it could be more.

But I was involved with her case as the
investigating officer. Holding hands in a public place like this
was not a good idea.

I let go.

Devi

After telling me Eddie was planning to sue me, Mac walked me to my
car. I drove back to Brookside and knocked on Josephine’s door.

Josephine opened the door wide, gesturing
for me to come in. “I’m so glad you’ve come directly here, dear.
Mac just called and told me what’s going on with Eddie. We need to
talk about finding you an attorney. Do you prefer a man or a woman?
My treat, of course.”

“It’s sweet of you to offer, Josephine. But
I can’t possibly accept.”

“Why not? You’ve been falsely accused. And
the incident happened here, where I’m living. I consider it my duty
as a resident to see that justice is done. Besides, you do realize
I have an awful lot of money and not many places to spend it.
Please don’t deny me this opportunity to ensure that Eddie Colter
gets everything he so richly deserves.”

I glanced at the Hopper on Josephine’s wall.
“An awful lot of money” barely scratched the surface of Josephine’s
resources.

“As your friend, Devi? Please let me do
this.”

Although I wasn’t entirely comfortable with
it, I agreed, relieved to know I would have competent legal help
with which to face Eddie’s accusations.

~ ~ ~

I had barely gotten back to my office after talking to Mac and then
Josephine when Candace came marching in. “I want to know what’s
going on with you and Eddie, and I want a straight answer, right
now.”

“Eddie, umm.”

“He’s claiming you attacked him, and it sure
looks like someone did. And he’s suing you? What’s it all about?
Come on, I’m waiting.”

I pulled in a breath, waiting for Candace to
stop ranting so I could speak. “You know yesterday, when you sent
me to LarkTulip to answer a potential resident’s questions?”

“Yes, yes. Go on.”

“Was it Eddie who called to ask you to send
me?”