“Conrad Till, that’s what. He’s dead.”
“Dead?”
“Yeah. They said about him gettin’ found on account of a, a what you call it, ’nonymous tip. Yeah. Then they said that they took him to Mercy Hospital, but he died in the night a’cause of the wound.”
“He was shot up pretty bad.”
“Yeah, he was. And maybe it killed him too. But you know, I been shot worse than that myself, an’ it didn’t near kill me. I mean maybe he had a weak heart or sumpin’, but I don’t think so. But that’s not what I wanted to tell you.”
“What then?”
“The cop that talked to the newsman. That there they said was Sergeant Latham.”
“Damn,” I said.
“That Latham gets around,” Fearless said.
“What does it mean?” asked Fanny.
“Does Rya still work at Mercy?” I asked Fearless.
“Prob’ly. You know they made her head nurse in the baby section. That’s the kind’a job you hold on to.”
“Maybe we should talk to her.”
“Okay.” With that Fearless went off to the kitchen to call.
“Do you know a guy named John, um, Manly?” I asked Fanny. “Said he was a real-estate agent, but I don’t know.”
“No. Why?”
“He called while you and Fearless were gone.”
Fanny shook her head at me.
“The only weird thing was he didn’t ask for Sol. It was like he knew that he was in the hospital, at least not here. You sure you don’t know his name? John Manly. Talks all proper like he learned English in another country.”
“What can it all mean?” she quailed.
“He’s probably just what he said,” I reassured her. “He probably got your name off of a mailing list and wants to get your house to sell.”
“I’m not interested,” Fanny moaned. “All I want is Solly home and to get on that airplane.”
“What airplane?” I asked.
“We’re going to Israel,” the old lady said. “We have been planning to go all the time he was in prison. We would talk about it in our letters. Now that he was home we had only to buy the tickets and make our plans.”
I had a thought or two about a convicted embezzler planning to flee the country a few weeks after he got out of stir, but whatever he did, or didn’t do, wasn’t important to me right then. I was angry because John Manly was so rude, because Latham had threatened us. I was getting pretty mad, and anger in my small frame is almost like courage.
“How was Sol?” I asked.
“He opened his eyes. Mr. Jones told him that he was protecting me, and he smiled. But he was still too weak to talk.”
“Was he happy to see you and Gella?”
“Oh yes, very much. He loves that girl as if she were his own daughter.”
“What did the doctor say?”
Fanny’s face clouded at that question. She didn’t want to say the words. I understood. I didn’t want to push her. When Fearless returned we were both relieved.
“I called her, Paris,” Fearless said. “She said that we could meet her on her break at eight-fifteen tonight.”
“Meet her? Didn’t you ask her about Till?”
“No. You didn’t say that.”
“What?” For an instant I was angry, even at Fearless. But that was okay. I had to stay mad so I didn’t fall prey to fear. I was in it up to my neck and scared was an anchor that would drag me down to death.
WE DROPPED FANNY OFF at her niece’s house again.
“Too many people seem to know your address,” I told her. “And none of them would I trust with my grandmother.”
That got a smile from Fanny. She touched my wrist with her short, thick fingers.
