All eyes were now on Renie. “If you don’t mind, I’d
rather not discuss it in front of everybody,” she said
firmly.
Sister Jacqueline was not put off, however. “Where
is Mr. Flynn? Was he in a car accident?”
Renie was looking mulish, but Judith intervened. “For
God’s sake, coz, tell me. I don’t care who knows what.”
Renie flung out her good hand in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, okay. Joe found out this morning that
another homeless man was murdered yesterday. He
couldn’t start investigating because of the weather, but
he managed to get out this afternoon after he chained
up your car.”
224
Mary Daheim
Though Judith’s gaze was riveted on Renie, she
sensed that the two nurses and Sister Jacqueline were
going into various states of shocked surprise. Renie
never took her eyes off Judith, and continued speaking in her most businesslike voice: “Bill didn’t
know the details, but Joe headed out for a park two
or three blocks from here, which was where the
homeless people moved when it started snowing so
hard. I guess many of them had abandoned that
place under the freeway along with some of their
other usual haunts. The city had opened up some of
the public buildings because of the bad weather.
Anyway, he was trying to question witnesses when
somebody stabbed him in the back. He was able to
stagger out of the park and get the attention of a
man who was shoveling his walk. The guy called
911.”
Tears stung Judith’s eyes. “I knew he was keeping
something from me. I should have guessed . . . Oh, my
God, will he be okay?”
“They notified Bill because both you and Joe have
our phone numbers for emergencies,” Renie said. “Bill
was told that his chances were even. But that’s not bad
odds, coz,” she added, her voice suddenly breaking as
she got out of bed and put her good arm around her
cousin.
Judith fought for control. Despite the tears, she managed to choke out a question. “Where is he?”
It was Dr. Garnett rather than Renie who answered.
“Mr. Flynn is here,” he said. “He’s in the intensive care
unit. I just finished operating on him.”
Peter Garnett explained that he had just been on his
way up to inform Judith about her husband’s stabbing.
SUTURE SELF
225
He hadn’t wanted to alarm her until the surgery was
completed. Because of the weather, all the other hospitals were full. Joe had been rushed to Good Cheer,
which was closest to the park where he was stabbed.
