sunning her body down in Florida . . .”
Judith stared at Renie. The mention of Joe’s first
wife’s name distracted her, and a sudden feeling of
resentment roiled up in the pit of her stomach. The
emotion was more from habit than any real threat
posed by Vivian Flynn. But Arlene was right; Herself
should be informed. She was the mother of Joe’s
daughter, Caitlin. In fact, Judith realized, Caitlin
should also be notified at her home in Switzerland
where she worked for an international banking firm.
Herself could make the call. Judith didn’t have
Caitlin’s number with her.
Getting back on track with Addison, Judith asked if
he thought the men had been murdered for the money
they’d acquired.
“That was the weird part,” Addison replied. “According to what I heard, at least one of the victims still
had the money on him. Damn, if only I could get out
of bed and use a different phone. I could do some
checking myself.”
“You’re using your phone now,” Judith pointed out.
SUTURE SELF
243
“I can only make calls inside Good Cheer,” Addison
grumbled. “I can’t get an outside line. And of course
you can’t use a cell phone in a hospital. They won’t
work and they can screw up the high-tech equipment.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Judith said. “Where did those
homeless men get the money? That’s very strange. I
wonder if this most recent man who got killed also had
cash on him.”
“I’ve no idea,” Addison replied. “I only heard about
your husband through the grapevine here. I won’t
watch TV news. Those so-called pretty-faced reporters
and anchors don’t know their heads from their hind
ends.”
“I appreciate your feelings,” Judith said as Renie
suddenly gave a start, apparently at something unexpected from Arlene.
“Judith doesn’t know anything about it,” Renie said,
wincing. “Are you sure?”
The comment rattled Judith, who decided she’d better terminate the conversation with Addison. “I’ll let
you know when I hear anything about Joe,” she said
into the receiver. “Thanks for calling.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Renie said to Arlene.
“We’ll let you know when we hear anything about Joe.
Bye.”
“What was that all about?” Judith inquired.
Renie gave herself a little shake. “Arlene sometimes
gets things mixed up, but she’s certain about this one.
She got a call at the B&B today saying that Federal
Express couldn’t make deliveries to Heraldsgate Hill
