I grapple with this information and leaf through the pages of the report. I must have looked forlorn because the clerk shows unexpected compassion.
“I’m very sorry that I can’t help you any further.”
“Wasn’t there anything indicating that she crawled away and went for help? She could have been disoriented if she had a head injury as you suggest.”
“Sorry, ma’am, this is all we have.”
I didn’t expect this outcome. I assumed the voice in my head was calling me to pay my respect. After all, I live in her house now. This, however, sheds a different light on the whole affair. Does Aunt Amanda want me to find her?
“Thank you. May I have a copy of the report?”
It takes the clerk five minutes to copy the ten pages.
Disappointed with this outcome I turn to leave. This sheds a different light on the whole affair. The voice in my head is still calling me. Does it mean Aunt Amanda wants me to find her? Happy that I’ve at least something to go by, I leave the city council and drive to the hospital.
When I arrive Scott already waits for me in the foyer. They’ve placed him in a wheelchair near the window. He grins at me and points to the wheelchair.
“They made me use it. I’m now officially a cripple.”
“We’ll have you up and running in no time.”
“Is that a threat?”
“More a promise.” I bend down to kiss his cheek, but he stops me.
“What’s wrong?”
He knows me too well, which is good and annoying at the same time.
“I tried to visit auntie’s grave before I came here. I couldn’t find it. They never found her body. It just threw me.”
“Tell me about it in the car. I need to get out of here. I’ve had enough of hospitals. I wanted to leave yesterday, but the doctors were adamant they had to do some final tests.”
He’s grumpy and I have an idea of how to change it.
“Where do you want to go? Straight home or do you want to get a decent bite at the Hogshead?”
He laughs and I can hear relief and joy in his laughter.
“It sounds as if you know exactly what I need. After all this hospital food, I’m longing for a decent steak and chips. Do you mind?”
“Not at all.”
The pub isn’t busy anymore. The usual lunch crowd must have left already. I find a place near the window, away from nosy eyes and ears. Scottie orders a steak for him and a salad for me. When the waiter brings our drinks, he takes a large gulp of a pint of lager.
“They don’t serve that in the hospital either.” His eyes beam as if he struck a gold mine.
“So fill me in, what spooked you?”
“It’s Auntie Amanda. Don’t you think it’s strange that they never found her body? They found her coat drenched in blood, blood in the car, and some belongings, but they didn’t find her body. Why did nobody question her disappearance? Why would she drive up the valley?”
“You said they found her coat covered in blood.”
“Yes, but isn’t that strange in itself? Why would she take off her coat?”
Scottie laughs. “You’ve become a real sleuth. You see crime and wrongdoing everywhere. People do odd things that may not make sense to us because we don’t have all the information. Thinking about that, even with all the information they may not make much sense.”
“You think I’m making too much of it?”
“You are worrying a lot. Don’t go crazy and become one of the conspiracy theory people who see the devil in everything.”
“Dear, Scott, after all, that I have experienced, I’ll question everything and everyone. And don’t you dare to take that away from me and call me crazy. I’ve stared crazy in the face and battled with it all my life. And that wasn’t me looking in the mirror, but watching the people around me.”
He should know by now that I’m the only person who can call me crazy. He smiles sheepishly at me and I give him some slack. He hasn’t exactly recovered from his ordeal yet.
“And then there is the police. They came over to get my take on your story and when I told them that people had broken in six nights ago…”
“What? Who broke in where?”
“We had people break in six nights ago. They were looking for papers I guess, by the mess they made in the bookshelves.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“When? While you were in a come? I’m not sure I should even tell you now.”
“Don’t play dumb with me. What happened?”
“The police are sending a patrol car on a regular basis. We are under police protection. Isn’t that a hoot? They’re becoming our best friends. It feels wrong on so many levels.”
“I’m glad someone shows common sense.”
He ignores my peeved stare and attacks the steak on his plate with gusto. After we finish our meal we leave and I help him into the car. I can’t say he’s very happy about it, because he rolls his eyes and swears under his breath. Men are such babies. Am I the only one who can see it?
He looks paler now than he had when he greeted me at the hospital. Worried, I stow him into the passenger seat and turn the engine turned on. Whatever he’s pretending, he’s far from being 100%. Far from being as well as he wished he’d be. We will have to take it easy.
“You must take it easy over the next few days.”
That he doesn’t answer back and closes his eyes as I drive home tells me I’m right. He needs rest with a capital ‘R’.
Back at the house, I know immediately something is wrong. Someone was here. I swing around to Scottie who’s followed my train of thought.
“Someone was here.”
But I must be wrong. Prince greets us with his usual ceremony of jumping at us, his tail thumping on the
