“You’re welcome. Now get over there as fast as you can please, dear.”
“I’m on my way. I’ll call you later.”
Damn, I am afraid.
Not going outside to look at a dead man floating in our pool.
Never in the got in the pool before and I’m never getting in it now.
I change my clothes faster than I have ever done before. I decide on a white cotton t-shirt and select a pair of navy blue flats to match the pants.
Glancing at the time on my cell phone and seeing it is past ten, I run into the kitchen to grab my purse and race outside to the waiting courtesy SUV.
My anxiety feels like it wants to kick in full gear, but I have to put up a brave front.
CHAPTER TEN
Mrs. Eileen Clark is a petite, anxious woman, whose auburn straight bob is beginning to bob right off her head if she continues to bob it up and down any longer. Her thin neck struggles to hold up her bobblehead and I notice there is a round reddish bruise on the side of it. After greeting me, she explains how she hit the side of the french door coming in from the pool this morning. Mrs. Clark’s eyes begin to water as she continues shaking my hand thanking me for visiting.
“I’m grateful you could come over here today, Aleta,” she said several times, blinking back tears from her heavy eyelids. “I must thank your grandmother when I speak to her again and Franklin would do the same if he could speak to me on the phone, but Alzheimer’s is beginning to take a toll on him. Your Grandmother struggles with him because it is difficult to keep him on the right track. This has been a hard day for us with all of the police officers going in and out. My husband and I are not familiar with this kind of thing because we are older and live a quiet life. I am thankful Jon won’t remember any of this because he would be worried about me. He was a mess this morning, now he tells me he saw this on a tv show this morning and I am grateful for his creative thinking in his dementia.”
An elderly man is sitting down in a recliner looking at television and nods his head in my direction.
“I never liked having that swimming pool in their backyard, Elly,” he says in a deep gruff voice. “Maybe now you will think about moving away from it now. I don’t think bringing in the police will help, but I know you are doing the best you can. Everything little thing scares you.”
“Calm down, Jon,” says Mrs. Villery with a sad look on her face. “I told you he can get stirred up. I had to lock him in here to keep him from wandering outside to look at your pool again. This is a lot on me right now, Judith, I’m so sorry, I mean Aleta, you see I’m a nervous wreck.”
How could she call me my Grandmother’s name?
“I have never seen anything like this before. I cannot believe I was able to move from the spot at the edge of the pool where I stood in shock this morning. I have asthma and could hardly catch my breath. All I wanted to do was get back in the safety of my house and call the police. This has changed my life. I’ve lost my appetite and can’t even go see my gardening clients because of all of the turmoil this morning. How will I get through this?”
“I understand how stressful this is to you,” I say placing my hand on Mrs. Villery’s skinny arm. “Sometimes, I don’t want to eat too. When you’re scared or hurting, eating implies that life is normal when it is not, but we can’t have you missing breakfast. You have to eat the most important meal of the day to keep your brain clear and focused.”
“I lost all desire for breakfast,” says Mrs. Clark. “I was checking on my garden and took a peek at your grandmother’s garden. My stomach turned over when I saw him floating in your pool. He even dared to be wearing sunglasses with nothing else on his body. I try to be strong for my husband in his confused state of mind, but I wanted to crawl back in bed and pull the covers over my head. That’s where I run when I’m scared. I’ve been doing that since I was a child.”
“Yes, I do that too,” I say with a smile. “The covers can provide a temporary haven for a while, Mrs. Clark. It is amazing what a good nap will do for your nerves and if you can get one in daily, that can recharge you for the long haul. I hope you have some family to help you out with your husband especially during this trying time.”
“Yes, my niece, Marilynn, is helpful,” replies Mrs. Clark. “She is a joy to be around. When I told her about this morning, she could not believe it. I still cannot believe this happened here and I live here, of course. She will lift my spirits and is strong when dealing with problems. I’m glad to have a niece like her to help me and my husband, although she can be a bit bossy and nosey about some things, she knows when to reign it back in. She regrets leaving the gate unlocked and open because she knows I have told her time after time, I have to be careful Jon doesn’t wander off. When you live with somebody like my husband every day, you tend to forget about the little things. I remind her about Jon and now we have a dead man floating in our pool. Your new detective,
