Close Encounter of the Best Kind

 

 

Kainan came into the bar and looked around. It was a nice piano bar on the University side of the downtown. He thought he might see someone. Actually his ex. He had heard the hot romance she had supposedly left him for had cooled before it really got very serious, from what he had heard. When she left him she said she was moving in with the guy even before the divorce was finalized. He had heard it never happened, although he didn't know why. The guy had money, a lot more than Kainan had. The guy had met his wife at some conference and started romancing her. Kainan had found out she had gone out with him a number of times before she told him she wanted a divorce. Kainan had just heard she had stopped divorce proceedings so actually they were still married. Chris, his ex, or rather his wife still, had never contacted him so it seemed everything was in limbo. They were both professors at the University, but it was summer and the University had just let out for the summer. Kainan hadn't really seen Chris for almost a year. She had avoided him at the University and they taught in different sections of the University so that had proved rather easy. Chris, or Christine, was a tall, very attractive and charming auburn-haired beauty. Men just naturally looked her over. She was also very friendly. Kainan was very aware of this when he married her. She really was not a flirt, but she did like the attention. Kainan had no idea what caused Chris to take to this guy although Kainan became aware at the end that he had flattered her with very expensive gifts which she had kept hidden from him. He also had no idea why she had gotten turned off on the guy in so short a time. Chris had moved into an apartment and left the house to Kainan. It was a nice house in the area of the University. Kainan knew Chris always liked nice things, but she was never really hung up on that. Kainan was kind of hoping Chris might be there. It had been one of their favorite spots and was the place they had first met. They had been married for about five years when Chris told him she was divorcing him. When he looked around he did see some auburn hair over at the bar close to the piano. Kainan moved in that direction. He noticed the man standing next to the woman was a professor friend of his. He moved to them and greeted the professor. The woman turned toward him gave him a friendly smile and said, "Hello handsome, haven't I seen you somewhere else before?"

With a friendly smile back at her, Kainan answered, "Hello gorgeous I am sure we have met before." The professor, who knew about their breakup smiled.

"Can I introduce you two," he said, "This young lady is Dr. Christine Charles and this gentleman is Dr. Kainan Charles.

"Isn't that interesting we have the same last names." said Chris. "Would you be interested in discussing that over dinner later?"

"Sounds like a most wonderful idea," said Kainan.

"Sorry I can't join you as I have a previous engagement with another lady, in fact one who has the same last name as I have," said the professor with a broad smile.

 

 

 

 

Christine Karden was excited but also anxious. She was to meet her father for the first time. It was just after the war had ended. She had been staying with a family in a small town a ways out of London. Her mother had been working in London and a year ago had been killed in one of the bombings. Her father was a celebrated United States Air Force Colonel fighter pilot. Her parents had separated before she had been born and her mother never told her father that he had a daughter. Christine had been told that a letter had been delivered to him a few weeks ago after the war ended telling him of the fact he had a daughter. Christine didn't know if he would even accept her as his daughter. She was hoping he would and that he would take her back to the United States with him. She was afraid he might not. Her parents had married when her mother was a student at Cambridge and her father a student at Oxford. When her father had joined the RAF after he graduated, her mother left him and wouldn't have anything to do with him. She also never told him she was pregnant. She had said she didn't want to be worried about him being killed so she refused to communicate with him. She had left Christine with a friend of hers so that Christine would be safe. The friend had a daughter about the same age. The mother actually seldom had visited Christine and had never shown any great affection for her daughter. Christine thought her mother really didn't want to have a baby. In fact that is what her father, Kainan Karden had thought, so he was totally surprised when he got the letter one day. The way the letter was written was that he was to be told of Christine only if she, the mother had died and only at the end of the war. Kainan got the idea that otherwise he would never have known he had a daughter, although he also got the idea that his wife did not want to have the child, but if she was alive he wasn't going to have her either. His wife had never divorced him he found out, but she had been buried by her family without his finding out she had been killed. He wondered if her family knew about Christine. It didn't sound to him like they ever knew. That is probably why she had written this letter to be delivered only if she had been killed. She didn't want her family to know she had a daughter. He began to think her family didn't know she had married him. He found out where Christine was now living. He immediately began to make plans to pick her up and made arrangements to take her back to America with him. He wanted to have everything arranged so that he could assure her that he was taking her to America and be able to tell her when and all the details. He was able to get some information on Christine from the family so with the help from some women he was able to get some things for her. He said nothing about all this to the family only that he was coming to see Christine. Kainan had no idea what Christine was like, but he had an idea what she must have been going through all these years knowing her mother really didn't care for her and her father didn't know about her. Kainan had no idea what Christine thought about a father who had never come to see her. She might think that he should have known he had a daughter and that he probably didn't want her either. This was all running through Kainan's mind as he tried to prepare himself to meet his daughter who he was sure must be around six years old now. How was she going to act. How could he assure her he really wanted her, when he was trying desperately trying to get a handle on his feelings about having a daughter he had never seen or even knew he had for the first six years of her life. He had friends in the States get an apartment for him in the city where he had graduated from High School. He had no family to come home to, he had been an orphan, whose parents had been killed in an accident when he was two years old. Thankfully they had told him they had rented him a three bedroom apartment that sounded like it had a small yard to go with it. He hadn't told them he discovered he had a daughter at least not until they had rented the apartment. Kainan went over all the possible scenarios he could think of for his first meeting with Christine. He decided he would have to concentrate on her and do everything he could to make it sound like he was happy he found he had a daughter. He knew this was going to be a very iffy situation. At the same time Christine was wondering what her new father would be like. How he would act toward her. Would he look like he was happy she was his daughter in spite of just being informed of it. Would he take her back to America with him. Would he just try to find someone who would adopt her. What kind of father would he be like. Would he like her or be like her mother was. She was hoping for the best, but fearing the worst. That was the situation when Kainan came to the house where she was living. He was greeted by the mother and taken into the room where Christine was now standing by what obviously were her things. She looked seriously at this tall good-looking man in a uniform practically holding here breath. She did notice that he had a very friendly smile on his face and then he said,

"Christine I am your father, Kainan. I have come to get you so we can go to America. Would you like to go to America with me?" and Kainan held out his arms and took a step toward her. Christine looked at him for a moment and then realized what he had said and a smile came on her face and she literally hurled herself across the room and into his arms as she said, actually literally shouted, "Yes Daddy I want to go to America with you, please." and she buried her face in his shoulder as he picked her up in his arms and hugged her. She silently sobbed in happiness as he held her. After a short time she pulled back her head and gave him a big smile and said, "When are we going daddy?"

"We are going to start our journey together as soon as we get your things into the car I have outside," Kainan said as he gave her another hug and a kiss on the cheek. "We can we talk about it as we drive back to London which will be the first leg of our trip to our home." Kainan just realized he had fallen in love with one little girl. Christine gave him another big smile when she heard him say "to our home."

The Girl On Campus©

By Richard A. Falb

 

Dr. Gary Donaldson, could not said to be a professor, female students fell in love with. It was not that he was homely. To the contrary, he was relatively good looking. He was not what you would call athletic looking. On the other hand, he kept himself in good physical shape. It was just that he treated all students alike, whether male or female. To Gary they were students to be treated as students. If really pressed, he would admit he was not always like that.

He was a full professor at the State University, a tenured professor. It was not a large University, but it had an excellent reputation and not just for its athletic teams. Oh they were reasonably good and even some years won their conference. It was a full University, offering both undergraduate and graduate programs. It was also a pleasant campus set on the outskirts of the city that had not yet grown to surround the campus. The city was a fairly large city, but still small enough to retain its friendly feeling.

Gary Donaldson was well liked by his students. Not, because he was easy. He definitely was not. He was a very effective teacher, one who was always willing to talk to students. He usually had students gathered around him on campus, or in the coffee shops he frequented nearby. He taught only graduate school classes, which consisted of fewer students. He tended to be better acquainted with all his students. He had little contact with undergraduate students. He was also well liked by his peers among the faculty. He had an easy, relaxed style about him.

He had been divorced ten years ago and had never remarried. It was a relatively amicable divorce. Because he had a girl walk out on him, when he was a young instructor at a different college, he had the feeling he was choosing the wrong women. Of course he had not been married to that girl. He really had not expected to marry her. It had rankled, however, that she had just left without any warning or explanation. The divorce was also without any real explanation. Oh, there was a stated reason, but he knew it wasn't the real cause. He showed no particular interest in remarrying since that time. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in women or that he didn't date. Dr. Donaldson had settled into a comfortable bachelor's existence. Over the years, he acquired a reputation as a true gentleman. His standing reply, to any questions regarding young women on campus, was that he only chased single female professors. His friends would add, and single career women over thirty.

In actuality he did not chase women. However he did not turn down opportunities to date. The women on campus considered him a prime suspect as far as dating was concerned. He was easy to talk to. Had a somewhat dry subtle humor and could be charming when he put his mind to it. Besides, when he invited a lady out to dinner it was at one of the better restaurants. As a tenured full professor he could afford them. Besides, the house he was living in was fully paid for.

One day, as he was walking across the campus, he was startled out of his thoughts. He found his attention suddenly drawn to a young woman, obviously an undergraduate student. He smiled as she walked past with several friends.

One of these friends said, "Good afternoon, Dr. Donaldson." He returned her greeting, although afterward, he couldn't recall the particular young woman who greeted him. After they had passed, he tried to figure out why seeing this young woman should startle him so. He had a feeling he should know her, but it was almost as if he was blocking something out of his memory. Almost as if for some reason he did not want to remember.

He was not in the habit of noticing young female students, unless they were graduate students from one of his classes. Because his graduate classes were not large, he was able to remember names and faces of students. He made an effort to do so and had an excellent memory for names and faces. This was not lost on his students and added to his popularity as a teacher. You were not just a face in his class, you were a definite person with a particular name. He appeared to have a definite interest in each of his students.

The face, of that young woman, bothered him throughout the rest of the afternoon. It kept impinging upon his consciousness. He wasn't able to put it from his mind until that evening. He had a meeting with several doctoral candidates. The discussions, as usual, lasted late into the night. He was always reluctant to break off discussions as long as they were interesting to most of the group. His interests ranged far beyond the subjects he taught. The next morning, however, he was startled when that face popped back into his memory. He was having breakfast at a cafe near campus.

"You really are off in your own world somewhere," a pleasant female voice impinged upon his consciousness. He looked up to see who was speaking although the voice was very familiar.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Janison, I didn't realize I was off in a dream world," he replied. "Have you eaten breakfast yet, Casey?" he asked. Dr. K. C. Janison was a very good friend. He had known her ever since he had joined the faculty here. In fact, they dated on various occasions through the years.

"No," she replied, "but I don't want to break in on your reverie."

Gary laughed, "I'd be very happy to have you join me. I just started and I would love to have your company."

"You say that so, like you really mean that. I'm surprised some young woman hasn't snapped you up,"

Gary smiled, "They are all far too intelligent to take a chance on me. I'm just an old fuddy-duddy professor."

"I think it is more that your obvious serious interests do not include women," remarked Casey. "I don't think anyone thinks of you as an old fuddy-duddy."

"Oh, I haven't given them up,"

"I didn't mean to imply that you had. Just that your interest in women doesn't run to a serious interest,"

"Is that why dates for me are few and far between?"

Casey looked up from the menu she was inspecting, "If dates are few and far between for you, it only means you haven't been asking for dates as often." Then she added with a smile, "I haven't heard any single woman I know saying she turned you down."

Gary Donaldson smiled then turned thoughtful.

"Will you keep a small secret?" Gary asked. Casey looked at him expectantly. He continued, "A young woman's face has begun popping up in my mind." Casey looked questioningly, but didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue. To her this was a rather startling confession for Dr. Donaldson to make. This seemed entirely out of character. He was not the type to zero in on female students no matter how attractive.

Gary went on, "I saw her walking across campus the other day. It startled me. I felt compelled to look at her. It was as if she reminded me of someone from the deep, dark reaches of my memory. The trouble is I got the feeling I was deliberately blocking something in my memory. As if I deliberately did not want to remember."

Casey looked at him rather thoughtfully. "It must have been someone who impressed you very much, or to whom you had been very close," she commented, then she hesitated and continued, "Might it be connected to some traumatic experience that makes you want to keep it shut out."

Gary had a thoughtful, but rueful smile on his face. "Well I will admit, my first few years as a young instructor will filled with a bit of turmoil. I did make a few mistakes and bad choices that I would rather forget. But what would be so traumatic to me I would want to block it out completely. But I can't remember. I can't pull up a single clue from my memory. I don't even know if it is someone I actually knew," Gary said in obvious frustration. "I can't go ask her who she is." Then he thought for a moment, "I don't even know if that would be of any help. I'm drawing a complete blank, except that her face seemed very familiar. It is starting to drive me crazy. I would have thought that something would jog my memory, because her face just jumped out at me when I saw her. It's just the face. There's no clues that go with it. No place or time. Nothing that face brings with it. It is becoming downright eerie. This has never happened to me before. "

"You mean there just may be something about her that hit a memory chord. It may not be that the person in your memory looks anything like her."

"No that is the thing. I have the feeling she may look like someone from my past. I just can't make the connection. I don't even have a clue why that face should stick in my mind. The young woman's name may not be of any help what-so-ever," Gary said rather emphatically. "Actually, I don't even know if she really reminds me of someone I knew. But her face seems so familiar and I got a vague feeling it is not really a good memory. The impression seemed too strong to be just a coincidence."

"This is obviously beginning to bother you," Casey remarked. She tipped her head at Dr. Donaldson. "Perhaps I should walk across campus with you this morning. Just on the long shot that you would see her again and point her out to me. I could make the inquiries and see if I could find out who she is, and maybe get some background on her. That might give you a clue. It might tell you if it is something you should even worry about."

Gary took a deep breath, "I really have no right to ask you to go through all of this trouble. Although I must confess, I would be happy to have your company."

Casey Janison lifted her eyebrows and smiled at him. Gary Donaldson did have a very natural way of being flattering. It seemed to just slip out.

"It's no problem," she replied. "It's starting to intrigue me."

"Maybe I'll be sorry I asked," said Gary with a smile.

"You mean we may drag up some skeletons from your closet you'd just as soon keep hidden from everyone's view?"

"You never can tell."

"I don't believe you have any skeletons in your closets," Casey said rather emphatically. That is true, she thought. Gary just didn't seem to be a person who would have something in his past that he would want to keep hidden. It would be out of character. He had always been open and above board in everything he did. He had always been a gentleman. That was especially true when it came to students. However Casey realized she did not know much about his background. She had not had any reason to dig too deeply and Gary had really not offered any information. She realized he had said little about his younger years.

Casey Janison's breakfast, came and they concentrated on eating. Afterward, they did walk across campus together, but they didn't spot the young woman. They really hadn't expected to do so. There were quite a number of students on campus and the walks were usually full between class periods. It was a very pleasant campus with mature trees lining the walkways and the roads. That they didn't spot the girl didn't really matter to either Gary or Casey. They were in interested conversation all the way across campus. It was obvious they enjoyed each other's company.

Dr. Donaldson did not see the young woman again during the following week. He was able to put it out of his mind almost entirely. He did have lunch with Dr. Janison a couple times. The conversation centered on other things. It was about a week later. Gary was having coffee with Casey at a coffeehouse just off campus. They often did this as the opportunity presented itself. It was a coffeehouse they frequented rather regularly. It was a favorite of many of the faculty and graduate students. He spotted the young woman coming in the door.

"There she is," Gary quickly but quietly said. "Just coming in the door."

Casey turned to look, as the young woman hesitated and looked around the room, obviously looking for friends. She was able to get a good look at the girl. She tried to study her without being too obvious. She wanted to be able to recall her in the future. The girl looked to be the age of a graduate student not a young undergraduate. Of course, that didn't mean anything, she could have been a little older when she started college. Then she turned to Gary.

"Let's see who her friends are. That might be helpful in finding out something about her," Casey said. They watched, as the young woman spotted her friends, and moved toward them. They were only a couple tables away. Both Casey and Gary watched to see if they might know any of the young people in the group she was joining. They were able to get a good look at the young people in the group without being obvious. The group apparently met here fairly regularly. They seemed to know the young woman and greeted her in a very friendly fashion.

"We may be in luck. I think I recognize two of the young women in that group," Casey Janison said. "Now if I can figure out a clever way of getting information from those two young women without them suspecting anything. This is really getting interesting," she continued with a little conspiratorial smile. She found she really was enjoying it. It presented a challenge. And it could possibly help a good friend.

Gary Donaldson was also looking over the group. "One of those young men is a doctoral candidate who is part of my evening discussion group."

Casey looked at him thoughtfully, "That might be a little more ticklish job for you to get information on that young woman from a young man. You are after all a bachelor professor," said Casey with a smile at him. "In spite of your well known reputation as a gentleman, any obvious interest on your part, regarding a female student would be suspect. I think you should approach that with extreme caution."

"Especially as she seems to be an undergraduate and I teach only graduate courses," Gary added.

"No," said Casey. "You couldn't say you mistook her for a student in one of your classes. Which is a flimsy excuse even under normal circumstances. For you that would be no excuse at all, under those circumstances. You have a well known reputation for knowing all your students by name."

"Of course I could say I saw him with a group of students at this coffee house and that I didn't recognize all of them as graduate students."

"You might get away with that, as long as you didn't pursue it, but let him take it from there," admitted Casey with a smile. But then she added, "I think I can be more direct in my inquiries, because I am obviously interested in female students."

"Yes, Casey, you do have a reputation for being their friend on campus. Your interest would appear natural. Not highly suspect like mine."

Casey laughed, "Yes you better not begin now to start asking around campus regarding a young woman. Everyone would start wondering about the abrupt change in character."

They began to prepare to leave. Casey said, "I'll get in touch if I find out anything. I'm going to stop by their table to greet the two women students I know."

For the next week, Dr. Donaldson did not see the young woman again. He was beginning to put her face out of his mind for the most part. However it kept creeping back into his consciousness at odd moments. It would really bug him at those times, because he still couldn't put any thing to that face. It was just the face, nothing to tie it to. The trouble was, it was now becoming a troubling experience, as it something threatening to come to him he did not want to remember.

It was a week later, as Gary was preparing to leave his office for the afternoon. Casey Janison walked in and remarked, "If you are willing to buy me a sandwich, I'll fill you in on what I have learned so far."

"I'd be happy to buy you a sandwich even if you didn't have any information."

Casey smiled at Gary, "If I didn't have a vague feeling we might be incompatible, I might be interested in you. You say such nice things so easily and so naturally." That incompatibility wasn't really true, but it made a good excuse to keep their relationship on a strictly friendly basis. So far, both of them felt most comfortable with that.

"Story of my life. All the interesting ones always turn out to be incompatible."

Dr. Janison laughed and headed out the office door. Dr. Donaldson followed, locking the door behind him.

The two walked to a restaurant near campus. It was relatively deserted at this time, although it was a favorite of faculty and graduate students. It was a little ways off campus and the prices were a little higher so fewer undergraduate students frequented it. They found a booth toward the back, where they figured they might be undisturbed, and ordered a light meal.

"You do eat rather light, don't you Dr. Janison," Gary commented.

"Have to keep my girlish figure," she replied with an impish smile. Gary reflected that Casey Janison did indeed have a girlish figure. In fact, everyone took her for at least ten years younger than she really was. Even young doctoral students sometimes tried to date her. This, of course, made it much easier for her to be friends with the co-eds.

Gary waited to hear what she had found out about the young woman.

"I have found out her name is Karlyn Sainlon. However, I'm afraid the rest of the information I have on her so far, may not do much good. You see she has spent the good share of her life in foster homes, according to my information source. I gather she was adopted as a baby, but the adoptive parents apparently got divorced and she was taken away from them. It was all very vague."

"The name means nothing to me, but under the circumstances that shouldn't be surprising," observed Gary, "If she was adopted as a baby, that means her mother gave her up for some reason. She may not even know who her mother was."

"I wonder if she has tried to find out," Casey mused. Then she looked at Gary Donaldson, "You are thinking that you might have known her mother." She thought for a moment looking seriously at Gary, "For your own mental well being, don't take that thought any further until we find out more about this young woman."

Gary smiled, "I do not intend to. For your information, as far as I remember, I did not father any child of her apparent age."

Casey laughed, "You mean there might some of another age?"

Gary Donaldson smiled at her remark, but said nothing. He had to admit to himself, he wasn't sure because he was rather wild in his younger years as a young instructor.

"Your wife had no desire to be a mother?" said Casey, as much a statement of truth, as it was a question.

"Definitely not," replied Dr. Gary. "That was one of the reasons she gave for divorcing me. She was afraid I wanted children and might put the pressure on her. I don't think that was the reason, but we won't go into that."

"I can't see you doing that."

"You didn't know me as a young man."

"That would be entirely out of character," was Dr. Janison's very definitely stated comment. Then she continued, "Do you want me to see if I can find out anymore about her?"

Gary thought for a few minutes. "Only if it doesn't entail too much time and work. At this point in time, I don't really know if it is of any importance or not. There doesn't seem to be any reason for me to feel her face is familiar and that I should know someone who looks like her." Then he hesitated, "Or perhaps it is I don't want to find the reason for that."

"But you still have that nagging feeling that is not going to go away."

"If she keeps turning up where I will see her, I suppose that could be true. There's just that nagging feeling in the back of my mind. I know it's stupid," He said thoughtfully.

Casey looked at Gary thoughtfully, then she quietly said, "I think, as a friend and in the interest of your piece of mind, I will keep on digging."

Their food came and they devoted their attention to it. Several faculty members drifted in and stopped to talk.

One woman professor commented, "If I didn't know the two of you so well, I would wonder if there wasn't something going on between you."

"But you know us both much too well for that," said Gary. The professor agreed. However, there were other faculty members and graduate students, who have wondered. This didn't bother either Casey Janison of Gary Donaldson. They had been very good friends for years.

Because of various activities going on campus, and their various responsibilities, Dr. Janison and Dr. Donaldson didn't have a chance to get together for about three weeks. By a very roundabout way, Gary had heard the young woman had attempted to get in touch with her real mother. That is all the information he had gotten. He didn't know if she actually made contact or if she even found out who her real mother was. Gary Donaldson still couldn't figure out why he felt, finding out who this young woman student was, should be important to him. Maybe because her background tended to be somewhat of a mystery, it made it more intriguing.

One Wednesday night, Dr. Donaldson got a call at his home. It was Casey Janison. "This time it will cost you a real dinner at my favorite restaurant on Saturday night," she told him when he answered the phone.

"You really want to start tongues wagging," Gary said with a laugh. "I suppose you have already made reservations."

"Yes, for that matter, I have. You can pick me up at seven o'clock," replied Casey. Gary quickly agreed. Obviously, Dr. Janison had some important information she wanted to give him. She also didn't care if tongues wagged or not. Casey Janison had always been like that. That is why he liked her as a good friend. Besides, as far as Casey was concerned, he didn't care if tongues wagged or not either. Casey Janison was an attractive, intelligent and personable woman. He couldn't figure out why some intelligent male hadn't snatched her up. There were enough, he knew, who were interested in her. She definitely didn't lack for dates or opportunities to date.

He picked her up promptly at seven and she was ready. Casey Janison had always been punctual. She was dressed to enjoy dinner at her favorite restaurant. Which meant that she would be a date that would draw attention from others. They drove to the restaurant and were shown to their table practically immediately. They were both well known at this restaurant. Casey could attract attention when she so wished. She did it naturally, but not obviously. They looked over the menu, gave their order, and Gary ordered a bottle of the best wine to go with their meal.

"I really lucked out this time. I found out the young woman felt she was in need of someone to talk to. I maneuvered two of her friends to suggest she talk to me. I've met with her several times," said Casey. Gary waited without saying a word to interrupt.

"She was able to contact her real mother, but did not get to see her. She said her mother was terminally ill and died two weeks ago." Casey continued, "Supposedly before the mother died, she wrote a letter to this young woman. She showed me the letter. The mother did not know the trauma the young woman had gone through after she was adopted. This girl had run away from two foster homes, and when she was eighteen went out on her own. She finally found her way here to this college. Apparently she had gotten a scholarship here and we were willing to work with her on other financial aid. She obviously is a very intelligent young woman. She is also a little older than the usual undergraduate, although she is an undergraduate. At the moment, I think she is feeling kind of lost. She has no family. She is reminded of this regularly by the letters and packages that some of her friends receive from their families. I think she would badly like to have someone."

"She obviously doesn't know what her mother looked like," said Gary

"Yes, she does," replied Casey, "Her mother sent her a picture with the letter. It was a picture of her mother when she was in college. It looks just like Karlyn looks now."

Gary Donaldson sat there, silent, thinking. "What did the letter tell Karlyn?" he asked. This was giving him some clues he was becoming uneasy about. He wondered if he saw the picture of her mother, if that would mean anything to him. He was beginning to feel it would not.

"Apparently, from what she wrote, her mother was at a small college. She met a young instructor there and they started dating. He talked her into moving in with him. She didn't tell her folks because he was from the wrong social circle. She knew she would have to eventually move home and marry someone from her folks' circle of acquaintances. Then she found out that she was pregnant. She left the college without telling this instructor. She had the baby and gave it up for adoption. Neither her folks nor the father even knew she had a baby. She never wrote the young instructor, so he never knew he was a father. Her mother didn't tell her what college it was, nor did she tell Karlyn what the young instructors name was," Casey told him.

"What did Karlyn want to talk to you about?" asked Gary.

"She asked me if I thought she should see if she could find her father. She also asked me if I thought he would admit to the possibility or if he would be at all interested in learning he had a daughter, especially after all of these years. She admitted that through all these years, before she learned from her mother what actually happened, she thought her father had abandoned her mother when he found out she was pregnant. She did not have a very nice picture in her mind of what her father would be like. Now she would have to rethink all her ideas. She wanted to know, if I thought it was worth looking for her father. I got the impression that she really did want to know who he was. But I think she is also afraid he might reject the idea of having a daughter he knew nothing about. I think she was very afraid of how she would feel if he rejected her. She also asked if I had any suggestions as to where she could start to look."

"And what did you tell her?" asked Gary.

"I asked her to let me think about it. I said I would get back to her. That was all I could think of to say at the moment. I didn't know if she could stand her father's rejection. I wasn't sure if I should tell her to look for him or not," Casey answered. She looked intently across at Gary Donaldson then continued after a moment, "By the look on your face as I was speaking, does that scenario, the mother described, ring a bell? Are you thinking that there may be a remote possibility that Karlyn could be your daughter. Maybe I shouldn't have delved so deeply into this," She said uneasily. Gary sat there for a long time wrestling with the feelings that were swelling up within him.

"Up until the time the mother left college in the middle of a semester, the scenario was as I would have described it. I knew she would go back eventually and marry someone her parents would feel suitable. However, I was angered and hurt she left without saying anything to me about that she was leaving. Consequently I put her completely out of my mind. I did not know she was pregnant. However, as I knew she never slept with anyone else, I am sure it was my child she would have been pregnant with," Gary replied.

"Are you now sorry I dug and found out?" Casey asked.

"Casey, at the moment I am trying to sort out my feelings. I thought she had adequately protected herself, so I am angry at her about that. However, at the same time I feel sorry for the poor girl and what she was put through. In a sense, actually I feel a sense of excitement. However I haven't the slightest idea how I will handle having a daughter," he answered. Then he thought for a moment. "Of course, I don't know if Karlyn will accept an old professor as a father. Or accept the idea that I could be her father. She still might be feeling I abandoned her in a sense that I should have suspected she might be pregnant and tried to find them."

Casey smiled, "I don't think you'd have to worry about that. After the ideas she had of who her father might be, to find out you were her father and would be willing to admit it, would be an absolutely wonderful thing to her. It would be like giving her a new life. She had no idea, who her father could be. She had no idea, if he would even admit to possibly having a daughter. At the moment she was just grabbing at straws because she wanted so badly to have someone. To have a family."

Gary took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment. "How do we best inform her that I think she is my daughter, who I never knew I had?" asked Gary.

Casey Janison looked across at him. She was very serious. "You are really determined to tell her. Are you ready to change your lifestyle to make room for a college age daughter?"

"Casey I have to take responsibility for my actions, even if I have misgivings, she deserves that. Am I so hide bound that you think I couldn't do that? Answer me truthfully Casey."

Casey smiled at him. "I never considered you hide bound. I actually think in a way you are looking forward to it. Ever since I've known you, you have loved a challenge. This will really be a challenge." Then she continued. "Let me invite her for dinner at my house next Friday night to discuss this problem of hers. You will also come for dinner. I think we can work it out there." Then Casey looked at Gary Donaldson very seriously, "Are you sure you want to go through with this. To maybe find out for sure that she really is your daughter? Are you willing to take the responsibility of having a daughter you really know nothing about? You really don't know anything about her. I will admit that in my discussion with her, she did seem to be a nice young woman, but one who has been bounced around a bit."

Gary took a deep breath, mentally gritted his teeth. "Yes," was his simple reply. "I keep thinking what she has been through. I feel at least partially responsible for it. The least I can do, if she is my daughter, to give her a chance to have perhaps a little better life than she has had. That much I could do for her. I would hope we could mutually work out any problems that might crop up."

Dr. Donaldson's house was close to campus. It was a relatively large house that contained several bedrooms he normally used for guestrooms. He now looked those over, to see what could be done to accommodate a college student daughter. That is, if she was willing to claim him as her dad and if she decided to move in with him. He decided to wait with any redecorating until she could voice her preferences. Come to think of it that might be an icebreaker. Of course, he thought about the possibilities all week long. He was now actually looking forward to Friday night. It was however, with a large amount of trepidation, as well as some excitement. He really had no idea what Karlyn's reaction would be. She might reject the idea that he could be her father. He also had no idea what she was really like.

He arrived early to Dr. Janison's house. When Karlyn arrived she was somewhat surprised to see Dr. Donaldson also there. Dr. Janison easily passed that over by explaining that Dr. Donaldson was an old friend who might have some good ideas. Karlyn seemed to accept that explanation. Dr. Janison had proved to be very understanding and very helpful. The meal passed with talk of what was going on campus. After the meal, they took their cups of coffee into the living room.

After they were seated, they began discussing Karlyn's situation. Gary asked to see the letter and the picture, which Karlyn gave to him. After he had read the letter and looked at the picture, he folded it up and turned to Karlyn. "I have a story I would like to tell you. When I was just out of graduate school, I got an instructor's position with a small college. That first year, I met and started dating an attractive student. That winter I talked her into moving in with me, although we knew she would eventually go home to her parents and marry some man her parents considered suitable. About the middle of the spring semester she suddenly left without telling me. I was angry and hurt that she just left without saying a word to me. I figured she had gone home to marry some man of her parent's choice, but I was very hurt that she never even said good-bye. I never heard from her again. I probably had the suspicion she might be pregnant. Over the years I forced myself to forget her, because I figured she had gone home to marry someone else. I blocked the memory out of my mind."

Then he looked directly at Karlyn, who had been looking intently at him all the time he was speaking. He took a deep breath, "That girl, I am sure, is the girl in this picture." He held up the picture of Karlyn's mother.

Karlyn involuntarily gasped, then she looked at Dr. Janison.

Casey Janison smiled, "That is the story he told me before he read your mother's letter."

Karlyn turned to Dr. Donaldson, "Do you mean you think you are my father?" she asked.

"At this moment, I am positive. I now realize you look just like your mother and that is why you looked familiar. I am sure the child she was pregnant with was mine," Gary told her. "I never knew I had a daughter. The question now is, do you want me for a father."

Karlyn put her hands to her face, and tears began to come to her eyes.

"Oh, yes. I had no idea what my father would be like. I never dreamed my father would turn out to be someone like you, or that you would admit I was your child."

Gary got up from his chair and held out his arms. Karlyn practically sprang out of her chair and ran toward him and threw her arms around his neck. He hugged her for a long time. After a few moments he rather quietly said,

"I have a big house near campus, if you'd like to move in. It comes complete with your own bedroom and separate bath. You can redecorate as you wish," Gary told Karlyn. "I have absolutely no idea how a college age daughter's room should be decorated."

"I don't know what to say. I didn't even know if I would ever find my father. I didn't know if he would even admit he was my father. Now all of a sudden I have not only found him but he wants to know if I want a home," Karlyn said still in Dr. Donaldson's arms.

"Am I going too fast for you. I am now willing to claim you as my daughter. It probably will take us a while to get used to each other, but I'm willing to work at it," Gary said giving Karlyn another hug.

"Is this really happening? I'm not dreaming it am I?" asked Karlyn not willing to let her newfound father go. She couldn't believe it. She had found the father she badly wanted, and found him to be someone she would happily claim as a father. Now, she was also being offered the home she never had, with a father she wasn't sure she would ever find.

"It is real," said Casey Janison with a smile.

"We have a lot of catching up to do. I'm not sure I can make up for all the years I wasn't around for you," Gary said.

Karlyn looked at him, "Dad," she said, " It apparently wasn't your fault. Mother said she never told you that you had a daughter. I'm just happy you are willing to be my dad."

Gary Donaldson smiled, "You know I kind of liked that," he told Karlyn.

Karlyn looked puzzled, "What did you kind of like?" she asked.

"When you called me Dad," Gary replied. Karlyn smiled happily and gave him another hug.

Then she turned to Dr. Janison. "I really appreciate your helping me find my dad," she said.

"Actually it was at your father's request. He said you looked so much like someone out of his past he wanted to find out something about you. He said it would look strange for a male professor asking questions about a young female student," Casey said with a smile.

Karlyn started to laugh. "Who would believe you Dad, if you said you wondered if that young female student was your long lost daughter. Especially when you never knew you had a daughter."

Gary started to laugh. "Yes, my reputation would really take a nose dive." Then he added with a smile, "How am I going to explain that the cute young woman who has moved in with me is really my long lost daughter." Then he turned to Casey, "You are really going to have to back me up on this one. Otherwise I will be receiving some very pointed looks around campus."

"Oh you could really get a racy reputation," Casey said laughing. "It's probably a good thing that you have tenure and your full professorship already." Then she turned to look at Karlyn, she kind of flippantly said, "Of course the two of us could move in with him, and then the rumors really would get interesting."

Gary Donaldson looked at Casey with a small smile trying to think if Casey really meant that. "That would be an interesting idea, wouldn't it," he said smiling at her.

Karlyn looked at the two of them. Casey looked at them with a smile. She might consider getting together with Karlyn now that she had made contact with her. Perhaps she would explore that idea.

Dr. Janison smiled at the two of them, tipped her head and said, "I think Karlyn and I will confer on that within the next few weeks. That is something the two of us women should thoroughly discuss." Casey figured she would wait until Gary and Karlyn began to get comfortable with each other as father and daughter. Then she might consider seeing, if Karlyn would want to share her newfound dad, with another woman. Even, if that other woman was the one who got her together with her dad. And if Gary might consider that idea.

 

 

The End

 

THE CABIN©

by Richard A. Falb

It was one of those mysteries that grow up in a remote woods area. An unsolved mystery, as far as the people in this area are concerned. It is the kind that people make all kinds of stories about. None of which would ever really come close to the real story, but it will never be told. No person in their right mind would believe it.

Building this cabin, in this remote area, had been his dream for years. A dream that began when he was a very young man. It began with a canoe trip into the Wilderness area with a group of friends. He fell in love with the beauty and solitude of the area. Since that time, he had a dream of a cabin in the woods by a lake. It had been put on hold to build a successful career in business and gain the where-with-all so he could realize that dream. Now it had become a desire to get as far away from others as he could be.

Rather early in his marriage, John Gordon's wife left him for another. It had been a rather acrimonial parting. Luckily, they had no children. On the surface, he seemed to have taken that blow relatively philosophically. Down inside he had seethed for quite some time. He had never seriously considered remarrying. That experience had left him embittered.

He invested wisely over the years. Recently he had become embroiled in a bitter battle with some people within the company he had helped found. When his company offered him a buyout at fifty, he took it. He wanted to get away from this corporate jungle. He felt he could trust no one. Especially some very close friends, who had actually tried to maneuver him out of control of the company. He had made them pay dearly for that. It left a very bitter taste in his mouth.

He bought this property deep in the woods, far from any neighbors. Over several years, he built the cabin of his dreams. He wanted to shut out the rest of the world as much as he could. It was now finished, stocked and furnished. It could only be reached by miles and miles of very rough roads, or by floatplane.

It was in the spring, when he sold his house in the city and moved into the cabin. At last he felt he was free from what he termed those backbiting jackals. He was just fifty-three. He had kept himself in very good physical condition. He had always been a hunter and fisherman. He had built up the necessary knowledge and a plethora of good equipment. He was no stranger to the forests and the lakes.

Fishing and hunting were good. He honed his skills so he could provide for himself off the land as much as possible. He was finding he really enjoyed this life in the woods. He had gathered a lot of information on food that could be found in the woods and the lakes. He also learned how to best prepare and cook them.

He began to explore more and more of the woods around the cabin. At first, he tried to keep in sight of the lake, while exploring. He knew he had only himself to count on. He was not taking any stupid chances. It was, after all, a little traveled wilderness area.

During the first month, he was able to become more and more familiar with the woods surrounding the cabin. He marked trails, so he would always know in which direction the cabin lay. He knew if he got lost in the woods, he might not be found until weeks or months later. By then it would be too late. His only contact with the outside was an occasional trip into the nearest town or a visit by floatplane, which brought him occasional supplies. In winter he would have to count almost entirely on a plane equipped with skis. By his utility vehicle, even in good weather, it took him a full day to get to town. He was considering getting a snowmobile in fall.

On one of these exploring trips, he came upon a small clearing in the woods. He was startled to see a young woman, sitting on a low branch watching him. He did not know that anyone lived anywhere near him. Then he noticed her clothing was very strange. Her outfit was all green. It was a type of outfit he had never seen before. She wore trousers that were tight fitting on her legs. Her shoes looked almost like slippers. They were pointed and turned up in front. Her jacket was also green. The whole outfit was in a material he couldn't identify. On her head, she wore a type of pointed cap, in green.

Then he was startled to notice her ears looked somewhat pointed. She looked like a picture he saw a long time ago in a book about ancient legends. She looked, he realized, like the sketch of an elf he had seen in that book. He began to wonder if the solitude of the forest was getting to him. Was he really seeing this creature.

He was startled, by getting a message loud and clear, although her lips did not move.

"You don't believe in me do you?"

"No I don't," he replied. "You look like a sketch I saw of an elf, but elves do not exist, or so we are told."

She smiled at him, "I do not understand your language, only your thoughts," she sent the message to him. "Why don't you believe in me? You see me with your eyes. Come touch my hand and you will see I do exist."

"I'm not sure I can trust my eyes," he replied to her. He walked slowly and hesitantly toward her, then held out his hand. He still wasn't prepared to believe what he was seeing. She reached out and touched his fingers. They were the fingers of a person, and yet. He really did not believe his eyes. He knew in his mind there was no such thing as an elf.

"I mean you no harm," She sent the message to him with a smile. "You moved into our area. I wanted to know who you were. We are not used to having humans living in our area. They occasionally come but they do not stay."

"Who are you?" he asked, then smiled, realizing he was using a vocal language she did not understand.

"Your thought came through very clear. I am a Woodland Elf. We live nearby. You cannot see us unless, like me, we want you to see us," the Elven maiden communicated. Then she smiled at him, "You see we really do exist. We have found it best we keep to areas where there are few, if any humans. We make sure we keep out of sight. I am disobeying the rules."

"Can you speak?" he asked her, this time remembering to frame his question in his thought.

"Yes, I can speak," she told him, "but you would not understand my spoken language anymore than I understand your spoken language. Thoughts, however, are a universal language."

"But I have never communicated by thoughts before." He framed the thought in his mind, still not understanding how they were able to do it.

"That is because you never really tried before. You never had to and you had no one with whom to try. We have been doing this for a long, long time." Her thought came back to him. She had answered with a smile. It was a very friendly smile he noted.

He had now gotten over the shock of meeting her and seeing her very strange clothing. He noticed she was very pretty and was relatively tall. She was almost as tall as he was. She smiled at him as she dropped from her perch on the branch.

She landed very lightly, straightened her trousers, then looked at him, "You finally noticed that I am a woman."

He smiled back at her, "I finally realized you are a very pretty woman," his thought returned to her. He was finding he was reacting differently to her than he usually had reacted to women.

She smiled her thanks for the compliment.

"Come," she communicated as she held out her hand, "I will show you the woods. I cannot get lost and I mean you no harm. I will make sure you get back to your cabin."

He hesitated for only a minute, then he held out his hand and took hers. He didn't know why, but he trusted her. He hadn't trusted a woman for years. She moved, lithely, quietly and surely. He followed, realizing she could easily outdistance him, if she wanted. She could probably lose him where nobody would find him. He couldn't understand why that wasn't worrying him. Why he didn't worry that she might want to get rid of him. Get him lost where he wouldn't be found until it was too late.

She took him through the woods telling him many things about the woods he was not aware of, and would probably have never seen. It was obvious, she was at home in these woods. She really was a woodland creature. Some legends said, that is what Elves were. His mind still would not believe that he was seeing an Elf. They spent several hours walking in the woods, then she brought him out into the clearing by his cabin.

He had no idea where she had taken him or how she arrived back here. He knew she had knowledge of the woods that even the best woodsman didn't have.

"Would you like to see my cabin?" he questioned in his thoughts. He found he was now getting used to communicating with his thoughts, not vocally. For some reason he didn't doubt or question this new found ability.

"Yes," she replied to him. "I want see how you live in something like this," indicating his cabin. "That is part of the reason I appeared to you. I have watched you as you explored the woods. I decided I could trust you."

It was strange hearing her say that she decided she could trust him. She was the one who was in her element here in the forest. He brought her inside. He found himself trying to explain what everything was and what use it had for him. She seemed to understand practically everything. She sat on the chairs, looked curiously at his utensils and felt how soft his bed was. She did it so naturally, he found he couldn't put the spin on what she was doing like what he might with another woman. He offered her something to eat, but she politely declined.

"For this time," she communicated with a pleasant smile. As they went outside, and it was obvious she was about to leave, he found himself asking,

"Will I see you again?"

"If you wish," she answered. "In five days, we can meet at the place where you first saw me." She smiled at him, then turned and moved quickly off into the forest.

Once she was gone, he pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He was wide-awake, he found. He really couldn't believe what he had just seen and experienced. There were no woodland people like elves. He always believed this. Now he had seen one himself. Or had he. At least he thought he had. He was totally confused. He was a highly intelligent man, so he should reject the thought of there being Elves. But he couldn't, he was finding. He had not acted towards her like he would have acted toward any other woman. She was not like any other woman.

During the days until he was to meet her again, he tried to carry on as he normally would. In the back of his mind, however, was always the vision of this Elven maiden, and a wonder if this could really be true. Could it be, being out here alone, his imagination had worked over time? He would see in a few days. He wasn't sure how he really felt about seeing this Elven maiden again. But he found he wanted to see her again. He was beginning to want to believe that there were Elves.

It dawned bright and sunny, the day he was supposed to meet the Elven maiden again. He had not slept very well the night before. He was tense and excited. He hurried along the path toward the clearing. He reached it, only to find it empty. He found himself deeply disappointed. Maybe he was too early.

Then a thought impinged upon his mind, "I am here, turn to your right." He turned and saw her smiling at him standing next to a tall tree. He had been looking for her to be in her regular place.

"You were teasing me," he accused her, but he smiled when he said that. She smiled pleasantly back at him. Her smile portrayed nothing but that she was apparently pleased to see him.

Then he asked, "Could you teach me your language so we could talk?"

After a moments pause, her thought came back,

"My language is very complicated, for it is very old. It would be easier for you to teach me your language."

"It would take us a long time if we can only meet for a short time every five days or so," he communicated to her. He was surprised how quickly he said that. She looked at him intently, as if considering her next thought.

"I have decided we could meet every other day, each morning, if you would like," her thought came back. "You can start the lessons today."

He found he was happy that she had agreed to do that. He found he wanted to keep meeting her. He was happy it would be more often and for a full morning. The next hours he began to vocalize the words for many things around them. He brought her back to the cabin and he began to write things down and verbalize them. She proved a very apt student.

Over the weeks, they continued these lessons. They seemed to be making very good headway. As the weeks went on, he realized he was falling in love with this Elven maiden. This was impossible. The thought crossed his mind that he really should stop seeing her. He had no idea where this could possibly go. She could not become like him. He didn't think he could become like her. He found he did not want to stop seeing her.

He dared not touch her except to take her by the hand occasionally. He only did this to lead her to something he wanted to name and teach her how it worked. He dared not take her in his arms, like he found himself wanting to do. He also dared not communicate how he was beginning to feel toward her. He was afraid she would just disappear.

When he went into town to get additional provisions, and when the floatplane came, he dared not tell anyone about her. They would think the solitude was causing him to crack up. Maybe he was. Maybe he was imagining all this. He knew he was not. She was as real as anyone he met in town when he occasionally went in for supplies. No, he was not cracking up. This pretty Elven maiden was real. She was stealing his heart.

He found himself happy to just have her close, to talk to her, to walk through the woods with her. They were beginning to be able to communicate in his language. Then she finally started to try to teach him her language. It was slow going but soon he began to learn how to speak a little in her language. This went on all summer.

She began to spend more and more time with him and do more and more things with him. However, she never took him into the woods to show him where she lived. He considered asking her about that, but always hesitated. He decided he must wait until she made the offer. She never indicated any desire to move in with him, although she was spending all of the day with him now. She even occasionally allowed him to put his arm around her and she put her arm around him. Still he did not dare to put both his arms around her and kiss her. He found he wanted to do that very badly. He did not dare. She might disappear. He found he dreaded the thought of that.

One day she brought him a cap like hers. They both laughed at the sight of him when he put it on. He put it away with some clothes he had in a drawer under his bed. He didn't want to lose it. If someone else happened to come upon his cabin, he didn't want to try to explain its presence.

Late that fall, when the floatplane came, the pilot found no one in the cabin. He thought John was out in the woods and had forgotten the plane was coming that day. The pilot did report this when he returned to town. He then forgot about it.

When John did not show up for his periodic trip into town for supplies, that fact was reported to the sheriff. The sheriff noted that, but as John had opted to stay way out there by himself, he figured John knew what he was doing.

When nothing was heard from John for another two weeks, the sheriff and others, began to get worried. They decided to send a party in to see if everything was okay. They found the cabin empty. When they began to look more closely, it looked like no one had been there for several weeks. That set off an alarm in their minds. They began to search the area. They could find no evidence of John Gordon. He seemed to have disappeared without any trace.

After a week of searching, they finally had to give up. The weather had become stormy and heavy snow fell. One of the searchers, looking for clues as to where John might have gone, found the green hat. He put it on the table, and left it there when they quit searching for the night.

A day or so later that searcher remembered what he had found and was telling some of the others about the strange hat. When they looked for it, the hat was gone. No one else saw it, nor could they find any trace of it. John Gordon became a missing person's statistic in the sheriff's files. There was no evidence of robbery. No one had seen a stranger or strangers in the area. They could find no evidence of foul play. In fact, they could find no evidence of anything. John Gordon had just dropped off the face of the earth.

The next spring, a friend came to get John's personal belongings from the cabin. He left all the furniture and utensils. He thought, maybe sometime he might come up to the cabin. John, in a light-hearted moment had said he was going to will the cabin to this friend. The friend had found he had really done this. John had no known relatives and actually very few friends.

While he was packing up, he happened to look out the window. At the edge of the clearing, he thought he saw a man and woman dressed in strange green clothing, standing looking at the cabin. He hurried out to try to talk to them. If they were from around here, they might have some ideas as to what happened to John. By the time he got out of the cabin, they were gone. He had no idea where they went. He was not about to try to see if he could find them in the woods.

At first he had thought of asking in the town if anyone knew of a couple that dressed in strange green clothing. He decided not to say anything to anyone else about seeing this couple. They would probably think he had been seeing things. He reluctantly closed up the cabin and returned to the city.

One day, a few summers later, the friend decided to drive up to the cabin to see how it was faring. He had kind of forgotten about it. When he reached the cabin, he found it looked well kept, but it was just as he had left it. Then he saw a strange green cap on one of the pegs by the door. Later, for some reason he didn't remember, he looked under the bed. Underneath there was two pair of green slipper like shoes. He thought, of the two people he had seen, after John had disappeared. For some reason, he was afraid to take that thought any further. The friend closed up the cabin, headed back for town and then for the city. He still could not bring himself to tell anyone else of what he thought he had seen. He decided to not plan on using the cabin himself. He would visit it a couple times a year to let the people in the town know it was not abandoned. He had a strange feeling, perhaps that couple in green, were occasionally using it. He decided he would leave it for them. He found, however, he no longer had any desire to meet them. He did not think they had any desire to meet him. That is if they really did exist.

THE END

Death in the Tea House©

By Richard A. Falb

It was the strangest murder case I was ever involved in. It was also the strangest way I ever got involved in a murder case. You might say I kind of backed into it. Or maybe stumbled onto it would be more to the point.

Sharon and I dropped in to this suburban Teahouse, for a late lunch. It was about one-thirty or two in the afternoon. It was a nice quiet place. There were a surprising number of people there, for this time of day. It was in a small mall in a very nice residential area. You really had to be aware of it to find it. It was not a place you dropped in because you were driving by. You had to plan to come here.

We had been here a few times before. It had very good food, a little different than the normal run of entrees. It also seemed to have a loyal group of customers. We stumbled on it one day, when we were out looking over this neighborhood. My wife has a habit of going to real estate open houses. She doesn't want to move. She just likes to see what other people do with their houses. I usually tag along. I want to have an idea of where she is coming from, when she comes up with some idea for a change in décor for our home. It wasn't that I was worrying about the money she might spend. It really was her money. She had ample to do whatever she wished. We tried this restaurant out and we liked it. We kept coming back at fairly regular intervals.

We ordered our lunch, a couple of salads, and were just about finished. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a man seated nearby seemed to be having some kind of problem. He was seated with a group of six people. There were two men and four women. They looked like they were probably people from the area. It was a really upscale neighborhood.

The others at his table didn't seem to be paying too much attention to him. He had been just sitting there quietly eating. The rest were in earnest, and it seemed to me agitated conversation. All of a sudden, he fell forward onto the table then slipped sideways off his chair. The woman beside him, started to move out of the way, then realizing something was wrong, reached out to catch him. He slipped through her grasp and slid to the floor. He landed part way under the table and partly into the aisle. He landed on his back. From where I sat, his eyes looked open and staring.

I started to get up and move toward him to see if I could be of assistance. I had some medical knowledge. I had quit in my final year in medical school. I decided rather belatedly, the medical profession was not for me. As I started to move toward the man on the floor, the other man from that table shouldered me out of the way. I stepped back.

"I'm a medical doctor," he said rather gruffly. Then he continued to others in the group, "Better call an ambulance."

I turned back to Sharon, who also had risen and had moved beside me.

"I don't think an ambulance will do him any good. I'm sure he is already dead," I quietly told her. She looked at me questioningly. I shrugged my shoulders.

"His eyes were wide open and staring the moment he hit the floor. He had fallen facing me," I explained still very quietly.

The man looked to be in his late fifties and in good physical condition. At least that had been my snap judgement as I observed the group as we came in and were seated nearby. I had a habit of looking people over and evaluating them. I guess it was a combination of my criminal law training and the fact that when I retired early, I began to write mystery stories. I was always observing people for possible character types in my mystery novels. Besides, it was interesting to speculate what people were like judging from their looks and actions.

The ambulance and the police soon arrived and the man was put into the ambulance and taken away. The paramedics said he was already dead. I knew the police, so was able to take a look at the dead man before they moved him. I was also able to talk to the paramedics and to the police officers. Everyone thought he had a heart attack. It looked like that was a good possibility. We really didn't know any of the people involved so we put it out of our minds and went on our way.

We went out of town for a few days after that. When we came back on Friday night we had an invitation to an afternoon party at the mansion of a friend of my wife's. My wife was the one who had money in our family. That was one smart thing I did. I married a rich wife who was also attractive and charming.

I met Sharon after my wife died unexpectedly. We were introduced by friends. I did have a couple friends who had friends with money. Her husband had been killed in an accident about six months before. He left her very well off.

We kind of formed our own grief therapy group, which grew into marriage. Whenever she was angry at me, she accused me of marrying her for her money. Luckily she was never seriously mad and never stayed mad at me for very long. I really hadn't married her for her money, but I will have to admit that it was nice that she had money. It was always a flip accusation, she never really meant it. We had just hit it off from the first time we met.

When we arrived at the party, I noticed the conversation seemed much more animated than usual. I asked our host what was going on.

"Oh haven't you heard. We have the murder of a prominent citizen in our community," he told me, surprised that I didn't know all about it already. "If you haven't heard about it you really must be slipping. I thought you had good contacts with the police."

"We've been out of town," I explained.

His wife came up to greet us. "Yes, my cousin's, friend's husband apparently has been murdered. They thought it was a heart attack, but the autopsy showed that he really was poisoned. It's been in all the papers and on television."

"Where was he murdered?" I asked now getting interested.

"They don't know actually where he was given the poison, but he died at the Tea House on Blue Pines Road."

I began to think back. "When did he die?" I immediately asked.

"It was last Tuesday. He was in a group that was there for lunch. He was with his wife, his ex-wife and a female friend, who incidentally he was supposed to have had an affair with. His ex-wife's doctor and his wife were also with them. Karen said that it wasn't surprising that a meeting of those people ended in murder."

"You mean there was a bit of animosity among those people?" I asked.

"Well in addition to the fact that the three women had a connection to the man murdered, those three women were all patients of the doctor. The doctor had a reputation as a ladies man who was suspected of having an affair or two with attractive female patients. The three were all attractive women."

I looked at Sharon. "Apparently we witnessed a murder," I said. Our host looked at us questioningly.

"We were at the Tea House that day for lunch. We were sitting close by when the man dropped over dead. I commented to Sharon that the man was obviously dead the moment he hit the floor. I could see his face. His eyes were wide and staring." Then I asked, "Are they saying what poison had been used?"

"They're playing it close to the vest now that it has become a murder investigation," our hostess said. "We gather from rumors, that all of the people at that table are considered suspects. We haven't heard any speculation so far on any other suspects."

Her husband chimed in, "Everyone is wondering whether the poison would have to be given him at the table,"

I thought for a moment. "That's why I wanted to know if they had determined the exact poison used. There are some poisonous substances that are relatively slow acting, but usually the victim shows some signs something is wrong. I thought the man looked okay when we first came in and sat down. However, just before he dropped over, I thought it looked like he was having some kind of problem."

"That would mean it would have had to be administered at the table," commented some one who had just come up to greet us.

"Not necessarily," I replied. "There are some things that only become poisonous when combined with something else. In that case it might have been triggered by something he ate at lunch." Then I smiled, "Having said that I will admit I have never heard of such a case."

"But that doesn't mean that couldn't be the case here," said the hostess beginning to get interested in this possibility with all its ramifications.

"We'd have to find out the exact poison used," I said, hoping to head off any rumor spreading by the group here. "Then we would have to determine the exact things that could make it into a deadly poison for that person. Then we would have to determine if that man ate anything that could possibly trigger a deadly reaction that would kill a person instantly. There are too many ifs in that scenario."

"Killjoy," the hostess exclaimed laughingly. "It would make for a wonderful murder mystery wouldn't it. Maybe you could write one like that."

"I'll take it under consideration," I answered her with a smile as we moved in to join the rest of the people already there. Everyone else was discussing the murder. We hadn't had a murder in this suburban area for twenty years. That had been a case of a wife murdering an abusive husband. She pleaded self-defense and consequently got off very lightly. She was released on probation shortly after the trial. That was before we moved into this community.

One of the women at the party, was a doctor who was a friend of the coroner.

"I was talking to the coroner," she said. "He hinted that it wasn't the usual substance you expect people to be poisoned with. I think he was saying that it wasn't something you normally considered as a poison. Rather it was something that could be poisonous only if combined with another particular substance."

The hostess was standing close by. "That is, what you were saying, Ken. So it could be a possibility in this case," she said her interest perking up again. The Doctor looked at me questioningly.

"We were talking about the fact that everyone was thinking the poison had to be administered at lunch," I told her. "I said that wasn't necessarily so, and put forth that scenario. I then admitted I had never heard of such a case. To further explain, Sharon and I witnessed the death of the man. We were at lunch at the Teahouse and were sitting at a nearby table when the man dropped over dead. I knew he died immediately because I could see his face as he slid to the floor off of his chair. I had noticed he was having some kind of trouble just before he dropped to the table and then slid off his chair. No one else at the table seemed to notice that. He didn't apparently make any noise just before he dropped over. He just quietly pitched to the table and slid off his chair."

"You think he died practically immediately?" the doctor asked.

"I think he was dead when he slumped to the table," I replied. Then I asked, "Could you possibly find out from the coroner what the exact substance was that could have triggered the death of the man. It would be interesting to find out what could possibly have turned it into a deadly poison for him. Also if the theory could hold true that something he ate at lunch could have combined with the substance to turn it into a deadly poison that could have caused his death."

I can try," she said not sounding very hopeful. "He was rather evasive in his comments as if he didn't want to say too much at the time."

I let it go at that. It was an intriguing situation if it was such a substance. However, I had no intention of getting involved. After my last try at actual sleuthing, in which I almost got crossed up with some underworld characters and gotten blown away, my wife said I had better confine my efforts to writing about it. Still this could be an interesting case.

Oh well, better I put that idea on the back burner. Our Doctor friend probably wouldn't get the information needed anyway. Besides at this time, the conversation had shifted over to other topics of interest to this particular group.

It had slipped my mind pretty much by the end of the party.

However as we were leaving, our hostess sidled up to me and whispered, "Keep me informed if you learn anything." That unfortunately, brought it back to the forefront of my consciousness. I knew that now it was going to keep bugging me. I guess I would just have to see if I could find anything out. That is the only way it wouldn't drive me out of my mind. I hated to leave things like this hanging. Sharon said I always like to get things wrapped up in a neat little package. I guess that is what made me somewhat successful at writing mystery stories.

The next week, things got a little busy, so it never resurfaced in my mind. The doctor hadn't called me saying she had found out anything from the coroner. The story had kind of disappeared, for the most part, from the media. Nothing new had surfaced apparently. However the following Tuesday I got a call. It was the cousin of our hostess, of that afternoon party.

"My cousin said you have done some detective work in the past and are familiar with both medical subjects and the law. My friend, whose husband was poisoned, needs someone to investigate the murder of her husband. She thinks the police aren't digging deep enough. They seem to be concentrating only on the people at lunch with them that day. They seemed to think the poison must have been given to him at lunch. They were ignoring the fact the coroner said it was not the normal type poison that was used. She really is frustrated and wants someone who would look beyond the obvious. Would you be willing to take on this case. I'll have her call you to set up a meeting with you, if you agree."

I was thinking furiously as I was listening. It might be an interesting case. I really didn't know any of the people involved, so wouldn't bring any prejudices with me. I don't think Sharon would object too strenuously. This didn't seem to be one with any underworld characters mixed up in it. The people involved so far didn't seem the really dangerous kind. I'd just have to watch what I was eating when I was around any of them. Besides, I had just sent the final proofs of my latest book off to the publishers. I was kind of at loose ends momentarily.

"Tell her to give me a call in the middle of next week. I'll think about it in the meantime. I'll tell her whether I will be willing to take on the investigation or not at that time," I said, not yet sure how I felt about getting mixed up in this case. It might get a little messy, if what was hinted at the party was true. We really didn't need the money at the moment. No creditors were knocking down our door. Actually with Sharon's money we didn't have a money problem.

But I was intrigued. I had to admit that. I guess I would just have to call up our doctor friend who knew the coroner. If I could get a handle on the substance used that turned into a poison, I might start doing some research. That would at least give me something to start on. That is, if I decided to take the case.

Well in the next day or two, I learned that Sharon had gotten interested in this case. Apparently an old college classmate of hers was a good friend of the female friend of the dead man. The one who was in the group and was reputed to have had an affair with him. This might complicate things. I surely didn't want to end up working for two of the suspects. One was more than sufficient. There might be a conflict of interest otherwise.

The evening before the wife of the man was suppose to call, I got a call from our doctor friend. "I finally got the name of the substance," she said. "It really is something you wouldn't think of as a deadly poison. However, I'm not sure that any food products would react with it to turn it into a deadly poison. Two things might have to have been fed to him at separate times. That would mean he really would have to be poisoned by one of the persons at the table with him." She told me what the substance was. I was only vaguely familiar with the substance.

"What if it would react with a pill he was taking, and he would ordinarily take that pill when he ate lunch," I suggested. "Of course that would mean the person who gave him the first substance would have to know exactly what pills he was taking and when."

"Maybe he wasn't supposed to have died at that lunch. Maybe it was a miscalculation on the part of the murderer," suggested the doctor.

"You mean the person thought the pill was taken at some other time, like at night, which would point suspicion only to the wife," I said.

The doctor laughed. "That would depend on who he was going to bed with that particular night."

"Oh you have an evil mind," I told her with a laugh. Then I quickly added, "That could be the case, at least from what I had been hearing at that party."

"Well good luck with that information. I think I'll wash my hands of the whole affair. It looks like it could get real sticky."

I was having the same thoughts myself. I was now kind of waffling about whether I really wanted to take that case for this friend of the cousin of our hostess. Especially with Sharon having a nebulous tie with one of the other suspects. The trouble is Sharon decided she wanted me to take the case. However she did say I should take it for the wife of the murdered man. That would be the only fair thing to do if I was going to have any one for a client.

The next day, sometime in the afternoon, the wife did call and I said I would try and see what I could do. I didn't promise anything, I just said I would do what I could. I also told her that whatever evidence I would uncover would have to be turned over to the police. She agreed without any hesitation. I figured that was a point in her favor. I knew a number of the people on the police force and did have confidence in our police force.

I then set up a meeting with her to formalize an agreement with her for me to investigate the matter. She provided me with the retainer that we had agreed on. I really didn't need that money to begin my investigation, but it kind of gave me legal standing in my work of investigating this murder. I was on retainer with one of the persons involved in the case. This gave me a reason for making inquiries and asking the police for information.

After I met with her, I immediately began to research the substance the coroner said he believed caused the death. I had to get a handle on the type of substances that would react to that substance to cause immediate death. Once I had a handle on those substances I could begin to try to construct the actual murder. In the meantime, I also had to find out as much as I could about the murdered man to see if I could uncover some motives for the murder. I thought this could get very complicated. I also had to find out as much as I could about the people who were at lunch with him that day. They still constituted the chief suspects. As far as I had heard, no other suspects had surfaced.

It proved to be quite a research project. My ties to the medical profession and the local medical school helped. The trouble is it provided me with almost too much information. There turned out to be a number of different things that could cause the substance to turn poisonous. I was having trouble tying it in to the luncheon, however. That would be the critical factor. One of those substances would have had to been taken by the victim. That substance would have to cause him to die immediately. That part of the research was getting me nowhere.

I had been leaning to the theory that something he ate triggered the reaction. If I didn't come up with a food substance that could combine with the substance to cause it to be poisonous, I would have to rethink my premise.

About that time, the police came up with the fact that he occasionally took a prescription drug that would have combined to poison him. After I did some checking, I found that he hadn't taken that drug for months. His wife said he quit it after he finished his last prescription so he didn't have any around that he could have taken. The police had a somewhat skeptical attitude toward that statement by his wife. On the other hand, I was sure she was telling the truth. Of course the doctor, who was with the party at lunch, could have given him the drug without his wife knowing it.

The thing was, unless we found out for sure what substance it was that he took at lunch that caused the other substance to become a poison, we wouldn't have a case. The coroner might have found out this when he did the autopsy and found he was poisoned. However, he apparently wasn't saying anything about this. Maybe there was more than one such substance in his system. It wouldn't do us much good to find out who gave him the substance that became a poison on reacting to the second substance. This was really becoming confusing.

I decided to find out all I could about the people who were at the luncheon with him. Because of who they were and their relationship to my client, this had to be handled very carefully. My connections with some people in the police department did help to a degree. It took a little time and a lot of digging. My research regarding the people at the luncheon got interesting when I found out that his will left an equal amount of his fortune to his present wife, his ex-wife, who he still visited fairly regularly and his female friend. He also left a very substantial sum to the doctor and a somewhat smaller bequest to the doctor's wife.

His present wife was actually wealthy in her own right. His ex-wife, and his female friend were not. It was his present wife who furnished me with this information on the will. The other information I had obtained on my own.

Then things got even more complicated. In my research on the victim, I found that he had three business partners who would get a substantial amount of money with his death. They had the type of insurance policy that paid on the death of one partner so the business wouldn't have to be liquidated to satisfy the claims of the dead partner's heirs. These partners turned out to be close friends. One of these men was seeing the dead man's ex-wife on a regular basis. It was much worse than I had originally envisioned. I suppose you would have to include at least one and perhaps all in the list of suspects, if you conceded that the poison was not necessarily administered at that luncheon at which he died. I now had to research the state of the business or businesses in which these men were partners.

I subsequently found out that the District Attorney himself was planning to handle this case. The murdered man and the other principals in the case were prominent citizens. He felt that this case must be handled carefully. He was up for reelection in another year. I guess he figured this case would be one in which he could prove himself. In addition, if it were mishandled, the media would have a hey-day.

Although I was on good terms with the police, I was not on particularly good terms with this District Attorney. We had locked horns a time or two in the past. That might cause me problems if it turned out I needed a piece of information that he had, but not the police. If he knew I was working on the case, he might try to throw some roadblocks in my way. Well, I would have to deal with that if and when the problems occurred. There was no sense in worrying about them in advance.

I had been so concentrating on trying to get a handle on the poison I forgot about the luncheon. I decided to question the wife who was my client. I set up another meeting with her at her house.

She greeted me at the door. She was technically in mourning. Black became her and she did not look particularly mournful. She was a very attractive woman. I wondered what she saw in Charles Tempken, but that was not my problem. She brought me into her sitting room.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" she asked. A cup of coffee would have been more to my liking, but I settled for her tea. It actually wasn't bad.

"I would like to ask you some questions about the luncheon, Mrs. Tempken," I began.

"Why don't you call me Paully. That's what my friends call me," she said smiling pleasantly at me as she sipped her tea. She seemed relaxed, not at all tense like you might expect, with a murder investigation going on and her, a suspect. I just nodded agreement.

"Was there a reason for the luncheon, or was that a normal occurrence?" I asked.

"If you mean, did we get together as a group regularly, the answer is a definite no. This was the first time all of us met at the same time for any reason," she stated emphatically. "It was Charle's idea. He said he wanted to talk to all of us at the same time and this was the easiest way to accomplish that."

"So it was his idea that you all get together for lunch. When did he set it up?" I asked, watching her to see her reaction to these questions.

"He called everyone the day before. He told everyone he had to talk to all of us right away."

"Why did he want to talk to all of you at the same time?"

"We don't know. Several of the group got into an argument right away. The argument was interrupted, only by ordering lunch. Charles never said why he wanted us to meet. I guess he was going to tell us after we had lunch. Maybe he thought we would be so upset by what he told us that we wouldn't be able to eat. Anyway, I never learned what he was going to talk to us about. I had asked him when he was setting up the luncheon. He told me I would find out with the rest at the luncheon."

"Might it have something to do with his will?" I asked then. She didn't flinch at the mention of the will.

"No, I'm sure it had nothing to do with the will. I am sure he didn't want anyone to have any idea what was in his will until he was dead."

"Do you think anyone had any idea why he had wanted to meet with all of you together?"

"No, I don't think so. I was in the room when he called everyone. He said the same thing to everyone. Even to me."

This wasn't getting me anywhere. I thought I would explore a different avenue.

"Did your husband have any serious health problems that you know of?" I asked her.

She thought for a moment. "He had high blood pressure, but he was keeping that under control. He had a double by-pass about seven years ago. His regular doctor seemed to think he was in relatively good physical condition. He had been warned to quit smoking, but he never did. As far as I know he had no problems that would be thought of as life threatening. Of course, he didn't tell me everything."

"Did he seem to be worried about something or did he act at all strangely within say the last couple of weeks?"

"No," she said rather emphatically. "That is why I was so surprised when he came up with this need to talk to everyone in this group right away. It was uncharacteristic of him." When she saw my questioning look, she continued. "He was always rather laid back about things. In addition, he was usually organized and never set up meetings on the spur of the moment."

"So you think that it wasn't something to do with his health that could have caused him to want to get you all together to talk to you?" I questioned trying to put some sense to all this.

"I don't think it was. At least I had no indication that he was worried about his health," his wife replied.

"He didn't seem in a hurry to tell all of you what he wanted to talk about?"

"No. He didn't seem in any great hurry. He said he would tell us after lunch. Then he just dropped it."

"Do you remember what the argument was about?" I asked, wondering if that might possibly be important.

She thought for a few moments. "No, I really can't remember at the moment. I remember thinking it was kind of petty, but I don't remember why."

"Do you remember who started the argument?"

She thought again for the moment. "Yes, that I remember. It was Dr. Marson's wife. I remember he was very upset with her, and I think that just fueled the argument. I really wasn't involved in it although I must have made a comment or two that didn't calm things down. Sheila got real mad at me, but I don't remember what I said that set her off. It must have been a stupid, off the top of my head remark."

She then told me that Sheila was the other woman. That is exactly how she characterized her. I didn't think she was telling the whole truth, when she said she wasn't involved in the argument. My impression was that everyone at the table was involved in it.

I decided to back up to before the luncheon.

"Did he seem preoccupied or different than he normally was in the week or so before the luncheon?" I asked, hoping there might be something that might indicate something was wrong.

"No. That is another thing that made his announcement so surprising to me. He seemed to be perfectly normal. I can't remember a thing that would indicate there was any thing wrong or that he was worried about any thing. I know he didn't tell me everything, but he did discuss a lot of things with me. He was the same as he always was up until the day of the luncheon. Oh, he did seem just a little preoccupied the morning of the luncheon." She added that last as almost an afterthought, as if it hadn't struck her as anything unusual.

"But he seemed to feel okay?" I then asked.

"Yes he ate a good breakfast, and didn't complain at all about not feeling well. I didn't see any indication of that," she replied very positively. Then she added, "Come to think of it, he seemed to be in very good spirits as we left for the luncheon."

This seemed to be getting me no-where. It seemed to prove that whatever he ate or took, that caused the substance to become poisonous, must have been ingested at that luncheon. This would seem to narrow down the type of the second substance. However, at the moment, that was getting me nowhere.

For the moment then, I decided to concentrate on the players in this little drama. These were somewhat prominent people, not the kind I ordinarily hob-nobbed with. As I said, it was my wife who supplied the financial standing and of course the entree to the upper strata of our suburb's society. I decided to do a little research into the newspaper files for any references to any of these people. My wife even agreed to help me in this bit of research. I thought if I could get a better insight into the activities of these people and their connection, I might get an idea. I was running out of them at the moment.

The newspaper was real cooperative, but it was a slow and tedious job. I wasn't sure what we should be looking for.

Our research proved to be enlightening to a degree, however it didn't move me any farther along in the murder investigation that I could see. We found out, the reason the murdered man and his present wife got together, was because her parents and some other relatives were partners with him in a business enterprise. It had been moderately successful. However, lately there were hints of problems reported in the business news.

Then we ran across a bit of interesting news. The doctor and his wife had recently filed for bankruptcy. In doing a little more digging, we found that a company, that both the doctor and the murdered man had an interest in, had filed for bankruptcy protection several months before. The plot began to thicken. There was no information that this bankruptcy affected the financial affairs of the murdered man. His wife had not hinted that he was in any financial trouble.

In discussing this with his wife, I found out she kept her financial affairs strictly separated from her husband's. If he had been in some financial trouble, it would not have carried over to her. They did not own anything jointly. This I thought was somewhat strange. Maybe she didn't trust him to handle her financial affairs. Maybe she didn't think the marriage would last very long. Anyway, that wasn't a reason for her to murder her husband.

When we were discussing this turn of events, my wife looked at me with a puzzled expression,

"There are getting to be too many suspects with possible motives in this case. We were suppose to be eliminating suspects, not adding them," she said. I was getting that same feeling. It was really getting cluttered.

Maybe if I could trace his movements for the day before the luncheon. I had gotten the impression that he was with his wife the morning of the luncheon. Of course I might have to pin that fact down also. I couldn't take anything for granted, obviously. When I asked his wife about this, she said he had gone somewhere right after breakfast for a couple of hours. He came back in time to take her to the luncheon.

After she thought about it she said, "I guess he did seem more quiet and preoccupied after he returned that morning. It wasn't something that really bothered me at the time. However, it didn't seem like he was worried about something. In fact, he brightened up just before we left for the luncheon."

I now had to see if I could find out where he went during those hours, what he did, and whom he met. That would mean he wouldn't have had to necessarily take the substance that made the other substance poisonous, at the luncheon.

We now had not only too many suspects, but too many opportunities to poison him. My investigation was not only not simplifying things, it was further complicating the situation. It was not making sense so far.

Within the next week, my investigation turned up the facts that he had talked to the business partner who was seeing his ex-wife, and had visited his attorney briefly. He also stopped in to a couple of stores before he returned home. The police had also decided to find out where he was on that morning. That made my job a little easier. However, I found out the District Attorney heard I was retained by the widow. He hinted to the police they shouldn't give out any information to me. Luckily I still had some good friends in the police department.

The Sheriff was also a good friend. There was very good cooperation between his staff and the police. It was through the Sheriff, I found out that the District Attorney was putting pressure on the police to find evidence that would point to the wife as the poisoner. The information I had turned up, so far, made her the least likely suspect. With him alive, she had the full use of his money. At the same time, she had full control over her own money. Dead, she had to share his money with a bunch of other people. She really didn't gain anything from his death. In fact it tended to complicate her life while gaining her nothing. That didn't look like a very good motive in my book.

I did find out the murdered man had stopped at a drug store. However his purchases were very ordinary things, none of which would seem to have a bearing on the case. The police had the same idea. There was something wrong that kept nagging on me. I couldn't get a handle on why I felt this way. The whole situation seemed to be wrong for some reason. Nothing was making sense.

I asked for his wife's permission and help to dig further into her husband's background. Maybe there was something about him that would give us a clue. I had no legal standing to question the other possible suspects in the case. The District Attorney was making it difficult for me to get any detailed information from the police. I did find out they were no closer to solving this murder than I was. They had reams of paper work but no evidence against anyone that would stand up in court. They too, had too many suspects who could possibly have reasons for wanting him out of the way. They too, felt there were too many opportunities for the second substance to be given to him. I began to have this nagging feeling that it looked like the murder was carried out in a way that guaranteed there would be a large number of suspects. This would indicate that it was premeditated, and carefully planned.

Through my wife, I did hear a rumor that the dead man thought his present wife was having an affair. Apparently, however, the other man was not anyone in the present group of suspects. That would not constitute a viable motive for her murdering her husband. From all information, she could have easily divorced him on the basis that he was having extra-marital affairs, if she had wanted to get rid of him. I have a hunch, she didn't really worry about his little affairs. Obviously they were no big secret. She was the only one of the group who seemed to be comfortably situated. His death would have gained her nothing that I could learn. From the standpoint of reasons for wanting him dead, she seemed to be the least likely prospect.

For some reason, I decided to approach this whole thing from the fact that there were obviously too many suspects, and too many opportunities to bring about his death. As my wife had hinted, the murder had seemed to be committed in such a way that there would be as many suspects as possible.

I learned in a rather round about way that this whole thing was creating dissention among the suspects. In fact some of these people were providing the police with information about others in the group that might make those people more viable suspects. The only one who was not participating in this activity, it seemed, was the wife, my client. For some reason, this seemed to make the District Attorney more sure that the wife must be the murderer.

From the information I was gathering, and what I could find out about what the police had, the District Attorney had no case against her at all. Someone gave me a rather far-fetched reason for him to want to pin it on the wife. Apparently, according to this source, the wife had worked for his opponent in the past election. I thought he would have to have a much better reason than that for trying to pin the murder on her.

For lack of anything else that made sense about this affair, I decided to do some, what-if speculation, and try to create some experimental scenarios. Of course the first scenario that came to mind, if the murder was done in such a way to guarantee that there would be a multitude of suspects, then the least likely suspect would be a very good candidate. My wife got mad at me when I suggested this possibility. I really didn't think much of it myself.

I then considered the fact that maybe the fact that he died at the luncheon was deliberate. It would point either to the persons dining with him, or perhaps cause everyone to think it was triggered by something he ate at the lunch. That direction of thought had possibilities. That would mean it would not have to be caused by something he ate, only made to look like it might.

For some reason that made me recall that his wife said he was quiet and preoccupied after he returned home the morning of the luncheon. Then she had added that he brightened up just before they left for the luncheon and he seemed to be in very good spirits. A nagging thought began to try to force its way into my consciousness. To carry this thought any farther, I would have to know if the coroner did find out what the second substance could be, or if there were several substances in his system that could have acted upon the primary poison to turn it deadly. That might be a little tricky.

My wife suggested I have my client demand, through her lawyer, all information about the poisoning of her husband. This should include all the substances, found by the coroner, that might have a bearing on this murder. She had retained a very prominent criminal lawyer, who just might force the coroner and or the police to reveal this to her.

When I talked to her, she somewhat reluctantly agreed to cooperate with me and ask her lawyer to do this. It apparently took some convincing to get him to agree. She didn't call me back until a couple weeks later and then she just said he had agreed to try to get that information for her. She hadn't told him that I wanted that information. This was lucky. The District Attorney wouldn't have that reason to oppose this request.

The police apparently weren't getting very far very fast in their investigation. The District Attorney was getting very frustrated by the fact that he didn't have enough of a case to indict anyone, much less the wife of the deceased. Not only that, the media was having a ball needling him. His attitude toward the press, in the past, hadn't earned him any friends among the reporters. In addition, it had leaked out that it looked like he was trying to pin the murder on the wife, although she appeared the least likely suspect. The press really had some fun with that. She had been very cooperative with the press. They too came to the same conclusion I had, the wife had no reason to want her husband dead. She gained nothing from his death.

It took a while, but eventually we found out the coroner had found there were three substances. One happened to be a painkiller that had recently become available as an over-the-counter drug. It was a very small pill. According to my information from friends in the medical field, four small pills could have interacted with the primary poison to kill the person immediately. Of course that was four times the maximum dosage.

With this information, I convinced the wife to allow me to dig into his medical records. It seems he was allergic to this medicine. With the help of the wife, we were able to learn from his doctor he had recently inquired about this particular pill. The doctor had warned him he was allergic to that particular substance. In addition, the doctor had informed him it was not compatible with a medicine he was taking.

Now I had to do one more thing that might sound strange to my client, his wife. I asked her permission to have the car, he drove that day, searched. Apparently the police had not considered this necessary. They had not figured his car would have any bearing on his murder.

I ran into a bit of luck here. Their home was within the jurisdiction of the sheriff. The car was still at home. I was able to get him to conduct the official search. We found a bottle of the pills in the glove compartment, along with a receipt from a pharmacy in a different part of the city. Her husband had bought it several weeks ago and had used a debit card to pay for it. I told the sheriff what my suspicions were and gave him the information I had that backed up my theory. I asked him to furnish this to the police. I later learned the Sheriff had local medical personnel confirm that those pills could have killed the man practically immediately.

The wife meanwhile seemed thoroughly confused as to why I was doing this. After I had turned all my information over to the sheriff, I called my client and asked her to get her lawyer and have the two of them meet with me. I would then tell them what I had found out and what I was convinced had happened.

Several days later we met at her lawyer's office.

"I am convinced," I began, "that your husband was not murdered. All the information I have gathered, seems to point to one thing. He plotted his suicide so the timing and the place would make it look like he was murdered and so suspicion would be cast on all of you." Then I proceeded to lay out my information and why I thought this could be the only logical conclusion from these facts. They were both silent for a while. Then her lawyer spoke up.

"You have done the greatest possible service to our client," he said with a smile. "Even if the police and District Attorney do not buy your theory, the facts you have presented them, makes it impossible to even suggest our client was responsible for his death. Their possible case against her was extremely doubtful as it was. What you have discovered has made it totally ridiculous. I can have this information leaked out from my office. You of course would have to furnish your client with all the information you discovered. You did your legal duty by providing it to the sheriff first."

I laughed. "I made sure of that. The District Attorney and I are not on the best of terms, but he does know I have an extensive criminal legal background. I have done what I set out to do."

Both the wife and her attorney thanked me and she said she would pay me as soon as she received my bill. As I left them, the thought came to me. Luckily our house was also within the jurisdiction of the sheriff and not of the local police.

Two days later, I was called down to the police station and questioned extensively by both the police and a representative of the District Attorney's office. It was a somewhat adversarial interview. However, I had done nothing illegal. The search of the car was done by the Sheriff who had the jurisdiction to do it. The Sheriff had immediately turned the information over to the police.

Shortly afterwards the press came out with the information the wife's attorney had furnished them. That ended the case as far as I was concerned. The sheriff turned the bottle of pills and the receipt from the pharmacy over to the police. There were six pills missing from the bottle. Apparently the dead man was taking no chances.

My wife decided we needed an immediate vacation in Hawaii, and maybe we would go on from there to Australia. I thought that was a wonderful idea. I thought absenting myself from the area was a good idea. It had become fairly widely known that I was investigating this case. The newspapers had found out I had something to do with finding out about the pills. By the time we returned, in about a month, perhaps the case would be old news. Hopefully the police would have closed the case, even if the District Attorney wasn't happy about the results of their investigation.

The End.