by Joan Boswell
“Not good enough. You didn’t know whether or not she was covering for her family. They could have murdered Ivan. It turned out okay, but if you’re ever in a similar situation, you’re morally obligated to share information.” Hollis was suitably chastened.
The conversation turned to David.
“Not being part of a family is devastating to a child,” Rhona said. “Families are the foundation, aren’t they? In First Nations culture, the government until recently wouldn’t allow women who married white men to keep their Indian status. If the woman was divorced or widowed, she couldn’t go back to the reserve, and her children were not considered to be Indian. The law affected thousands of women and was very destructive. It kept my grandmother from returning to her reserve until she was an old lady.”
“Sort of a continuing but more subtle version of what the slave trade did to families?” Zee Zee added.
“With David, it was more than that—but I’m sure all those separations as well as his mother’s abuse helped to make him the way he was,” Hollis said. “Was he a sociopath or a psychopath?”
“Hard to say,” Rhona said.
“Whatever he was, he nearly killed me. From now on, I only want to meet a man like him on the pages of a novel.” Rhona glanced at her watch. “I’m going home to put together an IKEA bookcase and unpack a few boxes. The decision has been made—I’m in Toronto to stay.”
* * *
Two days later, Hollis joined Manon in Curt’s hospital room. Curt lifted a hand in greeting. “Hell of a way to bypass,” he said. “Seriously, thank you for saving my life.”
Manon moved a second chair next to Hollis’s. “We’re grateful. I still find it hard to believe David would plot to kill us all in order to inherit Curt’s money.”
“I’ve been thinking about his motivation. Who will ever know for sure, but I think it was more than that. David wasn’t stupid. He must have realized early on that his plan wasn’t going to work out, that suspicions would arise when everyone died. That sooner or later he’d be caught. I don’t think he cared. He kept going because he wanted to pay Curt back for his suffering by making Curt feel pain and fear. I doubt if he rationalized those feelings—I think he was obsessed and cunning. A couple of things he said triggered alarm bells, but I really wasn’t paying attention. I mean, who would have thought Ivan’s killer would be an artist, let alone that he’d be taking Curt’s course?”
Curt nodded. “He took us all in. We’ve arranged for his cremation. Late in August when I’ve recovered and Etienne returns from camp, we’ll take his ashes back to the reserve. I’ll carry them and bury them in the briefcase his mother made me.”
Tears rolled down Hollis’s cheeks. Curt appeared to have made a Saul on the road to Damascus conversion. She didn’t know if it would last, but it was great to see.
Curt’s eyes shone with his unshed tears. “I wonder if he would have been different if I’d gone back.” He shook his head. “My parents lived in Prince George and died in a car accident while I was in New York. I flew home to bury them and never wanted to see British Columbia again. But I feel guilty.”
“His mother could have called you. She must have been aware that you would have at least paid for his support. She was to blame too,” Manon said.
Hollis held her hand up. “Enough with the blame. I have some news.”
Manon and Curt waited.
“Ivan intended to marry a girl he met at George Brown. When he died she was pregnant.”
“No,” Manon exhaled.
Manon and Curt stared at one another.
Finally, a smile crept across Manon’s face. Her eyes sparkled, and her head lifted. “How wonderful. When will she have it?” She grasped Curt’s hand. “We’ll be grandparents. Isn’t this marvellous news?”
Curt looked thoughtful. “I never visualized myself as a grandfather.” He frowned. “What would I like to be called?”
Manon laughed. “Curt, you’re incorrigible. Somehow you always put yourself at centre stage.” She leaned forward, looking at Hollis. “Who is she? When can we meet her? Has she had the baby?”
Hollis responded to Manon’s enthusiasm. It was going to be okay. “She didn’t want me to tell you her name until I told her how you reacted to the news. She hasn’t had the baby, but it’s due very soon.”
At that moment, Etienne and Tomas knocked and came in. Both hugged their father. Tomas did not look like a young man who’d recently hovered between life and death.
“Dad, you look like you’ve won the lottery,” Tomas said.
“I have. We all have,” Curt said. Uncharacteristically, his voice trembled.
Etienne examined their faces. “What’s happening? Did we really win the lottery?”
Manon nodded at Curt. “Tell them.”
“Ivan had a serious girlfriend, and she’s having a baby. Manon and I will be grandparents, and you two will be uncles.”
“An uncle. Way cool,” Etienne said. “I’ll teach him about the stars.” He looked thoughtful. “A puppy would be really good for a baby. Can we get one?”
Manon laughed. “What a good idea. I’m sure the baby will love a puppy.” She reached over and squeezed Hollis’s hand.
Her nails were short, but the manicure was perfect.
Joan Boswell was born in Toronto and grew up in Ottawa, Edmonton, Oakville and Halifax. As a member of the Ladies’ Killing Circle, she has had stories in each of their six books: The Ladies’ Killing Circle, Cottage Country Killers, Menopause Is Murder, Fit to Die, Bone Dance and When Boomers Go Bad. She has also co-edited the last three books. In 2000, she won the Toronto Sunday Star short story contest. Cut Off His Tale, her first novel, was published by RendezVous Crime in 2005.
Joan lives in Toronto with two flatcoated retrievers and enjoys life with her grown sons, their wives and her grandchildren.
More info on her activities is online at:
joanboswell.ca
Text © 2007 Joan Boswell
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, digital, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher.
Cover art/design: Jennifer Harrington
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities.
RendezVous Crime an imprint of Napoleon & Company Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Printed in Canada
11 10 09 08 07 5 4 3 2 1
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Boswell, Joan Cut to the quick / Joan Boswell.
ISBN 978-1-45970-944-7
I. Title. PS8603.O88C883 2007 C813'.6 C2007-900503-9