When Mr. Gunther tried to talk to Mr. Clark about his new bride, the only thing Mr. Clark would say was that he had met her online. Mr. Gunther said Mr. Clark had invited him to dinner that weekend, but when Mr. Gunther called to confirm what time to meet them, no one answered the phone. Mr. Gunther had called several times, and even gone to he house on numerous occasions, but didn’t have any luck contacting anyone. The message on the Clark’s answering machine didn’t say anything about them being out of town or on vacation. Mr. Gunther hadn’t heard anything from Mr. Clark since.
Mr. Gunther decided to ask a few of Mr. Clark’s neighbors if they had seen the couple. Most of the neighbors told him Mr. Clark had become rather unsociable after he got married. They used to see him out in his yard or sitting on the patio. Since Nadia came on the scene they hardly ever saw him. Mr. Gunther knows for a fact that Mr. Clark doesn’t have any family, and was getting worried that something may have happened to Mr. Clark, so he contacted Bob.
When Charlie got the message I was in town and asked about the woman in the pictures he realized I knew absolutely nothing about Grandpa’s marriage. He had suspected I didn’t, but it wasn’t until I asked about Tatiana that he knew for certain. He really didn’t want to be the one to tell me about Grandpa’s marriage, but got stuck with doing the job. So far he and Mark are having problems coming up with any information on the names they have connected to Dr. Niemeyer. They do know he is a real doctor and has been in this area for ten years. They also have not been able to find any kind of connection between the doctor and the agency these men may have used.
Mark and Charlie think if they can prove the connection between the two they will be onto something. Charlie said he and Mark were going over what information they did have when I got into town. They have some theories but nothing concrete. They are finding it impossible to get someone on the inside. When Charlie got my message he did his best to explain the situation to Mark. They went over all the information they have so far, and agreed since I am the only family member they know of, they may need my help somewhere down the line. They thought it would be best to fill me in now rather than later.
I told Charlie about all of the information I had found on the Internet. He was just as surprised as I was at how many men get their wives through those agencies. I asked Charlie if he and Mark had come up with a plan, or even an idea as to where or how we should start looking into this situation. He said Mark had done some investigating into Mr. Clark’s background to see if there would be any information we could use. I love saying we, makes me feel like I’m part of the investigation. Anyway, Mark discovered Mr. Clark was a rather wealthy man, and has no living family that they could find. Mark and Charlie had gone over to Mr. Clark’s house yesterday and let themselves in to look around. Charlie said it appeared as though no one had been living there for quite some time, but it did look as if someone had been taking in the mail. So far the only people they have been able to connect to this group are Tatiana, Dr. Niemeyer, his receptionist, Mr. Clark, and Grandpa.
Charlie said he and Mark discussed it and thought it would be a good idea to start by having me go to the doctor’s office, and see if they had any information as to where Grandpa and Tatiana were. I was ready to go then, but the office was closed. Charlie decided we would go to the office first thing in the morning. I am hoping Grandpa and Tatiana are on some stupid bonding trip, and that will be the end of this. I’m glad Charlie said he wanted to go with me. I would like to think that it’s because he’s concerned for my safety, and not just the fact that he’s afraid my mouth will get me in trouble. I think it’s a little of both. I am good with that.
Talk to you later
Evening June 9th
Dear Mary,
I was too excited to sit around the house so I decided to get rid of some of this nervous energy by taking a walk. I love walking but sometimes it gives me too much time to think. For instance, I started thinking how crazy all of this is. I have never done anything like this in my life. I can’t tell you how glad I am Charlie will be there with me at the doctor’s office. I need to know if there are going to be certain questions they want me to ask. I need to ask Charlie about some of this in the morning. I was starting to get a little wound up, when I saw Mrs. Houtz in her garage.
There was a huge dumpster in the driveway, and it looked like she was trying to clean out the garage. The dumpster was so full you would have thought there was nothing left in the house, the garage however looked as though she had barely made a dent in it. She wasn’t surprised to see me. I guess word has gotten out that I’m in town. She said, “Sid, thank heavens you’re here to help me!” Her arms were full, so I ran over and helped her get everything in the dumpster. She asked if I wanted to come in for some coffee. I said no, but we ended up at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee anyway. I asked if she was getting ready for a yard sale. She proceeded to tell me how she and Mrs. Edmonds had been having coffee last month, and got to talking about how expensive everything has gotten. They went over their budgets and came to the conclusion they should move in together. Since both of their husbands had passed, and both Mrs. Houtz and Mrs. Edmonds are on fixed incomes, they thought this would be a great way to save money. I think the best part is neither of them will be lonely anymore. They are both stubborn as the day is long, so you would never hear this from them, but I think they are both looking forward to having the company.
The biggest problem they’ve run into so far was trying to decide which house to keep, and which to sell. Mrs. Houtz said, and I quote “The Edmonds being good Catholics had seven children, so their house is huge. We being good Methodists only had two.” Mrs. Edmonds has sixteen grandchildren, and Mrs. Houtz has four. At first they were going to keep the bigger house so there would be room no matter how many of the kids wanted to come visit. Then they decided they should keep the smaller house, and get rid of the big one. Smaller house smaller bills. They told all of the children they will need to make reservations in advance if they want to come for a visit, because the house wasn’t big enough for all of them to stay at once. The ladies were both happy with the fact that none of the kids or grandkids could just drop by unannounced anymore. Mrs. Houtz said she knew it sounded sort of mean or uncaring, but she didn’t particularly care for it when her kids just dropped in and ended up staying three or four days. Mrs. Houtz said she may be older but she does have a life, and didn’t like having to miss out on bowling, dances at the VFW hall, or any other activity she may have had planned.
Apparently some of the Edmonds kids were upset at losing their childhood home. Mrs. Houtz said they knew some of the kids would be upset no matter which house they decided to sell, but they both agreed they shouldn’t have to pay higher utility bills for people that don’t live there. And now that they are getting up in years they didn’t like the idea of having to keep such a big house clean, and there were all of those stairs. She was so excited that they were going to be like the Golden Girls. They couldn’t wait to invite all of their friends over for dinner or a Sunday brunch. I made the mistake of suggesting they ask Mrs. Ruby to live with them, that way there would be three of them just like on the TV show. It made sense to me. She gave me a look that could have stopped traffic, and said two old ladies in one house was enough. I have to agree with her on that one.
I’m trying to imagine how those two are going to live together. On one hand I can see it. They have been friends for a very long time, and have several things in common. They both have children and grandchildren. They both came to this country when they were young. Both of their husbands have passed, and they both live on fixed incomes. On the other hand they are both hardheaded, and are particularly fond of the way their homes look. It will be interesting to see if they will be able to compromise on blending the two households together.
Mrs. Houtz is a very stout German woman. She’s not really heavy; she’s more square-shaped. Good hardy peasant stock. I believe her family came over when she was three or four. S
he said she learned to speak English at school. They only spoke German at home. Her maiden name was Laddenburger. You can hear a little of her accent every now and again. Mr. Houtz was a skinny little thing when they got married, but after a few years of her cooking he ended up being a pretty big boy. He had been a manager at the co-op. It wasn’t a glamorous job but it provided very well for his family. Mrs. Houtz was a stay-at-home mom, and loved being active in her children’s school activities as well as being able to volunteer at her church.
Mrs. Edmonds is a tiny little eastern European woman who I believe came from Hungary. Her accent has always been thick. I’m not sure how old she was when her family came over. She met Mr. Edmonds when she worked at a men’s clothing store. Mr. Edmonds was a very successful businessman at the time, and her family couldn’t wait for them to be married.
She always seemed to be on the go. Not only did she take care of her seven children, but she was always doing something for the church or the community. I would think by now she would be happy to sit, relax, and have a drink every now and then. It sounds like the two of them will be as busy as ever. I see dinners, potlucks and brunches every week in their future. They may not have to worry about the kids or grandkids coming over, there won’t be any time left for them.
Speaking of dinner, while we were talking and drinking coffee, Mrs. Houtz had thrown together this wonderful smelling stew. The coffee had been replaced by wine. Mrs. Edmonds had shown up at some point with fresh baked bread, salad and a warm berry cobbler for dessert. I hadn’t really planned on staying for dinner, and now that I think about it I wasn’t really asked. I think those two just assume if you are in the house at dinnertime you’re going to eat with them.
Those two have made fixing dinner a tag-team sport. Mrs. Edmonds put the cobbler in the oven to stay warm. Got out the silverware, the bowls for the stew, plates for the salad, and put all of it on the table. Mrs. Houtz brought out the stew, filled the bowls and made sure the wine glasses were full. When Mrs. Houtz came back in from the kitchen she had put the bread on a board and had the knife and butter all ready to go. At some point someone had moved me to the dining room table and I was sitting at my seat. Before I knew it, we were eating, drinking and talking about all the different activities the grandchildren were up to. Apparently several of the grandkids are into sports. Neither Mrs. Houtz nor Mrs. Edmonds care for sports, let alone understand them, but they make a big deal about every touchdown, goal, point or thing-a-ma-bobbies as they call them that each grandchild makes.
As we were having our dessert they both asked how Grandpa and Tatiana were doing. Of course I told them they were fine. There’s something I have to explain to you about Mrs. Houtz and Mrs. Edmonds, or as several people in town refer to them “Miss Marple and Mrs. Fletcher.” They both love a good mystery, be it book, movie or TV, but the Holy Grail for them is if it’s a real life mystery, which they are constantly on the lookout for. The drawback is sometimes they try to make something out of nothing. I say they, but Mrs. Houtz is more like Jane Marple.
Jane Marple was a character written by Agatha Christie back in the twenty’s. I loved this character. She looked like every other old lady you see, didn’t matter if she was knitting or pulling weeds in her garden, but when it came to mysteries she had a sharp logical mind. Although she looked sweet and old she feared neither dead nor living, and had a remarkable ability to latch onto a casual comment and connect it to the case at hand. That pretty well sums up Mrs. Houtz. Mrs. Edmonds is more like Jessica Fletcher, mysterious things just sort of happen around her.
Jessica Fletcher was a character on TV played by Angela Landsbury. It was a show about a widowed mystery writer who lived in the tiny made up town of Cabot Cove, Maine. I swear wherever this woman went people died and she had to help the local authorities figure out who did it. Thank goodness no one ever dies around Mrs. Edmonds, just strange things happen.
With the two of them spending more time with one another, I can tell the influence each has had on the other. Each of them has a way of asking you questions, and you don’t realize how much information you’re giving them until the cats out of the bag, and there’s no way to get the information back. That’s why I hadn’t asked them any questions about Grandpa and Tatiana. I knew they would have their own theories, and most likely an entire scenario about the older man dating a much younger woman. But I did want to know what they thought about Tatiana, and when was the last time they had seen either one of them. I had to be very careful with my questions, or they would be on me like white on rice.
At first glance they both appeared to be happy that Grandpa had found someone, and said how it used to break their hearts seeing him working out in the yard by himself for all those years. Mrs. Edmonds casually mentioned they had noticed Tatiana’s accent, and asked if I knew where she was from. I watched their faces closely as I said Russia. I am in awe of these women’s control of their facial expressions. I wanted to ask them right then and there how they did that, but it wasn’t the time. Russia was where they thought she was from. Mrs. Houtz said at first, most of the neighborhood was shocked that Grandpa had a girlfriend. It had been so many years since Grandma died they assumed Grandpa, like a large number of widowers in town, was content being alone. When they found out Tatiana was actually living with Grandpa, and how young she was, Marple and Fletcher became intrigued and a little worried.
I could tell they were trying to get as much information from me as I was trying to get from them. I thought if I asked why, they would be worried, I would be falling into a questioning trap they may have planned, so I let that slide. I casually mentioned that the late night traffic was driving Mrs. Ruby crazy. I tried to play it off as “we all know how she overreacts.” The three of us sat there trying not to look too interested in what the other had to say, and yet trying to get more and more information out of one another as we possibly could. I knew from the get go getting information out of these two was going to be hard. But I also knew if anyone in the neighborhood had any information or ideas of what was really going on, it would be one or both of them.
Unfortunately with all the excitement of getting to work with Charlie I had completely forgotten how far ahead of me these two were in the “investigation” game. They have been getting information out of people for as long as I can remember. This was going to be harder than I thought. I would have loved to been able to tell them everything Charlie had told me, but I knew he would never forgive me. This was going to be a delicate game of cat and mouse, and I could tell they were thinking the same thing.
Mrs. Houtz thought it must have been Tatiana’s sister they had seen at Grandpa’s house from time to time. I asked why she thought it was her sister, and Mrs. Edmonds said because the woman had the same accent, and the two of them looked similar. Both were tall, slim and had dark hair. They had only seen the woman a couple of times but she seemed to be very pleasant, but they never caught her name.
I don’t know if it was too much wine with dinner, being too tired or that I am new to the investigation game, and maybe it was all of the above, but I found it very hard to keep my mouth shut and try to get information out of them at the same time. I think they were starting to have as hard of a time keeping track of who gave who what information as I was. I don’t think anyone verbally said we were all getting a little confused, but we sort of stopped talking about Grandpa and Tatiana. I need to have Charlie give me a few tips or lessons.
It was fun having dinner with them, even if we were trying to get information out of each other. They wanted me to stop by before I left town to see how well they were able to pull the house together. I bet that will be a barrel of fun, two women with two sets of everything making it fit into a four-bedroom house. I will definitely be stopping by, and if it happens to be at dinnertime, so be it.
By the time I got back here it was already nine-thirty, so I thought now would be a good time to get you caught up on everything. Time for bed, we have a date with the doctor in the morning
.
See you later
June 10th
Dear Mary,
I must have slept harder than I thought. I didn’t think I had slept at all but the next thing I knew, Charlie was knocking at the door. I’m sure I looked like hell, but he was nice enough not to come right out and say it. It was already eight o’clock so while I took a shower, Charlie made us breakfast: eggs, bacon, toast and coffee, the usual.
When we finished with breakfast Charlie said he knew Grandpa kept most of his important papers in a small safe, and he wanted to see if maybe we could find the name of the agency Grandpa used. Charlie pulled the safe out of the closet, and then he pulled out what he called a “pick set,” a set of tools used to pick locks. One was bent at the top like an Allen wrench. He put the bent one in first on the right topside of the lock, and put the straight one right below the first, the next thing I knew, the safe was open. We took the papers out of the safe but the only things in it were the title to the house, car, and insurance papers. We did find the marriage license, but no paperwork as to what company or agency Grandpa used. We made our way back to the kitchen and got some coffee to go. Seeing as how it was after nine, we needed to get a move on.
Stacy Matthews - Dear Mary 01 - Think Twice Before You Order Page 5