Mary Clare, Cindy, and Lionel and I had our own little support group thing going in Roni’s living room. It seemed to us that Roni wasn’t quite ready to be alone with her grief, but maybe we were just projecting our own feelings. Another round of Coronas had been dispensed as the conversation continued.
“So, Cindy,” I said. “This is the first time you’ve actually seen Marian. What was her aura like?”
“Bright red with lots of black,” Cindy said.
“Like somebody who is bad and really pissed off?” Lionel asked.
“Actually, that would fit,” Cindy said.
“Hey, Mary Clare,” Lionel said. “When will you get the tox screens and tissue sample results?”
“The tox screens will come back first,” Mary Clare said. “The tissue samples will take a lot longer. I’ll keep samples. I still have the cremains of husband number five. Who knows, some day we might be able to nail Marian with that.”
“You’re more hopeful than I am,” I said. “The only good thing I see is that Marian isn’t going to be able cash in like she thought.”
The sound of the doorbell interrupted our conversation. Roni’s daughter opened the door as all eyes turned to catch the identity of the new arrival. I was surprised when I saw my brother, Dave, and John Wood from the Alton Police Department enter the room. Dave scanned the room, acknowledged my presence, but walked toward Roni and Harley.
“Hi, Dave,” Roni said.
“Hi, Roni,” Dave said. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I told John I’d come with him since I know you.”
“What’s the problem?” Harley asked.
“Marian called us,” John said. “She said her house was robbed while she was at the funeral. She’s convinced you had something to do with it.”
“Well, first of all,” Roni said. “That’s not Marian’s house, that’s my house. I’ve been at Billy’s funeral, and I have a room full of witnesses who will confirm that.”
“Here, here,” everyone said in unison.
“I know,” Dave said. “But we have to follow up.”
“What did the thieves take?” Lionel asked.
“The only things missing are a picture and a quilt,” Dave said.
“That’s weird,” Harley said. “You can search the house if you like.”
“Yes, it is weird,” John said. “I guess if we looked around we wouldn’t find anything, right?”
“Damn straight,” Harley said.
“Well, we’ll leave you alone,” John said. “I’m sorry we bothered you. I’ll tell Marian we talked to you.”
“I have a message for Marian,” Roni said.
“What’s the message?” John asked.
“Tell her to get her ass out of my house and this is her last marriage. Wherever she goes, I’ll find her and keep tabs on her. Any relationship she starts is going to be over before she can seal the deal. I’ll personally see to it.”
Epilogue
Spring is breaking out all over again as the daffodils, red buds, and white dogwoods explode with color and signal another season of renewal. This is not the spring you’re probable thinking it is. It’s actually the second spring since Billy’s death. I wish I could say justice prevailed, and Marian is awaiting trial, but sometimes justice is done in less satisfying, subtle ways.
None of the tox screens or tissue samples or cremains analyses came back positive. Looking back, I think Marian realized when Billy was hospitalized early in their relationship that her usual strategy wasn’t going to work. If you accept that premise, then the accident was inevitable.
I think Roni still has mixed feelings about pushing forward with her investigation of Marian. She gets the inevitable part of the argument but obsesses over the time issue. Maybe she could have had a few more months or even years with Billy if she hadn’t investigated the other deaths. No one believes Marian is anything but a stone cold killer.
Marian tried to challenge Billy’s will, but lost the early rounds and ran out of money. She was evicted from Billy’s Alton home and sold the Alton Heights lot for next to nothing, given the bad economy and housing market. There was a lot of negative publicity regarding Billy’s death, and the fate of Marian’s other husbands. Her trial in the press was grossly unfair, due to a constant flow of anonymous tips that kept pouring in. The relatives of Marian’s other dead husbands finally had a voice.
No one was surprised when Marian and her children moved away. They left in the dead of night, thinking that could actually work in this technologically advanced society. It only took us a little over an hour to find them in Hannibal, Missouri. Marian seemed to be following her usual pattern of moving to a good- sized small town.
An open question remains regarding the possible involvement of Marian’s children. Vickie Cirillo was a clerk at the Alton bank where Billy had his accounts and is a clerk at Community First in Hannibal. Does she scour accounts for possible targets? Murray is an independent insurance salesman in Hannibal just as like he was in Alton. Just like Marian, they look innocent enough on the surface. One thing I know with absolute certainty: I wouldn’t want to be in the way of anything this malignant trio wanted.
Cindy is doing well after her meltdown on Shaw Avenue. She is managing her illness and is still helping with surveillance. It took a while for her to be ready to tackle that again. I proudly call her my friend, and she recently told me my aura almost never has any red anymore.
Brad Henry and his wife Jennifer are expecting their second child. He continues to work for David Weller.
Meadow Knull finished law school. Her fiancé, Brent O’Malley, apparently is the real deal. They are still together and planning their wedding. We remain good friends.
Several months after Billy died, Lionel and I got married down at City Hall, with Sophie, Bella, and my son Ethan as our witnesses. Nothing ever felt so right to me. They were all my children from the moment I laid eyes on them.
Lionel and I are getting ready for a long overdue honeymoon in France. Lionel’s grandfather, Harrison Paine, pitched this trip to us several months ago. He has been hiding a secret for almost 70 years. Despite his 65-year marriage to Lionel’s deceased grandmother, he wants us to help him find the real love of his life.
Harrison met her in France when he was stationed there in WWII. Despite some hard feelings expressed by Lionel’s mother, she doesn’t want the old coot to go by himself. We also want to look into what we think are some Thomas Sloan sightings in France.
Before we go, there’s something I have to help Roni with. Today, Roni and I are on our way to Hannibal, Missouri, the birthplace of Mark Twain. It is also the new home of Marian Diamond. We have a copy of my recently published book, Worse Than Being Alone. As I heard someone say once, the story just seemed to write itself.
Marian has apparently picked her next sucker, a man named Paul Gremaud. We have the book, as well as all the press clippings from Marian’s time in Alton. Only a fool would proceed with a relationship given all that information. The GPS announced our arrival, and I parked the car in front of a two-story with a huge wraparound porch. I wished Roni luck and watched her walk up the front steps and ring the bell. A pleasant looking man answered the door, and accepted the book and the files. I could see the puzzled look on his face as he closed the door. Roni had kept her promise; there would be no more victims for Marian.
* * *
Marian got in the car and slammed the door shut. She looked at the book again, enraged that something this horrible could happen to her. Those freaking bitches had ruined everything. She threw the car in reverse and tore out of Paul’s driveway. She had tried to explain her side in all of this, but she could tell it wasn’t going to work.
A fast drive along the scenic river road helped her salve her growing panic though she knew there was only one place she could go that would help her calm down and think straight. She headed there with little concern for safety or speed limits. She pounded the steering wheel over and over, and almost ran through th
e bar at the storage facility, waiting for the gate to go up.
Marian took the familiar turn and arrived at her storage locker. She took the book and jumped out of the car. After unlocking the door, she pulled up the door and went inside, closing the door behind her. She switched on a flashlight, walked over to the table, and flipped the switch on the lamp.
The comfortable chair beckoned as Marian inhaled deep breaths. She sat down, took the key out of her purse, and opened the lock on the trunk. She took out the three urns and set them on the table and started talking.
“People seem to think I didn’t love all of you. That’s not true. It’s not like that. In my own way, I loved you all dearly. I gave you everything I had, but it was never enough. Sooner or later, you started complaining about something. You know you did. It was your fault, the lot of you. You left me no choice. I did what I had to do to survive. I don’t know what to do now. I’m totally broke. Those horrible women have ruined everything. Why is there always someone in my way? I can only see one way out of this. They have to be stopped. I’ll do what I have to do to survive.”
###
About the Author… Patricia Clark
Growing up in a family of ten children, Patricia Clark acquired a sense of humor and source of fodder for her stories. Her Aunts and Uncles also had large families so her extended family included a host of interesting characters and situations. Obsessed with all things medical, she became a Registered Nurse and worked in Emergency Room, Burn, and Intensive Care units. Later, she worked files as a Nurse Case Manager for Workers' Compensation Injuries. Creative writing classes stoked an interest in a second career. All of her books involve composites of patients, workers, colleagues, and situations based on her medical experiences.
Discover other titles by Patricia M. Clark:
First, Kill All the Lawyers (The Cleary Case Files - Book 1)
Two Kill Again (The Cleary Case Files - Book 2)
Third Breath (The Cleary Case Files - Book 3)
Worse Than Being Alone
Shooting Star
New titles Coming Soon by Patricia M. Clark:
Juror Number Four ( The Cleary Case Files – Book 4 )
Worse Than Being Alone Page 26