THE OLD LADY IS GONE Copyright 2013 RZEvans
She didn't know whose idea this party was, but the last thing she wanted at this time was a houseful of crows hoping to get a whiff of death and the promise of a monetary meal. Eight years wasn't all that old anymore; the handful of pills she took everyday should keep anyone alive forever. They sure cost enough. The party was probably all her daughter's doing. Well, this was one expense she wouldn't be stuck with; surprise, surprise. She had argue and fought with all of them except Jameson. From medical school he immediately went to work on a hospital ship, and then began serving in a refugee hospital. He was the only one of her children who didn't think of himself first. She had recently written to him, not revealing her health, and asked him to take a break and come home for awhile. His answer was honest, "Dear Mom, I would very much like to leave, but there is no one to take my place. The need is so great; I sometimes wish that I had never taken this road. Then I see the misery and pain the people here are facing, especially the little ones. Whatever I can do, I must do."
The intruders were all downstairs; there was Ernest, her youngest son, a devout druggie, there was her daughter, Adele, Who had gone from one husband to another, there was a lazy slut of a niece, one dumb nephew whose wife was an insatiable shark, and anorher nephew who viewed himself as a financial genius. And there was a grandson, Adele's son, who had never worked a day in his life. Well she would not let them interfere with her plans.
Down in the den, Adele was saying, "You know, I was thinking that when Mother does pass away, it would be nice if I invited all of you to come to the house once a year so we could keep up with what is going on in each other's lives."
Ernest broke in, "What makes you think you are going to get the house, Adele.She might well leave it to me."
"That's not likely, Earnest; I heard her tell you that she has given you more over the years that the rest of us combined."
"She respects a person who shows initiative. I think she will do like the master in the bible who gave the most to the servant he thought could manage it wisely," said the nephew.
"You have never been a servant to anyone but yourself, Rankin," said the other nephew's wife. "You even let your own wife die because you were too tight to take her to the doctor and get the proper .x-rays."
"Why don't we all agree to split it evenly?" said the grandson. The answer to his question was a loud "Ha!" from the group in unison.
Bernice, the house keeper, was the one who found the old lady, and the dumb nephew was the one that called for the sheriff's deputy and the ambulance. After the deputy arrived, he contacted the main office, and they sent out Ferguson, the homicide investigator. Ferguson detained all the guests and questioned each one. The old lady was found half-way across her bedroom with a rope tied to one ankle; the other end was tied to the heavy bedpost. A careful examination of the death scene found the old lady lying on the floor in the middle of the bedroom. There was no blood, theere were no marks on her throat, so it appeared that no one struck her or choked her. There was half a glass of wine on the side table, and the only other evidence were a few peant hulls in the candy dish and a few husks stuck to the front of her robe. When the coroner came out, he said it looked as if she could have been suffocated. With a wrinkled brow and a nervous tone in his voice, he said that an autopsy would have to be done. Ferguson ended the questioning but requested that they all remain in town until the autopsy report was back. He also wanted to talk to the old lady's doctor. Ferguson's tone was not friendly, and the relatives each began to wonder if they were suspects in the death. Adele was the last to see the old lady allive and the others, including the lazy grandson, began to give her strange looks.
Her brother said."You smothered her didn't you Adele. You were mad because mother cut you off. You were the last one to see her alive. I heard her telling you that you wouldn't get another red cent."
"I didn;t do it Ernest, and you're just trying to divert attention away from yourself. Everyone know that you have been stealing from her for years," said Adele.
The wife of the dumb nephew chimed in, "But I heard someone going up the stairs about midnight. It might have been any of you, and whoever did it just screwed things up. If you all had been easier to get along with, we might all be sitting pretty, but who knows what will happen now."
The lazy niece declared, "Well, I never made her mad. I think she was a sweet old lady, and I think soneone poisoned her with the wine."
The self declared financianl genius broke in, "Then why did you say last week that you hoped the old bat would hurry up and die. You know what they say, that poison is a woman's weapon. Personally, I hoped she wouldn't die until I could convince her to subdivide the forty acres. I, I mean we, could have made a fortune off that one piece of land."
The grandson turned to his mother and said, "Mom, why did you tie her leg to the bedpost?"
"I didn't do it, you lazy little piece of dung," declared Adele.
Two days later, Ferguson arranged for a meeting with the whole group. There was one new face there, and Ferguson saved that person's introduction to the last. "Folks," Ferguson said, "I know you are all anxious to know the results of our investigation. The sheriff's office is ruling this death a case of suicide. The physician's testimony revealed that Mrs. Trudeau suffered terminal cancere, and she inquired at length of the doctor as to how much suffering she would go through and how long she might lingner. Seh died of anaphylactic shock resulting from a highly allergic reaction. Her physician's records revealed an extreme allergy to peanuts, and the coroner was able to tie that in with the evidence of tha autopsy and the evidence at the sene of death. Mrs. Trudeau tied the rope to her ankle to prevent herself from administering the epinephrine from here self injection kit. She had place the kit across the room from her bed. When her attorney heard of her death, he contacted me, and may I now present Wendell Butterfield."
"Some of you are from out of town, and I thought today's meeting would be a good time to discuss Mrs. Trudeau's will. This should save you time and dtravel. You will all be glad to knot that each of you have been remembered in the will." said Butterfield. The group was all smiles, and amid all the mumering, there was a lot of nodding. Butterfield continued, "The will provides for each of you a complete prepaid funeral package which will be accepted at any mortuary. Any balance left over may be claimed by your relatives. The policies cannot be redeemed for cash. Now, in this case the deceased authorized me to reveal the main beneficiary; the bulk of the estatee has been left to Jameson Trudeau, to do with as he pleases.
She didn't know whose idea this party was, but the last thing she wanted at this time was a houseful of crows hoping to get a whiff of death and the promise of a monetary meal. Eight years wasn't all that old anymore; the handful of pills she took everyday should keep anyone alive forever. They sure cost enough. The party was probably all her daughter's doing. Well, this was one expense she wouldn't be stuck with; surprise, surprise. She had argue and fought with all of them except Jameson. From medical school he immediately went to work on a hospital ship, and then began serving in a refugee hospital. He was the only one of her children who didn't think of himself first. She had recently written to him, not revealing her health, and asked him to take a break and come home for awhile. His answer was honest, "Dear Mom, I would very much like to leave, but there is no one to take my place. The need is so great; I sometimes wish that I had never taken this road. Then I see the misery and pain the people here are facing, especially the little ones. Whatever I can do, I must do."
The intruders were all downstairs; there was Ernest, her youngest son, a devout druggie, there was her daughter, Adele, Who had gone from one husband to another, there was a lazy slut of a niece, one dumb nephew whose wife was an insatiable shark, and anorher nephew who viewed himself as a financial genius. And there was a grandson, Adele's son, who had never worked a day in his life. Well she would not let them interfere with her plans.
Down in the den, Adele was saying, "You know, I was thinking that when Mother does pass away, it would be nice if I invited all of you to come to the house once a year so we could keep up with what is going on in each other's lives."
Ernest broke in, "What makes you think you are going to get the house, Adele.She might well leave it to me."
"That's not likely, Earnest; I heard her tell you that she has given you more over the years that the rest of us combined."
"She respects a person who shows initiative. I think she will do like the master in the bible who gave the most to the servant he thought could manage it wisely," said the nephew.
"You have never been a servant to anyone but yourself, Rankin," said the other nephew's wife. "You even let your own wife die because you were too tight to take her to the doctor and get the proper .x-rays."
"Why don't we all agree to split it evenly?" said the grandson. The answer to his question was a loud "Ha!" from the group in unison.
Bernice, the house keeper, was the one who found the old lady, and the dumb nephew was the one that called for the sheriff's deputy and the ambulance. After the deputy arrived, he contacted the main office, and they sent out Ferguson, the homicide investigator. Ferguson detained all the guests and questioned each one. The old lady was found half-way across her bedroom with a rope tied to one ankle; the other end was tied to the heavy bedpost. A careful examination of the death scene found the old lady lying on the floor in the middle of the bedroom. There was no blood, theere were no marks on her throat, so it appeared that no one struck her or choked her. There was half a glass of wine on the side table, and the only other evidence were a few peant hulls in the candy dish and a few husks stuck to the front of her robe. When the coroner came out, he said it looked as if she could have been suffocated. With a wrinkled brow and a nervous tone in his voice, he said that an autopsy would have to be done. Ferguson ended the questioning but requested that they all remain in town until the autopsy report was back. He also wanted to talk to the old lady's doctor. Ferguson's tone was not friendly, and the relatives each began to wonder if they were suspects in the death. Adele was the last to see the old lady allive and the others, including the lazy grandson, began to give her strange looks.
Her brother said."You smothered her didn't you Adele. You were mad because mother cut you off. You were the last one to see her alive. I heard her telling you that you wouldn't get another red cent."
"I didn;t do it Ernest, and you're just trying to divert attention away from yourself. Everyone know that you have been stealing from her for years," said Adele.
The wife of the dumb nephew chimed in, "But I heard someone going up the stairs about midnight. It might have been any of you, and whoever did it just screwed things up. If you all had been easier to get along with, we might all be sitting pretty, but who knows what will happen now."
The lazy niece declared, "Well, I never made her mad. I think she was a sweet old lady, and I think soneone poisoned her with the wine."
The self declared financianl genius broke in, "Then why did you say last week that you hoped the old bat would hurry up and die. You know what they say, that poison is a woman's weapon. Personally, I hoped she wouldn't die until I could convince her to subdivide the forty acres. I, I mean we, could have made a fortune off that one piece of land."
The grandson turned to his mother and said, "Mom, why did you tie her leg to the bedpost?"
"I didn't do it, you lazy little piece of dung," declared Adele.
Two days later, Ferguson arranged for a meeting with the whole group. There was one new face there, and Ferguson saved that person's introduction to the last. "Folks," Ferguson said, "I know you are all anxious to know the results of our investigation. The sheriff's office is ruling this death a case of suicide. The physician's testimony revealed that Mrs. Trudeau suffered terminal cancere, and she inquired at length of the doctor as to how much suffering she would go through and how long she might lingner. Seh died of anaphylactic shock resulting from a highly allergic reaction. Her physician's records revealed an extreme allergy to peanuts, and the coroner was able to tie that in with the evidence of tha autopsy and the evidence at the sene of death. Mrs. Trudeau tied the rope to her ankle to prevent herself from administering the epinephrine from here self injection kit. She had place the kit across the room from her bed. When her attorney heard of her death, he contacted me, and may I now present Wendell Butterfield."
"Some of you are from out of town, and I thought today's meeting would be a good time to discuss Mrs. Trudeau's will. This should save you time and dtravel. You will all be glad to knot that each of you have been remembered in the will." said Butterfield. The group was all smiles, and amid all the mumering, there was a lot of nodding. Butterfield continued, "The will provides for each of you a complete prepaid funeral package which will be accepted at any mortuary. Any balance left over may be claimed by your relatives. The policies cannot be redeemed for cash. Now, in this case the deceased authorized me to reveal the main beneficiary; the bulk of the estatee has been left to Jameson Trudeau, to do with as he pleases.