Shelley asked to be shown some of the rooms. Each had two beds with a curtain between them. The sheets were rough and didn't smell clean.
This place was universally voted unacceptable.
The next was even worse. It looked like a jail facility. Blank white walls. Side tables bolted to the beds. No common room at all. Each room had a bathroom without handicapped bars in the shower.
The third place was marginally acceptable. Clean, but plain. There was an empty room they were invited to see. White walls, clean white floors. It didn't smell bad. The sheets were soft and clean and neatly made. But there was no sense of home to it. They hadn't seen a single nurse or attendant in the hallway.
The fourth one was stunningly elegant. It looked like a fine hotel. Pictures on the walls. A television in every room. A few even had two rooms, a sitting room, a bedroom, and a sparkling clean bath with all that a handicapped person would need. There was a nice restaurant for those who were ambulatory. There were white tablecloths and napkins and fresh flowers on each table, which seated four in comfort. Room to get close to the table in a wheelchair. There wasn't a carpet, but the tile floor was lovely.
Ted, Jane, and Shelley met with the manager. A woman wearing a good light gray suit, a white silk shirt, and restrained jewelry. Ted introduced Jane and her friend Shelley.
The manager said that they did have one room available now. The cost was rather high, but Ted didn't care and it was the closest nursing home to his own house.
She asked about the patient's condition and was told it was a serious stroke. Ted added, with perfect honesty, that she was a difficult person. Not friendly at all.
"We are equipped to deal with women like that," the manager said with a smile. "She'll have her meals delivered to her room and a young woman to help feed her soft, nourishing food, and clean her up if she spills things on herself. Will she have visitors?"
"Only me. She's been cruel to my sister-in-law, Jane, and very nasty to my wife. My mother will probably be visited by some of the ladies from her church."
"Have you been to other nursing homes?" the manager asked.
"Three of them. All unacceptable. We had a fifth to look at, but this is the right one."
Jane and Shelley left the room while Ted was signing a contract and putting a down payment on the room.
"You made the right choice,"Jane said as he was driving her and Shelley home. "And you were brutally honest about how difficult she'll be."
"Thanks, Jane. At least she's pretty much out of everybody's way, except for me and the church ladies. I'll make sure that they are not around there when I'm visiting."
When Jane and Shelley came home, and were having coffee, Shelley said, "I don't think I've ever met Ted before.
I've seen him and his wife and girls when he comes to visit you. He's a very nice man."
"And a sensible one, too. It was a good idea to take two women along. If one of them had been Dixie, she'd have opted for the worst place we saw, and I wouldn't blame her. I think that without Thelma hanging out at the main office and interfering in the business, Ted will be much happier and more productive. I probably should send her flowers when she's moved in there."
"It would just make her mad to have a gift from you, Jane."
"It would please the staff who have to wait on her though. Speaking of flowers, I've insisted to Mel and his mother that I choose my own bouquet. I wouldn't trust Addie to pick one out. It would probably be a big pot of cactus plants. Is the plural of that cacti?"
"So where do you want to shop for something you'd like?"
"This is probably silly," Jane said, "but I noticed a florist shop across the street from the community center where we took those classes. The window was full of lovely arrangements."
"I noticed that, too. By the way, have you asked Mel if Miss Welbourne left any notes for the last session?"
Jane made a head-slapping motion. "I'm sorry. I simply forgot about that what with so many other things going on. Willard, the room addition, Addie's visit, and working on my next book. I'll ask him the next time I hear from him. I promise."
Mel called Jane that evening, apologizing for not being in touch for the last few days. "This Welbourne case is driving me nuts."
"What's happening?"
"Nothing. I've wired the authorities in Perth, Australia. There is a house there owned by the people we're looking for. But nobody is there. Only a neighbor lady who comes in daily to feed the cat, clean the litter box, and give the cat a fresh bowl of water. The neighbor is mad. She's never heard from them since they left. She hasn't had a postcard, letter, or phone call saying when they'd be home. She's doing this for free and doesn't even like the people or the cat."
"You left a message with someone, I assume?"
After a moment of irritated silence, Mel said, "Of course I did."
"Sorry. I've had a few bad days as well. But before I tell you about them, I'd promised Shelley I'd ask you a favor," Jane said.
"What kind of favor?" he snapped.
"Mel, remember that we're engaged," she said as sweetly as she could.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude, Janey. I'll be happy to do Shelley a favor if I can. What is it?"
"She's curious about the missing lesson we were to take about safety. If you found the notes she'd prepared for that meeting, we'd like to see what we missed. Unless, of course, they are some kind of evidence."
"I do have some notes. They're sort of haphazard, and
seemingly not related to the murder. I have to keep them, anyway, but I could fax you a copy. Now, what's happened in the last few days to you?"
"Thelma Jeffry apparently had a small stroke and called me to berate me for not sending her invitations to both weddings. She was already slurring her words. Then when I started to reply, I heard a crashing noise and had to call Ted and 911 on my fax machine. She must have had a second stroke, worse than the first. She's still unconscious in a hospital and Ted wanted help choosing a nursing home. Shelley and I went along with him. I guess for a woman's take on where she'd want to be if she ever wakes up."
Mel said, "I should say I'm sorry about this, but I'm not. I've met her a few times and found her intolerable."
"That's the general consensus,"Jane replied.
"Did she leave a will?" Mel asked.
"I haven't had the nerve yet to ask Ted. I assume her third of the profits will be used for the expensive nursing home. But she did have wills in mind recently. She might have left her third portion of the profits of the pharmacy chain to her church. Which wouldn't be fair to Ted. He should inherit her third when she eventually dies."
"That's going to be tricky, isn't it?"
"There's time enough to ask Ted later. Ted is the head of the accounting department and also does Thelma's books and balances her checkbook. If she'd recently written a big check to an attorney to make a new will, he'd know about it. It's really none of my business."
"Janey, at least she's unlikely to come to either wedding to make a scene."
"True," Jane admitted. "Come see your office progress this evening if you can get away."
"I'd be glad to. I'm at a dead stop on this case right now. Maybe a nice evening will encourage me enough to try something new."
Chapter
SIXTEEN