“Okay, you’ve made your point about the meat, Desiree,” interjected the lady seated next to her. She was a roundish little old lady in a faded sweatshirt that was emblazoned with the bygone slogan: E.R.A.-Y.E.S. There seemed to be a great deal of cat hair on this sweatshirt.
“Who are you?” Mitch croaked at her. There was nothing in his mouth after all. He was simply thirsty. He had never been so thirsty.
“Give it up for my girl Bella Tillis,” said the lieutenant.
“I am a huge fan of your work, Mr. Berger,” Bella exclaimed. “Although I must tell you I still disagree strongly with your negative assessment of The Truman Show. I felt that its message about the pernicious pervasiveness of modern media far outweighed the inherent plot weaknesses.”
Mitch groaned inwardly. I am not in any hospital in New London. I have died and gone to film critics’ hell. “Bella, we’ve met before, haven’t we?” he asked, peering at her.
Bella stuck her lower lip out at him. “I don’t believe so, no.”
“You ever live in Stuyvesant Town?”
“No, never.”
“Wait, I know-you were my Uncle Sid’s first wife, am I right?”
“No, dear, you’re not.”
“We’re related,” Mitch insisted. “I’m positive we’re related.”
“Can I get you anything?” Lieutenant Mitry asked him.
“Water, please.”
There was a carafe on the credenza next to his bed. She got up and poured some. Mitch could feel his pulse quicken as she stood there close to him. His gaze held hers when she handed him the styrofoam cup, her own eyes growing large and shiny behind her horn-rimmed glasses.
“What’s up with that Band-Aid on your arm?” he asked her after a long drink. “Were you wounded?”
“No, no. Just donated some blood, that’s all.”
“That was nice of you.”
“Well, you needed it.”
“You mean you donated your blood to me?”
“What I said, wow man.”
“You mean your blood is coursing through my veins at this very moment?”
The lieutenant cocked her head at him curiously. “Why are you making such a big deal about it?”
“Because it means we’re members of the same tribe now.”
“Get out of here-that’s kid stuff.”
“It most certainly is not. It’s a time-honored truism that dates all the way back to Broken Arrow.”
“Man, if you’re about to start in on old movies again I am way out of here.”
Now he became aware that someone else was standing in the doorway.
“You’re awake,” this someone said.
Mitch’s jaw dropped. “Lacy, what on earth are you doing here?”
His editor stiffened. “I am deeply offended by your overt display of astonishment. I can nurture. I can donate blood… Well, I can nurture. Besides, the press corps is mobbing the parking lot outside and I need your article.”
“I’ll get right on it, boss. Have you folks…?”
“Oh, we’ve met,” Lacy responded tartly. “We’ve bonded. We’ve swapped secrets. We’ve arranged for me to pick up two neutered male tabbies on my way home to the city.” She broke off, her lips pulling back from her teeth in a pained grin. “Mrs. Tillis has even been kind enough to share her thoughts with me on the overall decline of our arts coverage.”
“I especially hate that dance critic,” Bella sniffed. “So smug.”
“How did it go with your people?” Mitch asked the lieutenant.
“It went,” she answered curtly. “I told them I was there because I’d brought a stray kitten by for you. And I happened to be upstairs with her when the three perps showed. And that turning on the tape recorder was your idea.”
“All of which is technically true,” Mitch pointed out. Of course, it was also true that he’d sneaked her out there in his truck and that she’d been hiding upstairs, waiting for them to show their hand. “Did they buy it?”
“They did and they didn’t.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
“Meaning my case is still under review. And I’m still on administrative leave.”
“I’m really sorry, Lieutenant. This is all my fault.”
She shook her head at him. “Don’t even go there. I had a choice to make and I made it. No regrets. But I can tell you this much-if you hadn’t pulled through I would be roadkill.”
“Hey, I wouldn’t be doing so hot, either. How’s Dolly?”
“Not great,” the lieutenant replied grimly. “She’d always blocked it out. What happened that day, I mean. Now that the truth’s come flooding in, she’s gone into a severe depression. Her doctor believes she’ll be able to deal with it in time. But for now she’s downstairs in the psychiatric ward-under a suicide watch.”
“Poor Dolly,” Mitch said heavily. “Will she be charged in those murders?”
“There’s no great desire on the part of the district prosecutor to proceed on that.”
“How about the Three Amigos?”
She brightened considerably. “They were arraigned this morning in New London Superior Court. They’re being charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit murder. Plus the attempted murder of yourself-times two on Bud Havenhurt’s part. They’re being held without bail.”
“Well, this is good news.”
“It gets even better-Jamie Devers has already confessed. Man’s trying to cut a deal for himself. And we found strands of Torry Mordarski’s hair in Bud’s Range Rover.”
“Excellent.”
“Indeed,” she agreed. “Although it’s kind of quiet out on that island. The only two people left are Bitsy Peck and Evan Havenhurst.”
“What happened to Mandy?”
“She hightailed it for New York.” The lieutenant’s voice dripped with scorn. She did not have much use for Mandy Havenhurst. “She’s in seclusion, quote-unquote.”
“Shall I arrange to have a reporter and photographer tail the little bitch around the clock?” Lacy asked her sweetly.
“Girl, you and I are going to be friends,” Lieutenant Mitry said, smiling at her. “Oh, hey, I almost forgot…” She reached for a covered Tupperware bowl and presented it to him. “Here’s your tapioca. Mrs. Enman was only too pleased.”
“You remembered!”
“Damned straight I remembered. A man’s last request matters. Although I can’t imagine why you’d want to eat this stuff. Looks like a bunch of eyeballs floating around in custard, if you ask me.”
“Who asked you?” Mitch demanded. “Besides, what do you know about food?”
“You are so right, Mr. Berger,” Bella agreed, shaking a stubby index finger at him. “This girl does not eat. If I didn’t watch her dietary intake like a hawk she would simply waste away.”
The lieutenant let out a pained sigh. “Okay, now I am definitely out of here.”
“You are not,” Bella huffed at her. “You will stay here and you will feed this poor man. He needs to get his strength back.” She began rifling through the credenza. “Do you suppose there’s such a thing as a spoon around this place?”
Lacy said she would try to find one. Or maybe it was the lieutenant who said this. Mitch wasn’t sure. He was slipping away again. He was tired. He was so tired that everything was starting to get fuzzy again.
But he didn’t join Maisie this time. Maisie wasn’t there anymore. She was gone-gone for good. Mitch felt certain of it. She had given him one precious parting gift before she went away. She gave him the Fibonacci Series. And for this Mitch would always be grateful. Because from now on, whenever he thought of his beloved wife, Mitch would be able to smile.
And maybe, someday soon, he might even be able to laugh again.
EPILOGUE