Episode 97 – Edwina has cause for thought

The visit by her daughter, the first in a long time since the death of her cousin Cathy Jones, did not go quite as she imagined it would. She had been hoping Angela would come home, but given the conversation, it was hardly likely.

And that, she thought angrily, was down to her husband, Joseph.

She was not surprised in the least when the police told her Joseph had been shot.  It was likely to be a jealous husband, or worse, an angry father.  She had long suspected he was seeking out the company of younger women, and the revelations Angela had left her with had not been as shocking as she thought they might.

Her first thought had been that Joseph may have had something to do with Cathy’s death.  She knew he had been seeing her; that came from a private detective she had put on his trail to see what he was up to.

That, and a series of ‘secret’ meetings with a group of lawyers, the sort whose offices were in midtown high rises, and cost a fortune.

The most recent private detective before Walthenson had not found out anything substantive, and, it seems neither had Harry Walthenson.  He had simply disappeared, and no amount of calling the office number had yielded any results as to his whereabouts.

Another dead end.

Of course, she could hardly tell that seedy Detective, Sykes, about the many affairs her husband had because she had reciprocated with their husbands, some of whom would not take kindly to police interviews.

And Angela was also right about Brightwater.

She had been with him the night Cathy died, so in reality, Joseph had no alibi for that night, and if he was still alive, would have a hard time defending his innocence, if he was at all innocent.

What she wasn’t sure about was whether or not Al had shot and killed his brother Joseph.  He probably had every right to, being framed for a murder he didn’t commit.  There was a lot of deep-rooted animosity between the two, and it appeared to have started a long time ago when they were boys.

Joseph was the brains.

Al was the muscle.

Outtel may have started out as a loan shark operation, but it had managed to outgrow its origins and become a respectable financial institution.

Or had it?

She wished now she had actually read some of the documents Joseph had asked her to sign.

Perhaps it was time to have a chat with the seedy Detective, Sykes.

© Charles Heath 2016-2019