An Unexamined Wife by Meg Wolfe

Author:Meg Wolfe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: small town hearts, midwest, friendship, good neighbors, cosy murder mysteries, cosy mystery series, louise penny, woman detective, female detectice, amateur detective, female sleuths, murder mystery, cozy mystery, small town cozy, flawed protagonist, female protagonist, middle aged protagonist, flawed hero, female hero, meg wolfe, charlotte anthony, midwestern life, small town america, small town talk, female detective series books, female detectives murder mysteries, female detectives murder mys
Publisher: Meg Wolfe
Published: 2015-12-09T00:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

Friday, December 27th, in the afternoon

The memorial service for Dr. Alonzo Garibaldi was not held in the university chapel like most such memorials, but in the main lecture hall of the Science Building, as befitted his non-religious views. Charlotte and Donovan were among the last to arrive, within a couple minutes of the doors closing. They sat in the uppermost row of seats, which provided an excellent view of the audience.

Janice and Alexa sat in the first row, at floor level; Hewey was not with them. Gani also sat in the first row, but on the other side of the room, with other science faculty. Charlotte spotted Helene about midway between the first and last rows, sitting with friends from the Music department. Here and there were other faculty that Charlotte remembered, but only a few at most. A handful of students were also in attendance. All told, there were roughly two hundred people, an impressive turnout for anything on campus during the holiday break. Donovan was silent, taking everything in.

A loop of photographs and quotes played on the screen behind the podium; here and there people would walk purposefully, as if making certain things were in place at the last moment.

The Dean of Faculty opened by thanking and welcoming everyone who came, then giving a brief biography of Alonzo’s early years, which contained nothing Charlotte didn’t already know. Then others from different parts of Alonzo’s life came up to speak, starting with Janice, who recounted how they met, Alonzo’s meeting with E. M. Corton, and the energy and excitement of “those first years together” as he completed his doctoral degree and began to take over the university’s science programs. She ended with Alonzo’s grief when Corton died and joy when Alexa was born.

The next three speakers were scientists. The first gave the most amusing talk, with anecdotes about how weak the science department was when Alonzo first came in, and plans that backfired as well as worked for recruitment and improving the physical plant. The second speaker recounted the period when Alonzo himself won awards and the department was rapidly gaining credibility. The third speaker, who was once one of Alonzo’s students and was now the head of a global agricultural initiative, spoke of Alonzo’s tough but inspirational teaching methods, and listed some of his more notable students.

Then Gani spoke.

“Alonzo Garibaldi was the chairman when I applied for a faculty position eighteen years ago, and when I first met the man in an interview he terrified the hell out of me.” The audience laughed in appreciation. “You know the kind of thing I mean—when he looked at you, you couldn’t tell if he was mentally undressing you or burning you at the stake—and that’s just when he was bored.” More chuckles from the many who knew exactly what he meant, including Charlotte. “Between that and the caliber of the other applicants, I didn’t believe I stood a chance of getting hired; I just knew I would end up going back to Manila feeling like a failure, and become another taxi driver with a PhD.

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