Telling the Bees by Hesketh Peggy

Author:Hesketh, Peggy [Hesketh, Peggy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Literary
ISBN: 9780425264881
Google: IMrt4X81TDEC
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 15808240
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2013-01-02T07:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

HOLLOW TREE THEORY: Wild bees live in hollow trees. When wildflowers bloom, bees produce honey. When the space in the hollow is filled, wild bees begin to swarm.

I cocked my head as inconspicuously as I dared, but I was unable to make out even the gist of Detective Grayson’s scrawl from my reversed vantage.

“Now, why do you suppose I’m not surprised to learn from you that Claire Straussman was David Gilbert’s mother?” he said, not bothering to look up as he wrote furiously in his notebook. I assumed the question was rhetorical and waited for him to make his own reply.

“Well, let me tell you, Mr. Honig,” the detective said, setting his pen down and looking up at last, “it doesn’t surprise me, because when I’d just about run out of leads I decided to play a hunch.”

As I sat across the table from this rumpled, worn-out man, it occurred to me that while doggedness was the bread and butter of Detective Grayson’s day-to-day talent, it was his willingness to play hunches that sparked his occasional brilliance. The detective took another one of his great bear sighs as if deciding whether to devour me whole or continue to toy with me.

“I have this old buddy in the D.A.’s office back in Detroit,” he said, “and he owes me a favor. So I got him to pull the birth records for babies with the last name of Straussman who were born in Wayne County within a year or two of the start of World War Two. That’s about the time Claire went off to live with her cousin in Detroit, as I recall.”

“I believe that’s what you said,” I said, reliving again the anguish I felt at her departure as if it were yesterday and wishing it was yesterday all over again just to say what I should have said then. I wondered at that moment whether there were fireflies in Detroit.

“So, Mr. Honig,” the detective said, drawing me back to the point at hand, “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that my buddy didn’t find any Straussmans named David Gilbert.”

Of course I was not surprised, though I was hesitant to say so aloud. I nodded for the detective to continue.

“Then I remembered something Margaret Lennox’s daughter said about the Straussmans having some family down South, in Alabama maybe. So I started calling in a few more favors—and it took a while—but one of my wife’s cousins is a social worker in Birmingham and she came up with adoption papers for a baby boy, first name David, middle name Gilbert. Born May 10, 1945. Adoptive parents Marvella and Phillip Straussman. The names of the birth parents were left blank, and the adoption records were sealed. That’s how most adoptions were done in those days, but then you probably know all about that.”

I drained the last of the tea from my cup as I took a moment to grasp the full implication of Detective Grayson’s insinuation. He was right of course, in that I was certain of far more than I had already told him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.