The Redgrave Murders by A. L. Sowards

Author:A. L. Sowards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2019-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Letter of August 28, 1944, continued

Iron Bottom Bay—that’s what we call the channel. It’s peaceful now, but the navy and the corps had it rough here. Frank’s ship, the Helena, took a lot of damage in these waters. But that was almost two years ago.

Gary was sleepy, subdued, and sweet that afternoon. I stayed with him until the nurses kicked me out.

“How hard is it to get into the hospital at night?” I asked one of them.

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you planning to sneak in?”

“No. But someone tried to kill Mr. Redhawk last night. I’m concerned about his safety.”

She nodded. “Several of us will be here all night. We’ll keep an eye on him. I’ll make sure all the windows on this wing are locked, doors too.”

I watched her shuffle off, hoping she would protect Gary for me. I spoke with one of the other nurses too, assuming that two extravigilant nurses would keep him twice as safe.

Aunt Janice sat knitting in the waiting room.

“I thought you went home,” I said.

“I did. But I took your car, so I came back because I didn’t want you walking home by yourself.”

“How long have you been waiting?”

Aunt Janice gave me a sly smile. “I assumed you would stay until the nurses told you to leave. So I came back ten minutes ago. Let’s go get some rest.”

“In a hotel?” I asked.

“If you’d feel safer there.”

I nodded my preference. We had to stop by both our houses to gather our things, but we found a vacant room easily enough.

The next morning, I called the hospital. Gary’s nightmares had given the nurses a shock, but no one had tried to attack him, and he was improving.

“When will you release him?”

“I’m not sure, miss. It depends on what the doctor says, and he’s still making his rounds.”

I was due back at work, and Aunt Janice had her store to run, so after a quick breakfast at a diner, we parted for the morning.

A pile of messages covered my desk when I arrived at the bursar’s office. I sat with a sigh and started working through a week’s worth of backlog.

Mr. Thurber offered his condolences again. Charlene wanted all the gossip about Gary’s arrest and release. I put her off. I didn’t feel like talking about it. She didn’t ask about the knife attack, so I assumed that hadn’t made the papers or the rumor mills yet.

“Miss Hampton?”

I looked up from the payment I was processing to find Mr. Thurber standing in front of my desk. “Yes, sir?”

“You should take a lunch break. It’s almost one. And you have someone waiting.”

The morning had flown by as if pulled by a courser. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

I finished recording the tuition payment to the correct account, then grabbed my jacket and purse. Aunt Janice had planned to spend the day at her shop, but she had an employee, so maybe she had come to see how I was doing. Or maybe Gary had been discharged. He had class at two, but there was enough time to grab something to eat together.

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