Things Half in Shadow by Alan Finn

Author:Alan Finn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books

BOOK FIVE

Uninvited Guests

I

Robert Pastor didn’t appear to be a man in mourning.

Most people who lose a spouse look as if part of their soul has died as well. Gray faced and sickly, they gaze at you with deadened eyes while refusing to eat a bite.

By contrast, the rosy-cheeked and jovial Mr. Pastor seemed to be as healthy as a bull. As for his appetite, well, not even the death of his wife could dull it.

Because of the early hour, he suggested I have breakfast with him. Even though I had eaten at home before leaving, I agreed. What choice did I have? Only instead of the light meal I was accustomed to, breakfast at the Pastor residence was a stomach-busting feast. Biscuits with butter and jam. Eggs and bacon. Fried potatoes. Fried fish. Several slices of ham. Robert Pastor relished it all.

“I met Lenora nine years ago,” he said before biting into a chunk of ham and washing it down with coffee. “A physician friend of mine told me about her father. I was a salesman, you see.”

“Of medical supplies?”

“Yes. He thought Mr. Grimes might be in need of my wares.”

Forgoing the dining room, we ate at the kitchen table as Stokely and the mute maid Claudia cooked and cleaned and made multiple trips to the cellar. Meanwhile, the food kept coming, even though I had barely touched what was already on my plate. I mostly partook of the coffee, which nonetheless did little to wake me up after my sleepless night.

“You’re not eating, Mr. Clark,” Mr. Pastor remarked after Claudia set a plate stacked high with bacon in front of me. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“Not particularly,” I replied. “Although this is quite a feast you’ve set out for us.”

“The one thing we never skimp on around here is food. Even Quakers need to eat.” Robert Pastor patted his ample stomach and laughed. “And it’s rather obvious that I eat a lot.”

“Were you always a Quaker, Mr. Pastor?”

“No, sir. I became a Quaker through marriage. Not a very good one, I might add. I prefer to have a few more creature comforts around me.”

My gaze floated around the kitchen, taking in the new stove, the elaborate sink, the icebox that Claudia opened and closed as she gathered even more food to prepare.

“Such as this kitchen, I suppose.”

“Oh yes,” Mr. Pastor said, a noticeable twinkle in his eye. “I didn’t care if the rest of the house was as plain as a post as long as we had a proper kitchen.”

“It must have cost a pretty penny.”

“It did, sir. Quite a lot. My wife, bless her soul, was against it, but I overruled her on this particular issue. We had the money for it, after all.”

Because Mrs. Pastor’s religion dictated that she live plainly, I wondered just how much money was in her name. Money that, now she was dead, would be passed to her husband. Robert Pastor was clearly a man with an appetite. If his desire for wealth was as strong as it was for food, I imagined he’d go to great lengths to get it.

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