Casebook_Four Jeri Howard Stories by Janet Dawson

Author:Janet Dawson [Dawson, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-10-16T04:00:00+00:00

“That’s their version,” Pamela Allen said that evening when I told her what Eric and Erin Terrell had said about their father’s plans to divorce Pamela’s mother. “Mom and Claude were happy, as far as I know.”

We were in the living room of Pamela’s house in Hayward. Her husband Ralph and their young daughter were outside, washing the family car.

“Would your mother have confided in you?” I asked.

“I don’t think she would have kept something like that to herself. On the other hand, she may not have wanted to burden me with her troubles. I have enough of my own right now.” Pamela glanced out at her husband. Did her troubles have something to do with her own marriage?

“Whether they were having problems or not,” she continued, “I can’t imagine Mom killing Claude—or anyone, for that matter. My brother and I were devastated by this. Our father wasn’t around after he and Mom split up. So she was all we had.”

“What about the possibility that Claude killed your mother, then himself?”

She shook her head. “I just can’t see it. I suppose it’s possible, but why? None of this makes any sense.”

“How did you get on with Claude’s children?”

“We weren’t close,” she said. “We tolerated each other for our parents’ sake. Erin and I don’t have much in common. Eric’s a pompous ass. His wife’s all right. I haven’t seen them since shortly after the funeral. Neither Eric nor Erin wanted their father to remarry. They never accepted my mother.”

“This insurance policy leaves you and your brother a lot of money.”

“I know. And we could use it. Six months ago my husband got downsized. My brother’s between jobs. So yes, things are tight right now. We’re living on my salary as a teacher and our savings. That insurance money, and what Mom left us in her will, would really come in handy. But neither Colin nor I had anything to do with Mom’s death.”

“What about Claude’s kids?”

She shrugged. “As far as I know they had good relations with their father. I don’t think either of them have any financial problems.”

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