Dark Picasso by Rick Homan

Author:Rick Homan [Homan, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-01-27T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

I walked up the center aisle of the chapel and saw John had sat in the front pew on the left, along with a few people his age and several people around my age. I guessed the younger ones must be his children along with their spouses, though I’d never heard Anne or him speak of children.

The several rows behind him were mostly filled. I took an aisle seat halfway back so I could watch which way John went after the service and catch up with him to offer condolences.

The organist had begun to play softly while I was thinking about my situation, and more of the pews had filled up. I sensed movement on my right, turned, and saw that Maria and Ernst Becker had come up the side aisle and were making their way into the pew where I sat. Recalling my conversations with them at the dinner party from hell, I wasn’t eager to chat with either of them. The service was about to start, and that, I hoped, would put an end to conversation.

Maria sat beside me and said, “Some funerals are sadder than others.”

Not knowing what to make of that, I nodded in her direction and looked past her to acknowledge Ernst’s arrival. He sat looking to the front of the room, seemingly unaware of anyone around him. The expression on his face suggested something monstrous weighed on his mind.

I kept my eyes focused on the front of the room as Maria swiveled her head to look past me to the other side of the aisle. “I thought there would be more people here,” she said. “Looks like mostly extended family and older friends. I don’t see many people from the club.”

Fearing she would keep talking until she got a response, I said, “I wouldn’t know. I only met them at the Milmans’ dinner party.”

My strategy didn’t work. After a minute she said, “Is this a busy time of year at your university?”

I turned to face her, said, “Perhaps we can talk about this after the service,” and turned back to the front of the room without waiting for a response.

That won me a few moments of silence, which allowed me to hear sobbing from the aisle behind me. I didn’t want to gawk, but I glanced to my left and saw Tiffany walking by with her arms folded and a handkerchief held over the lower half of her face. Dale walked a step or two behind her, his eyes scanning the pews on both sides.

“I don’t know what she’s so broken up about,” said Maria. “She hasn’t had a good word to say about Anne since she wrecked her knee playing in that doubles tournament. Everybody says she blamed Anne for pressuring her into it, and I guess that’s true, but really it was up to her to know her own limitations.”

“You’ll have to excuse me,” I said, without looking in Maria’s direction. Carrying my hat and my jacket, I walked down the aisle, left the chapel, and found the ladies room.

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