before he died, and I would give anything to be able to do that."
Three men and two women from the coroner's office were wheeling in gurneys to take away the three victims in the elevator.
Sissy lifted the little silver and pearl cross she wore around her neck and said, "Good-bye, Mary, rest in peace. Please forgive me for letting you die in the dark."
CHAPTER 15 - The Magic Garden
Sissy and Molly kissed on the steps of the Giley Building. The street outside was crowded with squad cars and ambulances and television vans, as well as scores of rubberneckers. From the hubbub of excitement going through the crowd, anybody would have thought that they were expecting the imminent arrival of a famous movie star.
"Cincinnati sightseers," said Molly, in disgust. "Look, I'll see you later, Sissy. Take care of Victoria for me. And Trevor. Well, I know you've been taking care of Trevor all of your life."
Molly climbed into one of the squad cars to be taken over to Cincinnati police headquarters on Ezzard Charles Drive. A big, heavily built officer with curly white hair was waiting to escort Sissy down the steps to another squad car, to drive her back to Blue Ash.
She settled into the backseat. The interior of the squad car smelled strongly of cheeseburger.
"Excuse the fragrance, lady," the officer apologized. "I haven't eaten in six hours straight. Not even a candy bar."
As he pulled away from the curb, he opened up a yellow polystyrene box and lifted out a twelve-ounce cheeseburger and took an enormous bite.
"I'm sorry, you know, but my captain thinks I'm what? The starving millions in Africa? I always say you gotta eat to function. Nobody can function on an empty stomach."
"Well, you're right," said Sissy. She was looking out of the window, but she couldn't help sensing the officer's heartbeat.
Bom-pause-badom-pause. Clogged arteries. She could feel them. She could feel a pain clutching at her left arm, too, as if she were just about to have a heart attack.
"Got this at Zip's," he said, holding it up. "Best damned burgers in Cincinnati."
"All the same," Sissy told him. "You should watch what you eat, and how you eat it."
"Lady, I wish I had the luxury. If I had the luxury, I wouldn't be eating no cheeseburger in no squad car. I'd be sitting down proper with my napkin tucked in my collar and I'd be eating T-bone steak and mashed potatoes and plenty of gravy, with a plate of hot corn-bread on the side, and blueberry pie and ice cream for dessert."
"What's your name?" Sissy asked him.
"You want to know my name? It's Gerald. Gerald Clyde. Forty-one years old, proud father of three little girls."
"You want to see your little girls grow up, Gerald?"
"Excuse me?"
"You have a health crisis coming," Sissy warned him. "You really need to ease up and visit your doctor for a physical."
The officer stared at her in his rearview mirror. "Lady, I'm a little stressed is all. Maybe a touch overweight. Otherwise, I'm two hundred percent fit. I could stop this car right now and do ten one-arm push-ups on the sidewalk."
"I'm sorry," said Sissy. "It really is none of my business, is it? It's just that I get these very strong feelings about people."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Really-don't take any notice. I'm only a silly old woman, that's all."
The officer chewed his cheeseburger slower and slower. "You got a feeling about me?" he asked her. "Like what?"
"Please, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm upset, that's all. Seeing those people murdered-"
"I know. It's tough."
The officer drove for three or four minutes in silence. Then he said, "You feel there's something wrong with me? Like I'm sick or something?"
"No. Really. Forget it, please."
They stopped at the intersection of Madison Road and Dana Avenue. The officer turned around in his seat and for a split second, his face was transformed. His eyes were rolled up into his head, showing nothing but white, like cue balls, and his lips were white, too, as if he had been drinking bleach.
Then
Three men and two women from the coroner's office were wheeling in gurneys to take away the three victims in the elevator.
Sissy lifted the little silver and pearl cross she wore around her neck and said, "Good-bye, Mary, rest in peace. Please forgive me for letting you die in the dark."
CHAPTER 15 - The Magic Garden
Sissy and Molly kissed on the steps of the Giley Building. The street outside was crowded with squad cars and ambulances and television vans, as well as scores of rubberneckers. From the hubbub of excitement going through the crowd, anybody would have thought that they were expecting the imminent arrival of a famous movie star.
"Cincinnati sightseers," said Molly, in disgust. "Look, I'll see you later, Sissy. Take care of Victoria for me. And Trevor. Well, I know you've been taking care of Trevor all of your life."
Molly climbed into one of the squad cars to be taken over to Cincinnati police headquarters on Ezzard Charles Drive. A big, heavily built officer with curly white hair was waiting to escort Sissy down the steps to another squad car, to drive her back to Blue Ash.
She settled into the backseat. The interior of the squad car smelled strongly of cheeseburger.
"Excuse the fragrance, lady," the officer apologized. "I haven't eaten in six hours straight. Not even a candy bar."
As he pulled away from the curb, he opened up a yellow polystyrene box and lifted out a twelve-ounce cheeseburger and took an enormous bite.
"I'm sorry, you know, but my captain thinks I'm what? The starving millions in Africa? I always say you gotta eat to function. Nobody can function on an empty stomach."
"Well, you're right," said Sissy. She was looking out of the window, but she couldn't help sensing the officer's heartbeat.
Bom-pause-badom-pause. Clogged arteries. She could feel them. She could feel a pain clutching at her left arm, too, as if she were just about to have a heart attack.
"Got this at Zip's," he said, holding it up. "Best damned burgers in Cincinnati."
"All the same," Sissy told him. "You should watch what you eat, and how you eat it."
"Lady, I wish I had the luxury. If I had the luxury, I wouldn't be eating no cheeseburger in no squad car. I'd be sitting down proper with my napkin tucked in my collar and I'd be eating T-bone steak and mashed potatoes and plenty of gravy, with a plate of hot corn-bread on the side, and blueberry pie and ice cream for dessert."
"What's your name?" Sissy asked him.
"You want to know my name? It's Gerald. Gerald Clyde. Forty-one years old, proud father of three little girls."
"You want to see your little girls grow up, Gerald?"
"Excuse me?"
"You have a health crisis coming," Sissy warned him. "You really need to ease up and visit your doctor for a physical."
The officer stared at her in his rearview mirror. "Lady, I'm a little stressed is all. Maybe a touch overweight. Otherwise, I'm two hundred percent fit. I could stop this car right now and do ten one-arm push-ups on the sidewalk."
"I'm sorry," said Sissy. "It really is none of my business, is it? It's just that I get these very strong feelings about people."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Really-don't take any notice. I'm only a silly old woman, that's all."
The officer chewed his cheeseburger slower and slower. "You got a feeling about me?" he asked her. "Like what?"
"Please, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm upset, that's all. Seeing those people murdered-"
"I know. It's tough."
The officer drove for three or four minutes in silence. Then he said, "You feel there's something wrong with me? Like I'm sick or something?"
"No. Really. Forget it, please."
They stopped at the intersection of Madison Road and Dana Avenue. The officer turned around in his seat and for a split second, his face was transformed. His eyes were rolled up into his head, showing nothing but white, like cue balls, and his lips were white, too, as if he had been drinking bleach.
Then
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