in the dirt – it’s supposed to say ‘7/9/69’, which is his shoot-down date.”
Julia and I hunched over the picture again, trying to see the marks. Finally I sat back and shook my head. “I think this is something like those people who claim to see an image of the Virgin Mary in a waterstain on the ceiling.”
Harkey nodded as if I was on to something. “It would have to be something a person wanted to see. Anyway, that picture convinced Mom that Dad was still alive in some POW camp that no one in the Western world knew anything about. She was sending money to Winslow, a lot more than she could afford.”
“Didn’t you try to talk to her about it?” I asked.
“I didn’t know!” he said defensively. “She lived in Chicago then. Had her own little house. When we talked on the phone, she would talk about the Lest We Forget organization, but I thought she was sending them maybe ten dollars at a whack. I didn’t know how bad things were until she had already lost the house.”
“So that’s when you threatened Winslow?” Julia asked.
Harkey flushed. “Yeah, I threatened him, I’ll admit it. I was so damn mad. But Bob said we should sue to get the money back, so that’s what we’re doing.”
I nodded approvingly. “Killing him wouldn’t get the money back.”
Harkey grinned suddenly. “Would have felt good, though. But Bob said he could make him suffer more in court. Trust a lawyer.”
“So what will you do now?”
“Bob says we go ahead against the estate. We’re alleging fraud and misrepresentation.” He seemed to enjoy the terminology. “Say! You could help. If it was obvious that Winslow was selling you a bill of goods, it might show what Bob calls predisposition.”
“We’ll see,” I temporized. “Have Bob call me. Right now I’m more concerned with making sure my husband doesn’t get arrested for murder.”
“Which reminds me,” Julia interrupted. “Forgive me for asking, but where were you Wednesday night?”
“I’ll forgive you because the police already asked. And please, it’s Wayne.”
“Wayne, then.”
“I was working that night and made all my scheduled stops, logged in by folks that know me. Sorry to disappoint you ladies, but I do have an alibi.”
“Oh, that’s fine,” Julia beamed at him. “I just felt I had to ask. To be thorough, you know.”
“What’s your mother’s situation now?” I asked. “Not that it has anything to do with the case, but I’m curious. Poor woman, I wish there was something I could do.”
“Mom stays with me and Sylvia until the kids start getting on her nerves too bad, then she goes up to Bob’s – he’s in Bethesda – until his pipe becomes more than she can take. Bob’s cut back on the pipe, he says. It’s a darn shame. She was so independent, and proud of it, too.”
I sighed. “It is a shame. I hope you can get at least some of her money back.”
Wayne leaned forward in his chair, elbows on his knees. “Mrs. Rayburn, when your husband died in Viet Nam, I’m sure you didn’t consider yourself lucky. But you were in a way. Because it’s worse not knowing. It’s worse putting your life on hold and the next thing you know, it’s two decades later.”
I shivered. Tried to imagine never marrying Jack, raising Pete and Deb on my own, and always wondering. Reading stories about hidden POW camps and wondering if they were true, if Jimmy was there – I twitched my shoulders and tried to pull myself together.
“You’re absolutely right,” I told Wayne. “I wonder what I would have read in that aerial photograph?”
ELEVEN
As we buckled our seatbelts, Julia observed, “I’m sorry I never met this Winslow character. He sounds like a real piece of work. Have you noticed that all his enemies we’ve met so far claim to have wanted him to stay alive so they could make him suffer?
“Two isn’t much of a statistical sample, but I know what you mean,” I told her. “What gets me is that
Julia and I hunched over the picture again, trying to see the marks. Finally I sat back and shook my head. “I think this is something like those people who claim to see an image of the Virgin Mary in a waterstain on the ceiling.”
Harkey nodded as if I was on to something. “It would have to be something a person wanted to see. Anyway, that picture convinced Mom that Dad was still alive in some POW camp that no one in the Western world knew anything about. She was sending money to Winslow, a lot more than she could afford.”
“Didn’t you try to talk to her about it?” I asked.
“I didn’t know!” he said defensively. “She lived in Chicago then. Had her own little house. When we talked on the phone, she would talk about the Lest We Forget organization, but I thought she was sending them maybe ten dollars at a whack. I didn’t know how bad things were until she had already lost the house.”
“So that’s when you threatened Winslow?” Julia asked.
Harkey flushed. “Yeah, I threatened him, I’ll admit it. I was so damn mad. But Bob said we should sue to get the money back, so that’s what we’re doing.”
I nodded approvingly. “Killing him wouldn’t get the money back.”
Harkey grinned suddenly. “Would have felt good, though. But Bob said he could make him suffer more in court. Trust a lawyer.”
“So what will you do now?”
“Bob says we go ahead against the estate. We’re alleging fraud and misrepresentation.” He seemed to enjoy the terminology. “Say! You could help. If it was obvious that Winslow was selling you a bill of goods, it might show what Bob calls predisposition.”
“We’ll see,” I temporized. “Have Bob call me. Right now I’m more concerned with making sure my husband doesn’t get arrested for murder.”
“Which reminds me,” Julia interrupted. “Forgive me for asking, but where were you Wednesday night?”
“I’ll forgive you because the police already asked. And please, it’s Wayne.”
“Wayne, then.”
“I was working that night and made all my scheduled stops, logged in by folks that know me. Sorry to disappoint you ladies, but I do have an alibi.”
“Oh, that’s fine,” Julia beamed at him. “I just felt I had to ask. To be thorough, you know.”
“What’s your mother’s situation now?” I asked. “Not that it has anything to do with the case, but I’m curious. Poor woman, I wish there was something I could do.”
“Mom stays with me and Sylvia until the kids start getting on her nerves too bad, then she goes up to Bob’s – he’s in Bethesda – until his pipe becomes more than she can take. Bob’s cut back on the pipe, he says. It’s a darn shame. She was so independent, and proud of it, too.”
I sighed. “It is a shame. I hope you can get at least some of her money back.”
Wayne leaned forward in his chair, elbows on his knees. “Mrs. Rayburn, when your husband died in Viet Nam, I’m sure you didn’t consider yourself lucky. But you were in a way. Because it’s worse not knowing. It’s worse putting your life on hold and the next thing you know, it’s two decades later.”
I shivered. Tried to imagine never marrying Jack, raising Pete and Deb on my own, and always wondering. Reading stories about hidden POW camps and wondering if they were true, if Jimmy was there – I twitched my shoulders and tried to pull myself together.
“You’re absolutely right,” I told Wayne. “I wonder what I would have read in that aerial photograph?”
ELEVEN
As we buckled our seatbelts, Julia observed, “I’m sorry I never met this Winslow character. He sounds like a real piece of work. Have you noticed that all his enemies we’ve met so far claim to have wanted him to stay alive so they could make him suffer?
“Two isn’t much of a statistical sample, but I know what you mean,” I told her. “What gets me is that
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