Suture Self : A Bed-and-breakfast Mystery

anything behind when Father McConnaught came to

see her.

“Now would you be that glad to be going home?”

the priest asked with a smile.

“Oh, yes, Father,” she replied with an answering

smile, “that I would. I mean, I would. That is . . .”

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Father McConnaught nodded sagely. “Bless you, my

child, for your great help in seeking justice. Poor Mr.

Jim, I’m afraid he must be daft.”

“I’m sure he is,” Judith replied, growing solemn.

“We’ll pray for the poor man,” the priest said. “I’ll

pray for you, too. Is there anything I can do before you

leave us?”

“Yes,” Judith said. “I’d like you to hear my confession. I couldn’t go before Christmas because I was laid

up with my hip. Would you mind?”

“I’d be delighted,” the priest replied, reaching into

his pocket and taking out the purple stole he wore for

the Sacrament of Penance.

Judith bowed her head and blessed herself, then recited a brief list of venial sins before she got to the crux

of the matter. As briefly as she could, she told Father

McConnaught about Joe and Dan and the deception

surrounding Mike’s paternity. She had resolved to end

the web of lies. But was it fair to Dan’s memory and

his conscientiousness as a father to Mike? This was the

sticking point, and had been since Dan died.

“Well now,” Father McConnaught said, “you take

Good Cheer and the blessed sisters who’ve run it all

these long years. Soon this place will be taken from

them, and they’ll be left with only memories. But no

one can take away what they did, how they served,

how much love they offered in the name of our

blessed Lord. Can we say less for your late husband,

rest his soul? No matter what his faults or failures,

he lived, he loved, he made his mark. Glory be to

God, eh?”

Through glistening tears, Judith smiled at Father McConnaught. “You’re right. Thank you so much. I feel

better. It’s just that it’ll be so hard to finally tell Mike.”

SUTURE SELF

323

“God will guide you,” the priest said, and gave Judith absolution.

Robbie the Robot, apparently swerving to avoid

someone in the hall, briefly faced into the room.

“Beep-beep,” he said.

Still smiling, Judith beeped right back.

Shortly before eleven, Joe and Mike showed up in

her hospital room. Judith was sitting with the release

form, checking off the detailed information and list of

instructions for posthospital care. Joe was wearing a

big bandage under his jacket, but definitely seemed on

the mend.

“Kristin and Little Mac are at the house,” Mike said.

“They rode down with me this morning. Mac wants to

see Ga-ga.”

Judith flinched as she always did when she heard

Mac’s name for her. She sometimes wondered if he

couldn’t pronounce “grandma” or if he was describing

her. Maybe he really was a Little Einstein.

“Everything’s fine at the B&B,” Joe assured Judith,

taking her reaction as concern about Hillside Manor.

“All the odious guests are gone, and the Rankerses can

go home because Mike and Kristin are staying through

the week.”

“Oh, Mike!” Judith beamed at her son as Joe went

off to the nurse’s station to check Judith out. “You

don’t have to . . .”

“It’s cool,” Mike asserted. “We want to. Kristin

thinks it’ll be fun. She’s even got some ideas about

how you could run the place more efficiently.”

“Oh. Good.” Judith swallowed hard. “Mike, I have

something to tell you—”

“Hey,” Mike said, holding up a hand. “Kristin won’t

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Mary Daheim

get in your face. She just wants to help. If you don’t

like some of her ideas, tell her.”

“No, it’s not that,” Judith insisted. “It’s about Joe.

When you came down here to see him in all that bad

weather, I felt then that I should have spoken to you

about what a risk you took and that—”

Mike put his hand up again. “No problem. Why

wouldn’t I do that?” Suddenly Mike’s expression grew

uncharacteristically sober. “After all, he’s my father.”

Judith’s jaw dropped. “You know? ”

Mike’s eyes were level with Judith’s as he took her

hand. “I’ve known for a long time. I just didn’t know if

you wanted me to know. Are you okay with it?”

“Oh, Mike!” Judith burst into tears.

Joe reappeared in the doorway. “We’re all set. Hey,

what’s wrong?”

“N-n-nothing,” Judith blubbered. “I’m just so

happy!”

Joe stared at Mike. “This is happy? ”

“It sure is. Pops, ” Mike added. He grinned at Joe,

then shoved the hospital form at his mother. “Here,

sign this so we can go home.”

With trembling fingers, Judith signed the form. She

fought for control and handed the sheet of paper to Joe.

“That’s right. I’m very happy.” Judith took a deep

breath. “I’ve finally gotten my release.”

About the Author

Seattle native MARY RICHARDSON DAHEIM

began reading mysteries when she was seven. She

started writing them when she was eleven, but her

career as a published novelist didn’t begin until much

later. After graduating from the University of

Washington’s School of Communications, Daheim

worked on small-town newspapers and in corporate

public relations. Her goal to write fiction remained in

place, however, and she began publishing the Bedand-Breakfast series in 1991, adding the Alpine

mysteries a year later. She is married to David

Daheim, and the couple lives in Seattle. They have

three grown daughters: Barbara, Katherine, and

Magdalen. Daheim received the Pacific Northwest

Writers Association 2000 Achievement Award “for

distinguished professional achievement and for

enhancing the stature of the Northwest literary

community”.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive

information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Praise for

SUTURE SELF

and MARY DAHEIM’s other

Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries

“Delightful”

Kansas City Star

“Skillfully takes a satiric scalpel to the hospital

industry . . . There are funny twists aplenty . . . [and]

telling jabs at modern hospital care as the novel

scampers to its zany conclusion. The other inmates of

Good Cheer Hospital—staff and patients alike—are so

wacky that every ward seems like a psychiatric unit.”

Portland Oregonian

“Like Joan Hess’ Maggody series, Daheim’s bed-andbreakfast mysteries show a funny and often stinging

insight into people’s relationships and behavior.

SUTURE SELF is less about solving a crime than

about the too-real-not-to-be-funny personalities of the

people involved.”

Houston Chronicle

“Daheim fans will relish the witty and revealing

interactions between familiar characters.”

Publishers Weekly

“[A] screwball crime novel . . . The banter . . . is

choice . . . And Good Cheer Hospital does live up to

its name in the warped sense that it malfunctions

even more blatantly than a real-life hospital.”

Newark Star-Ledger

Other Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries by

Mary Daheim

A STREETCAR NAMED EXPIRE

CREEPS SUZETTE

LEGS BENEDICT

SNOW PLACE TO DIE

WED AND BURIED

SEPTEMBER MOURN

AUNTIE MAYHEM

NUTTY AS A FRUITCAKE

MURDER, MY SUITE

MAJOR VICES

A FIT OF TEMPERA

BANTAM OF THE OPERA

DUNE TO DEATH

HOLY TERRORS

FOWL PREY

JUST DESSERTS

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters,

incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s

imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any

resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead,

is entirely coincidental.

SUTURE SELF. Copyright © 2001 by Mary Daheim.

All rights reserved under International and PanAmerican Copyright Conventions. By payment of the

required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the

text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may

be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled,

reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any

information storage and retrieval system, in any form

or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical,

now known or hereinafter invented, without the

express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader February 2007

ISBN 978-0-06-136256-9

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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United States

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New York, NY 10022

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com

Document Outline

Title Page

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

About the Author

Praise

Other Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries by Mary Daheim

Copyright Notice

About the Publisher

Table of Contents

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PRAISE

OTHER BOOKS BY MARY DAHEIM

COVER

COPYRIGHT

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Praise for

Table of Contents

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PRAISE

OTHER BOOKS BY MARY DAHEIM

COVER

COPYRIGHT

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Praise for