The Murder Book

CHAPTER 49

Bert Harrison's call came at 9 A.M. I'd been sleeping and tried to push the fatigue out of my voice, but Bert knew he'd woken me up.

"Sorry, Alex. I'll call back-"

"No," I said. "How're you doing?"

"I'm fine," he said. "Aimee is… she'll eventually come to grips with the loss. We'd begun dealing with it, because Bill didn't have long, and I was trying to prepare her. Despite that, of course, the shock was traumatic. For her sake, I'm emphasizing the quickness of it. His feeling no pain."

"I can back you up on that. It was instantaneous."

"You saw it… you must be-"

"I'm fine, Bert."

"Alex, I should've been honest with you all along. You deserved better from me."

"You had your obligations," I said. "Patient-doctor confidentiality-"

"No, I-"

"It's all right, Bert."

He laughed. "Listen to us, Alex. Alphonse, Gaston, Alphonse Gaston… you're really okay, son?"

"I really am."

"Because you bore the brunt of it as I stood by like a-"

"It's over," I said, firmly.

"Yes," he said. Several seconds passed. "I need to tell you this, Alex: You're such a good young man. I find myself calling you 'son' from time to time, because if I'd… oh this is silly, I just called to see how you were getting on and to let you know we're coping. The human spirit and all that."

"Indomitable," I said.

"What's the alternative?"

Milo had come by last night, and we'd talked through sunrise. I'd been thinking a lot about alternatives. "Thanks for calling, Bert. Let's get together. When things settle down."

"Yes. Absolutely. We must."

He sounded old and weak and I wanted to help him, and I said, "Soon you'll be getting back to your instruments."

"Pardon- oh, yes, definitely. As a matter of fact, I did get on-line early this morning. Came upon an old Portuguese gitarra on eBay that looks intriguing, if it can be restored. Tuned differently than a guitar, but you might be able to get some sound out of it. If I get it at the right price, I'll let you know and you can come up here and we'll make music."

"Sounds like a plan," I said. Happy to have any.