Tuesday, October 24, 2017

prizes - 14. questions


by harold p sternhagen

being a sequel to fun and games

part fourteen of thirty-nine

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here





“any questions?” jonathon asked maria.

“yes, i have a few.”

“fire away.” jonathon looked around the restaurant, but their waiter was nowhere in sight.

“how long ago was all this?” maria asked. “ about thirty years?”

“jonah’s murder was just about thirty years ago, yes.”

“and the poker game, that was even earlier.”

“yes, at least thirty years before that, maybe closer to thirty-five.”

“yikes.”

jonathon smiled. “i can see you might find it discouraging.”

“i’m not discouraged, i just want to get the story straight.” maria looked around, and out the window of the steak house. no customers seemed to have entered after their own arrival.

“anything occur to you right away?” jonathon asked.

“the detective - or whatever he was - that disappeared.”

“yes, that does jump out, doesn’t it?”

“this taffy, you don’t say anything about her now, so she must be dead, right?”

“not exactly.”

“not exactly?”

“she has been confined to an asylum for many years.”

“an insane asylum?”

“an asylum for people with severe mental problems.”

maria nodded. “what about the woman who introduced taffy to the detective?’”

“geraldine miller.”

“is she still alive?”

“um - i don’t really know,” jonathon admitted. “that’s very good, very good indeed. she might be a good place to start.”

“yes. and getting into the asylum to talk to taffy, would that be impossible?”

jonathon hesitated. “it might be difficult. and - i might not be able to help you there…”

“i understand. i will have to get in myself. that is all right. i think i will start with this geraldine, if she is still alive.”

“that sounds like a good idea,” jonathon agreed.

“here are our steaks,” said maria.


15. research assistant



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