“What happens now?” Eve said.
“Now we deposit the check and pay our bills,” Jacob said.
Burr stirred his drink. “And my alimony.”
“What happens to Lauren?” Eve said.
“Probably nothing,” Burr said.
“She confessed. In front of the judge,” Eve said.
“Brooks has to decide what to do. I’m not sure he has enough proof or the stomach for another trial.”
“But she killed Helen,” Eve said. “She said she did.”
“No, she didn’t say she killed Helen. She never confessed. She said she hated her sister. And that she wasn’t going to let Helen have Curt. She never said she killed her,” Burr said.
“But Tommy was acquitted.”
“Tommy was acquitted because the jury couldn’t get past reasonable doubt. That doesn’t convict Lauren.”
“Curt had the affair with Helen. He could testify,” Eve said.
“A husband can’t be forced to testify against his wife. Or vice versa.” This from Jacob.
“Where is the justice in any of this?” Eve finished her drink and raised her glass for another.
“Tommy wasn’t convicted. I think that’s about all the justice we’re going to get,” Burr said.
“What if Lauren had been called back to the hospital?” Jacob said.
Burr fished out an olive. He chewed it slowly.
“She’d either have gone back or she wouldn’t. My guess is she was so incensed, she was going to kill Helen no matter what. She was spitting blood on the stand. But if she’d been called back to the hospital, my guess is she’d have waited for another day.”
“That leaves the orchards,” Jacob said.
“I’m sure Sleeper still wants to buy them. We’ll have a nice run arguing about the value.”
“What about the family?” Eve said.
“I think the family has been destroyed. Helen held it together, and in the end, she tore it apart.” Burr ate another olive. “The face that launched a thousand ships,” he said.
“I beg your pardon?” Jacob said.
“It’s from the Odyssey,” Eve said. “When Helen left her husband for a Trojan prince and fled to Troy, the jilted husband’s family sailed a thousand ships across the Aegean to get her back. The few Trojans who weren’t killed were taken as slaves.”
“I see,” Jacob said, who didn’t.
“And the park?” Eve said.
Burr picked up a third olive and chewed it slowly. “I think Sleeper is going to finish acquiring the land he wants for the park. I’m not against it. But I don’t like the heavy hand of government bearing down on private citizens. Especially when it’s administered by bureaucrats.”
“Isn’t that a bit philosophical for you?” Eve said.
“The constitution gives the government the right to take private property. It’s the police power in the Fifth Amendment,” Jacob said.
Eve rolled her eyes.
She’s never been interested in constitutional law.
“But there’s also due process. Very few people have the money or the will to stand up to the government,” Burr said.
“Except Helen,” Eve said. “And you.”
Burr swirled the ice in his glass.
This tastes like another.
“What about you, Burr?” Jacob said.
“The first nice day we get, I’m going to sail Spindrift back to Harbor Springs and put her to bed for the winter.”
* * *
Burr didn’t take Spindrift to Harbor Springs on the first nice day. On the first nice day, he and Zeke drove to the park. He parked the Jeep on the back side of the big dune and the two of them started up.
“Zeke, you’re a great friend, but I wish Maggie was here, too.”
Burr’s shoes and Zeke’s paws sank into the loose sand all the way up. Both were out of breath by the time they reached the top. Burr looked out at the lake. The wind blew hard from the northwest. The waves crashed on the beach hundreds of feet below them, whitecaps as far as he could see. The wind blew sand, fine sand, that stung his face. He looked north at the Manitous, then up at the mound of trees and brush that was the sleeping bear, still waiting for her cubs.
“Zeke, she’s always waiting. That’s probably a good enough reason for the park. As long as they pay for it.”
THE END
Acknowledgements
To Ellen Jones for her copy editing, sage advice, encouragement ... and deciphering the yellow-pad scratchings that were my first draft.
To Mark Lewison for his copy editing, story editing, unflagging attention to detail, and especially for his enthusiasm.
To Nancy Anisfield, Jesse Melcher, Mark Sherwood, Julie Spencer and Steve Spencer for reading the manuscript. They found countless factual, contextual and typographical errors.
To Jesse Melcher for straightening out my website.
To Kathryn McLravy for creating my website, managing my Facebook page and for driving me all over Leelanau County.
To Bob Deck at Mission Point Press for the book’s interior design.
To Heather Shaw and Jodee Taylor at Mission Point Press for all their help with publicity and marketing.
To John Wickham for his cover design.
To Doug Weaver at Mission Point Press for his help in naming the book and for keeping everything on schedule.
Finally, and most importantly, thanks to my wife, Christi, for encouragement, support, tolerance, patience, and most of all, her love.
They all made “Bear Bones” a much better work than it otherwise would have been. Whatever shortcomings remain are my own.
About the Author
Mr. Cutter is a recovering attorney. He lives with his wife, two dogs and four cats in East Lansing. He has a leaky sailboat in Harbor Springs and a leakier duck boat on Saginaw Bay. In addition to the Burr Lafayette series, Mr. Cutter has written screenplays and literary fiction. He is at work on the next Burr Lafayette mystery.
His books are available on Amazon and at your local bookstore.
For additional information, please go to www.CharlesCutter.com.
Also by Charles Cutter
Copyright © 2020 by Charles Cutter
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or by the publisher. Requests for permission should be made in writing to Mission Point Press, 2554 Chandler Road, Traverse City, Michigan, 49696.
This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters are the products of 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.
Published by Mission Point Press
2554 Chandler Rd.
Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 421-9513
www.MissionPointPress.com
Print ISBN: 978-1-950659-56-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020908457
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Edition/First Printing
Cover design: John Wickham
Interior design and layout: Bob Deck
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