by Kasi Blake
Chapter 10
I entered the main hall of the senior center and spotted Adam’s single grey streak atop his lean frame. He still wore black, mourning the loss of his dear friend. He stood to give me a welcoming hug before settling down across the table from me. His voice was gravelly but strong.
“It’s good to see you again. So, are you makin’ any progress on finding out what happened to John?”
“I’m gathering up information, at least,” I stated. “I can’t tell yet if it’s really progress. But I grow more convinced that his death wasn’t just a tragic accident. It seems like there is something in his past which might be linked to it.”
He took a sip of coffee. “I heard from his son, Jeff, that the computer was little help?”
“Well, it was certainly suspicious that someone had erased the file,” I pointed out. “If there had been no harm in it, whomever it was would have just left the file there. If John had been killed for something that happened recently – let’s say a jealous lover who didn’t want last month’s love triangle to be known about – they wouldn’t care at all that John was writing about his childhood. There would be no reason for them to delete that file. So I think the fact that it was important to someone seems to indicate the flash point was in those teenage years.”
Adam nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense,” he agreed. “So you think it has to do with Eileen’s death? Something that was previously unknown, that John was only now going to bring to light?”
I gave a soft shrug. “Many people hold in secrets for decades, only to release them at last when they feel the end is near. From what Jeff says, his father seemed to be approaching that final barrier. It was why John was pushing to finish his memoir. Maybe he was going to finally unburden himself of something which had tormented him all this time.”
“I know her death affected him greatly,” murmured Adam, looking down into his coffee. “It was the main reason behind his going off to Vietnam. He could not be around the familiar haunts any more. Apparently, everything he saw reminded him of her.”
I leant forward. “What did he tell you about that night?”
He pressed his lips together in thought. “Not much,” he admitted. “He said they had been drinking. That the other three boys began to get too rowdy for their own good, so he tucked Eileen into a canoe for her safety and took her out into the lake. He was fixin’ to keep her out of harm’s way until they settled down. Then the others all went after him, saying they wanted their turn with her.”
“They were chasing him?”
He nodded. “Richard caught up with him first. Richard grabbed onto the side of John’s canoe and insisted Eileen climb over into his. He got belligerent about it; Eileen was afraid and didn’t want to go. Richard grabbed her by the arm to force her, John grabbed her other arm, and the next thing they knew both canoes had capsized.”
I tilted my head to one side in thought. “That’s not quite the way Richard told it.”
He gave a low, dry laugh. “I am not surprised. The man could talk his way out of just about anything. If he had been the lawyer for Newell Sherman back in 1935, the man might have gotten away with murder.”
“But it seems like John felt the drowning was an accident, then? Even if drunken horseplay was involved?”
Adam’s face darkened. “Richard was responsible,” he growled. “Richard made it seem as if John was the one at fault, when John cared for Eileen as if she was his little sister. John protected and watched over her.”
“He wanted to marry her,” I offered quietly.
His eyes flared at that, and he dropped them quickly to his coffee. “John? John adored his wife; Jeff’s mother. He would have done anything for her. Who told you that John was besotted with Eileen?” He scoffed. “Was it Richard?”
“Was that not true either?”
He gave a quick shake of his head. “Eileen was under his protection, nothing more.”
“Was she dating one of the other boys, then?”
“No,” he answered shortly. “She wasn’t dating anyone. She was dedicated to her dream of becoming a fine actress. She was pure like that; wholly enraptured in her craft.”
“It’s a shame she never had the chance.”
He somberly nodded. “A great tragedy.”
