“I’m so sorry I’ve brought this torment to the forefront once again,” Trixie replied.
“It’s alright. After our conversation I’ll place it back where it belongs.”
“Do you have any information on what may have happened to my son? Even if it’s bad Abby, I can take it. You don’t have to protect me. I’m stronger than you may think.”
Abby smiled. “Oh I have no doubt of that. You were strong back then and I can tell you’re the same feisty lass. However, I’m sorry, Trixie, I don’t know what happened to your son.”
Trixie sighed and patted Abby’s hand. “That’s okay.”
At that moment I could feel a change in the air, as if the atmosphere became stagnant or all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. It was as if a dark force had entered. I’m sure you’ve been around people who tend to suck the life right out of a room. Maybe your personalities clash or the other person is a perpetual Debbie downer. This wasn’t like that. I felt the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stick straight up and a shiver run down my spine. I looked at Stormi and Paige and realized they appeared like I felt. Then I heard the voice.
“You’re such the liar Abby.”
I will never forget that tone of voice. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard, raspy and shrill at the same time. It gave me a start when I first heard it and my heart didn’t want to turn to look at where it came from, but you know in your mind you have to see. We all turned at once and looked at the door to the common room and there she was. She sat upright in a wheelchair with an old and faded blanket strung across her lap. Stitched on the blanket appeared kittens which seemed absurd seeing to whom the blanket belonged.
The woman whose voice echoed across the room had dyed her hair a severe brown color, although you could see wisps of grey around the temples. Apparently she tried to color it herself and missed areas. The wrinkles on her face looked like crevices. Two deep lines sat between her eyebrows and many wrinkles etched across her cheeks and forehead. I supposed from years of setting her face into frowns that never left. Now they were engraved on her face and she couldn’t get rid of them if she wanted to. It didn’t appear that she did.
None of us spoke as the elderly woman slowly pushed the wheels of her wheelchair to enter the room. I knew instantly this must be Margaret Kreinhagen, also known as Madge and the she-devil administrator of the unwed girl’s home. Small glasses with brown frames hung from a chain around her neck. She grabbed the glasses and put them on the end of her pointy nose to get a better look at us. She completely ignored Mr. Strickland who was sitting at a table on the other side of the room. She came to a stop four feet from where Paige, Stormi and I were standing, but she looked at Abby and Trixie.
It was Trixie who spoke first. “I couldn’t be lucky enough to get through this visit without seeing your charming face, huh?”
Madge grinned but there was no humor there. “Evidently not Miss Trixie. You see, these walls have ears and gossip travels fast, but you already knew that didn’t you?”
It was as if she spit out each word. Not really talking like you’d have in a conversation with another individual. Her tone was accusatory, no matter what passed by her lips.
She turned to look at the three of us, likely with our mouths hanging open.
“So who are you?” Madge asked condescendingly.
Trixie immediately piped up. “No one who cares to be introduced to you Madge.”
Her eyes turned into slits. Obviously because of the name she hated so much. She turned back to look at us.
“My name is Margaret Kreinhagen not Madge. Although Trixie and her minions loved being disobedient and calling me that. In fact, the year Trixie stayed at the unwed girl’s home was the worst disobedience I can remember.”
“Actually it was the most fun any of the girls and nurses had.”
We turned to look at Abby who had risen from her chair to glare at Madge.
“I heard you were here, but thank God this facility is so large I never had to lay eyes on you until today. I knew there would come a day though that it would end and I’d see you again.”
Madge looked over the top of her glasses at Abby. “Your tongue is as incorrigible as it ever was. You haven’t changed a bit.”
“And neither have you,” Abby seethed. “You weren’t invited to this conversation so move on.”
I rather liked this bold new Abby. She had many sides to her and while the earlier Abby ran away when faced with past demons, this Abby was ready to take one on.
“You don’t tell me where I can go,” Madge replied.
“Fine, then we’ll leave,” Abby said as she started for the door.
“That’s right, go ahead and run. Stick your head in the sand. But from what I hear, Trixie is searching for some truths. And all you’re doing is lying to her.”
We looked at Abby in confusion. Nothing was making sense. Did Abby know something after all and was keeping it from Trixie. This Madge woman seemed to know information as well.
Abby shook her head and motioned for us to follow her. “Don’t listen to her. She’s full of spite and she’d love nothing better than to pull us down into her hate pool. Let’s leave while we can.”
We all started to follow Abby when Madge spoke again.
“But Trixie, don’t you want to know the truth about your son?”
Trixie stopped. We were following her so we had to stop as well. We all slowly turned around to look at Madge. Trixie walked past us and sat down at a chair that was next to Madge.
“All these years I’ve done much like Abby described. Taken the bad parts of my life and locked them away in a faraway place in my mind. You were one such appalling memory that I hoped I’d never have to revisit.”
Madge looked as if she had won an award as the corners of her lips lifted. She actually got enjoyment out of other people’s torment. I wondered how she’d become like this. Was she born this way or did she turn out to be this type of person because of her own past. I didn’t know. All I knew was that Trixie was my friend and it was her that needed our protection. Even from a 90 something year old woman who still had the venom of a poisonous snake.
“You girls…you all thought you were above it all. Like having a baby was nothing. Just spread your legs, get pregnant, and then pawn your spawn on someone else.”
“Woman, are you mad? I don’t know who you’re talking about. The girls that were there with me were some of the brightest and most wonderful women I’d ever met. But you were too busy searching for the bad rather than the good. You wanted to hate us…I’m not sure why. Maybe you were jealous.”
Madge let out a loud harrumph. “Jealous? Now you’re the one who’s mad. What was there to be jealous of? A bunch of whiny brats who didn’t deserve their children. I relished each time one of you girls cried when your baby was taken away.”
Stormi couldn’t hold it in any longer. “How could you take their babies away if they had changed their minds?”
Madge turned her scowl on Stormi and I felt all three of us wither. “They signed their rights away my dear. Anyway, before the tears had dried on their faces they were right as rain with the situation of their baby being adopted.”
“That’s because their initial reaction was like any Mother,” Trixie interjected. “The tears flowed because they loved their children, but they also knew they were doing the right thing by giving them up. It was a selfless act.”
“Selfless!” Madge grunted. “More like selfish. Those girls didn’t want a baby messing up their fun times. They’d rather get drunk and have sex than care for a baby.”
Trixie threw her hands in the air. “Think what you want Madge, I really don’t care.”
Madge’s steely eyes fixated on Trixie. “You were the worst of them all. You weren’t unwed like the other girls. You were a widow with a large insurance policy. You had the means in which to support a child, unlike the others. But you didn’t want to spend that money on formula or diapers did you?”
> “You don’t know what you’re talking about Madge…you never did.”
“Oh don’t I? I read about the supposed accidental death of your poor husband. Maybe you wanted to get rid of him just like your baby.”
“Okay, that’s enough!” Paige barked. “I’ve heard all the vileness I can take in one day. Come on Trixie, let’s go.”
During this entire spectacle I noticed Mr. Strickland making several phone calls. He suddenly jumped up from his chair on the other side of the room and was making his way toward us.
“Yes, let’s go Trixie,” Mr. Strickland said as he waved us towards the door. “I have information on your son, but let’s get out of here.”
Madge whipped her head around. “Who the hell are you?”
“Nobody you need to concern yourself with,” I said.
We all started for the door. I couldn’t wait to get out of there into the cool brisk air. But unfortunately we were interrupted.
“I don’t know what this man thinks he knows about your son Trixie, but I know exactly what became of him.”
Trixie stopped. In my mind I was screaming for her to keep going. To get away from this retched creature before anymore of her despicable behavior could rub off on any of us. But she didn’t.
“Trixie, you don’t have to stay here and listen to her. I have the information you need,” Mr. Strickland pleaded.
Trixie turned slowly towards Madge, realization sinking in. “You took him didn’t you?”
An awful grin spread across Madge’s face. “Of course I did. I wanted a son and since I was the administrator I had my pick.”
Stormi’s hand rose to her mouth and Paige’s face sank. I have no idea how I must have looked, but inside my stomach was in turmoil. Maybe I was wrong. I’d told Stormi and Paige earlier that I would want to know what happened to my child, even if it was bad. Now I wasn’t so sure. This news could cripple Trixie.
I looked over at Abby. Her head was down and she was looking at the floor. She wasn’t rebutting the news and neither was Mr. Strickland. I knew it was true.
Red fire burned in Trixie’s cheeks. “How dare you take my child. He was supposed to go to a two parent family. Not to some creature like you.”
Madge continued to smile that evil grin. “But he did. And as soon as he could understand I told him how his birth mother didn’t want anything to do with him. That she was a selfish woman who had money, unlike the other girls, but was too greedy to want to share it with her baby. And I told him how lucky he was that I adopted him.”
“Then it’s high time he learned the truth you old crow!” I knew Stormi would get a jab in before we left.
Madge straightened in her wheelchair. “You can’t…he’s dead.”
“No he’s not,” Mr. Strickland interjected before we even had time to react to Madge’s last statement.
“And how the hell would you know?” Madge spouted to Mr. Strickland.
“I’m a private investigator who’s been on the phone back here locating Trixie’s son.”
“You mean my son!”
Mr. Strickland walked towards Madge. “No, not your son. He was never your son. Yes you took him from the unwed girl’s home, but you never raised him. A baby was too much for you to handle so you handed him off to your niece and her husband.”
Madge turned away from him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Mr. Strickland turned to Trixie. “It’s true. She did take the baby as I’m sure Abby will confirm.”
Abby nodded her head, her face full of anguish. “I didn’t want to tell you Trixie, knowing how we all felt about her. I just thought it better you never found out.”
“So you didn’t know that she gave the baby to her niece?” Mr. Strickland asked.
Abby shook her head. “No…I quit not long after Trixie left. When I learned that Madge took the baby I couldn’t take it anymore, so I moved to Atlanta and took a nursing job at one of the hospitals.”
“I wish you people would quit calling me Madge!”
“Hush, we’ve heard enough from you,” Paige shot back.
“Listen Missy, no one tells me what to do…least of all anyone who would call Trixie a friend.”
I’ve seen Stormi blow, but never Paige. Paige was level headed and never got too out of sorts, but then she’d never met Margaret Kreinhagen. This woman would test the Pope’s patience. Of course when Paige erupted it was more of a controlled explosion.
Paige walked over to Madge. “I’m not one of those innocent young girls you loved to spew your hatred to. We’re grown women and we don’t cower to the likes of you. You may think you still have power over people, but you don’t. Your reign of terror ended a long time ago. Now you’re just a bitter old woman with no friends who only has herself to thank for it.”
Madge’s eyes became slits. “You think I don’t like my life the way it is? Well you’re mistaken. I can’t stand people like you who think they’re better than anyone else.”
“Forget it, “Stormi piped in. “Don’t try and reason with an unreasonable person.”
But Paige wasn’t finished. “I pity you. You had the chance to form relationships with these young girls but instead you choose to belittle them. They were already frightened and you decided to make it worse. I don’t know how you can justify it in your mind and someday you will answer for it. Or perhaps you already are.”
With that Paige turned around and we all walked out the door leaving Madge to ponder Paige’s last words. It’s difficult to relay, but I felt as if I’d witnessed hate that day in the purest form. It was ugly and it sucked the air out of the room. As we walked out of the nursing home facility I welcomed the crisp fall air as it touched my skin. The atmosphere inside had been suffocating and it felt like I could finally breathe again.
Mr. Strickland guided us to the parking lot and away from the building. Trixie had Abby by the arm. She wanted her to hear this news as well. We decided to go back to the diner where we had lunch so Mr. Strickland could explain everything to us.
It seems Mr. Strickland discovered through his investigation of the unwed girl’s home that Madge had taken one of the babies. It wasn’t a big secret since Abby knew, so likely most of the people working there knew she did as well and that it was Trixie’s child. No one reported her because they were afraid of losing their jobs or simply frightened of Madge. While she was vile to the girls and employees, she was actually quite influential in the small town. She had many connections, including the mayor’s office, so her power was well known. No one wanted to mess with that.
Fortunately for Trixie’s son, she gave him to her niece and her husband to raise after six months. The niece and her husband were in their thirties and couldn’t have children, but they also couldn’t afford to adopt one. Madge was looking to get rid of the baby so it worked out.
Over the next week after our awful meeting with Madge, Mr. Strickland was able to locate the niece. He didn’t approach her, but through his sources discovered that her husband passed away 10 years ago. He also learned that her son went to college and became a doctor….a heart specialist. The son, whose name was William Grant, married his college sweetheart, Miss Julie Temple. They remain married to this day with three children of their own, two girls who are in college and one boy in high school.
These sources also told Mr. Strickland that William never mentioned being adopted. So either he was never told or he simply didn’t want to share the information. Mr. Strickland asked Trixie if she’d like to arrange a meeting but she declined. She met me and Paige early one morning to explain her decision. Stormi was running late but told us to carry on and she’d be there as soon as possible. Paige and Trixie sat on bar stools in the back as I worked on my new ice cream cookie sandwiches. Winchester watched as I worked, waiting for a crumb to tumble on the floor so he could snatch it up.
“I’m very content with the information I have about my son,” Trixie said.
“So you don’t want to meet him
or tell him you’re his mother?” Paige asked.
“No…it would be selfish of me to intrude in his life at this point. Just knowing he is a fine man with a wife and a family is more than good news. Of course it would have been nice to meet him and his wife, and my grandchildren, but I don’t feel as though I’ve earned that right. I wasn’t there for him when he took his first step or dried his tears on his first day of school. I didn’t help him with his homework or guide him towards the exceptional man he’s become. His parents did that and from what Gabe said, they were good people. That’s what I wanted for him, to grow up in a home full of love and with the means to provide for him, and that’s exactly what he had.”
A Frozen Scoop of Murder - The Bundle Edition (Books One to Six): Cozy Mysteries Page 25
