by Bill Bernico
Matt looked at his daughter. “What have you got going for yourself today?”
Veronica shrugged and spread her hands. “Nothing,” she said. “I was hoping I could go along with you this morning.”
Matt paused and then said, “Sure, why not. I’ll even buy you a pretzel when we’re done at the nursing home.”
Veronica smiled. “And I’ll let you,” she said, hooking one arm around Matt’s and leading him out of the office.
Traffic was heavy this morning and Matt made it back to the nursing home half an hour later. He and Veronica walked in the front door, appreciating the cool air circulating through the hallways. They passed several residents sitting in the halls in their wheelchairs. Some appeared to be happy and alert while others sat there with their heads hung down onto their chests, unaware of their surroundings. Matt turned to his daughter. “Promise me you’ll never put me in one of these places when my time comes. Just do like the Eskimos do and lay me out on a big chunk of ice and shove me out to sea. That seems like a peaceful way to go.”
“That could be a bit of a problem finding a suitable size chunk of ice in L.A.,” Veronica said. “It would melt before you got a hundred yards out. Better come up with a Plan B for your twilight years.”
“You saying you wouldn’t want to drive me up to Alaska to grant my final wish?” Matt said, half joking.
“How about a Viking funeral?” Veronica said. “We find you an old boat, stick you in it, light it on fire and then shove you out to sea.”
“That’s fine if I’m already dead at the time,” Matt conceded. “Might not be so pleasant if I’m still alive.”
“We’ll worry about that in forty or fifty years,” Veronica said. “Until then, how about if we find something a little more uplifting to talk about?”
Matt wrapped an arm around Veronica’s shoulder and pulled her close. “Just so I don’t end up in here,” he said.
“There’s her room,” Veronica said, gesturing toward an open door down the hall. She and Matt knocked on the open door and stepped inside to find Agnes Wells sitting at a folding card table making a jigsaw puzzle while her roommate, Gertie stared out the window just as she had been the first time Matt saw her. Agnes looked up and smiled when she saw Matt and Veronica coming toward her.
“Good morning, Mrs. Wells,” Matt said.
“How are you doing today?” Veronica said, laying one of her hands on top of Agnes’s.
“I’m fine,” Agnes said in a weak voice. She looked up at Matt. “Did you find out anything about my Robby?” He eyes pleaded for good news.
Matt pulled a chair up closer to the card table and sat across from the old woman. Veronica sat on the edge of the bed next to Agnes. “Mrs. Wells,” Matt began. “I did a lot of digging into this case and found out what you asked me for. It turns out that…”
Veronica cut him off in mid-sentence. “It turns out that your Robby was not involved in the bank holdup,” Veronica said. “In fact, he tried to stop it but there were too many other men against him. Your son died a hero trying to prevent the bank robbery, Mrs. Wells. You should be very proud of him.” She laid one hand on the old woman’s shoulder and gently patted it.
Agnes Wells’ eyes turned wet and shiny but still she managed a smile. “My Robby was a hero?”
“You can be very proud of him, Mrs. Wells,” Veronica assured her.
Matt could see where Veronica was going with this and decided to follow her lead. “That’s right, Mrs. Wells,” he said. “They have Robby’s picture hanging up in the halls of the Victorville Police Station with a little brass plaque under it that has his name engraved along with the date of the robbery. Below that it just says, ‘Hero.’”
Agnes Wells’ smile broadened and tears ran down both cheeks. She grabbed Matt’s hands and squeezed. “My Robby,” she said. “A hero.”
Matt rose and turned away from the old woman, afraid that his facial expressions might give away the lie he and Veronica were leaving her with. Veronica patted Agnes’s shoulder once more before joining Matt at the door. She turned back once more before they left and said, “You have yourself a good day now, you hear?”
Agnes Wells lifted one hand and gave a little girl kind of wave. “Thank you,” she said as her guests disappeared around the corner.
When they got far enough down the hall, Matt looked at his daughter and asked, “What was that all about?”
“Dad,” Veronica said. “Things are bad enough for Agnes in a place like this. Why make them any worse? Telling her that her son was a hero will help make her last days more bearable. Besides…”
Matt held up one hand. “I get it,” he said. “It’s not a course I’d have taken, I have to admit, but I’m glad you did.”
“That’s why I wanted to come with you this morning,” Veronica said. “Dad, you’re a fine investigator and human being, but you’re just a little too by-the-book for your own good. Did you see the twinkle in her eye when I told her about her son being a hero? She’ll be telling that story to everyone she runs into today and probably for the rest of the week. She finally got her closure and now she has bragging rights to boot.”
“I guess I have a lot to learn from you and Nick,” Matt admitted. “And to show my appreciation I’m even going to buy you two pretzels.”
“You’re learning, Dad,” Veronica said. “You’re learning.”
