The Lovely Chocolate Mob - By Richard J. Bennett Page 0,89
spend-thrift?” she said in an astonished tone.
“Well, yes. I mean, you can do that, can’t you?”
“I can do some of it, up to a point. My job is more of a diagnostic, evaluating type. I’m not what you’d call a certified marriage counselor. Besides, my schedule is all filled-up!”
“You wouldn’t have to rearrange your schedule. How about seeing them, in my slot, and we’d rotate? I could have a day, they could have a day, and we could continue like that.”
“Your slot? That would work, but it might take twice as long to find out, examine, and evaluate all the issues… what about your issues, your goals, your happiness?”
“Strangely enough, I seem to be very happy at the moment.” I waited for her to get it, and she did. Her eyes went down and she tried to stop her smile, but there it was. It was good to see her smile. And we had come to an agreement.
“I’ve still got to talk to Helen about this after I inform her of her husband’s whereabouts. Let me call her now, with you here.”
“I thought you didn’t trust phones,” said Miss Planter.
“I’m not using my phone; I’m using yours. Mine may be under surveillance. Besides, I won’t say anything revealing.” Somehow, I was finding that being in Miss Planter’s presence gave me strength and clarity of thought.
I dialed Helen’s number using Miss Planter’s desktop. Helen’s phone rang, and a voice said, “Hello?” It was Helen. There was no mistaking her voice.
“Yes, Helen. It’s me. I’ve got to talk with you.”
“Randall! Did you hear about Franklin? I’ve been trying to reach you; he’s missing!”
“I heard something through the grapevine. Listen, I need to talk with you. Can you leave the kids for awhile and meet me after work today at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant?”
“Yes. All the kids are with relatives; they’re farmed out for a few days. What’s this about?”
“I can’t talk now; we’ll talk later. See you at seven, then? Come alone.”
“I’ll see you at seven. Bye.”
I turned to Karen. “I’d like for you to come along but don’t know if you should get in any deeper than you already are. In fact, it might be wise for you to put some distance between us. These people play rough.”
“Let me decide that,” said Miss Planter. “I’m the counselor; that’s what you pay me for. Pick me up at 6:30, my place. Let me give you my address.”
Television Journalism
I got off work at 5 p.m. and headed straight home for a shower and a change of clothes; since I’d be buying dinner for two women tonight, I wanted to look decent.
When I walked in the door, there were Walter and Dr. Burke watching television. The local news was on, featuring Darla Bell, one of the talking heads. She was in the field, so the story must have been important. Usually, for less flashy stories, minor news reporters are used, but for the big stories they let the anchormen out. This probably had something to do with ratings, but I don’t know how. Anyway, she was covering the story of the missing doctor and was seen interviewing a local police detective, Lieutenant Bryan Bond, who said a few things that roused the good doctor…
Darla Bell: “Lieutenant, can you share with us any leads concerning the strange missing-person case of Dr. Franklin Burke?”
Lt. Bond: “Yes, I think we can say we’ve established a motive for his disappearance.”
Dr. Burke sat up at this. I wanted to take a shower but came back out from the hallway to watch this segment. Walter was also all tuned-in.
Lt. Bond: “As it turns out, a vast amount of money was removed from the bank account of Miss Susan Lovely, a known acquaintance of Dr. Franklin Burke, and it appears that this amount is quite significant.”
“What’s that got to do with my disappearance?” asked Dr. Burke. “Are they trying to tie me in?”
Darla Bell: “Can you tell us how much money is involved here, Lieutenant?”
Lt. Bond: “Not at this time, Miss Bell, but our department will contact you when we’re allowed to share that information with the public. For now, let’s just say that a man on the run could live quite comfortably, probably for the rest of his life, on the amount he stole.”
Darla Bell: “So what the police department suspects is that it was Dr. Burke who somehow made off with money belonging to Susan Lovely, a local celebrity model and heir to the Cornelius Lovely Chocolate fortune?”