alone in a big city that worried so much about getting raped that she wore a Tampax tampon to bed every night, for fear a man would rape her in her sleep and she might not otherwise know of it."
That was the wrong thing to say. Rose got up and went to the sink, anger oozing from every pore.
"We must not lose our dead." She turned to me with an expression that told me this was serious and I'd better start taking it that way.
B.W. strutted into the kitchen, jumped into my lap, and stared at Rose. "Okay, this has to do with Hadley Welch and her daughter. Why don't you get on with it."
"Hadley Welch came from a very rich family. That's why, after her husband died, she reverted back to her maiden name. It made it easier to run the family business."
"That business would be?"
"Have you ever heard of Upton Pharmaceuticals?"
"I know they are based in St. Louis and have an eclectic fleet of poorly managed corporate airplanes. Their Vice-president of the Aviation Department was an idiot. May very well still be."
"Hadley's great grandfather started the company in 1840 as a one store pharmacy and built the business into a world-wide pharmaceutical giant. The company has stayed in the Welch family and never went public. It is one of the largest privately held businesses in the world. When Hadley's father and mother were killed in an Alaskan plane crash, she inherited the company. Shortly thereafter, she married the CEO, Ed Pfeiffer, and they had one child."
"Why was she living on an eight hundred acre farm in rural Mississippi?"
"Same reason you are, she and Ed thought it was God's country. Ed grew up in central Mississippi, wanted to come back to this area, buy some land, have a quiet, safe place to stay in the winter, get away from the hustle and bustle of city life and corporate business."
"What killed Ed Pfeiffer?"
"Hadley said it was a brain bleed, a hereditary thing. Seems several members of his family met the same fate. Too bad, he was only forty years old and a nice guy."
"So Sunny Pfeiffer owns Upton Pharmaceuticals. Does she live in St. Louis?"
"Yes, in the original family home. It is a magnificent mansion. Hadley took me for a visit one summer. It overlooks the river with a view of the arch. She also took me to my first professional football game; they owned part of the team. I believe they were called the Cardinals, then. We sat in a glassed-in box catered with food and drink. It was a fun time." Rose had a far off look as if remembering fondly the experience.
"Hadley and Ed must have had to travel to St. Louis often in order to run the business?"
"They would drive to Meridian to meet the company aircraft, spend a couple of days, then fly back. After Ed died, one of the reasons Hadley wanted her little airplane was so she could fly to Meridian instead of driving. She said it took only fifteen minutes to fly."
"Sunny never came back to this area after her mother disappeared?"
"Only to visit. Her grandparents would come once a year. They were nice people, country folks from Arkansas."
"What happened to the house the Pfeiffer's lived in? I don't ever remember seeing a home on the property."
"Someone burned it down soon after Hadley went missing. It could not be proved arson, so nothing was ever done."
"That's interesting. Annie Sanders said there was a man in Hadley's life. You know anything about that?"
"She was a young woman, Jay. She loved Ed, but after awhile loneliness set in. There weren't that many. She picked and chose carefully."
"Local men?"
"There was a banker from Decatur, a lawyer from Union, and a high-ranking Naval Officer stationed in Meridian."
"What about married men?"
"She would never knowingly go with someone else's husband."
"I want you to write down the names of every man you can remember that she went with."
"Several of them are still around, though most are married now, with children and grandchildren."
"She ever mention Earl Sanders?"
"Talked about him every day. He was a
That was the wrong thing to say. Rose got up and went to the sink, anger oozing from every pore.
"We must not lose our dead." She turned to me with an expression that told me this was serious and I'd better start taking it that way.
B.W. strutted into the kitchen, jumped into my lap, and stared at Rose. "Okay, this has to do with Hadley Welch and her daughter. Why don't you get on with it."
"Hadley Welch came from a very rich family. That's why, after her husband died, she reverted back to her maiden name. It made it easier to run the family business."
"That business would be?"
"Have you ever heard of Upton Pharmaceuticals?"
"I know they are based in St. Louis and have an eclectic fleet of poorly managed corporate airplanes. Their Vice-president of the Aviation Department was an idiot. May very well still be."
"Hadley's great grandfather started the company in 1840 as a one store pharmacy and built the business into a world-wide pharmaceutical giant. The company has stayed in the Welch family and never went public. It is one of the largest privately held businesses in the world. When Hadley's father and mother were killed in an Alaskan plane crash, she inherited the company. Shortly thereafter, she married the CEO, Ed Pfeiffer, and they had one child."
"Why was she living on an eight hundred acre farm in rural Mississippi?"
"Same reason you are, she and Ed thought it was God's country. Ed grew up in central Mississippi, wanted to come back to this area, buy some land, have a quiet, safe place to stay in the winter, get away from the hustle and bustle of city life and corporate business."
"What killed Ed Pfeiffer?"
"Hadley said it was a brain bleed, a hereditary thing. Seems several members of his family met the same fate. Too bad, he was only forty years old and a nice guy."
"So Sunny Pfeiffer owns Upton Pharmaceuticals. Does she live in St. Louis?"
"Yes, in the original family home. It is a magnificent mansion. Hadley took me for a visit one summer. It overlooks the river with a view of the arch. She also took me to my first professional football game; they owned part of the team. I believe they were called the Cardinals, then. We sat in a glassed-in box catered with food and drink. It was a fun time." Rose had a far off look as if remembering fondly the experience.
"Hadley and Ed must have had to travel to St. Louis often in order to run the business?"
"They would drive to Meridian to meet the company aircraft, spend a couple of days, then fly back. After Ed died, one of the reasons Hadley wanted her little airplane was so she could fly to Meridian instead of driving. She said it took only fifteen minutes to fly."
"Sunny never came back to this area after her mother disappeared?"
"Only to visit. Her grandparents would come once a year. They were nice people, country folks from Arkansas."
"What happened to the house the Pfeiffer's lived in? I don't ever remember seeing a home on the property."
"Someone burned it down soon after Hadley went missing. It could not be proved arson, so nothing was ever done."
"That's interesting. Annie Sanders said there was a man in Hadley's life. You know anything about that?"
"She was a young woman, Jay. She loved Ed, but after awhile loneliness set in. There weren't that many. She picked and chose carefully."
"Local men?"
"There was a banker from Decatur, a lawyer from Union, and a high-ranking Naval Officer stationed in Meridian."
"What about married men?"
"She would never knowingly go with someone else's husband."
"I want you to write down the names of every man you can remember that she went with."
"Several of them are still around, though most are married now, with children and grandchildren."
"She ever mention Earl Sanders?"
"Talked about him every day. He was a
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