Wed and Buried by Mary Daheim Page A

Can’t we eat lunch?”
    â€œCoz!” Judith was appalled. “How can you think of lunch when some poor woman is lying dead in that hotel?”
    â€œWell…” Renie was only marginally chagrined. “It’s not going to bother her if I have a small steak sandwich and some fries and maybe a salad with…”
    â€œOh!” Judith spun around on her high heels. “You can contain yourself for a few minutes while we find out what happened to her. Just stand there and try to act like a normal, sensitive human being. It won’t be long—I hear sirens.”
    Sure enough, two patrol cars pulled up. One of them blocked the intersection, though there was no need, sincethe big van already barred the way. Judith stared at the four police officers as they hurried by, but didn’t recognize any of them. After a quick exchange of information, the patrolmen escorted Hector and Louie into the old hotel. The rest of the work force began milling around, talking animatedly, rummaging in lunch pails, drinking from Thermoses and plastic water bottles. Judith and Renie propped themselves against a low stone wall and waited.
    â€œIt’s noon,” Renie announced ten minutes later. “I have a one o’clock appointment. If I don’t eat right now, they’ll need two ambulances. Or should I just walk over to St. Fabiola’s emergency room while I still have the strength?”
    As the minutes ticked away, Judith wasn’t unsympathetic to Renie’s predicament, but she knew from experience that it might be some time before she could find out any details of the woman’s death. “I’ll tell you what,” she said. “You go to the Naples and order for both of us. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
    Renie didn’t require coaxing. She hadn’t been gone more than a minute when two of the four policemen reappeared and an ambulance pulled up at the intersection. Right behind it, Judith spotted an unmarked city car, just like the kind Joe drove when he was on duty. It shouldn’t have surprised Judith to see her husband get out of the car—but it did. With his partner Woody Price at his heels, he moved swiftly through the growing crowd of onlookers. Judith shrank back against the low stone wall. She wasn’t anxious to have Joe find her at the site of another disaster.
    Joe and Woody went inside the Belmont. Judith shielded her eyes from the sun and felt perspiration trickle down her neck and back. It was a temptation to join Renie inside the cool confines of the Naples Hotel. But she had to stay put; she had to vindicate herself.
    Ten minutes later, another city car pulled up. This time Judith did recognize at least one of the passengers, WaldoChinn, an experienced medical examiner. The woman with the official camera gear also looked familiar, but Judith couldn’t recall her name. If further proof were necessary, it arrived a moment later when two of the patrol officers began affixing crime scene tape to the Belmont’s entrance. Judith realized that the law enforcement officials were acknowledging that a murder had been committed.
    The discovery might have come as a surprise to Joe and Woody, but in a tragic, perverse way, Judith felt vindicated.
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    It was going on one o’clock when Joe and Woody emerged from the hotel. By then, Judith was not only hot, but hungry. Just as she spotted her husband in the hotel entryway, Renie poked her in the arm.
    â€œI’ve called a cab,” Renie announced, apparently not noticing Joe and his partner. “I figured you’d stick around until your rampant curiosity was satisfied. Give me a buzz when you get home. I should be back by four.” Renie returned to the intersection to wait for her taxi.
    Judith had removed her high heels and was standing in her stocking feet. Joe was talking and nodding to Hector Pasqual. Hector seemed upset.
    A gurney was being wheeled out of the