Ardmore

This is part 4 of a 4 part story. There is virtually no sex in this story. It has been a pleasure reading your previous comments. Good or bad, they are always welcome.

Chapter 14: Back to the present

By the beginning of the third day in Williamsport I was determined to see my children return home as soon as possible. Allie and Giselle cooperated by visiting with Adrienne briefly in the morning, then left for our home immediately thereafter. Gary and Drew rode with them. With last night's outburst fresh in everyone's mind it took very little effort to persuade them to leave.

I was avoiding any discussion of Adrienne's camping exploits until I was better prepared both factually and emotionally. Having to confront her was not something I looked forward to; but it would happen on my own schedule, not someone else's.

I had to see her in the hospital each day so the safest approach was not to be alone with her. Using my family as a buffer was a little distasteful to me, but I did it in such a way that I hoped it was not obvious.

In the early afternoon I called Lieutenant Havlechek to see if I could get my wife's things out of impound. It was very soon after the attack, but I had a feeling it was possible. My purpose was two-fold: to obtain her possessions and to assess the all the items she and Jane had brought along with them. I was betting on the State Police having made a thorough inventory of everything found at the campsite.

The Lieutenant met me at the barracks impound a short time later and quickly ushered me into the evidence room. I took note that he dismissed the trooper in attendance once we were situated. The move piqued my curiosity. As he watched his colleague stride down the long hallway I queried him.

"Lieutenant, are you originally from this area?"

"All my life."

"Hmm, I have a brother-in-law from up this way. Perhaps you know him, Chris Borash?."

There was a short pause before her responded, "How'd you know?"

"You might not realize it but you somewhat favor Chris and that got me to thinking. I recalled seeing your picture at their home. Plus you've been exceptionally helpful; telling me about what Rudman said certainly wasn't necessary, but you did it anyway. Then Julia got a text message the first night she was here. Someone was picking her up from the hotel. I assume that was you?"

He merely smiled his agreement.

"I can sense when my older sisters are running cover for me, and no one does that better than Julia."

"That she does. She is a fine woman, your sister. Our family thinks the world of her and would do anything for her. She gave us back Chris, saved him when everyone else had given up on him. It was the least I could do to assist when she asked."

"Thank you." I added, before offering my hand.

"Let's get your wife's things."

Within a few minutes I was able to obtain all of Adrienne's personal effects, including one overnight bag that was improperly identified as being hers. When I asked about seeing the inventory list I checked off those things I wanted to inspect.

I saw that they had recorded that the bag contained mainly underwear and some personal hygiene items in a side pouch. That pouch was also found to have contained a vibrator. "So much for that one 'overtly' sexual item Havlechek mentioned", I thought.

Searching further it was obvious to me that the contents were not Adrienne's. While I mused that she would have looked great in the somewhat plain cotton bra and panty sets, they could not have been hers. The bras were a 34B and they were oddly padded in one cup. Adrienne's ran more to a 36C.

I scanned the list again and spotted several other items of interest, three scented candles. When I asked to look at them I saw that one had been used and the others were still in their original wrapping. That left but one item that seemed out of place, a piece of jewelry.

I was presented with a felt box, hinged on one side; of a type you might find containing a watch. Upon opening it I found a tennis bracelet composed of square-cut gems. They might have been diamonds, but not being up on jewelry I couldn't tell. However, it's what was inside the box that caught my eye. The filling was cloth with the logo of Samsom Street Jewelers, the name of Howard's store!

Gloria was known for giving gifts from Howard's. He designed many of his own pieces and had the practice of putting his cloth in with his original work. That had been my sister's idea many years ago, which is why I recognized it so easily.

Jane could not afford this bracelet, but would Adrienne have bought it for her? That did not seem to fit either. Could it have been Gloria? She had the money, time and association with Howard. But why would she? Did she have some direct relationship to Jane?

The questions kept coming while the answers remained elusive.

As I was preparing to leave, Havlechek gave me a brief update on the investigation. The bullets collected were still being evaluated but a determination was expected very soon. More importantly, the second man now had a name, Charles Rudman, the brother of the confessed killer.

Like his brother, Charles had priors. He was in the system for a number of minor offenses and was currently on parole for a domestic disturbance. The good news was that his picture was being circulated. The bad news was that his whereabouts were still unknown.

I found Julia standing in line in the hospital cafeteria upon my return.

"Were you able to get Adrienne's things from impound?" She said.

"Yes, I got all of them"

"Any insights?"

"A few, Matt was very helpful." I said, giving her a knowing look.

"I knew he would be", she replied with a small smile. Then turning to me she said, "That man Rudman lied about them being naked you know. That's not how they found them."

I simply nodded in agreement.

I had surmised as much myself, but it was comforting hearing someone else reach a similar conclusion. Still, they had to be doing something, and that remained a problem for me.

We got on with getting our lunch. Julia informed me that my in-laws had arrived while I was gone. She had left to allow them time to visit with Adrienne.

While my family was circumspect with regards to my wife's situation, Adrienne's father was not. It was fortunate that Papa quickly recognized this and helped me talk with him away from everyone else. We had had a couple of days to compose ourselves, to adjust to the shooting, while for him the reality of her near death experience was crushing down on him.

It ended up being a very long day for the three of us.

My wife was transferred by ambulance to Lankenau hospital on the morning of the fourth day. I was barely finished completing the paperwork when the vehicle showed up at the emergency room entrance. With it came a police escort. That car brought home to everyone the continuing threat she faced.

The trip back gave me time to re-evaluate all the information I had acquired in the last few days. Regardless of how I arranged the facts, I still failed to discern any pattern to the actions of my wife and Jane. It was obvious that more digging was required. I made up my mind to learn what paper trail was associated with their trip.

The downward trend of events of the preceding days started breaking in another direction as soon as we reached the new hospital's parking lot. The first evidence of that came after my cell went off while I was exiting the car. It was Lieutenant Havlechek.

"Hello, David Martens."

"Matt Havlechek, I wanted to let you know that we got Rudman's brother. New York State Police caught him at the border. He was interviewed this morning, admits being at the scene but denies anything to do with the shooting. In fact, he said he got out of there seconds before his brother started firing."

"What do you think?"

"His story is consistent with what we know. This morning the Crime Lab matched all the bullets to one weapon and his prints are not on it. "

"Aside from that, he's scared out of his mind; he's particularly frightened of being reunited with his brother. The killing really shook him up. After the interview he had to be sedated. He's currently under a suicide watch. I don't think this man ever bought into his brother's plan. The entire affair has all the aspects of an impulse shooting."

I took a deep breath. A random act was always more chilling than a planned assassination, much harder to comprehend.

"What will happen to him?" I finally managed to ask.

"Normally I'd say 'share the crime share the time' but that's going to be tricky in this case. I don't see him being either an accomplice or an accessory. It's up to the D. A. to set his culpability. How is Adrienne doing today?"

"Better, we're here at the new hospital. She'll be home soon. Thanks again, for everything."

It certainly helped my mood to know that all the parties to the crime were in custody. I let my family know the news. It was a welcome relief all around.

Once Adrienne was admitted to the new hospital, I stayed with her for a couple of hours then returned to our home. Money has a way of preceding deception. You can learn a lot by following the money trail.

My wife was the principal manager of our finances and she was very good at that job. As a family headed by public employees with one adult seeking a doctorate and a child in college we managed our funds very closely. Adrienne was meticulous in not only record keeping but in finding opportunities to save money.

She had file folders for every category of expense. Receipts and invoices were placed in chronological order within each folder. Our entire financial history was neatly stored in our main file cabinet that remained unlocked. However, the physical files were merely audit fodder for the electronic schedules she maintained on our computer.

The electronic information was password protected, and as I expected the passwords were ones we always shared. There was not one hint that anything had been hidden. Of course if our records had been doctored or items removed, the sheer order Adrienne established would help obscure any alterations. For that reason, I decided to look at the online records of our bank and credit card lenders. Those ledgers would be impossible for my wife to alter.

The research took the rest of the day. All I could discover was a purchase by Adrienne of one sleeping bag and a pair of hiking boots. Both were in my possession. Those were paid for credit card last Friday, a mere two days before she left for the convention. Since I drove her to the train station I knew she did not have them when she left. Therefore, Jane must have picked them up for her.

A reading of her emails yielded little. I discovered only one server-based account for Adrienne and her browser history showed the lack of any other. That one account contained exchanges with Allie, my sisters Julia and Maria (who lived in Baltimore), as well as several of our friends who lived in other parts of the country. There were some exchanges with Jane, but they were mostly follow-ups from earlier phone conversations.

I hated reading Adrienne's emails. Even though I was often mentioned in both endearing and humorous contexts, the very idea of violating her privacy made me very uncomfortable. Over and over again I was brought face to face with the notion that I must distrust her in order to learn the truth.

Adrienne also kept her personal schedule online. I scanned her entries going back several months. There were the normal engagements one might expect: doctors appointments for herself and Allie, birthday reminders for various friends and family members, our anniversary, even entries for Drew's baseball games.

In the aftermath of violence you get to see the best in people, and oftentimes the worst too. One response we were totally not prepared for after the attack were the crank telephone calls.

Ardmore is a small town. Owing to my position as a local educator, my name and number have always been listed in the public phone directory. That is a practice I had followed for years.

The calls had begun before I arrived home. Allie had fielded some in our absence. The day after the shooting she turned off the answering machine and asked us to call her directly on her cell. She was perplexed, tired, and angry by the whole experience.

When we got home I took over phone duty. At first, there were the hang-up calls whenever I answered. Some of those idiots forgot about caller ID and were shocked when I immediately called them back. The smarter ones connected anonymously and graduated to name calling; Adrienne was of course the focus. She was called all kinds of vile things, but stupid dyke and lesbian cunt came to be runaway favorites.

Then finally, there came intermittent threats. One caller said it 'was a shame she didn't die', and another said 'she might have an accident in the future...the dyke bitch'. Another coward said he would complete the job Rudman started. That and the fact that Allie and Drew were receiving some of the more graphic threats prompted me to contact the police. The frequency dropped off dramatically after that.

It took another month before they ceased entirely. There was one small comfort; checks of caller-id indicated the vast majority of calls originated outside of our area code.

Today however, marked my initiation to this problem. After several bogus messages, I took the phone off the hook so that I could conduct my research in peace. With Adrienne in the hospital I did not give much thought to having visitors at the house, not for a few days anyway, so it came as a surprise when the doorbell rang mid-afternoon.

I admit to being a wee bit annoyed as I opened the front door. It didn't matter, for Giselle approached with barely an acknowledgement.

By most standards she was plainly dressed, certainly not the norm I had grown accustomed to over the years. I don't think I had ever seen her hair in a pony tail, nor could I ever recall her wearing jeans. Those elements were enough to make me apprehensive.

"I called, but your phone was busy. I'm looking for Leo, is he here?" She began after crossing our threshold.

"No, he hasn't been here since early this morning I was told. Is anything wrong?"

She took a seat without me offering such. I could tell by her face that she was under some distress, though I couldn't place the exact source. Her mouth curled into a frown and she was looking at floor and very slowly shaking her head in a fashion implying the negative.

"Giselle?" I said, breaking her from her trance. At least she looked back at me then.

"He hasn't come home since the shooting." She added.

"I heard. I'm sure he'll be there tonight. There is no need for him to camp out here. I appreciate his thoughtfulness though. It took a big weight off me not having to worry about our dogs while we were gone. But don't worry, I'll send him home if he comes by."

"I hope so."

"Giselle, I have no reason to NOT send him home."

"I'm sorry David; I didn't mean to say it that way."

It was then I noticed the tears. Whatever else I thought of Giselle, having her crying in my living room wasn't something I took pleasure in seeing. I reached for a tissue box and passed it to her.

"Gary mentioned the problem you two are having with Leo."

"I'm sure he did", Giselle sighed. "Leo's stopped speaking to me David. My son suddenly finds ways to avoid me. When he looks at me when we are together there is nothing but anger in his eyes. He's never acted like this before. I don't want to lose him too." She added as an afterthought as her voice trailed off.

I responded by trying to sound upbeat. "Gary thinks it has to do with his girlfriend. If that's the case it's likely to pass Giselle. Most boys his age think they know more than their parents, certainly when it comes to their girlfriends. It's only a phase."

She was looking at me and the fear was clear in her eyes. I tried again.

"We went through the same thing with Allie when she first started dating. Hell, she's still trying to pull fast ones on us every so often." I chuckled. "You should have seen the looks she gave me the first time I grounded her for staying out past curfew."

With that said, I went silent, waiting for her to say something. She remained alone in thought. When I then offered her some coffee or tea she evidently took it as her time to leave.

"Don't worry, I'll send him right home when I see him." I stated again.

As I held the door for her she turned to me, and reached over to place her hand over mine.

"Thank you David." she said, and she then she was gone.

My, what an odd conversation, I thought. It was difficult for me to imagine Leo acting out against his parents. Now Drew, he was a different story. My son was charmer, always looking for the short cut, never afraid to attempt to talk his way out of a bad situation.

His cousin was the opposite. Leo was responsible, quiet, and very thoughtful. He had a natural sense of kindness that was obvious to all who knew him. And he wasn't a kid who could be easily swayed, as Drew learned on more than one occasion. The kid was a solid citizen and this behavior was so unlike him. His mother was obviously perplexed as well.

I could not get over the fact that Giselle actually cried during her visit. That made me want to have a talk with Leo when next I saw him. I also pondered what was going on with Gary too. She sounded like there were some rift between him and her. Based upon the way he discussed their upcoming vacation I wondered if he were misunderstanding her intentions. She hadn't lost Gary, not as far as I knew.

The nature of misunderstandings begins with people not talking with one another. Thinking of misunderstandings, I quite suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to return Cassie's call. She had left a message for me several days ago. It was unusual since I had not spoken to her in almost a year. I wondered how she had gotten my cell number.

I fished the small phone from my pocket and replayed her voicemail. Another touch of a button and her number was being redialed.

"Cassandra Roberts" She answered. Roberts was her married name. There was a certain authority in her voice. That was new.

"Cassie? "It's David Martens, returning your call. Sorry for taking so long to get back you but..."

"David! I'm SO glad you called. What a coincidence. I only returned from the hospital moments ago. Adrienne is looking good and I can tell she can't wait to get home. This whole thing is so unbelievable. How are you dealing with all of it?"

"I'm hanging in there, adjusting as best I can. We're just thankful that we didn't lose her." I paused to gain a little composure. "I really appreciate you thinking of us. It means a lot."

"Well, I wanted to see how you both were doing. Adrienne and I were supposed to get together for dinner this weekend, and then this happened."

"I didn't know that." I lied. I recalled the item in Adrienne's online appointment schedule. The notation was brief and failed to explain the purpose.

"Adrienne intended to get you to come with us." She added. I heard her take a breath before continuing. "I'm retiring and selling the business. I wanted to settle up with the partners before we moved."

"Partners? Cassie, you're kidding aren't you? That was, over 20 years ago. I don't have any share in your business."

A light laughter could be heard on the other end. When she stopped you could almost hear the smile in Cassie's voice. "That's why I spoke with your better-half; she is much more practical about things. I transferred your share to her. Remember you said I could do anything I wanted with it."

I was speechless. Here I was afraid of what Adrienne would feel about me keeping that money and she goes behind my back and does just that. Cassie must have contacted her right after we got married. I gathered that they planned to bring me in on their little secret during dinner.