Chapter 34
"Why it's my collection, Dearie…I have every TV Guide published since I started living on my own…"
Jordan's jaw dropped as her eyes ran over what had to be at least thirty years worth of TV Guides.
"I hate when they keep changing the size though…because then I have to change the height of the shelves so they will fit…I love to take them out and read them over and over again…that is how I remember all my favorite shows…even the ones that are gone now and live only in the memories of the fans that watched them…some shows will never be forgotten…why I have even heard that there are people out there that go to conventions that are all about the shows that they love…how I wish I could go to something like that…but who could I get to watch my shop while I was gone…I mean you just can't hire any physic off the street…I have my customers to think of…when they come into the shop they expect a certain level of professionalism…you just can't have anyone doing that kind of thing…"
"Ms. R…Clara, I need to get the name and get home to dinner. My father is expecting me," Jordan interjected, when it seemed that Clara was once again going off into a world of her own.
"Oh, of course, Dearie," Clara said, entering the room.
Jordan stood there in the doorway, contemplating the loneliness of a woman who would turn a guest room into an archive dedicated to television and movies.
Repeating the date over and over again, Clara walked around the room looking at the neatly marked shelves for the date on the spine of the TV Guides. With a crow of delight, she pulled one off a shelf, "Oh I should have remembered this without my voices…it has that rugged Judd Hirsch on the cover…he was in Taxi then and now he is on that show 'Regular Joe' where he plays the father…Baxter Binder…it's not the best of shows…but he will be in a new show soon where he will also be the father…of two brothers…it will be a hit I'm just sure of that…but the reason I should have remembered it is that Danny DeVito was also on the cover…he was short just like the two men I saw…the other one was tall like Judd…he also had dark hair like him…but I know that I wrote the name in here…because the TV Guide is always by my favorite chair and so it was close at hand when I consulted the board to talk to that poor dead man…"
She opened the Guide to the date of the shooting and there in the margin was written Chinh Trang. "Clara, can I have this please so I can show Detective Hoyt?" Jordan asked, reaching out for the magazine.
"Oh Dearie I couldn't…it would be like parting with an old friend…but I can write it on a piece of paper for you…would that be okay…" she asked, clutching the TV Guide to her heart as if Jordan was trying to steal her favorite cat.
Giving the older lady and indulgent smile, Jordan said, "Yes, that would be fine. I wouldn't want to be the cause of a hole in your collection."
"Thank you Dearie…you are so understanding…just like Joan from that Joan of Arcadia show…she hears voices too you know…but on the show it's God's way of talking to her…now I don't think my voices are God…some of them are female…but come to think of it…on that show sometimes God appears to Joan as a female too…"
"Clara! I'm sorry to interrupt, but I really do have to be going. My father and Aunt are expecting me for dinner, he was a cop and he is very strict about things, like being on time."
To be continued….