Monday, November 26

Detective Sean Monahan was not available on Sunday morning when Don tried to contact him, so it was on Monday when he was finally able to talk to him.

"I tried you yesterday," Don said, "but you weren't available all day."

"I try to keep most of my Sundays as free as possible to spend with my family, Dr. Richards," Detective Monahan informed him, "that way I can at least try to convince myself I haven't been a neglectful husband and parent."

"There's been a development in the threat involving my wife that I'd like investigated," Don continued cautiously.

"I see," Det. Monahan said. "What is it?"

"My wife says she was approached by a woman last week at St. Patrick's Cathedral after the ten-fifteen Mass. She says this woman told her she was in grave danger, and then that the woman took off somewhere."

"And you think this encounter and the threat your wife received the following day are somehow connected?" Det. Monahan asked. He thought swiftly about how the investigation was progressing.

Of the local floral shops canvassed in the past week, none could verify that they had organized and delivered that particular arrangement of lilies to a Dr. Susan Chandler. Of course none of them would have sent flowers with such a message written on a card, either.

The lab results on the flowers and the card turned up nothing except for the fingerprints of Dr. Susan Chandler and those of her secretary, Dana Brodie. Dr. Richard's prints had not been there. Det. Monahan mused that Don had been smart enough not to touch either item.

Det. Monahan had learned during the course of the week that Dr. Richards also had his masters' in criminology, which probably meant he must be turning this case over and over in mind, trying to find a solution.

"Well, detective, I honestly think it is too much of a coincidence that Susan was told by some odd lady that she was in danger, and then had that possibility made real by a death threat the next day," Don said in answer to Monahan's question.

"I'll level with you, Dr. Richards," Det. Monahan stated. "Right now, we've got very little in the way of leads to go on. Your wife was a prosecutor for a little over two years, and some of the perps she put away, except for some youths that were sentenced while she was working in the juvenile courts, are pretty much where they were when she left the D.A.'s office. None have been paroled recently. While it's not impossible to orchestrate something like a death threat from inside prison, we're wasting our time checking out inmates. The same goes for parolees."

"Yes, Susan thought that would be grasping at straws, anyway," Don sighed.

"This woman you say she met: did your wife get her name?"

"If she did, she didn't tell me. I made Susan promise she'd call you with the details today."

"Fine. Tell her I'll be expecting it."

***

As she made her way to the radio station on Monday, Susan thought back to the previous morning. She had been contemplating whether or not she should broach the subject of Don's sleep-talking as she was getting ready for church. That morning at breakfast he had softened his attitude and admitted to her that maybe he had been a bit harsh the night before. But he was adamant about wanting to get to the bottom of the situation as soon as possible.

Susan had looked out for, but didn't see Claire after Mass. Her instincts were still telling her the woman was not involved with the intimidating message.

The phone lines opened up for the duration of Susan's show to talk about whatever difficulties her listeners might be having. Several callers, she noticed, were still eager to discuss the 'Senior Sentinels lady', and scams in general.

Thanks to her show, some callers informed her that they had hung up on suspect telemarketers. Another reported that they'd checked with the Better Business Bureau before investing in something, and it turned out to be a scam.

One that pulled on Susan's heartstrings was a call a woman made to say that she and other family members were cut out of their mother's will. When the mother died, the family discovered she had left all her wealth to a new boyfriend who'd been milking her for thousands of dollars leading up to her passing.

"Dr. Susan," the caller said mournfully, "he took off before the body was cold to some tropical paradise and never spoke to the family again. I know we will never be able to prove it, but we believe he allowed Mom to die after she suffered a heart attack. She'd been prone to heart trouble, and when she had that final attack, we think her so-called boyfriend purposely neglected to call an ambulance until he knew it was too late."

 Susan once again warned her listeners to be on the alert for any attention an elderly single parent might be receiving from a younger admirer.

"It may be innocent, but in rare cases, it can be deadly," she said.

Once again, Susan thought about Anton Riley, and how far he might have gone to get his hands on her mother's money. She shuddered at the notion that he might have actually harmed Emily. A sudden, chilling thought occurred to Susan: Could it be possible that Anton Riley was behind the threat directed at her?

The very morning I discussed Riley, those flowers showed up, Susan realised. Maybe he's upset I'm exposing him further. It was definitely something worth bringing up with Det. Monahan…

Late that night, Susan found it difficult to fall asleep. Don's own slumber was fitful, and she finally gave up trying. After about an hour of simply staring into the darkness, she suddenly knew what was wrong. Her subconscious warning bell was ringing. It was a warning she was acquainted with, letting her know that there was something she ought to have paid attention to that had happened earlier in the day. The problem, Susan thought ruefully, is that I'm not quite sure what it is.

Around three in the morning, it dawned on her that she might once again recite the rosary. It worked the last time, she reasoned, and a welcome sleep came at last a half-hour later.