“I told you before, my grandfather wasn’t a killer” said Than Summers, sitting in his armchair at his house
“We heard he was very angry with Harry in the weeks leading up to his death” said Vera
Than shrugged “He didn’t mean it. He really liked Harry.”
“Had a funny way of showing it” said Vera
“That was my grandfather’s way of management. The way he treated his employees may seem harsh by today’s standards, but back then it was very acceptable. He worked his employees very hard, and often had stern words with them” explained Than “He only wanted to make them the best they could be. It worked in so many cases”
He went to his sideboard and picked up a letter
“ I found this after you left. I wanted to read more about the fair, so I went through my grandfathers desk”
Kat took the letter from him and began to read
“It was written two days before Harry Finton disappeared” said Than
***
Instrumental – Yo Adrian
Edward Summers sat at his desk, writing.
“Dear Sirs,
It is with great pleasure that I recommend Harry Finton as junior manager of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Harry’s work in the Sesquicentennial International Exhibition has gone above and beyond expectations. He is intelligent, hard working, an excellent communicator, and is able to build a great rapport with people. Although the fair has not met our expectations, I believe that the outcome would have been far worse without Harry’s steady hand as my assistant.
Yours sincerely,
Edward Summers”
***
Vera and Kat looked at each other
“So Edward actually thought highly of Harry” said Vera.
“So who killed him?” asked Kat.
***
“So, what do we have?” asked Stillman, sitting on the edge of the desk and facing his team.
“Not much. Some suspects who turned out to either have alibis or to be too fond of Harry to have killed him” said Lilly
“Maybe another subscriber?” asked Vera “Or a creditor- I checked, they didn’t get paid until twenty-nine”
“Who?” asked Scotty “There were tens of thousands of subscribers and creditors. We could be here for years investigating all of them, and considering they’re all dead, we’re not going to get very far”
“Maybe one of the daughters did it” suggested Vera
Everyone looked at him
“Hey, I know they were six and four. Maybe an accident with Daddy’s gun, oops. They’ve never seemed too happy with this investigation, and you think if they loved their father that much, they’d want to find out who killed them” said Vera
“It was too good a shot for an accident” said Kat “Didn’t you read Frannie’s report?”
“I’ve been reading a lot lately” said Vera “Can’t remember everything”
“I think it was the guy who ran the Treasure Island Gladway ride” said Jefferies
“Really?” asked Lilly
Jefferies shook his head “Not really”
“Maybe this is the case we ain’t going to solve” said Scotty “Maybe some cases are just too old”
Everyone turned to face Scotty. Stillman nodded. Scotty was right.
***
Everyone was packing documents into boxes. Stillman had told them that Lombardi had given an order than they were to stop working on the case. It would no longer be an active case, although it would remain open and he would allow them to investigate it during quiet periods.
Lilly sat at her desk, looking at a picture of Harry Finton. He looked so happy in the photo. What had happened to him?
“I’m sorry I let you down” said Lilly to the photo. She sighed. They’d always solved their cold cases. Occasionally the perp had gotten away, but they’d always known who did it. The last time she felt she failed a victim was Vanessa Prosser’s murder.
She was jolted out of her revere by Scotty.
“It’s James Jones” Scotty says “Says he’s got something”
***
“I have something I didn’t tell you earlier” said James, sitting in Stillman’s office, his portable oxygen tank next to him. .
“Well, spit it out” said Scotty .
“My dad saw Harry Finton the day before he died” said James .
“He say anything?” asked Lilly.
“He wanted to do business with my father” said James .
***
Willie Jones peeked out around the corner of the building. At this time of night, the fair was shut, and it was quiet in this part of the fairground.
Harry walked up to him .
“You got it?” he asked, showing the cash in his hand .
Willie nodded “A colt, one of the best.”
He opened up his jacket and showed Harry the gun .
Harry passed the cash over, looking around to make sure no one saw. Willie handed him the gun.
“So what do you need this for, anyway?” asked Willie.
“Personal reasons” said Harry, looking at the gun.
***
James finished his story.
“Mighty suspicious he buys a gun and gets shot the next day” he said .
Lilly sat back, processing the new information .
“I think I know what happened” she said.
***
“We have a theory about what happened to your father” said Lilly
Joan stared at her hands. They were in the gardens of the nursing home. Joan was sitting in her favorite spot, next to the water fountain. She had a rug over her to keep the chill away.
“You know, don’t you?” said Lilly, softly, at Joan.
Joan remained silent.
“It always seemed odd” said Lilly “That your mother didn’t want them to investigate Harry’s disappearance. It was so out of character for him- there was no way she could have believed he had run away. We thought that maybe this meant your mother had done it, but the glowing way she speaks of him in her diary says otherwise”
“Daddy wouldn’t have wanted people to know” said Joan, finally.
Lilly knelt beside her “He was a very good man. Everyone spoke highly of him”
“He was the best” said Joan, with tears in her eyes.
Lilly knelt there, waiting.
“My top draw in my bedroom” said Joan “There’s a silver box”
Scotty went inside to retrieve the box.
“Edward Summers made a recommendation to the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce” said Lilly “He was so impressed with your father, he thought he should be junior manager over there.”
Joan looked at her.
“He worked so hard” said Joan.
Scotty came back with the box. He handed it to Joan.
Joan opened it, and passed the note inside to Lilly.
“I never stopped mourning him” Joan began.
***
Instrumental- Sadie’s Blues
“I think you two little minxes need to go to bed” said Mary, laughing as she walked Joan and Emily into the house. The nanny was standing there.
“It”s bedtime for them both” she said to the nanny, who took the girls. Mary smiled, watching the girls run to their nanny.
Mary took off her coat, then walked up the stairs to her and Harry’s bedroom. There was a note on the dresser with the name “Mary” on it.
Puzzled, Mary picked it up and began to read.
She gasped in horror, then ran downstairs. She quickly put on her coat .
“Nanny, I have to go. Something urgent. I’ll be back soon” she called out to the older woman.
She left and walked along the now familiar route to the fairgrounds.
“Harry?” she called as she walked under the giant Liberty Bell “Harry?”
She walked to where the executive offices stood. It might not be too late, Harry might still be working.
In the moonlight she saw him.
She gasped.
Harry was lying on the ground, his hand around the gun. Blood was pouring from his head.
“Harry!” she wailed, running over to him and cradling his still form.
“Harry” she sobbed “How could you?”
“My dear Mary,
I am so sorry for what I am about to do. Please forgive me. Please know that I loved you, Joan and Emily deeply. The pain of failure is too much for me to bear. I put my life into this fair, and it has become a nightmare. I tried, my sweetheart, but it was too much. You may call me a coward, but the pain has overwhelmed me, and I need to escape.
Tell our daughters to always work hard, and to aim for their dreams. Tell them to never let anyone tell them they can’t do anything.
Do not dwell on my death, but focus on our life together. Remember the good times.
Love always,
Harry”
Mary looked up and saw a shovel leaning against a nearby building. Crying, she walked over and grabbed the shovel, then began to dig in the empty lot behind it.
***
Gene Austin – My Blue Heaven
Vera put the suicide note in the red file. He wrote SUICIDE on the cover of the file, then put the file in a box labelled “FINTON, H”. He took the file down to the archive room and found a space for it. He gave it a soft punch as he walked away.
***
Chris and Finn sat on the couch, watching television together, while Chris fed Ellie.
James Jones was reading the newspaper. He looked up. Standing in front of him was his father, smiling. James smiled back. His father faded from view.
Than Summers looked at a portrait of his grandparents. Next to him, his grandfather appeared, and then faded.
Joan sat in her chair, thinking. Her father appeared in front of her, young and happy like she always tried to remember him. Joan’s face lifted. Her father’s ghost faded, and Joan sat in the garden, reminiscing.
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