A Sensitive Kind of Murder (A Kate Jasper Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Isaac’s fault anyway.
    “Helen?” I asked stupidly, my brain slack with shock. Isaac’s claim to fame was his raft of books about dyslexia and other developmental disabilities.
    Wayne nodded. “From what Isaac said, Helen did the bulk of the research and writing of his books—”
    “And he took credit?” I demanded, outraged.
    “Isaac claims it was a mutual agreement. Claims that men were more likely to be taken seriously than women when he first began writing, that Helen would have lacked credibility on her own.”
    I could feel Wayne turning to me. I glanced and saw that his eyes were pleading for forgiveness for a man who he didn’t even like very much. I gripped the steering wheel tight enough to whiten my knuckles, but I kept my mouth shut about Isaac. If Wayne was in a pleading mood, he just might answer all of my questions.
    “What about Ted?” I probed.
    Wayne took a deep breath and dived into further betrayal.
    “Ted meditates. Feels he’s very spiritual. But he admitted that he thinks of food a lot when he meditates.”
    I chuckled. “Is his mantra ‘chocolate’?”
    Wayne didn’t share my amusement.
    “We laughed, too,” he announced solemnly. “Until he told us that his real worst secret was his affair with some woman he met at Spirit Rock.”
    “Uh-oh,” I said slowly.
    I could feel Wayne’s nod. “If Janet ever found out, Ted would have to meditate on broken bones,” he predicted.
    I thought about Ted’s wife, Janet McKinnon-Kimmochi. She was a strong woman, a woman with children (including Ted, I thought sometimes), a woman who ruled the financial advice firm they owned jointly with an iron hand. Nope, I wouldn’t want to risk exposure to that iron hand, and I was sure Ted didn’t want to, either.
    “So what’s he gonna do?” I asked.
    “He cut off the affair with the woman from Spirit Rock. Told her his spirit guides advised him to.”
    I bristled, but kept it internal. No wonder Wayne hadn’t told me this stuff. Now I wanted to punch out Isaac and Ted. I felt the blood run to my face. Spirit guide consultation, the Marin excuse for anything. And who was this poor woman who’d been attracted to the king of self-tragedy, anyway? A needy woman, I answered myself. It was time to move on. We were almost to our exit.
    “Russo’s worried about his kid, right?” I guessed.
    “How’d you know?” Wayne replied.
    “My spirit guides told me.”
    “Kate!”
    “I’m sorry,” I said and reached over to pat his thigh. “I can just tell, sweetie. Carl Russo’s worried sick over Mike. He’s always watching him like he’ll explode or something. And Mike seems like a perfectly nice kid, for a sixteen-year-old.”
    “It’s sad, Kate,” Wayne began slowly. I could tell he was weighing how much he should divulge. And then he just let it spill. “Carl’s wife had a big drug and alcohol problem, but Carl left Mike with her anyway when he went to work. One day, when Mike was a toddler, he came home to find that his wife was passed out, and Mike had a big lump on his head. Carl was afraid to take Mike to the doctor, was trying to protect his wife. And then it happened again. Carl finally left her, but not until he was really afraid for Mike. He’s sure that Mike’s a problem now because of the head injuries and general abuse. Isaac agrees with him.”
    “But Mike doesn’t seem like a problem to me,” I protested.
    “He’s not, really. You’ve seen the kid. He can be a clown, make people laugh. Still…” Wayne paused and took a deep breath. “Mike and his friends stole a car and went joy-riding recently. Luckily, they didn’t get caught. And he’s vandalized things. Done all the stuff a troubled teenager does. Carl’s worried it’ll get worse.”
    I shook my head. What constituted a “normal” teenager? I couldn’t help but think that Mike would make it through his teenage years without major mishap, but then I wasn’t his parent.
    “How about Garrett?” I asked