Crazy Lady Read Online Free PDF Page B

the basement? I wanna watch
The Simpsons
.”
    â€œRaven!” calls Trina into the phone, but she’s gone, so she turns to her son and puts on a worried look.
    â€œActually. I think the stick insect, as you call her, has barfed all over the carpet, so you might not…”
    â€œOh, Christ!” spits Rob as he spins. “I’m goin’ to Merv’s.”
    â€œGood idea. Be home by ten —” she starts, but is cut off by the slammed door.
    OK,
says Trina to herself, and she returns to the computer in search of Daena.
    By 4:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time, Trina Button is no nearer discovering the true identity of her houseguestand is starting to worry about Rick’s reaction when he returns. He’s called several times during the day, but she let the answering machine take the brunt of his testiness. “Just let me know when she’s gone,” he said, firmly and finally, and Trina quickly wiped off the recording with the intention of swearing, “Blasted teenagers!” if he should demand to know why she didn’t reply.
    One more try
, she says to herself as she heads to the basement suite with a pot of tea and a packet of Oreos.
    â€œCan I go home now?” Janet demands as Trina opens the door.
    â€œOf course,” says the homecare nurse. “You’re not a prisoner. But where is your home?”
    â€œ255 Arundel Crescent…” begins Janet robotically, but Trina puts up a hand.
    â€œNo. Start again. Your name is Janet Thurgood…”
    Janet immediately jumps to her feet and holds her crucifix high, incanting, “I am Daena XV, queen of the angels… I am Daena XV, queen —”
    â€œAll right,” soothes Trina, and she takes the agitated woman’s hand, saying, “How long have you been Daena?”
    Janet gives Trina a quizzical look, but she calms, as if sensing that she is being taken seriously, and says, “This is my fifteenth incarnation. I told you. I’m Daena XV. I’m Daena XV.”
    Trina grips the bony hand tightly, fearing that the woman is readying to run again. “All right,” she says, “but what else do you know?”
    There is a vagueness in her tone, as if she is mentally searching for more but isn’t sure where to look for it as she replies, “Everything. I know everything.”
    â€œWhat about children, Daena. Did you have any?”
    â€œWe are all God’s children.”
    â€œI know. But did you have any of your own?”
    A smack on the head with a baseball bat might have caused a similar effect as Janet Thurgood’s eyes pop andshe stares rigidly into the past for a few seconds before slumping in a flood of tears.
    That’s interesting
, Trina is thinking, with the sobbing woman bundled against her chest, when a loud knocking on the window stops the woman in mid-cry, and Trina, already startled by the outburst, leaps.
    â€œTrina. Are you there?” calls a familiar voice, and Trina breathes a sigh of relief as she opens the curtains to find Inspector Mike Phillips and Sergeant Dave Brougham.
    â€œI tried the front doorbell,” explains the senior officer as she lets both of them in.
    â€œI was just talking to Janet…” she begins.
    â€œIt’s Daena,” yells an agitated voice from behind her. “I keep telling you. It’s Daena… Daena… Daena XV.”
    â€œI know,” says Trina softly and she reaches out in an attempt to placate the woman.
    â€œDon’t touch me… don’t touch me,” yells Janet, and Trina backs off.
    Mike Phillips steps in and guides Trina to the door leading to the main floor. “A word please, Trina,” he starts. “She just fits the description of a woman the dead constable was inquiring about before he died, that’s all,” says Phillips once the basement door is closed on Janet.
    â€œAnd you think she had something to do with it?” asks