The Trial of Dr. Kate Read Online Free PDF

entering the hall from the dining area.
    “Forget something?” Hattie Mae asked.
    “May I use the phone? Someone’s slashed all my tires.”
    Hattie Mae’s right hand shot to her mouth, and she said, “Lord, child, that’s terrible. Who would do such a thing and why?”
    “That’s what I’d like to know,” Shenandoah said as she lifted the receiver out of the cradle attached to the wall. “Give me the Esso station,” she said to the operator.
    Two minutes later a man answered the phone and said, “Hello.”
    “Hudson?”
    “Yeah, who’s this?”
    “Shenandoah Coleman.”
    “Holy shit. I heard you were in town. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
    “Me either. You got any tires to fit a 1952 Chevy Bel Air?”
    “Some Firestones.”
    “Throw four in the back of your pickup and come up to Hattie Mae Hooper’s house. Know where she lives?”
    “High Street. You need four new tires? That don’t make a lot of sense.”
    “Just bring them. Soon!”
    Turning to Hattie Mae, Shenandoah said, “I can’t believe I’ve already pissed off somebody so much that they had to slash my tires.”
    “You got any enemies up here?” Hattie Mae asked.
    “I’ve got enemies in lots of places.”
    Five minutes later, Shenandoah heard a pickup laboring up the hill and walked out on the front porch. A black ‘46 Ford pickup with Esso stenciled in black letters on the doors came to a stop beside her car. An old man with a straggly gray beard stepped out of the cab. Eying the damage, he looked up and gave Shenandoah a toothless grin. “Who’d you piss off this time?” Hudson asked.
    “If I knew that, they’d be in the emergency room at the Livingston hospital.”
    “I ain’t doubting that. Give me an hour and I’ll have you fixed up, girl.”
    “Thanks, Hudson. You take my check on a Memphis bank?”
    “I got any choice in the matter?”
    “Not if you want to get paid. Honk your horn when you’re finished.”
    * * *
    An hour later, after settling up with Hudson, Shenandoah headed for the jail. She walked into the sheriff’s office at eight o’clock. The secretary was not at her desk, so Shenandoah knocked on Kingman’s open door frame. The lanky sheriff had his back to the door and was staring out the window with a mug of coffee in his hand. He turned and looked at Shenandoah.
    “What you want?”
    “To see Dr. Kate.”
    “You got something going with the doc? You two gone queer on us? You were always more boy than girl.”
    “I don’t think that’s any of your business, Jasper.”
    “Everything that goes on in this jail is my business.”
    “You haven’t changed since grade school,” Shenandoah said. “I wasn’t afraid of you then, and I’m sure as hell not afraid of you now. I’m going to see Dr. Kate every day, so you might as well get used to it. If mornings aren’t good, I’ll come in the afternoon. But I will come.”
    Kingman glared at Shenandoah and picked up the phone. “Oscar, meet the Coleman bitch at the door and let her see the doc. She’s got one hour and not a damn minute more.”
    When Dr. Kate entered the room, she had a smile on her face. Crossing to where Shenandoah stood, she gave her a hug and said, “Good morning, Shenandoah. I’m so glad to see you.”
    “I’ll be here every day. Jasper will limit me to an hour, but I guess that’s his prerogative. Are you sure there’s nothing I can bring you?”
    They both pulled out a chair and sat at the table facing each other. Kate said, “Jake keeps me supplied with books. That’s about all I can do: read. I think I’d go crazy if I couldn’t. And I study the AMA Journal every week.” She gave an audible sigh and said, “I hate this. Have you talked to anyone yet?”
    Shenandoah replied, “Not yet. Why do you think you passed out?”
    “You look really nice this morning, Shenandoah. I’m surprised you can look so fresh in this heat.”
    “Are you hiding something from me, Kate?”
    Kate’s face flushed