Fall Guy

was a slight breeze. I could smell the lavender growing near the path, the basil from the herb garden. I sat on the steps and thought about what I had to do, hoping again that I could get the attorney to do most of the paperwork. I'd call her first thing in the morning. I wondered if Maggie would want to come into the city and help me sort things. According to the will, only the money and certain named valuables were going to her. The rest of O'Fallon's possessions had been left to the executor, me, to dispose of as I saw fit. I thought this was done when there was no family to pick and choose what they wanted to keep. Perhaps O'Fallon knew better. Perhaps he knew, or thought, that Maggie wouldn't want most of his things. Still, it seemed strange for me to be doing this when he had at least two living blood relatives.
    I went inside to look at the photo album, those same kids again, the pictures faded, some even a pale brown, the images on their way to disappearing altogether. I was only on the third page when the phone rang.
    „Is this Rachel Alexander?“ she asked.
    „Yes. Is it Maggie?“
    „Yes, it is. I only have a moment. I'm on my break. But your voice sounded urgent and I was wondering what it is you called about. I hope I haven't made a mistake. I hope this isn't one of those calls to ask me to switch to AT and T.“
    „No, it isn't. I wish it were.“
    „Oh,“ she said. „Then what?“
    I took a breath. „It's about your brother,“ I said.
    „Dennis?“
    „No, it's about Tim. There's been an accident, Maggie. I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you this. Tim is dead.“
    I heard her inhale sharply.
    „He was cleaning his service revolver,“ I said. „On Sunday morning. I'm sorry this has taken so long, but I didn't hear about it right away.“
    „He's dead? He shot himself? Mother of God. This is all my fault.“
    „No, no,“ I said. „It was an accident.“
    Mary Margaret was silent.
    I wished I could comfort her, but there was nothing comforting to say. I could have told her that her brother went quickly, that he didn't suffer long, or said that at least there was no wife left behind, no young children orphaned, things people say in situations like this. But to what avail? She'd lost her mother last week and her brother this week. There wasn't anything I could say that would erode even the smallest bit of her grief. I'm sorry for your loss, I thought. That's what people said, because what else was there to say?
    „Maggie,“ I said. Then: „I'm so sorry.“
    I could hear what sounded like a bell ringing, again and again.
    „Who are you?“ she asked. „Are you with the Department?“
    „No, I'm—“
    „Then why are you the one calling me?“
    „That's the weird thing,“ I said. I'd walked outside with the phone and was sitting on the steps outside the cottage. There was a three-quarter moon and the sky was cloudless, a kind of inky blue with more stars than you usually see in the city. „I barely knew your brother, but he named me as executor of his estate. It came as—“
    „He named you? What does that mean?“
    „That his will designated me as—“
    „But you just said you barely knew Tim? I don't understand.“
    „He must have had his reasons,“ I told her, repeating what Brody had said to me. I told her how I'd met Tim and what he'd said that last day.
    I probably should have told her about the tears, but now didn't seem the time. „That's all I know,“ I told her. „I'm as puzzled as you are. I guess he never mentioned—“
    „No, never. I have to go,“ she said. „I'm at the hospital.“
    „Oh, I'm sorry,“ I said again.
    „It's not that. It's my job. I'm a nurse.“
    „Can we talk again, Maggie? I'd like—“
    But the line went dead, leaving me with the feeling that I'd botched an important task. I put my head down to my knees, feeling awful. And then, I can't even say why, I went inside, picked up Brody's card and called his cell phone.
    „It's Rachel,“ I said. „I just spoke to Maggie O'-~ Fallon.“
    I felt a tear rolling down my cheek, glad this was a phone call and not a face-to-face meeting.
    „That'll do it every time,“ he said. „It went badly?“
    „It was terrible.“
    „It always is. No matter how they react, it's always terrible.“
    „She says it's her fault.“
    „That's a common reaction, Rachel. We all like to think we're more powerful than we are. If only we had done this or hadn't done that, things would have turned out