The Referral Game

compliments?” she said with a sigh.
    She walked over and sat on the bed next to me.
    “He’s this way all the time Miss Wray. Get used to it if you intend to hang around,” said Bill.
    “I intend to do exactly that Detective Vinson,” she said. Her tone left no doubt about her commitment.
    “I take it you two made your introductions yesterday,” I said.
    Bill nodded. “We had plenty of time to fill. You weren’t in any condition to join in.”
    “I learned all your secrets in one day,” teased Paula.
    I gave an angry glance to Bill. “I thought you were my best friend.”
    “What are friends for?” he asked and winked at Paula.
    “So it’s a conspiracy is it?” I said. “Fine, I’ll remember that.”
    Paula touched my hand. “Don’t get all upset. I just wanted to know more about you, that’s all.”
    “You know what they say about curiosity and the cat,” said Bill cryptically.
    I shot a look at him. I wasn’t really mad, but I was irritated. I had wanted to tell Paula my life story myself. She ended up with an unauthorized biography, instead of the autobiography I had in mind. My memoirs were old news now.
    I decided to change the subject.
    “Have you been able to unravel how old Silas got to where he ended up?” I asked Bill. “Any clues as to what was driving him?”
    “Not a lot in concrete.”
    “I’m open to raw speculation.”
    He pulled out his notebook out of his jacket and flipped it open. “We’ll have to take him at his word on the motive, pure greed. Maybe there were other things that went down inside the family that we don’t know about, but with all the Pomeroy’s gone…” He left it in the air. “There are other avenues of further interest however, for one thing it appears that this wasn’t done on the spur of the moment. It looks like he planned this well in advance, even before the old lady’s death-”
    I held up a hand to stop him. “Do you want go for a walk or something Paula?”
    “Why?”
    “Because it just occurred to me that you might not want to hear all the details that led up to Edgar’s death so soon.”
    She looked the floor and then straight into my eyes. “The way it appears, Edgar never gave me a second thought. Silas just said that as part of his warped plot to draw me in and create the jealous ex husband scenario. I’m sorry that Edgar’s gone of course, but I’m not going to go to pieces or anything like that. So let’s hear it all, it’s not going to get any easier anytime soon.”
    She didn’t look sad, she even looked a little defiant. I was pleased. The last thing she needed was to feel any guilt about the way things had gone down. She was a survivor. I could tell and I was glad. I waved for Bill to continue.
    “Like I said, he must have planned this well in advance. He had been liquidating his assets and taking loans out for almost a year.”
    “So what?” I asked. “What’s mysterious about that?”
    “It’s all gone,” Bill said with a grin. “He turned it into cash and now we can’t find it. It’s disappeared. We think that he must have sent it overseas as a hedge in case things went wrong. Then he would have a nest egg out of the country to fall back on. When you’re running from the law a few million bucks can come in handy. There are at least a half a dozen countries in the world where a wad like that can make you virtually immune to extradition.”
    We chewed it over for some more, but every thing seemed to be tied up. After awhile Bill left for the office, more paperwork he said. He hates the details; he’s more of a big picture guy. Paula and I were alone and a silence enveloped the room. She broke the ice with a question that had been on my mind all day.
    “Where does this leave us Frank?”
    I hadn’t expected it quite so blunt; even so I was ready.
    “All I know is that I want there to be an us, that’s as plain as I can make it,” I said. “I’ve been alone for alone for a long time Paula and I’m set in my ways, but I want to try and make something with you. I don’t want to walk that road alone anymore. I want you with me, that is if you’ll have me.”
    I had laid it all out and I held my breath waiting on her. I didn’t have to wait long.
    “Oh Frank,” she cried and kissed me gently. “I’ve been alone too. We’ve got a connection that’s been tested hard already. I know we can be happy. Just promise me that we’ll look forward and not back. I feel like my life has just