File M For Murder

“I know, son. That concerns me, too.” My head throbbed to remind me that I had yet to drink anything caffeinated. I pulled a can of diet soda from the fridge and popped the top. I gulped some down, and moments later the throbbing began to ease. “Let’s give her a little time to recover some equilibrium, and then I plan on having a long talk with her about Lawton and all that’s happened.”

When Laura and Diesel returned, Sean and I had dished out the casserole and the green beans. Laura sat at her place and picked up her fork. She stared at the plate for a moment, as if willing herself to eat, then ate some of the casserole. Sean and I watched her furtively as we too began to eat. Laura’s face had regained some color, and as she ate she looked less worn.

Diesel came to sit by my chair and stare up at me, doing his best to look like a cat that hadn’t eaten in several days. I fed him three green beans, then shook my head when he meowed for more. He resumed staring, and I went back to my meal, trying to resist that mute appeal.

We ate in silence for a few minutes, and then Laura put her fork down. She regarded her brother and me, a hint of defiance in her eyes. “I know you both probably think I’m crazy, but I don’t want to talk about it tonight.” She paused. “I promise I’ll talk about it tomorrow, but for tonight I just want to be left alone. Please?”

Sean frowned and appeared about to speak, but I forestalled him. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I know you’re worn out. It’s been a horrible day for you, and you need some time to rest. But we have to talk. There are some serious issues to discuss, and we can’t duck them for long.”

“Yes, sir.” Laura smiled briefly before she resumed eating.

I looked across the table at my grown-up daughter, but suddenly all I could see was a little girl, vulnerable and confused. I wanted to pick her up and hold her, tell her that I would make everything better. But then I saw the adult Laura again and knew instinctively that she wouldn’t welcome my assurances, at least not tonight.

We finished the meal without further conversation. Laura had a faraway look as she picked at her food, and I could only imagine her thoughts. When Sean and I were done, Sean stood and took our plates to the sink. Laura set her fork down and gazed at me.

“I’m going up to bed. I’m really tired.” She came around the table to me and held out her hand. “May I have the thumb drive back for now, Dad?”

I hesitated before I stood to pull it out of my pocket. I clasped it in my hand and regarded my daughter. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings and make her think I didn’t trust her, but I was concerned about the contents of the device and what Laura planned to do with it.

She knew me only too well. “I promise you I’m not going to do anything to the contents. I won’t delete or change anything. We’ll look at it together tomorrow and then decide what to do with it.” She gazed into my eyes without wavering.

I had to trust my daughter, I decided, and her reasons for having taken the drive from Lawton’s apartment. We would catch hell from Kanesha Berry, I knew, but we would face that when the time came.

I dropped the drive into Laura’s hand. Her fingers closed around it, and she gave me a sweet smile and a swift peck on the cheek. “Good night.” With that she turned and left the kitchen.

Diesel chirped, and I looked down at him. “Go ahead,” I told him, and he trotted off after Laura.

Sean had cleared the table already and was putting the dishes into the dishwasher. I thanked him.

He looked troubled. “I have this feeling that something nasty is going to happen because Laura took that drive, Dad. For the life of me I can’t figure out why she’d do such a thing. Surely she knows better.”

“I think we simply have to trust her, son. I’m not happy about the situation either, but she must have a compelling reason to have done it.”

“I guess so.” Sean shook his head. “The whole thing’s one unpleasant mess, that’s for sure. I wonder what the Theater Department is going to do without their star playwright?”

“They might try to find a replacement,” I said. Then I had an uneasy thought. “I wonder if anyone has informed Ralph Johnston about this.”

“Would the sheriff’s department know to?”

“They might,” I said as I thought about it. “Surely in her questioning of Laura, Kanesha would have asked her what she knew about Lawton’s next of kin. Johnston was his employer, so to speak.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it then.” Sean squeezed my shoulder. “You’ve got enough to think about without dealing with that.”

I definitely didn’t feel like I had the energy tonight to talk to Ralph Johnston. He would probably go into hysterics, and I didn’t have the patience to cope with that. Kanesha would have notified the college. She was very thorough.

“I think I’ll head upstairs then.”

“I’m going to relax for a while on the back porch,” Sean said. That meant he was going out to smoke a cigar—his way of relaxing.