The Letter - Chapter 37

I yawned and stretched rubbing the sleep from my eyes.  I looked at the clock on the table beside my bed.  10:30. That’s early for me on a Saturday.  Sun was leaking in behind the room darkening blinds.  I grabbed my robe and put on my slippers and walked down the stairs to see what Dad was up to on a Saturday morning.  I walked into the kitchen and found a note from him on the kitchen table. 

Good morning, sleepyhead.  I decided to take a walk to the convenience store to see if they have an early edition of tomorrow’s paper.  I’m anxious to see my article in print.  Be back by 11:00.

Let’s see.  Hair and nail appointment at 1:00.  I wonder if Dad could be talked into making pancakes when he gets back.  I looked at the thermos on the table.  Dad had attached a sticky note with the words, ‘fresh coffee.’  I poured myself a cup and took a moment to enjoy the quiet of being alone with my thoughts.  No sooner had I taken a sip, and then the land line telephone started ringing.  We hardly ever answer it because anyone we really care to talk to will call our cell phones.  I told Dad we should just drop it, but he says it’s a good thing to have in an emergency, plus it was free with our internet service.  I listened to the mechanical voice identify the caller.

“Call from Issaquah double u, a.”

I jumped up and ran to the phone.  It could be the mystery letter writer calling for my father.  I picked up the receiver and hit the talk button.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this the Leskovitz household?”

Mystery lady wouldn’t mess up my dad’s last name.  “It’s Leskovic.  Sorry.  Goodbye.” 

Before I could hit the ‘Off’ button, the voice on the other end pleaded, “Wait!  I’m a friend!”

“Hello?” I said again.  “Who is this?”

“I’m sorry.   I should have identified myself right away.  I apologize for messing up your name.  This is Beverly Hershberger.  I’m a close friend of Eleanor Barnhart.”

“Okay.  This is Jennifer.  My father stepped out for a few minutes.  Should I let him know you called?”

“I am honored, Ms. Leskovic.  I understand that you are the crack detective that figured out who sent that mysterious letter to your father.  Isn’t that right?”

“Thank you, but I had a lot of help from my best friend, Liz.”

Well, I always say, every hero needs a loyal sidekick.”

“Liz is more than a sidekick.  She was a full-fledged member of my investigative team.”

Mrs. Hershberger chuckled at that.   “That’s good to know.  Anyway, the reason I’m calling is because I have somewhat of a mystery to solve, and I’m nowhere near as good as you and your friend Liz at solving mysteries.”

“What sort of mystery?”

“Let me begin by saying that I think it’s wonderful that my friend and your father are corresponding.  But I was afraid their friendship would be killed before the seed of it ever had a chance to sprout.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Did you know that my friend Ellie sent your father a second letter?  It should have arrived about two weeks ago.”

“Yes, my friend Jeff mentioned it to me, and Dad said your friend told him about it in a Facebook message.  But he never got it.  I guess it somehow was lost in the mail.”

“I know people talk about things getting lost in the mail. My late husband was an inspector for the U.S. Postal Service, and I remember him telling me that despite the huge volume of mail handled by the Post Office, it’s really quite rare for a letter to be lost.  But I guess it could happen.  You don’t think it’s possible that it could have gotten thrown away by mistake?”

“Would it have been purple like her original letter?”

“Yes.  Ellie has a stack of lavender stationery.  Do you remember seeing a lavender piece of mail?  By my calculation it would have arrived either Friday, January 27^th or Saturday the 28^th.”

“Well, Dad would have collected the mail on Friday since I was in school.  Let me try to think back to that Saturday.” I remembered that was the day my mother appeared to serve the custody papers on my dad.  She handed the mail to my father and I swear I saw something lavender in her purse.  I stood silent, considering whether I should rat out my mother.  “No, Mrs. Hershberger.  I can’t remember anything about the mail that far back.”

I heard her sigh.  Then she continued.  “Here’s the thing Jennifer – the reason why I could use some real help from a sharp young lady like you.  Things seem to be heading in the right direction with your father and my friend.  But I know that letter wasn’t lost in the mail.  The reason I know is because I’m holding in my hand the response to that letter.  And if it came from your father, I really wonder what kind of man he is.  Because the letter I’m holding is mean.  It’s nasty.  It sent my friend into a tailspin.  I feared she might do something drastic.”

“Really?  I can’t believe my father would do something like that.”

“Well, someone sent this, and I’d like to read it to you if you wouldn’t  mind.”

“Go ahead, ma’am.”  As she read the letter, I felt my legs start to tremble.  I started to pace around the room to try to calm myself.  If my father hadn’t written it, I felt almost certain that I knew who had.

“So Jennifer.  I want to believe someone other than your father wrote this.  Did you?”

"M-me? N-no! I stammered.  God, no.  I could never do that to him.”

“You wouldn’t have done it as a prank?  Or maybe because you’re afraid of what might develop between your father and Mrs. Barnhart?”

“No.  No way.  I wanted something nice to happen for him.  That’s why I worked so hard to figure out who sent the original letter.”

Mrs. Hershberger paused for a moment.  “Jennifer, I believe you.  But you have to believe me.  Someone sent this letter to my friend.  That person didn’t want Ellie and your father to become friends.  I want to figure out who this person is because he or she may not like the fact that despite their efforts, your father and Ellie are becoming friends.”

I heard my father’s key unlock the front door.  “My father is back.  I have to go.”

“Jennifer, let me give you my phone number.” 

“I’ll copy it from the caller ID.”

“Good thinking.  It’s a cell phone.  Think about our conversation and text or call me with any ideas that you come up with.”

“Sure.  Gotta go.”  I hung up the phone.

“Jennifer,” my dad called.  “Are you awake yet?  Come down and take a look at tomorrow’s Forum.  My article is on page 1 of the section”

I rushed to meet him.  “I’m up.  I was just having a cup of coffee.  Let me see. Let me see!”