Hank found an extra chair — he could have come up with a refrigerator on a desert island — and soon we were all seated around my desk.
“Mr. Young, you were understandably very sad and lonely when you lost your wife. Your only consolation was your daughter. I’m not suggesting any impropriety, but she became a friend and companion. She fulfilled an emotional need. You even dressed and tried to act like a member of the younger generation. Then she became engaged, and you faced another loss.
“Somehow you managed to scare off three suitors, but Truman was harder to drive away. Perhaps he loves her more deeply than the others did, so you had to resort to tricks to sabotage the wedding. You tore up or burned the invitations, broke the heels off the shoes, and ruined the wedding dress. Since you were paying for them, I suppose it was not strictly a crime. Who else could have done these things? Am I right?”
“Daddy, say he’s wrong.”
A long silence. Then: “No he’s right, little girl. But you know I love you.”
“Mr. Young …” I hoped that Truman didn’t try to carry out his threat of violence on the saboteur.
“One thing I don’t understand: why did you hire me to try to discover you?”
“I thought it would keep suspicion away from me. What criminal employs a detective to catch him? I chose you because I believed that, as an amateur, you’d be unlikely to identify me as the culprit.”
For a moment I was tempted to carry out Truman’s promise of physical assault, but fortunately I remembered in time that I am a non-violent detective. “Besides,” Al added, “you’re cleverer than I thought.” Is that damning with faint praise?
The wedding took place as scheduled and the father walked the bride down the aisle, in proper formal attire, I hope. If there are children, they may have an on-the-scene grandfather, for better or for worse.
Soo-Lin sent me a reprinted invitation, but I RSVPed my regrets. My own marriage has left me with a phobia about nuptials. Besides, it would have been uncomfortable to be at a reception with a man who thinks that, as a detective, I am an “amateur”, even though he may be right.
I did send a present, though, and it was probably the only gift card for Hamburger Heaven the couple received.
I sent Mr. Young a long, detailed bill for my services, including the present, and the day before the wedding I received, with no thank-you note, a cheque for the full amount.
