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Timothy - 102. Chapter 102
Four weeks after our boat trip, Andrew wanted to meet and review the project. We invited him to our home for dinner on an agreed Friday night. After work, Stephen went to the diner we ate at with Alex and Ann Marie, picked up three dinners, and drove home. I had walked home with Andrew, and I think this was the first time I walked home without Stephen.
Andrew and I were sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee when Stephen arrived with our dinners. Andrew wanted to know where he got the dinners, and Stephen told him about the diner. I would have bet that Andrew would stop at the diner on his way home.
After dinner, Andrew brought us up to date on the project. “I have the names of the people who served on the school board when Bruce Stevens was in school. Of the five, only one is alive, and she is in a home for the elderly. I met with her, and she has no recollection of that time. I did find one woman who taught home economics. She said that some of the girls told her in confidence about Bruce. They told her he made advances toward them, and a few girls said he had sex with them. When she asked them why they slept with him, they said they would be his special girl. He was a star, and they would share that stardom. One of the girls said that wasn’t true because once he had them, he forgot them and told them he would spread the word they were easy unless they kept quiet. I asked her if she had reported this to the principal. She said she did and was told to forget it as the school was becoming famous due to their sports program, which was basketball. Town folks were making contributions to the school in support of the basketball team.”
“Were you able to find the principal of the school?”
“No, Stephen’s searches have turned up nothing that can be used. Most of the teaching staff have retired, moved away, or died. The home economics teacher said working at the high school was her first job after graduating from college. Tim, we don’t have much of a case against the school since those who could have stopped it are either dead or too old to remember.”
“That’s a disappointment. What about Bruce’s finances? Can we file a suit against his estate?”
“From what I can tell, he put everything in his wife’s name. We would have to go after her, and that would be difficult. She appears to be an innocent bystander. I talked to her, and she seemed to be shocked. She met Bruce in college, fell in love, and married him. She came with him when he moved back to his hometown and set up his practice. Being an only child, her parents moved to his hometown to be with her. They have a modest house on the outskirts of the town.
“Were you able to talk to her?”
“Yes, she was distraught when I told her who I was and who I represented. She said she has been receiving threats, and after reading the comments in the local paper, she and her parents are considering moving.”
I looked at Stephen, “What do you think?”
“Let it go. Ann Marie, with Alex’s help, has put it behind her. We will see that Tom puts his problems behind him as well. To be truthful, I have had enough. Bruce is dead, and those people he has hurt need to get on with their lives as well. A court case would only bring all of that hurt back.”
“Some of those comments appeared that they were still hurting.”
“Yes, but where those comments lashing out a chance to get the secrets out in the open? Or more to offset anyone who thought that Bruce was a great guy or basketball player?”
I thought about what Stephen said. In my head, I heard, ‘listen.’ “Andrew, send me a list of your expenses and your fee. Stephen’s right; it’s time to put this aside.”
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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