The Golden Years

The Notebook

Present Day

The sun pushed up toward another clear blue sky; long shadows slowly surrendering as it rose. Eddie opened his door and grabbed the newspaper, closing it quickly to keep the cool air in. He ate a simple breakfast and scanned the paper with his coffee. Nothing exciting. Some golf competitions and a new retail store opening in the mall square.

A lazy day was what he wanted and something else to read. He remembered Jim said there was a basket of pocket books near the laundry, so he set up his chair and table in the shadiest spot near his room and wandered over for a look.

The basket was on the ground and didn't look like it got much attention. He picked through the offerings and selected a spy thriller and another that looked like it might be funny. With a last poke about he caught sight of a black cover, like a bible, and lifting it out, discovered it was a handwritten ledger with names, dates, and amounts.

Right away his police background made his neck tingle, and he slipped it into the pocket of his shorts, then headed back to his chair. He sat for a while reading a pocket book and drinking his coffee, but his mind was churning over what the notebook might represent. Finally, he packed it in and went inside, drawing the curtains over his door for privacy.

The book was well-used but some of the entries went back only a few years. Eddie carefully turned the pages and studied the contents. Initials. Dates. Sums, he assumed. They went on for pages, some columns indicating two or three dates and amounts. He checked the flyleaf and the end pages but there was no indication of ownership.

Why would that be in a basket on the pool court, he wondered. He glanced through again and noted the initials that appeared most often, jotting them down on a slip of paper and sticking it in his wallet.

"You're supposed to be retired, Banks." He admonished himself aloud.

Jim was at his desk in the office when Eddie strolled in.

"Mornin'"

"Hi, Mr. Banks. Everything okay?"

"Yep, just wanted to mention I borrowed a couple of paperbacks from your basket out there."

"Good. Not a problem. Appreciate if you didn't take them with you though. Don't get many donations."

"Okay then, thought I'd take a wander around town before the sun gets too hot." He patted his stomach. "Take my carbs for a walk."

"Pretty good shape I'd say, for an- for a retired guy . . ." Jim's face coloured slightly.

"For the shape I'm in." Eddie smiled and left, the double stumble told him that Jim knew he was an ex-cop. Why couldn't he just relax and enjoy his new life?

******

Mentioning the paperbacks had been a shot in the dark - and it went nowhere. It would have been one hell of a surprise if Jim knew it was there. After a stroll down the main drag, some window shopping, and an obscenely large ice cream cone, Eddie located the public library and sat on the steps until the cone was finished.

After a few false starts, he found a register with the town's hierarchy listed since inception. He located the current years and began a casual search through the names with initials matching his list. When he finished, he sat thinking, was he trying to fit a suspicion into what he found or was there really something there, and did it have something to do with the dead guest, Hiram mentioned.

Several initials match names of leading members of the town, from business to politics, and he cursed the niggle that told him his suspicion had legs. There was no mention in the past newspapers about the event at the hotel, and that alone raised suspicion in his mind. He left the library trying to decide if he should just forget the whole thing. Put the book back in the basket and get back to retiring - or maybe snoop - just a little.

******

Eddie semi floated in the shallow end of the pool, enjoying his pre-snoop pampering. The entry jet played soothingly on his back and he steadied himself with hands on the edge of the deck.

"Better get some screen on there, young fella, you're getting a pink tinge."

Eddied looked up to see Hiram bent over, looking at him. "Thank you, Hiram, not used to sun like this. I forget."

He smiled, while thinking, the old man seemed to do some kind of check every time he came outside.

"Comes with age, sonny." Hiram wandered back to his chair beside his wife in her silly hat.

Eddie climbed out of the water and grabbed his towel as Gail came out of her room in snug shorts and a skimpy halter top.

"Bit of a rosy hue there, Eddie."

Her smile made her face look beautiful, he thought. Gail was actually quite attractive - a little young for him maybe . . . just maybe.

"Yeah, Hiram just saved me from a tomato hue." He scrubbed his arms and legs with the towel. "You not swimming today?"

"Later probably. I'm off to an art showing in town."

"Someone special?"

"A young local woman. Recently widowed, and it seems in need of some financial stability. You should come, her work is really quite good."

"Is it out of the sun?"

She laughed. "It is."

"Okay. Give me 15 minutes - that is if that was an invitation." The nightcap joke appeared forgotten.

"It was. I'll be around back in my car."