{"id":807,"date":"2016-04-26T18:40:04","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T18:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zatma.org\/new-wp\/?p=807"},"modified":"2016-04-26T18:40:22","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T18:40:22","slug":"807","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/?p=807","title":{"rendered":"The Crossword Puzzle (#5)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Ming<\/dt>\n
Ming Zhen Shakya<\/a><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\u00a0To see more literature about Zen and the Art of Investigation:<\/h6>\n
http:\/\/www.zenanthonywolff.com<\/a><\/strong><\/i><\/h5>\n
<\/h6>\n
\n

The Crossword Puzzle<\/h2>\n

by Anthony Wolff (Ming Zhen Shakya)<\/strong><\/p>\n

To see all published chapters of “The Crossword Puzzle” click here<\/a><\/p>\n

PART 5:\u00a0EMBEZZLEMENT, PHONY WABI SABI, AND LOSS<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Council had only to decide which of the ladies would escort the old man to the airport in Philadelphia, give him another tranquilizer, and continue on to Cairo.\u00a0 The date and time were fixed and reservations made. They were delighted with the solution to their most pressing problem. Paige was happy, too, since Spence assured her he\u2019d come home to live in Pennsylvania, not Lucerne.<\/p>\n

Nola still was waiting for the syndication contracts to be produced and signed.\u00a0 Yet, she feared that by making an issue of it, she\u2019d antagonize Spencer and he\u2019d end her employment in the house – which would not have helped Paige who was becoming increasingly nervous and insecure. Every day she made some kind of secret gesture or remark to Nola about needing her to stay.\u00a0 The children had come home briefly for the summer.\u00a0 Samantha and Pierre left immediately to vacation with friends in Canada and Roland took a long Asiatic cruise.<\/p>\n

Spencer, despite his promise, did not return to Pennsylvania.\u00a0 He reversed his route to Japan and in July stopped in Lucerne for an indefinite time.\u00a0 Paige clicked off the phone and trembled.\u00a0 She asked Nola to drive her to an attorney\u2019s office in Morton and to wait in the car until she finished talking to him.\u00a0 Although curious, Nola did not ask why she was seeing an attorney.\u00a0 She sat in Paige\u2019s new Jaguar and worked on the theme, \u201cBreaking up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Paige was obviously taking steps to protect her own interests, Nola wrote another note to Spencer asking when she could expect the syndication documents and why he was showing so little interest in the hermitage land.\u00a0 In a separate note she told him that despite his absence, people were visiting the site and giving her and Victoru Roshi deposits on the different plots of land and cabin construction.\u00a0 She added that she deposited the few down-payments she had received directly into the Abbot\u2019s account since he, in Spencer\u2019s absence, had taken charge of the project.<\/p>\n

Spencer did not respond to Nola\u2019s notes; but he did call Paige and tell her he\u2019d return when he felt better.\u00a0 He told her he had had a minor relapse while he was in Japan.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be seeing you soon,\u201d he encouraged her.\u00a0 \u201cKeep the home fires burning!\u201d<\/p>\n

Paige told Nola about the call.\u00a0 \u201cIf I didn\u2019t know my own boy would be getting this place, I\u2019d keep the home fires burning by burning this goddamned house down… antiques and all.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gregor, it seemed, had been spending an excessive amount of time driving the old pickup truck to feed stores to buy food for the goats and to various plant nurseries to buy potting soil, fertilizer, and rose bushes.\u00a0 The few times he came face to face with Paige, he invented a chore he had to do.\u00a0 She no longer cared and was beginning to wonder how she could get rid of him without any unpleasant repercussions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paige immediately began to attend services at the zendo and flirt with Vikram who was busy with the Schuylkill Buddhist Retreat – as he called it.\u00a0 She praised his business acumen for selling so many plots and adding an \u201cIndian touch\u201d to the design of the rustic dwellings.\u00a0 She had, herself, showed him the way to the site the first time he went, and let it be known through the town\u2019s tangled grapevine that he was marvelous in bed.<\/p>\n

The members of ZBA who gave deposits wanted to see progress of the buildings. August and September seemed the perfect time to show their relatives and friends at least the beginning of their charming getaways. Vikram began to take several trips a week to the land with a variety of prospective hermits – unmarried women mostly.\u00a0 He\u2019d sleep with them in the cabin and then he\u2019d accept their building deposits, speak of love, and put the money in his own personal checking account.<\/p>\n

One afternoon Paige remembered something about the wedding gift of the land and called the county recorder.\u00a0 She had visions of Dr. Hesse living in Wabi Sabi splendor in Schuylkill County.\u00a0 Sure enough, the county recorder told her that her sixty acres – transferred while she was still single – contained the trail that led from the highway. She decided that If Spencer had any ideas about leaving her to live in another county with Ingrid Hesse, he had better return from Switzerland without delay. Victoru Roshi was no businessman for the hermitages and the extension to the Lucerne Clinic required Spencer\u2019s Wharton School background. Contracts needed to be signed.<\/p>\n

In late August the Ghent family was united.\u00a0 At Spencer\u2019s suggestion they all piled into the Lexus and drove to the First Methodist Church for Sunday morning service.\u00a0 They were all well-dressed which may have impressed others but did not seem to be noticed by the Pastor who was shocked to see the five of them appear at the entrance door. Dumbfounded, he shook hands with Spencer and said without thinking, \u201cIn Christ all things are possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The big dinner that was prepared for them in the decorated dining room was a disaster.\u00a0 The fancy ham that Mrs. Eglington had baked all morning, sat like a clove-decorated stone in the center of the table.\u00a0 Paige and Samantha were on diets;\u00a0 Nola and Roland were vegetarians; Spencer was angry when he learned that the hearts of palm the cook had taken such trouble to prepare were served with neufchatel cheese that had tried to disguise itself under parsley as it wormed its way into the innocent leaves.\u00a0 He, having a Monday therapy session in Media, feared the inevitable results of the cheese and refused to eat anything.\u00a0 Pierre had wolfed down two cheeseburgers and fries when he left the group after services to \u201csee an old friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paige summoned Mrs. Eglington and told her to serve the 90% meal remains to the rest of the servants.\u00a0 Then she went to her room and locked the door and cried into her pillow.<\/p>\n

Paige and Nola had considered so many explanations to account for Spencer\u2019s behavior in recent months that neither woman was surprised to read in the Sunday newspaper that there was a planned addition to the Lucerne Clinic addition in Media, Pennsylvania, that Spencer would be investing in it, and that Dr. Ingrid Hesse of Switzerland was slated to be its new CEO.\u00a0 The two women were not even surprised when Spencer announced that since he\u2019d be overseeing the construction, he\u2019d probably be spending many nights there at the site in Media, Pennsylvania.\u00a0 \u201cI need a little more time to think about the hermitages,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cI\u2019m tired and do not care to discuss anything further.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the Zen Assembly, which was now thriving, talk centered on the hermitage land.\u00a0 Vikram\u2019s natural charm enticed people of every age and sex to want to experience spiritual isolation with him, and he was able to collect $155,000.\u00a0 Citing his \u201cecclesiastical position,\u201d he held to secrecy every person who gave him a deposit. People began to collect rustic things… buckets, brooms, copper pots with handles that could be hung on the fireplace\u2019s swing-out arms, Torii-gate toilet paper holders, pagoda shaped outhouses, and hand-made ceramic dishes.\u00a0 Producing Wabi Sabi things became a nearly full-time occupation.<\/p>\n

At home, Spencer\u2019s charm returned.\u00a0 In the morning, while Paige slept, he and Nola rode around the estate.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s great exercise for my legs,\u201d he said.\u00a0 Then he added, \u201cI owe you an apology for that first night in the cabin.\u00a0 My only excuse is that I hadn\u2019t had sex with a woman for so long that I wasn\u2019t sure I\u2019d go about it correctly.\u00a0 It\u2019s one thing when you\u2019re a kid.\u00a0 Then, anything goes.\u00a0 But when you find yourself naked with a with a woman whose had all sorts of … well… respectable continental experience, you don\u2019t want to come off as a clumsy ass. It wasn\u2019t as though you and I were romantically involved.\u00a0 I just needed re-assurance and went about it in all the wrong ways.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nola appreciated the apology even though it was somewhat \u201cleft-handed\u201d since she was hardly the woman who had all that daunting continental experience.\u00a0 She remembered that \u201cpractice\u201d was one of the theories Paige considered to explain his sudden interest in having sex with her. \u00a0 Paige, Nola concluded, was right on target. She decided not to tell her sister about the conversation since it would have only have humiliated her further.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the Labor Day weekend, Spencer took Ingrid Hesse to the mountain for a day\u2019s jaunt. Seeing an area that would have functioned well as a \u201cbeginning to Intermediate\u201d ski slope, she suggested,\u201cInstead of leasing the land to wanna-be recluses, why don\u2019t we keep it as our own private hideaway? You have your own home in Morton and the clinic just won\u2019t do as our own private place.\u201d\u00a0 Spencer gave the suggestion serious thought.<\/p>\n

Paige knew that her land had been used to access the possible sites. When Spencer announced that he had decided on another use for the land, she laughed at him and said, \u201cYou and Ingrid can build your own road, and be prepared to make it a regular Champs de Elysee. what with the cost of getting grading equipment up there and meeting the new county specs for roadways.\u201d\u00a0 The Hermitage Project, as it was then called, met an untimely death.<\/p>\n

Sri Bashumitsu, showed her omniscient bent when she learned that the project had suddenly been cancelled.\u00a0 When Victoru Roshi quietly closed his bank account and left town, she suggested to The Council that she knew why Nola had been so eager to ingratiate herself with The Council.\u00a0 \u201cWe were scammed by that phony land deal and her Wog lover.\u201d\u00a0 That Nola was still in town seemed to contradict her revelation; but it did add a new subject for conjecture.<\/p>\n

Spencer, in a rare weekend interview, said that Nola committed a bit of pre-ejaculation by announcing to the Sangha the possibility of hermitages before he had the opportunity to discuss it with his wife and sign a proper joint-venture contract. And Paige, publicly at least, blamed Nola for inspiring Spencer\u2019s interest in the land without consulting her first. \u201cAfter all,\u201d she said nervously, \u201cif you hadn\u2019t started him on that hermitage business, I wouldn\u2019t have to visualize him roasting marshmallows with that femme fatale physician.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nola felt it pointless to protest to anyone except Ellis Foyle.\u00a0 \u201cThe criticism I\u2019m receiving is both harsh and confusing.\u00a0 Yes, I encouraged Vikram to look at the land; but I felt sorry for him because he had been rejected by every hospital that cared to respond to his inquiry.\u00a0 Where on earth did I get the idea that a gesture of mine could turn a loser into a winner?\u00a0 Last week I got a letter from him from Mexico City asking me to pay back the deposits.\u00a0 He said that he had gotten a position as a surgical resident and intended to reimburse me – with interest – on the installment plan, of course.\u00a0 I tried to telephone him at the boarding house address on the envelope but the landlady, who did speak English, didn\u2019t know who he was.\u00a0 And where on earth did he get the idea that I\u2019d simply pick up his $155,000 debt?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellis offered a possible reason for the request.\u00a0 \u201cBetween knowing that you had paid for the new roof and visiting you at the Ghent house, he probably assumed you had money… that maybe the house was yours.\u00a0 You did introduce him to your sister and he put that together…\u201d<\/p>\n

Nola laughed at the idea, wondering how much farther her life\u2019s spiral would go down before she hit bottom.<\/p>\n

She decided to surrender to the cosmos and place her faith in her religion and let everything happen without any interference from herself.\u00a0 She no longer danced, taught yoga, meditated in the ZBA room, or attended the book club.\u00a0 Nearly every evening she would go to her bedroom and work on a koan or crossword.\u00a0 She would go on as before in stolid Zen passivity. The world would turn without her help in any case.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shortly after the summer vacation period had ended and the children returned to their schools, It was time for Hines to be given a permanent room. He had been sleeping on a cot in Jules\u2019 apartment over the Four-car; and although, surprisingly, the two men became friends, this arrangement suited no one as a permanent solution.<\/p>\n

Spencer ordered Hines to prepare to move into \u201cthe tower.\u201d\u00a0 He summoned Jules also and berated him for his tardiness in not ordering painting and carpeting for the new living space.\u00a0 \u201cThere! This will be the last week you\u2019re without your own space,\u201d he said to Hines with commanding finality, \u201cand you\u2019ll be fine in the turret room.\u00a0 Go get an idea of the kind of covering you want for the four clear window panes.\u00a0 Jules will order whatever you want.\u00a0 Give me a progress report.\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cRight now I have to make a few calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Jules left the bedroom, Hines pretended that he wanted to get a book of his from the shelf and surreptitiously switched on Spence\u2019s baby monitor.\u00a0 He shut the bedroom door as he left. Then as Jules went down the rear servant\u2019s stairs, Hines, knowing that Nola was riding with her sister and wouldn\u2019t be back for at least another hour, went into Nola\u2019s bedroom, and closed the door, switched on her monitor and listened to Spence\u2019s side of his phone conversation. At first, he heard much incomprehensible talk about land and architects and a contract with Paige about rights-of-way, and then the subject changed to the household bequests in his will.\u00a0 \u201cTo hell with my sister-in-law and Hines who is a royal pain in my ass. Increase Eglington, Gladys, and Jules by an additional $30,000.\u00a0 They\u2019ve been loyal and useful. Roland still gets all the Ghent real estate and since I\u2019m divesting myself of much of my portfolio to pay for the new clinic, the rest of the money, assuming there\u2019s any left over, will go to Paige and the kids. Roland is studying Economics at the university and after he gets his MBA he\u2019ll be given a job I used to have.\u00a0 It won\u2019t be at the top, but he\u2019ll make out well.\u00a0 I\u2019ve already laid the ground work for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a long time I considered replacing Paige as executrix, but she\u2019s settled down now and say what you will, she\u2019s still a good mother and does love those kids.\u00a0 Frankly, they\u2019re far more juvenile than I was at their age so the old stipulations remain. If I\u2019ve got to trust somebody, I\u2019d just as soon trust her.\u00a0 It\u2019s a modest proposal and as Swift says in defense of his strategy, \u201cMy wife is past the child-bearing age.\u201d Get the papers ready and I\u2019ll sign them next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that was it.\u00a0 Hines heard himself described in such unflattering terms that he could barely move after he switched the monitor off.\u00a0 There was no expression of appreciation for all the hard work he had done and all the nasty treatment he had had to put up with for the past half year. So, the truth came out, and he, the royal pain, knew what was in the Will.\u00a0 Nobody else knew.\u00a0 But what could he do with this precious information?\u00a0 As he walked to the garage to meet with Jules, he mumbled, \u201cI\u2019m supposed to be the factotum, not the stupid chauffeur.\u00a0 And I\u2019m starting to forget all the French I knew.\u00a0 Nobody in this madhouse has any refinement.\u201d He thought about all the jobs the agency had listed as possibilities and each began to attain admirable properties in his mind. \u00a0 There was nothing negative about what might have been just as there was nothing positive about what he had. A wave of contempt for Spencer Ghent rose up from his toes and he could not spit nor breathe it out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jules was in the midst of compounding Spencer\u2019s Lexus and the car would not be ready for another couple of hours. Spencer had been to the garage earlier.\u00a0 He had marched out in a foul mood.\u00a0 He admonished Jules as though he were a child, calling him an incompetent ingrate.\u00a0 Gruffly he called Paige and asked her if she minded if he borrowed her new Jaguar for the day.<\/p>\n

Hines, serpent-like, spoke to Jules.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve got news,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI know what\u2019s in the Will.\u00a0 You\u2019re due to get a considerable amount.\u00a0 You, Gladys, and Mrs. Egllington.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jules was in no mood to be toyed with.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re full of crap,\u201d he said. \u201cNobody knows what\u2019s in that Will… not even Mrs. Ghent.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the second time in twenty minutes Hines had been insulted.\u00a0 As a defensive instinct over which he had no control, he whispered that he had turned on the baby monitors and while in Nola\u2019s room had heard Spencer\u2019s conversation with his attorney.\u00a0 Jules stopped rubbing the compound paste and started to take Hines seriously.\u00a0 \u201cYes,\u201d Hines said, \u201cyou, Gladys, and Mrs. Eglington are each going to be beneficiaries of a quarter million dollar life insurance policy… he\u2019s already taken them out.\u00a0 He took out policies for the same amount for each of the kids. \u00a0 Your old bequest increased to $45,000.\u00a0 Jules, happy to learn that he had not been removed from the Will and also that upon Spencer Ghent\u2019s death he would become financially secure immediately revived his dream of soothing his cervical back problems by retiring in the tropics.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook,\u201d said Hines, \u201cI get nothing.\u00a0 I\u2019ve not been here long enough to count.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve got an employment contract. \u00a0 So I get paid… in full… until next spring.\u00a0 And it\u2019s iron clad.\u00a0 I get paid whether he dies tomorrow or lives another ten years. I like you, Jules. You\u2019ve been decent to me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard his conversations with that woman he\u2019s in love with. He intends to live another fifty years. Those treatments he supposedly gets are bullshit. The two of them make love like a couple of teenagers; and when they\u2019re not in bed, they\u2019re having lunch at some really posh restaurant. She\u2019s smart and will get every nickel he\u2019s got – and if he dies after dipping into his liquid assets, his accounts will be too short to cover the money allocated as bequests.\u00a0 Are you getting my drift?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure I am.\u00a0 And I know too that the hospital extension he\u2019s planning to build will cost more money than he figures.\u00a0 Builders bid low and then hit you with \u2018change orders\u2019 or \u2018contract addenda\u2019 and the final cost is double the original bid.\u00a0 I know that.\u00a0 So what you\u2019re saying is that the servants named in the Will will find that the premiums on their policies weren\u2019t paid and that their money has been spent on some spa for the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOr as diamond rings for his new lady love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jules, still angry at the way Spencer had chastised him, let his guard down. \u201cHe\u2019s been a rotten boss.\u00a0 I\u2019ve worked here for thirty years.\u00a0 For Christmas he gives us a $25.00 saving\u2019s bond.\u00a0 I loved his old man.\u00a0 And his grandfather.\u00a0 They were men.\u00a0 He\u2019s been a cheapskate roach since the day he became master of the place. And I\u2019ve had to be his nursemaid for the last five years.\u00a0 How much is he giving Nola?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hines lied again. \u201cHe plans to take out a $100,000 Certificate of Deposit and hold it in trust for her. He says, \u2018After all, she saved my life.\u2019\u00a0 As if that wasn\u2019t what she was paid to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three of us have had to put up with him for years.\u00a0 Always, he\u2019s held that goddamned Will over our heads.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI sympathize with you. And don\u2019t forget that if he stops paying those insurance premiums, you can kiss that $250K goodbye.\u00a0 He\u2019s talking about cutting back here and renting some space in Media. And he\u2019ll be signing the documents in a week or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know.\u00a0 He\u2019ll be back here only to see the kids when they\u2019re home… after he squanders his money on that Swiss project.\u00a0 And Mrs. E., Gladys and I can be terminated without cause or severance pay.\u00a0 And we won\u2019t get any inheritance until his other debts are paid.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been sick about it, so\u2019s Mrs. E.\u00a0 We\u2019re too old to find other employment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease don\u2019t let me shock you… and if I\u2019m out of line, I apologize.\u00a0 The only suggestion I can offer is the statistic about highway fatalities on the road to Media. The quick demise of Spencer Ghent doesn\u2019t affect me financially, but it\u2019s something for you to think about.\u201d He had not realized how often servants think about fatal accidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re the one who drives him to Media,\u201d Jules huffed.\u00a0 \u201cAnd an accident in one of his high-end cars isn\u2019t likely to kill anybody.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t even a river big enough to crash into.\u00a0 You\u2019ll have to come up with something better than that… something that won\u2019t get yourself killed in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hines suddenly felt like the puppet master.\u00a0 Here he was, standing in the garage, and the butler was appealing to him.\u00a0 His position in the conspiracy became the superior one.<\/p>\n

Gladys called to Hines from the portico.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be there in a minute,\u201d Hines replied pleasantly.<\/p>\n

Jules was worried. \u201cOne way or another I\u2019m going to be let go once he moves down to the new clinic\u2019s residence.\u00a0 All my years of service won\u2019t matter.\u00a0 I\u2019ll end up in Scranton living in one of my sister\u2019s bedrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d never give me a good reference – that\u2019s how spiteful he is; but If you\u2019d promise to give me good… really good references,\u201d Hines said, trying to make his efforts seem more legitimate by getting something for himself.\u00a0 \u201cAh,\u201d he said with feigned disgust, \u201cwhat\u2019s the use. You know me.\u00a0 All brains and no brawn.\u00a0 I\u2019d need a second person to help with any plan. He\u2019s going to sign the documents soon, and then he\u2019s going to start spending money like a drunken sailor. We don\u2019t have weeks to make a plan and get the wrinkles out.\u00a0 He may not come back here for months. A project like getting rid of him takes thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jules was impatient.\u00a0 \u201cWeeks? I just got word of a house in the tropics I could buy at a bargain price – cash only – and while a down payment would hold it, I\u2019d need the money sooner than later.\u00a0 We\u2019ll have to think of a good way.\u00a0 How about a home invasion of some kind? \u00a0 In town recently there have been a few.\u00a0 And did I tell you that the Japanese guy who stole Ghent\u2019s medicine – the kid who\u2019s been in prison – is going to be let out on good behavior.\u00a0 The ZBA sangha in town is really worried that he\u2019ll come to them to make them fulfill the contract obligation about letting him reside in the old Norris-Giles house they call their monastery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paige and Nola could be seen coming towards the paddock. \u00a0 \u201cAfter I finish the car,\u201d Jules said, \u201cI\u2019ll go into town and try to find out exactly when that kid is due to come back. Then we\u2019ll work out the details.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRoger,\u201d Hines nodded creating a military kind of precision, and left to join Gladys.\u00a0 Hines could hardly believe that Jules had so easily become his ally.\u00a0 It suddenly occurred to him that perhaps he was going to be set-up for the attempted crime. He decided to be extra careful.<\/p>\n

Hines and Gladys entered the turret staircase from the study. Gladys lugged a bucket of water and a mop up the stairs. A net bag of cleaning supplies hung from her waist.\u00a0 He did not offer to help her carry the water.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll need more than that pine smelling stuff and water to make this place livable,\u201d he groused.\u00a0 \u201cLook at the windows.\u00a0 Once they must have been beautiful… all that leaded-in stained glass in the top frames. \u00a0 But now you can\u2019t even tell what season the design is meant to convey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gladys, delighted to learn that Hines would not be sleeping near Gregor, laughed at the thought that cleaning them would present a problem.\u00a0 \u201cIt all depends on whether the sash cords still work well,\u201d she explained as she unlocked one window and pulled down the top and then pulled up the bottom. \u00a0 She tested all four windows.\u00a0 \u201cOne needs some work, but the others are good as new,\u201d she pronounced.\u00a0 \u201cAs a matter of fact, I think Mrs. E. told me that Mr. Ghent\u2019s father had the sash cords replaced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re too high up for you to do the outside where the dirt has mostly collected,\u201d Hines griped.<\/p>\n

Gladys had already brought glass-cleaning liquid and paper towels to the turret.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s old fashioned, I admit,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cYou hardly ever see windows washed this way any more for some reason.\u201d\u00a0 With that she pulled up the lower clear window, sat herself on the sill with her behind sticking outside the structure, and lowered the upper window so that the stained glass window\u2019s exterior was completely in her reach.\u00a0 She sprayed the glass several times until it the paper towels gave no indication of dirt, and then she raised and lowered the windows until she had thoroughly cleaned the clear glass window.\u00a0 She slipped back into the room and, standing on a small step ladder she cleaned the inside of both frames.\u00a0 The effect was startling.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy God!\u201d Hines exclaimed.\u00a0 \u201cI never would have believed it possible.\u00a0 It\u2019s beautiful! Go ahead and do the others.\u00a0 I\u2019m amazed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She completed the others, saying that Gregor would have to bring a screw driver and tighten the screws on the fourth window. The trim that held the leaded-in glass to the frame was loose. But Hines barely heard her.\u00a0 The colorful light that shone through the stained glass was mesmerizing him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be lunch time soon,\u201d Gladys said.\u00a0 \u201cYou can get Gregor to help you bring your bed up here after the painting and carpet guys are finished.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be warmer with a good carpet under your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hines thought he\u2019d choose the cheapest window treatment to please Spencer and Paige.\u00a0 \u201cThose bamboo slatted windows shades will do nicely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hines drove Spencer into Media and on the return trip they saw Jules come out of a drug store.\u00a0 Jules saw them and gave a quick thumb\u2019s up sign to Hines.\u00a0 Yes, Hines thought, the Japanese kid could be blamed for the crime. There would be no difficulty.<\/p>\n

And so it was that Hines and Jules learned that the\u00a0tenzo<\/em>\u00a0had already been released but that he might be deported to Japan shortly. But \u2018shortly\u2019 to the government did not mean swirt.\u00a0 \u201cIt would probably take them another matter of weeks to type up the paperwork. We\u2019ll have to act quickly nevertheless,\u201d Jules said when he and Hines were finally able to speak.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve already called the agent in Antigua.\u00a0 The house is still available.\u00a0 I\u2019ll forward the deposit as soon as we set our plan in motion.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Except for the crossword puzzles, Spencer had ceased to speak to Nola or Paige or anyone else except Hines. He kept to himself so much that no one could tell the difference between \u201cSpencer the indifferent\u201d and \u201cSpencer the depressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The children, especially Samantha, worried about Spence\u2019s strange absences from home.\u00a0 She called regularly, wanting her father to take her to New York to buy her a new winter wardrobe.\u00a0 (Her mother was not nearly so liberal a spender as her father.) Paige assured her that she\u2019d talk Spencer into taking her to New York when her school had a long mid-term break.<\/p>\n

Although Spencer was not at first agreeable, Paige casually mentioned how the girl could use some decent jewelry and that a trip to Tiffany\u2019s was definitely in order.\u00a0 She could see his pupils change as he imagined buying a few \u201ctrinkets\u201d from Tiffany\u2019s for his new girl friend.\u00a0 Feigning reluctance, Spencer acquiesced and said he\u2019d escort his daughter to New York the following week. \u201cWe\u2019ll only be gone a few days – a week at most,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cYou can lose a few days of school. We can visit your great aunt Helena in her house on the Hudson.\u201d \u00a0 Since Ingrid had several important meetings scheduled, he decided the time for her to get close to his daughter was propitious.\u00a0 As they drove home from the trip, he\u2019d introduce Samantha to Ingrid during a posh Friday lunch.<\/p>\n

Spence left to pick up Samantha on a Monday, planning to return in five days.\u00a0 Although he had promised his daughter that he would not give a \u201csmidgeon\u201d of his attention to anyone else, he did try to call Ingrid on Tuesday and left a voice mail message that she did not return.<\/p>\n

Wednesday morning Paige read on Page 6 of the newspaper the uplifting news that Doctor Ingrid Hesse had been killed on Tuesday in a car accident when she hit a bridge support on a back road. Paige anonymously called the clinic and asked how long they expected Ingrid\u2019s body to remain in the U.S.\u00a0 She learned that the doctor\u2019s remains were scheduled to be flown back to Switzerland on Thursday.\u00a0 She did not know if Spence had tried to call the doctor again but if he had called, he could leave only a voice mail.<\/p>\n

Wednesday Spence called home and asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s new?\u201d<\/p>\n

Paige answered, \u201cNothing. Everything\u2019s under control.\u00a0 We all miss you.\u201d When she ended the call she confided to Nola, \u201cWith a little luck, Dr. Ingrid Hesse will be six feet under in Switzerland, pushing up Edelweiss, before Spence even knows about the accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he stopped at the clinic as they drove home on Friday, he learned about her death. He collapsed and could not drive.\u00a0 The confusion was so great that Samantha, bewildered by this unknown facet of Ghent life, frantically called Paige who sent Jules and Hines down to Media to drive them home.<\/p>\n

At the Ghent house, Spence locked himself in his bedroom and listened to a sequence of dirges.\u00a0 Judging from his wet pillows, he wept constantly.\u00a0 Nola finally succeeded in getting him to let her in so that she could make sure he took his medicine.\u00a0 \u201cYou want to be in good condition if you decide to visit a certain grave in Lucerne,\u201d she said.\u00a0 He, holding her to privacy, wept in her arms and Saturday, at his suggestion, they worked on a puzzle that he themed,\u00a0La Belle Dame Sans Merci.<\/em>\u00a0 He was not much help, but at least he was roused from his depression long enough to come down to his study to check references of a few individuals who had met an untimely death.\u00a0 It was his habit to hand-address the envelopes to complete the illusion that he was the sole author of the work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And this is what preceded Nola\u2019s trouble that began on Wednesday, October 22nd, the day that she called out, \u201cIs the envelope the one on the right side of the blotter or the left?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A private place in the woods. It sounds like he perfect place to meditate away the city\u2019s problems. But, as Ming Zhen shows in Part 5 of The Crossword Puzzle, it can be the setting of so much more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,21],"tags":[23,41],"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-free-e-books","tag-tales-from-the-sangha","tag-the-crossword-puzzle"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=807"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":810,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions\/810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}