So Many Times

Death by Fruitcake Chapter 3

The phone rings. I roll over and look at the clock. The phone rings again.

I pick it up. “Hello?”

“Is this Dr. Grindle?”

“Yes, it is.” I look at the alarm clock next to my bed. “It’s 2 AM. I don’t do house calls anymore.” I end the call, bury my head under the pillow, and close my eyes.

The phone rings again. I groan and pick up the phone.

“Sorry to bother you, sir. This is Detective Baker. There’s been an accident at your brother Wendell’s house.”

“Wendell?” I’m wide awake now. “Is he ok?”

“I’m afraid he’s dead, sir.”

I drop the phone.

“Dr. Grindle? Dr. Grindle?”

I picked up the phone. “I-I-I….”

“I’m sending an officer to pick you up. He should be there in about ten minutes.” Detective Baker paused. “I’m sorry for your loss, Dr. Grindle.”

An emergency van and a police car, both with lights flashing, are parked in front of Wendell’s house when I arrive. Several neighbors stand on the sidewalk, whispering to one another.

A policeman opens Wendell’s front door for me. “Detective Baker is in the kitchen, sir.”

In the kitchen, Wendell is curled on his side on the floor, his hands clutching his throat, and his face blue. A piece of fruitcake with a bite missing sits on a plate on the counter.

Detective Baker introduces himself and shakes my hand. “Your brother called 911 while he was still conscious, but by the time help arrived, he was dead.”

Wendell fell into a deep depression when Jasper died. Accident? I think not.