Рита Браун - Scarlet Fever

“For murder?” Tootie was incredulous.

Ben smiled at the earnest young woman. “His father did attack him. Others had seen Morris violent. In the supermarket, for one. It’s his first big felony. You’d think he’d have more of a drug record but Drew paid off everyone handsomely and I suspect when Morris was competent he did, too, even though he loathed Bainbridge. Keep the family name clean, that sort of thing. It’s easier to do than we’d like to know. Yes, the crime is a big one but it still shows up as a first offense. His uncle was the thief. Bainbridge didn’t catch on until late in the game. He perhaps got the benefit of one month’s pension funds. A good lawyer, and Bainbridge has the money for the best, will argue convincingly that no one is in danger from Bainbridge. Why keep a young man in jail for the bulk of his life? Morris’s murder happened under extenuating circumstances. Tootie, I see this, as does every other law enforcement officer, all the time. We bring them in, a lawyer gets them off.”

“Come on up and have some supper,” Sister offered the sheriff. “We’ll talk about more pleasant things.”

“Thanks. I should get back but I wanted you to know the real story before the media has a field day with it. Nothing more to say except I was sorry to miss the last hunt of this rainy season.”

After he left the five sat there not saying much.

Betty put her hands on the chair arms. “Well, we were all fooled. Drew rode well, helpful in the hunt field, easy to be with. Who would have thought him capable of this?”

“As you know, I deal with senators, cabinet officials, you name it,” Gray said. “Our firm was the one you called if you suspected trouble. What I learned is that the successful crooks are likable. Bernie Madoff. Or at a more dramatic level, say a Baby Face Nelson. Stealing usually takes more cunning than shooting someone. So the thief pleases people. You never suspect them until something trips them up or they get cocky. They steal from you and over time you figure it out. A Ponzi scheme.”

“Alcibiades.” Sister named the gorgeous, dazzling man from fifth century BC Athens, who betrayed his city-state and still people couldn’t help but be swept away by his presence.

“I often wonder about us. A dog will steal another dog’s bone. If that dog is bigger, older, the younger dog submits. Among primitive peoples I expect it’s the same dynamics. Maybe under a dictatorship as well,” Weevil, a thoughtful young man, posited. “But theft by stealth, you know, Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief, we glorify it. Something like this, stealing from the incompetent, we don’t much notice. And I fear we don’t much care.”

“Aren’t these the kinds of crimes usually committed within families?” Tootie wondered.

“Families or friends. A house, assisted living, for such people, even a halfway house, comes under scrutiny. If the patients aren’t being properly fed, their money taken, cheaper food substituted, sooner or later it will be found out.”

“Not if they pay off the inspector,” Gray said.

“There is that, but a state employee who drives a new Mercedes will attract attention, or one who goes on a long cruise, one of those Alaska cruises,” Betty noted.

“Will any of us ever look the same way at someone with Alzheimer’s or senile dementia?” Sister sighed.

“We surely will never look the same way at the home they are in or their family,” Tootie replied.

“Let’s hope we never have to deal with this again.” Weevil meant that.

“Oh, I think one such case is enough for Jefferson Hunt but I expect others will face this in their private lives. We do the best we can, and if you think about it, what kind of life would we lead if we suspected the worst from everyone? Maybe it’s better to be fooled some of the time than be suspicious.” Gray stood up.

“Better to mistake a sinner for a saint than a saint for a sinner.” Sister rose also.

“And where does that leave you?” Betty tweaked her master’s elbow.

“You’re asking?”

A FEW FACTS

Cases of elder abuse are likely underreported, according to the National Center on Elder Abuse.

The cost of same are estimated to range between $2.9 billion and $36 billion annually.

No one knows because this is hidden within families and caregivers, hence the above large spread.

Unfortunately, banks are part of the problem. Banks reported 24,454 cases of elder abuse, financial, to the Treasury Department in 2018. Up twelve percent from 2017 and double that reported for 2013. Where the banks fit into this is that a banker may have given bad advice to a client, not realizing the client was beginning to suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s. There have also been intentional acts of financial advisers who have given advice favorable to the bank but unfavorable to the investor.

There’s enough blame to go around.

Given that this primarily occurs within families and friends of the afflicted, it is highly unlikely that the fraud can be truly diminished, no matter what laws are passed.

Greed will ever remain one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

With admiration,

dedicated to:

John Harrison, professional huntsman,

who saved the Deep Run hounds after lightning

struck the kennel, burning it to the ground.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Mark Catron, vice president of Wells Fargo Bank in Charlottesville, Virginia, outlined protocols concerning clients suffering from dementia. Banks are bound by a plethora of rules, but if a client is in denial there’s not but so much they can do.

April Fletcher, a foxhunter and lawyer, gave me blue chip advice, but then she always does, plus she makes me laugh.

Kathleen King, another lawyer and a former civil servant, also contributed to this novel with advice and facts, most of them dismal.

Mr. Michael G. Tillson III, MFH of Radnor Hunt, west of Philadelphia, gave me the phrase “Scarlet Fever,” along with a Tillson definition.

The “Divas” at Horse Country tolerated my questions, plus I threw them in this book. I assume they will still be talking to me. My thanks to: Marion Maggiolo, Roni Ellis, Suzann Strong, Jenny Young, Martha Kelley, Jean Roberts, and Courtney Nashwinter.

In one form or another, I fear, Reader, you will observe or care for someone suffering from senile dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Try to remember the afflicted person in their prime.

The Sister Jane series

Outfoxed

Hotspur

Full Cry

The Hunt Ball

The Hounds and the Fury

The Tell-Tale Horse

Hounded to Death

Fox Tracks

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Crazy Like a Fox

Homeward Hound

Scarlet Fever Books by Rita Mae Brown with Sneaky Pie Brown

Wish You Were Here

Rest in Pieces

Murder at Monticello

Pay Dirt

Murder, She Meowed

Murder on the Prowl

Cat on the Scent

Sneaky Pie’s Cookbook for Mystery Lovers

Pawing Through the Past

Claws and Effect

Catch as Cat Can

The Tail of the Tip-Off

Whisker of Evil

Cat’s Eyewitness

Sour Puss

Puss ’n Cahoots

The Purrfect Murder

Santa Clawed

Cat of the Century

Hiss of Death

The Big Cat Nap

Sneaky Pie for President

The Litter of the Law

Nine Lives to Die

Tail Gate

Tall Tail