Rosemary Harris - The Big Dirt Nap

“Only if it’s good news or funny,” I said. “I’ve about had all the excitement I can handle for one night.”

“You know Caroline Sturgis has been trying to reach you. She’s got an idea she wants to talk to you about.”

“I’ve got an idea too,” I said. “I know a great diner about twenty minutes from here, and I’m pretty sure it’s still open.”

The gun found on Jackie Connellywas identified as the same gun used to kill Nick Vigoriti. She is awaiting trial for his murder.

Rachel Pageconfessed to falsifying documents related to the sale of the Titans Hotel to the Quepochas tribe for the purposes of defrauding foreign investors. The state is currently determining what charges will be brought against her.

Bernie Mishkinwas cleared of all charges, but his Chinese investor was scared off and pulled his money off the table. In Fran’s honor he kept the corpse flower.

Amanda Bornhurstwas hired part-time as an event planner for the hotel, and has since run three successful parties, contributing to Titans’s first profitable quarter since 1986.

Hector Ruizwas promoted to director of publicity and marketing, chiefly on the strength of his assertion that he could get Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to agree to appear at the hotel. They have yet to perform but the attendant publicity has raised the profile of the hotel and increased business by 12 percent.

Sam Dillonused some of the twenty dollars I gave him to buy a handful of lottery tickets. He won one of the state’s single biggest Powerball payouts and is planning to reopen the shoe factory and rehire some of the old workers. He’s been sober for fourteen months.

I got a postcard from Oksana Smolovaand Billy Crawfordfrom the Four Corners area. They have opened a motel and have no plans to come back to Connecticut.

Sergei Russianoff’sdecomposing body was found six months later in an abandoned skating rink in Simsbury, Connecticut. Jackie Connelly claims she knows nothing about it but she is considered a prime suspect.

Lucy Cavanaughand Claude Crawfordare working on a screenplay covering the events at the Titans Hotel. They have interest from a VP at Paramount providing Chantel Crawfordagrees to let baby Seanappear in the film. She’s agreed. Betty Smallwoodbrokered the deal.

The Springfield Bulletin ran the feature on the Hawley family quilt. I never volunteered to write another article for the paper, for which Jon Chappellis very grateful.

Grant Sturgiswas not cheating on his wife. The white Maltese named Aprilreally was the pet of a colleague who had to join Grant on a last-minute business trip. The colleague’s name was Bob and he occasionally wears a red wig and women’s clothing.

Caroline Sturgisis still looking for her big idea and it comes in book three of the Dirty Business mystery series.

This is a work of fiction. There really is a state of Connecticut, a University of Connecticut, a Merritt Parkway, and a corpse flower. The corpse flower, by the way, is a magnificent plant, and if there’s one blooming anywhere near you, you should check it out. Most everything else just exists between my two ears; any similarity to actual people, places, laws, tribes, etc., is purely accidental.