Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 121

Bob POV

The day had been exhausting and emotional, and I was hit harder than I thought I would be. I was amazed by how bad she looked when I viewed Wendy's body. We did not waste money on making her look presentable, and I have seen many dead bodies before, but this was still a shock.

I had loved Wendy before she started cheating on me, or should I say before I woke up to the fact that she was cheating on me. Her face was a mess, old bruising and new damage combined, and you could hardly recognize her; we had requested, not trying to pretty her up; she was a black soul who did not deserve to look good as she went to a fiery end. We left her in the clothes that the hospital had dressed her in, the old bloodied outfit from Sun Valley that they did not want back. She was already dead, so she went straight to the mortuary for the post-mortem. It was somewhat wrong of me not to give her something better. I would not travel to Cynthia's home and go hunting through the closets to find something for her or Cynthia to wear.

Cynthia's appearance did not move me half as much as Wendy's; Cynthia's face was battered and bruised. It was a vendetta job, and there was no doubt about it. A knock on my door brought me out of my thoughts; I was about to hit the shower.

'Hi, you have not been around much. Is everything okay?' Pam was dressed in jeans, a blue blouse, and bare feet. There was nothing fancy about this chick. But I was not in the mood to be entertained.

'No, actually, I am not, and am not good company tonight either. I replied, holding the door open when I only wanted to slam it shut.

'No, just give me some space. I added softly, but it was not Pam's fault; I was not good company.

'Okay,' she replied gently, and I felt bad for not inviting her in, but I did not want company. Pam had pushed her way into my life, and now she has to see that sometimes I want peace, quiet, and alone time. I shut the door before she was out of view. If she turned to see if I was watching, I did not see it; I honestly did want some time to myself and think.

The sports news was on, discussing injured players and their replacements. As the commentator droned on, I drifted off to find the needed sleep. A loud knock on my front door woke me from my slumber. I stretched and yelled out I was coming when they knocked again.

'Morning. Bethany sang at me as I opened the door, still blurry-eyed and yawning.

'00, we woke you,' she said calmly, lifting the bag of what smelt like a steak sandwich. Behind her, the elevator dinged, and Pam walked out carrying a covered tray. She looked surprised to see Bethany and Theo standing at the door; all of us had turned our heads at the unexpected sound of the elevator.

'Join us for breakfast, Pam. Bethany called out before she could duck back into the elevator and flee. Pam put on a fake smile and headed towards us. I allowed all three in my home. Bethany placed her bags on the kitchen table, and Pam did the same, working to set out plates and cutlery. I noted that Theo had a large box on the table in the lounge before greeting me. I nodded to the box.

'After breakfast, I don't want to put you off eating! I wondered what that meant, but I was happy to head to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down, took a long sip of coffee, and relaxed as I started unbelievingly at the table. Pam cooked bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, and toast while Bethany pulled out two bacon and egg burgers and two steak and egg burgers. She cut them in half so we could all have some; this was a lot of food for four people.

We ate and talked more. Bethany spoke to Pam about the new baby and the chaotic place. It was good to have regular time with family and friends and have no pressure. Today was relaxing, and tomorrow was sports day at Thomas's house. Time has flown by; I think Bethany has to operate on the first child to get one of her special hearts; somehow, she had worked on a compound that expanded and programmed it to enlarge a little over time, something like a normal heart would. I am still determining how that will work, but I trust she has worked something out; the monkey was the first candidate, and he is doing well. The girl cleared the table, and we headed to the lounge room, where I looked at the box with trepidation.

'Dad, when I left Mum's a few years ago, I took four boxes with me that were supposed to contain all my medical books from my uni days. When I removed the first two books from this box, I found that what was below was not mine; I think you and Pam would like to view them. Bethany pushed the box in my direction, and I stared at it as if it was going to burn me; Pam moved closer but did not dig in until I made a move or permitted her to do so. All eyes were on me, waiting. Taking a deep sigh, I took the first book and opened it. This was the best information I had seen in a while. I grabbed my phone and called Jacko.

'Morning, what does a grump want with me on a Saturday morning before coffee?' Jacko grumbled.

'My place. NOW!' I barked back and hung up the phone, giving him no chance to ask questions. Pam and I took out each book and flicked through the pages as we waited for Jacko; it was less than ten minutes, and he was banging on the door. Theo got up and let him in, and he came into the room like a bull in a china shop, all fired up and ready to fight.

'What the hell? I thought the worst; I broke every speed record to get here; what was so urgent you had to be rude this early in the morning. He was grumpy, and I got the impression he had had a late night at work if his red eyes were anything to go by. 'Take a seat and look at these. Pam and I have sorted them into some order, or at least what we think is an order.' I grumbled back. Bethany had gone to the kitchen to make another round of coffee and heated up some leftover food for Jacko to eat. I presumed he had yet to eat.

'Where did you find this gold mine?' Jacko asked after he flicked through the first book, his face lit up with surprise and glee.

'Bethany had it. She had taken boxes when she first left home and never unloaded them; she just put them in storage. She was looking to see what books to take to the lab and what ones to put on the bookshelf we had just set up in a spare room she had made into an office. When she came across this one, she just had to rush over with it. Theo said, defending Bethany. Vital information for our case was sitting right here, the beginning of both Wendy and her little band of ladies and how when others joined or were dragged in, pieces of the puzzle we thought were never to be found were sitting so close to me every time I visited her, it was so annoying, I even helped her move them once.

'Let me get this right. You had books on top of these, which were your books, so these were hidden in your things?' Jacko was still shocked.

'Yeah, I have no idea how or when they were put there. I left home with lots of help from Wendy and Cynthia. Either of them could have put them there, thinking about it, maybe Cynthia, trying to keep some insurance against Wendy,' I suggested.

'Yeah, I could see that happening. Cynthia liked the power, and Wendy had loads over Cynthia. This is good; we can put them all away now, and they can't put a dead person on the stand, so what we have here is good evidence; well done. I want to take this to our wedding room with your permission.'

'Wedding room?' Theo asked, and I chuckled.

'That is what they have named the room they have set up with all the wedding fraud.' Pam said with a shy smile.

'Yes, take it. We brought it here as soon as I found it. I was unsure if it was any good, but with all the names and dates in there, we took a chance it was something!' Theo was holding onto Bethany. She was a little emotional, and he tried to keep her calm. 'You okay? Bethany?' Jacko asked as tears started to fall.

'One of the books talks about setting me up and ripping me off; I feel so dirty and gullible and hurt deep inside; I have no idea why; how could they do that to me? Now they are dead; I will never know for sure. I never had those memories, and now I have another piece of the puzzle in place; it hurts. I had cried before for the loss of my mother and sister, not remembering all those things they had done to me, and now, I feel they did not deserve those tears.