Chapter 4
Ann found that Rosie was very easy to get along with. Rosie and Brenda became fast friends and Ann was starting to feel slighted because Rosie had Brenda's attention more than she did. Rosie would read the newspaper to Brenda every day and Brenda would listen and make comments just like she understood everything that Rosie read to her.
The only problems that Ann had with Rosie were about her medicines. Rosie just couldn't seem to remember taking her medicine and would insist that it was time for one medicine or the other. Ann began to keep a log of the medicines and the times that Rosie took the medicine. Ann made it a point to fill out the log in front of Rosie. After the first few days Rosie stopped questioning Ann about the medicines.
Sam had purchased a computer for Rosie so that she could send him e-mails and keep in touch everyday but Rosie seemed to freeze up every time she got on the computer. Ann began to help Rosie so that she could keep in touch with her son. Rosie would tell Ann what she wanted to say to Sam and Ann would type the e-mails for her. After Rosie proofread the e-mails Ann would send them to Sam.
After about two weeks Rosie called Ann into the living room while Brenda was taking a nap. She asked Ann to sit with her a while and talk to her.
"Ann I've noticed that you haven't talked to anyone from home since you've been here. I know that someone is worried about you. Don't you think that you should let someone know where you are?"
Ann looked down at her hands, "I'm so afraid that some of the people that are after my husband will find me that I've been afraid to call my parents."
Rosie patted her hand, "Ann, it isn't fair to the people that love you to just drop off the face of the earth. Please call your parents and let them know you're alive."
Ann nodded her head and Rosie reached over to the end table and picked up the cordless phone that she kept next to her chair. She handed the phone to Ann and smiled.
Ann dialed her mother's phone number and waited for an answer. The answering machine came on and Ann was about to hang up the phone when she heard her mother answer the phone.
"Mother, this is Ann. I'm in Alexandria, Virginia and I'm Ok."
Ann heard her mother gasp, "Oh thank God. We didn't know if you were dead or not. Ann, the police are looking for you. Detective Olsen is here right now asking questions to see if we had any idea where you were."
"Why are the police looking for me?" Ann asked.
Ann heard a noise in the phone. For a second there was no answer. Then a man's voice came on the line.
"Is this Ann Simmons?" the man said.
Ann hesitated before answering, not sure if the person on the phone was really a detective, "Yes this is Ann Simmons. Who is this?"
"This is Detective Olsen. Mrs. Simmons do you know what happened to you husband?"
Again Ann hesitated, "No, what trouble is he in now. I left him two weeks ago after he ran out and left me with two men that were after him."
The detective started to speak quietly, "Mrs. Simmons please sit down. I have some bad news."
Ann sat down knowing in her heart what the detective was going to tell her, "I'm sitting down, sir."
"Mrs. Simmons, your husband was murdered 8 days ago. He was beaten to death. There was a witness who got the license plate of the car the men were driving that did that to him, so we got them. The men have a lawyer and are not cooperating at all. We have no idea why they murdered your husband. Please tell me where you are so that we can talk to you."
Ann sat the phone down in her lap and stared straight ahead, oblivious to her surroundings. Rosie started calling her name and Ann didn't respond to her. Rosie reached over and retrieved the phone and asked who was on the line. After finding out that it was the detective, she began to explain why Ann wasn't talking to him. Rosie gave the detective her address and phone number and listened as the detective gave her instructions. After she was satisfied that she had the instructions right she said goodbye and hung up the phone.
Rosie patted her hand, "Are you Ok Ann?"
Ann looked at Rosie and wailed, "I didn't know. Honest, I didn't know. Why did they have to kill Ray?"
Rosie got up and went over to Ann and hugged her, "The detective said not to leave the house. He said that he would fly down tomorrow and question you. Why don't you go upstairs and lay down for awhile?"
Ann shook her head, "No, I have to think. What am I going to do about Ray? I have to contact someone about funeral arraignments."
"Ann, let's wait until the detective gets here tomorrow. He'll know what we have to do."
There was a knock on the door. Ann looked at Rosie and then got up and walked to the door. When she opened the door there was a uniformed policeman at the door.
"Are you Mrs. Ann Simmons?" the policeman asked.
"Yes sir, I am," she replied.
"Mrs. Simmons, we'd like to ask that you not leave the house until the detectives from New York question you tomorrow."
Ann assured him that she wouldn't leave the house and the policeman walked back to his car. Ann walked back into the house and sat down next to Rosie again. She looked out the window and saw that the patrol car was sitting in front of the house and the policeman was watching the house. She knew that she would be taken to the station if she attempted to leave the house.
The rest of the day went by like a blur. Rosie took care of Brenda and tried to console Ann. Rosie and Ann sat up most of the night talking quietly.
Rosie went to bed about midnight and Ann went to the couch and tried to sleep. About 4:00 o'clock in the morning she finally fell asleep. Brenda woke her up at 8:00 o'clock in the morning.
The morning dragged by slowly and Ann saw that the patrol car was still in front of the house although she could tell that it was not the same policeman that knocked on the door the day before.
A little after noon there was a knock on the door. When Ann answered the door a man about 55 years old was standing at the door. He introduced himself as Detective Olsen; showing Ann his New York policeman's badge. Ann invited him in and took him into the living room and introduced him to Rosie and Brenda.
After they were seated Detective Olsen started to speak, "Mrs. Simmons, I'm sorry that I had to let you know of Ray's death over the phone. We've been looking for you for a week and we thought that maybe you were dead. As I told you over the phone, we have no idea why those men killed your husband. Of course, they deny that they had anything to do with it."
Ann looked at Detective Olsen, "Where is Ray's body. When will his body be released to me?"
Detective Olsen started to look uncomfortable, "Mrs. Simmons, your husbands family had his funeral two days ago. No one knew where you were or if you were even alive. His family has been saying that you are the reason that Ray was murdered. How long have you been in Alexandria?"
Ann told him the whole story about being raped and leaving New York without even having a destination and how she wound up as Rosie's caregiver. Detective Olsen kept looking at Rosie as if to see if she agreed with the facts that Ann giving to the detective. He wrote every fact that she gave him in a notebook. When she had told him everything, he went over every fact again and again a third time.
Detective Olsen stood up, "Mrs. Simmons, at least we know why your husband was killed now. I hope that you'll be available to testify when the trial starts. You don't have any plans to move again do you?"
Ann assured him that she was going to stay with Rosie and that she would testify if she were called to testify. Detective Olsen left the house and stopped to talk to the policeman sitting in front of the house. When the detective got into his car the patrol car pulled away and left.
Ann turned to Rosie, "Why do Ray's parents think that I was the reason that he was murdered?"
Rosie handed her the phone, "Talk to them and find out. I'm sure that you want to know where Ray is buried and such."
Ann dialed the phone and Ray's father answered the phone. When Ann identified herself he immediately started to yell at her and ask if the police had arrested her yet.
Ann finally calmed him down, "Mr. Simmons, why do you say that I'm the reason that Ray was murdered?"
Ray's father started screaming into the phone, "If you had been there for Ray and been supportive of him he'd be alive today. You could have gotten a job and helped out. No, you got married and then retired. If you had come to us before Ray was murdered we would have helped. I wish that Ray had never met you."
Ann was stunned at the vile words coming out of her father-in-law's mouth, "Mr. Simmons that is unfair. I'm not the reason that Ray started gambling."
Her father-in-law kept yelling into the phone, not making much sense and blaming Ann for everything that went wrong in the marriage.
When he finally stopped ranting Ann asked, "Mr. Simmons, where is Ray buried?"
"You selfish bitch, can't you let him rest in peace. We paid for the funeral so you don't have to worry about that. Just leave him rest in peace."
"Mr. Simmons, Ray has a $10,000 policy where he works. It's part of the benefit package. I'll pay you back for what you put out for Ray's funeral."
"Are you trying to be funny or don't you really know that he was fired two weeks before he was murdered. There is no insurance."
Ann heard him slam the phone down and she stared at the phone for several minutes. Rosie reached over and took the phone from her. Ann dropped into the chair and stared at the wall. Ann's father-in-law had been talking so loud that Rosie heard most of what he was saying.
Rosie asked Ann to bring the two of them a hot tea so that they could talk. They sat and talked until midnight, stopping only when Brenda needed care. Rosie was very wise and convinced Ann that her father-in-law didn't really mean what he said that it was only grief talking.
"Ann, let it go. Ray is gone from your life now and you have to move on for Brenda's sake. Now go into the kitchen and bring the Southern Comfort in here and bring a Coke for yourself. The Coke will make the Southern Comfort go down easier."
Ann looked at Rosie strangely. Rosie motioned with her hands for Ann to get moving and Ann went into the kitchen and brought back a Coke for herself and the Southern Comfort. Rosie made Ann get two shot glasses from the hutch in the dining room. Rosie poured half a shot for herself and a double for Ann.
"Drink it Dear," She told Ann, "Chase it with the Coke. It's 100 proof."
When Ann downed the fiery liquid she choked a little and quickly sipped the Coke. Rosie poured another double and shoved it toward Ann. Ann looked at Rosie and Rosie motioned for her to drink it. They started talking and the whiskey started to work it's way into Ann's bloodstream. The next thing she remembered was waking up the next morning with Brenda, standing next to her, telling her that she wanted breakfast. Rosie was sitting in her chair grinning like the Cheshire cat.
Over the next several months Ann tried to put what had happened behind her and she and Brenda and Rosie settled into a very good life together. Rosie was very easy to live with and delighted in telling Brenda how life was when she was a little girl. Brenda enjoyed listening to Rosie's stories.
Ann received a call from Detective Olsen about six months after she had talked to him and he told her that the two men that had murdered Ray had been released because the witness refused to testify. There was no proof that Ann was raped or that she had even seen the men in her home, so the men couldn't be prosecuted for raping her. Ann knew that she could never go back to New York.
Ann had very little contact with her parents. They seemed very cool whenever she called them. She surmised that Ray's parents were telling her parents that if Ann had been a better wife Ray wouldn't have been murdered. Ann knew that her parents were in awe of anyone with money and her parents had always felt that if someone with money said something it had to be true.
A little over two years after Ann had started taking care of Rosie she came down stairs to find that Rosie had died peacefully in her sleep during the night. Ann called 911 and Rosie was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. Ann called Sam and he began to make the funeral arraignments from his home in California. He flew in the next day with his family.
Sam and his family refused Ann's offer to make room at Rosie's for
his family and they stayed in a hotel. After the funeral Sam told Ann
that he had to talk to her and he made an appointment to talk to her
that evening. He showed up at the house about 7:00 o'clock.