As they crossed the property line between Mrs. Harken’s and Mrs. Miller’s, Miss Lancombe said, “Mrs. Miller is watching us from the window.”
Mrs. Miller was sitting in a chair in a room upstairs in her house. Sheriff Connor could clearly see her. He could also see that she was looking at them through binoculars.
Mrs. Miller watched the three people approaching her house. When she saw that they had seen her, she closed the curtain. After a moment she opened the curtain just enough for one lens of the binoculars to peek through, then slowly opened the curtain wide enough for the second lens. The lenses were just above the window sill. Miss Lancombe and Sheriff Connor could clearly see the binoculars.
“Does she think we can't see her?” asked Sheriff Connor.
“I think so,” replied Miss Lancombe.
“What's happening?” asked Dr. Davis.
“She was looking at us through the window,” explained Miss Lancombe, “but when she saw that we saw her, she ducked out of sight. Then she slowly reappeared with her binoculars just above the window sill, and she's watching us.”
“Excellent!” exclaimed Dr. Davis. “We're going to get some good information here. Let's go!”
At Mrs. Miller’s front door, they heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs before anyone had knocked. The footsteps got to the bottom of the stairs, and then approached the front door. Then there was silence.
The three visitors waited, but there were no further sounds. Miss Lancombe knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
“Mrs. Miller, it’s Susie Lancombe. I’m here with Sheriff Connor and Dr. Davis. Could we talk to you for a minute?”
They heard the sound of a chain being unhooked, then the deadbolt being opened. Mrs. Miller opened the door.
“Mrs. Miller, you know Sheriff Connor, don't you?”
“Yes. Hello Sheriff.”
“Mrs. Miller,” said the sheriff, tipping his hat toward her.
“And this is Dr. Davis,” said Miss Lancombe. “He's the county's medical examiner.”
“I'm not dead yet! Who told you I was dead?” wondered Mrs. Miller, a little bit upset that someone would say such a thing. At seventy years of age, she thought about death often enough without having other people wish it on her.
“No one, ma'am,” said Dr. Davis, his voice kind and friendly. “You're clearly very much alive, I'm glad to note. We'd like to talk to you about your neighbor, Mrs. Harken. May we come in?”
Mrs. Miller hesitated. She looked at Miss Lancombe, who smiled at her.
After a moment of thought, Mrs. Miller decided it was safe to let them in.
“Of course, of course. Where are my manners? Please, step in.”
The three visitors entered the house. They followed Mrs. Miller to her living room.
“Please sit down,” said Mrs. Miller. “Let me fix you something to eat.”
“That’s very kind of you,” said Sheriff Connor, “but we really don’t have time to eat.”
“Nonsense. Sit down and make yourselves at home. It’ll just take a minute.”
“Would you like some help, Mrs. Miller?” asked Miss Lancombe.
“No thank you, sweetie. I’ve still got a little energy left in these old bones.”
Mrs. Miller left the room.
“Susie, are you sure Mrs. Harken isn’t right about Mrs. Miller?” asked Dr. Davis.
“Mrs. Miller may be a little eccentric, but she's always seemed to me like a sweet old lady.”
They heard the sound of a can opener.
“Are you sure you don't want any help, Mrs. Miller?” called out Miss Lancombe.
“I'll be right there!” was the elderly lady’s reply.
They heard the clattering of silverware, and Mrs. Miller returned carrying a tray. On it there was a pitcher of lemonade, some paper cups, a sleeve of crackers, and an opened can of paté cat food. The pitcher had a few bits of unidentifiable dried food stuck to the side, and there was a butter knife next to the cat food. This side of the butter knife looked clean, but neither the sheriff nor Miss Lancombe would have taken a bet on the other side being clean too. Mrs. Miller set the tray down on the coffee table.
“There you go. Help yourselves to some lemonade. And the treat spread is delicious on crackers. It's salmon flavored.”
“That’s very kind of you, Mrs. Miller,” said Dr. Davis. “I’d love some lemonade.”
“No you wouldn’t,” said the sheriff. “You said you had a bladder problem, remember?”
“A bladder problem?” Dr. Davis knew that Sheriff Connor wouldn’t have said that if he hadn’t had a good reason to. “Oh – yes -- “
Dr. Davis sniffed the air. “The treat smells like – like --”
“Yes, it smells like delicious salmon,” the sheriff said, “but I’m afraid we’re all vegetarians.”
“Yes,” said Miss Lancombe. “I’m so sorry we forgot to tell you that, Mrs. Miller. I hope you won’t think we’re rude.”
“All three of you are vegetarians?” asked Mrs. Miller. She wasn’t sure she’d ever met a vegetarian before, and here were three of them. What a strange coincidence, she thought to herself.
“Yes,” said Sheriff Connor, “so I’m afraid we’ll have to pass on your delicious treat spread. The reason we came over here was to ask about your neighbor, Mrs. Harken.”
“Is this about the head she got in the mail?”
“Yes,” said Dr. Davis. “How did you hear about that, Mrs. Miller?”
“Oh, news travels fast in this county. I'm sure just about everyone knows about it by now.”
“I suppose they do,” agreed the doctor. “What can you tell us about Mrs. Harken?”
Mrs. Miller sat down. “Well,” she said, “I don't like to say bad things about anyone, BUT – that woman is a whore.”
“A whore?” asked Dr. Davis.
“Yes. When her husband is away, she gets several men who visit. There's the mailman, who stays for twenty or so minutes when Mrs. Harken's husband is out of town. And there are late night visitors, and sometimes the man who delivers the newspaper. I have a notebook upstairs. Would you like to see my notebook?”
“That would be very helpful, Mrs. Miller,” said Dr. Davis.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot you can’t see. I didn’t mean – ”
“It’s okay, Mrs. Miller,” said Dr. Davis. “I can’t see it, but if you would let the Sheriff or Miss Lancombe look at it, we would appreciate it very much.”
Mrs. Miller slowly stood up.
Miss Lancombe said, “Would you like me to get it for you?”
“Oh, yes dear. You're so sweet. It’s in the first bedroom on the left, near the window.”
Mrs. Miller slowly sat back down. Miss Lancombe went upstairs to get the notebook.
She entered the bedroom and saw a chair by the window. Next to the chair there was a trashcan which contained empty cans of deviled ham, spam, and cat food, along with some saltine wrappers. The notebook was on the chair, and there were food stains on the top page. Miss Lancombe picked it up by the spiral wire that held the pages together, then she went back downstairs.
Miss Lancombe entered the living room again.
“That's it! You found it.”
Miss Lancombe handed the notebook to Sheriff Connor, who handled it delicately, trying to avoid touching the food stains.
“How long have you been keeping notes, Mrs. Miller?” asked the sheriff.
“Maybe nine months. When Mrs. Harken's visitors got to be too much for me to remember, I started writing them down. They're listed by date and time.”
“I see that,” said the sheriff. “It's very impressive.”
“Why, thank you.”
“What do you see for last Monday?” asked Dr. Davis.
“Oh, I remember that day,” said Mrs. Miller. “That's the day a new man showed up. Also, the mailman didn't pay his usual visit. He sat and stared at the stranger's car for several minutes, then drove on.”
“Sheriff,” said Dr. Davis, “would you show her the drivers license, please?”
The sheriff pulled out the bag with the wallet and handed it to Miss Lancombe. Miss Lancombe put on the latex gloves she had used at Mrs. Harken’s, and she took out the license. She held it up for Mrs. Miller to see.”
“Do you recognize this man?” asked Miss Lancombe.
“Why, yes. That’s him. He wasn’t the one who got his head cut off, was he?”
“I’m afraid so,” said Sheriff Connor.
Miss Lancombe put the license back in the wallet, then put the wallet back in the plastic bag. She handed the bag to the sheriff.
“Mrs. Miller, do you mind if I take this notebook with me?” asked Sheriff Connor.
“Will I get it back?”
“Of course. It may be a while if we need it for evidence, but you'll eventually get it back. If you like, I can have a copy made and bring the copy by tomorrow.”
“All right, then. But I’ll still get the original back when you’re through with it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Dr. Davis stood up. Sheriff Connor and Miss Lancombe stood up also.
“Mrs. Miller, you've been very helpful,” said Dr. Davis. “Thank you.”
“Always glad to help. And if you're ever in the neighborhood and just want to visit, I'm always up for company. Not the same way Mrs. Harken is, but I love to chat.”
“You're very kind, Mrs. Miller,” said Miss Lancombe.
“Thank you, sweetie.”
The visitors headed for the door.
Dr. Drew interviewed Scott Adams recently, and Scott Adams mentioned the absurdity that Republicans went to overthrow the government on Jan 6, but they neglected to bring their guns. On the first or second anniversary of the event, that alleged oversight made the narrative appear absurd to me, so I made a "video" that was supposed to be audio from January 6, captured on a video camera from which the lens cap had not been removed. I'm posting it again just because.
While I was waiting on hold to talk with a human at the IRS, I decided to put some food out for the dogs. I set the full bag of dog food on a chair, and walked away to get the bowls. When I turned around I saw the bag slowly tipping over, spilling much of its contents onto the floor. Fortunately I had help cleaning it up.
The main task for today is to begin revising McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader. It may take a couple of weeks, possibly more. I still have to work at Publix, and next week I start a new job in the memory care unit of a rehab/nursing home facility, and I'll also be working at Publix at least one night.
After that I'll take a look at the double-slit experiment, and see if there is an interpretation that is consistent with my theory of wave physics.
Also, I came across the attached meme, which I had created two or three years (or so) ago. I thought I'd include it because I still like it.
I recently proposed a theory of matter and energy called Wave Physics. In this theory, the only things in the universe are energy and the universal membrane, which is the medium through which all energy is transfered and stored.
Tonight I realized that according to this theory, everyone and everything in the universe are connected to each other at all times. Things that would be impossible according to the standard model of particle physics, are very possible in the universe of wave physics. Psychic transmissions and the power of prayer are physically possible and make sense if the universe works in any way like the theory I proposed.
If you've ever heard the phone ring and felt sure who it was before answering it, and were proven correct, this makes sense in wave physics, but not with particle physics. If you've ever looked intently at someone, and had that person quickly turn and look directly at you (I have), that phenomenon makes sense if all of us are parts of the same vast, ...
I was only scheduled to work three days this week, so I decided to work on a theory I'd been playing around with for fun over the last few years. I'd never been a big fan of the standard model of particle physics, so a few years ago, just for fun, I thought about exploring some alternate ideas, with zero training and zero experiments.
This week I wrapped up a few loose ends, and posted it to a community I created called Wave Physics. Originally I had called it Alternative Physics, but I changed my mind, so the link still has alternativephysics in it, but the community name is Wave Physics. I'd love for people to pay $5.00 a month to tell me how wrong I am.
https://alternativephysics.locals.com/
I also posted it on my personal website:
