The 9mil went off somehow and the slug caught him in the leg.’ Her version was close enough to the truth, so I didn’t correct her. Actually the dr...nk was trying to shoot the frozen rookie. I pulled the gun down but it went off. The rookie got a merit badge and I got retired. A pretty good trade, since I was burned out anyway. I was in the parking lot when I heard her call my name again. ‘Ruth, I don’t want to let this fish get cold.’ I said turning to her. ‘Are you going to reopen Maude’s. " This is somewhat of an obsession for you?" Not an obsession, but a favourite study object." Might I assume that you felt quite justified in your interest by the recent events?" You assume correctly. Had it not been for my regimen of hardening myself against the poison I should have suffered a fatal poisoning at my wife's hands."Sir Archibald looked expectantly at the Serjeant who nodded."The witness will refrain from any such accusations. It is for this court to establish the guilt of the. "So that means after you're married you'll be a foster mother," Nancy said as her tone lowered. "You hardly seem older than Ricky to me."Di smiled through her anxiety. "It's just good genes. I'm older than I look," she said with a conspiratorial whisper."Well, if you've stumbled on the fountain of youth, help a sister out and share the secret!" Nancy had a lovely laugh that prompted Di to join her."You don't need it. You don't look nearly old enough to have a grown son." Bill and I started. " Thanks honey."The rest of the day went pretty quickly. That night, Tina surprised me by asking if she could go down and do a proper meeting of my wife. I told her to go ahead while I took time to wash the dishes and put things away.I finished the dishes before retiring to the living room with a book that I had been intending to read. It must have been a few hours before I realized that Tina had not returned from the basement.I got up and cautiously headed down to the basement. I opened the.