Christmas Awakening

Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. When a loved one dies, its normal to want answers, Miss Leonard, the police chief drawled. He stopped near the break in the boxwood hedge that opened to the Jenkins Cove Chapels redbrick walkway, as if he couldnt wait to get out of the graveyard or maybe just away from Marie. But sometimes you got to accept that accidents happen.Accept? Marie gripped a damp tissue in her fist. Maybe she could accept, if her fathers death really was an accident.She focused on the arrangement of holly and poinsettia draping Edwin Leonards casket. It was all wrong. The sunny day and cheery Christmas greenery. The sparsity of the blackclad crowd that wandered away from the graveside now that theyd offered their condolences. And most of all, the words coming from the chiefs mouth. I know youve ruled my fathers death an accident, Chief Hammer. Id like to know what led you to that conclusion.What led me? The police chief drew up to his full height, what little there was of it.A squat, bulldog of a man, Charles Hammer had struck Marie as lazy, ever since hed poopooed her report of boys smoking marijuana back when she was a sophomore at Jenkins Cove High. His quickness to dismiss her fathers death as an accident before he knew all the circumstances just underscored that impression. Obviously nothing had changed in the ten years since shed left Marylands Eastern Shore. Why do you think it was an accident?His mouth curved into a patronizing smile. The evidence of accidental death is pretty clear in your fathers case. In fact, nothing suggests it was anything but an accident. He was walking on the dock at night. He slipped and hit his head on the rocks along the shoreline. Accidental drowning. Pure and simple.It couldnt have happened that way.I know. He shook his head slowly, his bald scalp catching the suns rays. It seems so random.Tension radiated up Maries neck, fueling the headache that throbbed behind her eyes. No, thats not it. It couldnt have happened the way you said. Its not possible.He peered down his pudgy nose. Thats what our evidence indicates.The evidence is wrong.Evidence is never wrong.Then the way youre looking at it is wrong.He drew in his chin, making himself look like an offended old lady. Or a turtle. What do you do for a living, Miss Leonard?Im a philosophy professor.He grinned as if that explained everything. Well, Im a police chief. I deal in hard evidence, not silly theories. Ive investigated deaths before. Have you?She let out a frustrated breath. Her father had always warned her about her lack of tact. She should have tiptoed around the chiefs ego. Flattered him. Buttered him up. Then he would probably be more open to her ideas. Instead, shed turned him into an enemy.She stared up at the spire of the gray stone church shed attended as a kid. Im sorry. Theres just something you dont understand.I understand the evidence. And in your fathers case, that evidence clearly says accidental drowning.She leveled her gaze back on the chief. Thats what Im trying to tell you. My father never would have accidentally drowned.Your father hit his head. Even Olympic champions cant swim when theyre unconscious.My father couldnt swim. Not a stroke.Then how can you find accidental drowning impossible?She tried to swallow the thickness in her throat.Because he was deathly afraid of the water. He never would have gone near it.The chief looked unimpressed. He edged closer to the redbrick path between the boxwood. Im sorry, Miss Leonard. Facts are facts. Your father did go near the water that night. The case is closed. Im sorry for your loss.The finality of his words struck her like a kick to the sternum. She watched him amble down the path and join the last of the funeralgoers milling along Main Street.The man from the funeral parlor eyed her from beside her fathers casket, waiting for her to leave