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letter should arrive at your address tomorrow, sometime between ten and twelve.”
    Now Sookie really was baffled. Why would anybody in Texas besending Lenore a letter? “Is this from the Gem Shopping Network? Are they in Texas? Has she ordered more scatter pins? I hope not. She has over a hundred now.”
    “No, ma’am.”
    “Is it from Barbara Bush? My mother thinks they have a lot in common, and she’s always writing the poor woman, asking her to come down for a visit. I said, ‘Mother, Barbara Bush is far too busy to come all the way down here, just to go to lunch with you.’ ”
    “No, ma’am, it’s not from Mrs. Bush.”
    “Oh … well, is it a telephone bill? Has she called somebody and reversed the charges again? If so, I apologize in advance. We have a wonderful nurse watching her, but she must have turned her back for five minutes. Anyway, I’m so sorry, and tell whoever she’s called that we will be happy to pay for it.”
    There was a pause, and then the man said, “Mrs. Poole, we have a registered letter we are sending out overnight, and I just need to confirm that someone will be home tomorrow who is authorized to sign for it.”
    Sookie’s heart stopped. A
registered
letter! Oh, no. That always meant something legal. Sookie winced as she asked the dreaded question. “Sir, when you use the term, ‘we,’ are you by chance a law firm?”
    “I’m sorry, Mrs. Poole, but I’m not at liberty to discuss it over the phone.”
    Oh, God, it must be something serious, if the man can’t even discuss it over the phone. “Listen … I’m so sorry. What is your name?”
    “Harold, ma’am.”
    “Listen, Harold, is it about some editorial she’s written? She watches the news and gets herself all riled up, and she’s always spouting off about something. But believe me, if my mother has made any threats against the government or said anything stupid, I can assure you that she’s a perfectly harmless old lady. Well, harmless as far as not being armed or anything. She’s just not quite right, if you know what I mean. It’s a family trait. You just have to know the Simmonses. They are all a little off. She has a brother and sister that are really off. You have no idea how much trouble the woman has caused. She’s almost eighty-nine years old, and she won’t go to assisted living, and she refusesto let us put in a walk-in tub for her, and I worry to death about her falling and breaking a hip.” She sighed. “I’m sorry to be so upset. It’s just that my poor husband and I have just gone through four weddings, and my little birds won’t go around to the front yard. I’m just being overrun by blue jays, and another lawsuit is just not what I need right now. My nerves are all a jangle as it is. Can’t you tell me what it’s about?”
    “I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m not authorized to give out any information over the phone.”
    “Oh, please, Harold, don’t drag this out. You don’t know me, but I really could go off the deep end at any moment. It’s the Simmons family curse. It hit Uncle Baby overnight. One day, president of a bank, and the next, off weaving baskets over at Pleasant Hill. And Aunt Lily was perfectly fine and then for no reason, she shot at the paperboy. Thank God, she didn’t hit him or she could be sitting in jail right now, instead of where she is.”
    “As I said, Mrs. Poole, you will be receiving the letter in the morning.”
    “Oh, Harold, can’t you just open it up and read it to me now? I don’t need to know all the details, just how much she’s being sued for. We just went through our entire retirement account for a down payment for a house for our daughter Le Le and her husband. He’s perfectly nice, but he plays the zither for a living.”
    “Oh …”
    “Yes … that’s what we said. But she loves him, so what can you do? Anyhow, we are mortgaged up to the hilt. Can’t you at least tell me how much my mother is being sued for, so I can be prepared?