Sunday, September 22, 2013

It's 11:43 AM and I have finished the Ann Rule book, Too Late To Say Goodbye. It was interesting to the very end, at which point Rule tied up every loose end about each character. The story was true and she followed out every detail about the prosecution's case. It took over two years before they finally traced the murder weapon to the dentist Bart Corbin. The connection was a friend of his in Alabama who gave him the gun, supposedly for self-protection against Jenn his wife. The friend was a very reluctant witness, saying simply that he “didn't want to get involved.” However the police finally found the serial number of the gun on a 911 tape in the Alabama town where the witness lived, and the witness confessed to his local sheriff that he did in fact give Corbin the gun. When Corbin's defense attorneys were informed of that, they asked for a plea agreement. There was no trial. Corbin plead guilty to two charges of murder.

There was a great deal of detail about Corbin and his life. While he was certainly unstable, given to crying jags and rages at both the women, there was no sign that he was irrational – just extremely self-centered, egotistical and lacking in empathy. He lived his life in a coldly logical way. He simply refused to let either woman reject him, which was of course what they both did, and paid for it with their lives. There was also another woman who had a relationship with him and then mysteriously disappeared, but he was not tried for her murder, and it remained unsolved. The result of his pleading guilty was that he was charged with two counts of murder for which he is serving two life sentences. Unfortunately, he is serving them concurrently, so he may at some point get out on parole. One source on the Internet said that the date that he may be up for parole is 2020.

Lunch now. I'm watching “Aqua Kids” on channel 4. The content of the show is interesting to adults as well as teens. I'll watch anything about animals, almost. I don't like the show on Animal Planet that shows the police arresting people for abusing animals. I can't watch animal abuse. I know it goes on, but I don't see how I can help, and some of the things on that particular show are really gruesome. Some people will argue that the Bible says man was given “dominion” over the animal world, and that therefore hurting animals is no crime. The same argument is given for our despoiling the natural environment. It really is a great loss. Once a forest has been cut down a number of bad things happen – we lose the power of plants to clean up the air, the soil begins to erode, animal habitats are destroyed, and we no longer have that sense of peace that walking in the woods can bring. I don't basically believe that man is the measure of all things. We overrate our intelligence and importance when we think that way. Man needs nature to bring out our best personal characteristics, not to mention the very things required for life to continue, breathable air and clean water.

1:24 PM I'm starting a new novel, Creole Belle by James Lee Burke. I've read a number of his and they are all different from each other with fresh new ideas for the plot, and they often contain mystical aspects. He is an American Indian who lives in Missoula, Montana. He has written, according to the cover of this 2012 story, thirty novels and two collections of short stories, won six prizes and has had three of his books made into movies. I look forward to starting this one.

Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcel are best friends – Robicheaux is a sheriff's deputy, and Purcel is an ex-policeman turned PI who work in New Orleans. They are violent and tough talking, but they champion the cause of underdogs. The dialogue is rough with a touch of profanity. A creole woman that some thought was dead has appeared in Robicheaux's hospital room and left him an Ipod that supposedly has her voice on it. This is the only proof he has of her presence among the living. Oddly, no one but Robicheaux can find her voice on the Ipod. There are two underworld types trying to shake down Purcell over an IOU that he paid off within a week of incurring it, so the paper shouldn't have been kept at all. Purcell, who has flashbacks from his time in Vietnam, went into a blackout and beat the man within an inch of his life. I don't see how that is going to solve his IOU problem, but I will continue reading and find out.

Robicheaux has a cat fitting for a tough rogue cop: Tripod the pet raccoon's “buddy Snuggs, our unneutered warrior cat, …. His ears were chewed, his neck thick and hard as a fire hydrant, his body rippling with sinew when he walked. He was fearless in a fight, took no prisoners, and would chase dogs out of the yard if he thought they were a threat to Tripod.”

5:57 I have quit reading and am watching an interview with Cher. She does fascinate me. She is so striking, even now when she is probably 70 years old. I think I'll look her up in Wikipedia. She is one year younger than I am. Her name was Cherilyn Sarkisian. According to Wikipedia, the name Sarkisian is Armenian. Her biography articles on the Net don't say what her ethnic background is. I thought she was part Indian, but it didn't say so. She is dark and has a strong nose. Armenia is a former part of the Soviet Union. Maybe I'll get a biography about her from the library.