Chapters (26)
She stared at the floor for a moment. "Tony said... last night he mentioned that he might want to go to the funeral. Do you think he should? I mean, does that seem like a good idea to you?"
"I don't know, Mrs. Westfall. That's way out of my line. Why don't you ask his therapist?"
"I tried, but he's out of town until tomorrow. I don't want Tony any more upset than he is."
"He's going to feel what he feels. You can't control that. Maybe it's something he has to go through."
"That's what Ferrin says, but I'm not sure."
"What's the story on the migraines? How long has that been going on?"
"Since the accident. He had one last night as a matter of fact. It's not your fault," she added hastily. "His head started bothering him about an hour after he got home. He threw up every twenty minutes or so from midnight until almost four A.M. We finally had to take him over to the emergency room at St. Terry's. They gave him a shot and that put him out, but he woke up a little while ago and he's talking now about going to the funeral. Did he mention it to you?"
"Not at all. I told him Daggett was dead, but he didn't react much at the time, except to say he was glad. Is he well enough to go?"
"He will be, I think. The migraines are odd. One minute you think he's never going to pull out of it and the next minute he's on his feet and starving to death. It happened last Friday night."
"Friday?" I said. The night of Daggett's death.
"That episode wasn't quite as bad. When he came home from school, he knew he was on the verge of a headache. We tried to get some medication down him to head it off, but no luck. Anyway, he pulled out of it after a while and I ended up fixing him two meatloaf sandwiches in the kitchen at two A.M. He was fine. Of course, he had another headache on Tuesday, and then the one last night. Two the week before that. Ferrin thinks maybe his going to the funeral will have some symbolic significance. You know, finish it off for him and •set him free."
"That's always possible."
"Would Barbara Daggett object?"
"I don't see why she would," I said. "I suspect she feels as guilty as her father did, and she's offered to help."
"I guess I'll see how he's doing when I get home, then," she said. She glanced at her watch. "I better go."