My Gal Sunday Read Online Free

Fordham.”
    Shipman smiled as he stared distractedly at the empty plate in front of him. “It’s a talent to be admired. And certainly one Arabella didn’t possess.” He shook his head slowly from side to side. “ It’s hard to believe I could have been so foolish.”
    Sunday put her hand on top of his, then said quietly, ”Tommy, certainly there have got to be some extenuating circumstances that will work in your favor. You’ve put in so many years of public service, and you’ve been involved in so many charitable projects. The courts will be looking for anything they can use to soften the sentence — assuming, of course, that there really is one. Henry and I are here to help in any way we can, and we will stay by your side through whatever follows.”
    Henry Britland placed his hand firmly on Shipman’s shoulder. “ That’s right, old friend, we are here for you. Just ask, and we will try to make it happen. But before we can do anything, we need to know what really did happen here. We had heard that Arabella had broken up with you, so why was she here that night?”
    Shipman did not answer immediately. “She just dropped in,” he said evasively.
    “Then you weren’t expecting her?” Sunday asked quickly.
    He hesitated. “Uh . . . no . . . no, I wasn’t.”
    Henry leaned forward. “Okay, Tom, but as Will Rogers said, ‘All I know is just what I read in the papers.’ According to the media accounts, you had phoned Arabella earlier in the day and begged her to talk to you. She had come over that evening around nine.”
    “That’s right,” he replied without explanation.
    Henry and Sunday exchanged worried glances. Clearly there was something that Tom wasn’t telling them.
    “What about the gun?” Henry asked. “Frankly, I was startled to hear that you even had one, and especially that it was registered in your name. You were such a staunch supporter of the Brady Bill, and were considered an enemy by the NRA. Where did you keep it?”
    “Truthfully, I had totally forgotten I even had it,” Shipman said tonelessly. “I got it when we first moved here, and it had been in the back of my safe for years. Then coincidentally I noticed it there the other day, right after hearing that the town police were having a drive to get people to exchange guns for toys. So I just took it out of the safe and had left it lying on the library table, the bullets beside it. I had planned to drop it off at the police station the next morning. Well, they got it all right, just not in the way I had planned.”
    Sunday knew that she and Henry were sharing the same thought. The situation was beginning to look particularly bad: not only had Tom shot Arabella, but he had loaded the gun after her arrival.
    “Tom, what were you doing before Arabella got here?” Henry asked.
    The couple watched as Shipman considered the question before answering: “I had been at the annual stockholders’ meeting of American Micro. It had been an exhausting day, exacerbated by the fact that I had a terrible cold. My housekeeper, Lillian West, had dinner ready for me at seven-thirty. I ate only a little and then went directly upstairs because I still wasn’t feeling well. In fact, I even had chills, so I took a long, hot shower; then I got into bed. I hadn’t been sleeping well for several nights, so I took a sleeping pill. Then I was awakened — from a very sound sleep, I must say — when Lillian knocked on my door to tell me that Arabella was downstairs to see me.”
    “So you came back downstairs?”
    “Yes. I remember that Lillian was just leaving as I came down, and that Arabella was already in the library.”
    “Were you pleased to see her?”
    Shipman paused for a moment before answering. “No, I was not. I remember that I was still groggy from the sleeping pill and could hardly keep my eyes open. Also I was angry that after ignoring my phone calls, she had simply decided to appear without warning. As you may remember, there is