A Knock On The Door

Doris sat in her bed looking at some old photos in her albums .
She loved looking back at the old  photos  .
Her husband never returned from the war and was buried far across the sea .
She always missed the way he used to smile at her .
If only things could have stayed the same but she couldn’t change the past and that terrible day when her works had been torn  apart .
The day he left her , was the day she lost her heart and living without him was difficult but she had to bed strong . They never had any children . All she had was herself .
A knock came to the front door downstairs so Doris got out of bed and went walking down the stairs slowly to answer the door knock  . 
She had way using her walking stick while holding  on to the bannister like she had been doing everyday since her fall a few months ago . 
Her mobility now wasn’t the best and her eyesight had seen better  days .  Every morning her home care helper would arrive to assist Doris with the housework  and anything else that needed to be done .
Doris was finding it hard now to do the everyday things that needed to be done . Her life was much different now .
When she finally got to the bottom of the stairs the old mantle piece clock rung out seven times .
She started to unbolt the seven latches on the door and then opens the door .
Her home help lady made her way into the house and started to make some breakfast .
Doris sat down on the armchair and said good morning to the woman in her kitchen .

“ Thank you for everything you do for me . Isn’t it a lovely day  ?”
The  home help  never responded and Doris switched the TV on .

In about five minutes the home care lady placed some toast and a cup of tea on the kitchen table and said ,
“I’ll go make the bed upstairs while you’re  having breakfast .“

Then left Doris downstairs on a world of her own  .  
The one help was spaced out , miles high on something .
She made the bed quickly before opening the door of the tall wardrobe where Doris had hidden away the handbags .
Inside all the handbags there  was paper money all rolled up by a rubber band into small parcels that were put into some plastic  bags . 
For many years  Doris had been putting away her fortnightly pension money  inside those handbags at the bottom of her wardrobe in her bedroom.
It made her feel safe and secure because she never trusted banks . 
The home help girl  had accidently discovered the money stash one day by accident when she was putting away some of Doris’s clothes .
Now since that day each time she visited Doris, she would take a few bundles of  the money from one of the handbags . 
The stolen money was funding  her drug addiction and Doris was none the wiser . She had never needed to use any of her emergency money and so Doris had  never bothered to check how much money was there in her stash .
The home help opened the bedroom windows up and as she did she seen women and men going off to work with all their day still ahead of them and so many things to do .  Out there on the 
road she saw a man walk down the street . He was wearing a soldiers uniform and stopping . outside Doris’s front gate then he  looked up and pointed his finger at the home care lady then walked away .
The home help finished her work and walked out the front door and then on  through  the streets to her next client .
 
Doris returned to her bed and continued to look at her photo albums remembering  all the years she had spent with Malcolm  in the golden years of her life .
Her life had moved on and she had found peace .
The next time the home help arrived she knocked repeatedly on the front door but there was answer .
She informed her employer who also rang and due to the fact there was no next of kin the police were notified .
When  eventually they were able to gain access to the home Doris was found on the floor in her bedroom beside the wardrobe deceased . 
A large envelope addressed to the police was found on the bed .
In the envelope recordings of CCTV footage had been captured 
that showed the home help person stealing money from the handbags . The care worker was sacked and police proceedings had begun .

Doris was laid to rest and on the day of her funeral there was only
one person who attended .
A man dressed in an army uniform who stood by her grave .
He never spoke to anyone and as soon as the coffin was placed in the grave . He seemed to disappear .
Police who had  investigated the case discovered the fingerprints on the handbag matched those of the home care lady who was charged and convicted of theft 
Further investigations by the police had discovered evidence that she had tampered with the administration of insulin two clients in her care .
Those two clients had passed away with a substantial amount of money missing from their bank accounts which was never recovered . On further investigation the police were able to proverbs care worker was guilty of murder and further theft of large amounts of money that she she had taken from the people that were put into her care . The care worker had an accomplice , her partner who was also using narcotics .
Both the care worker and her partner were imprisoned for 25 years .

The End 

By Paul McCann
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