Free Blessed are the Merciful by Al Lacy

I’ll have to let you go to lunch with my janitor.”
    Joseph tweaked his daughter’s nose and said, “Okay, boss, I’ll take Mr. Zimmerman to lunch for you.”
    There was more laughter, then Doris said, “Nancy, you’re still planning on coming to my house next month to attend the fund-raising meeting for the Philadelphia Orphanage, aren’t you?”
    “Of course. Thursday, September 13. I’m looking forward to it. Is Louise coming?”
    Doris glanced at her friend. “I haven’t asked her yet.”
    “Sounds interesting,” Louise said. “You can fill me in on it later, Doris.”
    “Well, wife and daughter,” Joseph said, “the waiter is at our table, wanting to take our order. We’d better go oblige.”
    When the Masons were out of earshot, Ralph said, “Now there’s a sharp little gal, that Rachel!”
    “Isn’t she, though?” Louise said. “Is Nancy not well? She looks a little peaked.”
    “I was thinking the same thing,” Ralph said.
    “Nancy was quite ill as a girl,” Doris said. “She’s never lookedhealthy since we’ve known her. Joseph told us one time that Nancy had a very hard time carrying and giving birth to Rachel and was never able to have any more children. She’s quite frail and has some bad days.”
    “Poor dear. She seems to be a very sweet person.”
    “That she is. And she loves children. She and Joseph give heavily to the orphanage.”
    “They both love children,” Edgar said. “It’s too bad they couldn’t have had more. They once seriously considered adopting another child, but Nancy’s doctors warned them against it unless they were willing to hire a nanny. But Nancy wouldn’t do it. Told them that if she couldn’t be a mother to an adopted child, they wouldn’t adopt one.”
    “So the Masons found another way to show love to children,” Doris said. “They’ve poured themselves into the work of the orphanage and are quite active in helping to raise money for it, as well as giving very liberally to it themselves.”
    “Doris, I really would like to come to that fund-raising meeting at your house,” Louise said. “You see, I was orphaned at six years of age. I was fortunate to be adopted by a well-to-do family, but most orphans aren’t as blessed as I was. I’d like to help raise funds as well as contribute to the orphanage.”
    “Agreed,” Ralph said. “We’ll give liberally, I promise.”
    “Wonderful!” Doris replied. “I have some printed material on the orphanage at home. I’ll make sure you get it.”
    Louise nodded. “And the meeting is at your house on September 13, right?”
    “Yes. We’ll start about two that afternoon.”
    “I’ll be there.”
    Seth Coleman was excited about his first day back on the police force. He arrived for duty a bit early, and most of his fellow officers greeted him with smiles and words of encouragement.
    When he entered Chief Mandrake Bennett’s office, the chiefstuck out his hand and said, “Good morning, Officer Coleman! Ready for duty, I see.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Bennett lifted a pay envelope off the desk and handed it to Seth. “Here’s that back pay I promised you.”
    “Thank you, sir.” Seth slipped the envelope into his hip pocket.
    Bennett noted a look of concern in the young officer’s eyes and said, “Hey, is something bothering you?”
    Seth nodded. “There is something bothering me. Some of the men gave me the cold shoulder when I came in. Though no one said it, I get the impression they still think I murdered Lawrence.”
    The chief sighed. “Well, son, some of Lawrence’s closest friends are finding it difficult to accept his death. But they’ll get over it in time.”
    “I understand the difficulty of getting over his death, sir, but why give me the cold shoulder? The very legal system they work for has exonerated me of the crime.”
    “You’re right. And those men who shunned you will wake up to that fact shortly and realize how wrong they’ve been.”
    “I sure hope that