Who Really Was Suzanne Reardon?

By: Elspeth the Minstrel

A/N:  This is all I'm planning to write, but if I get feedback I might continue!  In other words, R&R, please!!!!!! 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything….

Judge Kerry Dorso sighed.  She was presiding over a long and tedious trial.  It was a murder case.  A beautiful young woman had been killed.  The defendant, Camden Rohryn, was the woman's husband, and, when questioned, did poorly.  His responses were hesitant, and he appeared very nervous.  Every so often he would glance furtively at the jury.  It was clear that this man would be convicted.           

            After the court was recessed for the day, Kerry headed home.  It was a Friday, and her twelve-year-old daughter, Robin, had gone home from school with her friend Cassie to spend the night.  She and her husband, Geoff, were going out for dinner. 

            Her mind wandered to the murder trial.  It reminded her of the case of Suzanne Reardon.  Suzanne's husband, Skip, had been wrongfully convicted of her murder about thirteen years ago.  Thanks to Kerry and Geoff, he was freed from prison and the real murderer was put behind bars.  Frowning, Kerry thought of the murderer.  Jonathan Hoover.  He had been a close friend, and it had hurt her deeply when she discovered the truth he hid.

            Kerry shook her head, as if to rid it of bad thoughts about Jonathan.  Instead, she thought of Skip.  Skip was now happily married to Beth Taylor.  Kerry smiled.  She had remained in touch with Skip and Beth, and they were very thankful to her.  They were a very nice couple.  Her thoughts then went to less happy things.  She remembered Dr. Charles Smith, Skip's former father-in-law.  In a way, Kerry pitied him.

  In her last conversation with him, she had hinted that she thought Suzanne was not his true daughter.  Dr. Smith hadn't responded verbally to her accusation 'Susie Stevens was your daughter, and Suzanne was your creation', but, once she thought of it, his body language conveyed that he was worried.  Was he worried about Kerry actually thinking Suzanne wasn't his daughter?  Why would he be?  Suzanne was his daughter.

"Wasn't she?"  Kerry asked herself as she pulled into her driveway.

Now Kerry wished Dr. Smith had answered her accusation.  Perhaps Suzanne wasn't his daughter!  "I shouldn't have gone on so quickly.  Should've let him react to everything I said!" Silently berating herself, Kerry went inside.

            Geoff was already home, and ready to go.  In the car once again, Geoff and Kerry talked about their days.  Geoff had gotten a new client, a woman who was being sued for losing her neighbor's gerbil when she agreed to pet-sit it. 

            Kerry briefly told him about how the trial was progressing.  "I'm sure the jury will decide Mr. Rohryn is guilty.  This case…  it reminds me of the Sweetheart Murder.  It reminded me of something left… unsolved."

            Geoff pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and looked at Kerry.  "What could you be talking about?" 

            "Was Suzanne Reardon Dr. Smith's daughter?  His daughter was Sue Ellen.  Susie.  Not Suzanne," Kerry replied.

            "Of course!  Do you think that, after being made into a beautiful girl, you'd want to go by Sue Ellen or Susie?  Her father probably gave her a more sophisticated name- Suzanne," Geoff said.

            "I don't think so," Kerry replied.  "Something in him clicked when I said to him, 'Susie Stevens was your daughter.  Suzanne was your creation,' that was more than just anger.  Now that I think about it, he looked… a little… guilty.  I'm not sure he really was Suzanne's father.  In fact, I highly doubt it."

            Geoff arched his eyebrows and asked, "Why the sudden realization?"

            "Just thinking about the trial today, leading me to Suzanne Reardon, and eventually her father.   At the time I was more concerned with having the right person in jail than the details of Suzanne's life.  But, I clearly remember my final talk with Dr. Smith, and something unmistakably bothered him about my accusation.  It seemed to bother him as much as my asking if he killed Suzanne, albeit he said nothing about it," Kerry told Geoff.

As Kerry was talking, the waitress walked up.  "Hi, my name is Nora," she said, wearing a fake smile.  "What can I get you to drink?"

They continued their conversation, after their orders were placed and waitress was gone.

Geoff shrugged.  "Look into it, if you want.  Find her birth certificate or something."

            "I certainly will," Kerry replied.  "It will most likely bother me until I find out more, even if this is for nothing.  But I must find out- who was Suzanne Reardon?"

            Kerry hung up the phone.  She had just called Skip Reardon, to talk about Suzanne.  He had told Kerry her maiden name, as he knew it- Suzanne Eleanor Smith.  He said that she had been born in Bellvale, a small city in New York.

            "I'll have to drive to the county courthouse, to find out her parents.  Good thing tomorrow is Saturday!" Kerry thought, sitting down and pulling out a book to read.  "I'll probably have to go alone, too.  Rob will be tired, and want to sleep.  Geoff will have to stay home with her."

            Kerry walked into the county courthouse the next morning, as soon as she could.  Talking to a secretary, she asked, "Can you give me birth information on Suzanne Eleanor Smith Reardon?"

            The woman she was speaking to showed her where to find the information.  Kerry searched for a few hours, yielding no results.  Finally, when her eyes couldn't focus any longer, she gave up.  There had been absolutely no information about Suzanne. 

            "Why wasn't there anything?" Kerry asked herself on the way home.  "There should have been, but there wasn't.  It's almost as if she never existed.  She was, of course, a real person, but who was she?  Who really was Suzanne Reardon?"