Wrongly Dead

By John S. Budd

"Wrongly Dead'' is humorous, suspenseful and threaded with riveting twists
throughout, and has a large cast of fascinating characters.

Will Seman is a wealthy and unscrupulous financial genius and former dramatic
actor. His wife, Gertie, abetted by two friends, falsely accuses Will of brutally
assaulting her. Concurrently, Will is mistakenly declared deceased by the Social
Security Administration. Rather than trying to prove he is alive, he plays dead to
avoid arrest, buy time while proving his innocence and carry out revenge against his
accusers. He assumes an alias and flees New York City. While driving through
Oklahoma, he comes upon Swanville, a small wilderness town. He decides that
Swanville is an ideal place in which to hide until he proves his innocence, punishes
his accusers and repents for the maliciousness of his past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728335179

John S. Budd

John S. Budd, now retired, was a division president and corporate officer in two multi-billion dollar companies. He graduated from Washington & Lee University and Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He is a fellow in the executive committee of the University of North Carolina’s Cameron School of Business. Budd and his wife, Judy, live in Wilmington, North Carolina, and have four sons and nine grandchildren. This is his fourth book.

Book preview

Chapter 1

New York City

February 2, 2017

Gertrude (Gertie) Seman folded the Social Security Administration’s letter of January twenty-ninth into a paper airplane. SSA’s letter informed her that, on January twenty-sixth, her husband, Will, had died. On the same day, she had received a similar notification from the state of New York.

Today, Gertie went to the local Social Security office to inquire about her survivor benefits.

Administrator Mary Dorst, her voice hollow and booming, read to Gertie an agency form letter confirming Will Seman’s death. Dorst then told Gertie that she would receive about seventy-two percent of her benefit amount when she turned age sixty. Gertie told stupefied administrator Dorst that she was certain that Will was alive. Dorst yawned and told Gertie that, according to the SSA’s and New York State’s indisputable records, Will was dead. Then she said, "That will be all ‘Mrs. Seman, and she thundered, Number seven you’re next.’’

Gertie, in the privacy of her apartment, hollered, "Bombs away’’, at a photograph of Will and launched her paper aircraft into the hallway, where it nose-dived into the floor.

Gertie was livid at Will for dying. She would have to survive on her own, a half-blind woman having to wait five years for her survivor benefits to kick in. She would have to live in a dingy apartment twenty-four hours a day and work eight hours a day doing a low paying tedious job.

A MONTH EARLIER

On January twenty-first, Will Seman’s houseguest, a former Marine named George Porggy, had, in a sudden fit of rage, assaulted Gertie, blinding her left eye.

Will, on the first day of Porggy’s visit, had been called away on business, leaving Gertie with Porggy and her friend, Mary Jones. Gertie and Mary had found Porggy to be polite, intelligent, sensitive, and humorous, traits not normally associated with a large, tough Marine Sergeant.

However, their positive perceptions of Porggy had vanished instantly upon Porggy’s sudden and violent assault on Gertie, and his threatening demand that they blame Will for the attack, to which they consented for fear of being violated by him.

After his tirade, Porggy had broken down in tears, profusely and genuinely apologizing to Gertie as she passed him by on a stretcher.

What Will had not told Gertie about Porggy was that he had, like many combat soldiers, suffered from post- traumatic stress disorder and that he had lately become more prone to destructive outbursts and cognitive disorders. When Will had read of Porggy’s struggles with PTSD he had, out of compassion, arranged to find and pay for an apartment for Porggy in New York City.

Gertie’s lawyer, Herman D. Vestate, had filed an aggravated assault and battery complaint against Will Seman, to which Mary Jones and George Porggy had been sworn as witnesses.

Will had learned through his extensive grapevine that he would soon be served with an arrest warrant for aggravated assault against Gertie. Immediately thereafter he had disguised himself, walked two blocks away from his apartment and taken a cab to a dilapidated abandoned garage in Newark, New Jersey that he had purchased under the name of Byron Jackson. In it, he kept a fully fueled BMW that he had purchased as Jackson with cash. The car’s trunk was packed with clean clothing. He was prepared for his escape from the law and a place in which to hide.

Chapter 2

February 3, 2017

Taking backcountry roads as much as possible and paying cash for fuel, Will had driven to the Oklahoma border, where he spent the night in a motel.

The next day, after driving for over two hours, he came upon the town of Swanville, population twelve hundred. On his way through Swanville, he had noticed a shabby inn that had been tilted and pockmarked with age. It had occurred him that a run down inn in the midst of wilderness would be the ideal place in which to hide until he could clear his name. He had registered as a guest of O’Grady’s Inn. O’Grady, the inn’s proprietor, had not asked him for his name or any other identification. Perfect he thought.

The next morning, Wills twin brother Charles called Will and read him his obituary in the New York Times. Good news, he had thought, death is an ideal cover.

Chapter 3

New York City

February 4, 2017

Charles Seman is the only person who knows that Will is alive and what his cell phone number is. As he dialed Will’s number, he chuckled, recalling his frantic call from Gertie.

Will answered his cell phone and said, It’s great to hear from you, Charles. If you are calling about my death, be assured that I am alive. I feel pain when I pinch myself and my whiskey goes down as smoothly as ever. Since two of my sensory faculties are in tact, I assume that my others are fit.

Charles said, ‘’Good to hear that you are feeling fit, my brother. Gertie called me yesterday and told me about your death. She had gone over the edge. She raved incoherently about how she had not been able to cope with her misfortunes. She questioned who she really is, as if some other version of her existed, a frightening thought. She should be put on suicide watch. After she had almost pulled herself together, she asked me if you left her anything in your will."

Will was amused by Gertie’s interest in whether he had left her an inheritance, and her agony over her doubts about her authenticity. Once upon a time, she had been a kind, loving and supportive wife who kept her nose out of his business, rarely nagged him and went through money like an Oklahoma tornado.

Will had loved Gertie for all the wrong reasons. Her indifference to him was benign, only conversing with him if he first spoke to her. She respected his need for peace and quiet. Will had at times thought she was a lesbian because, when she thought he was listening