I decided to go home.
Not because everyone had told me to.
I simply couldn’t figure out where else to go, what else to do. Plus, my high heels were killing my feet and the longer I stayed in my basic black dress the more depressed I got. As soon as I had some spare money, I’d treat myself to a new outfit and throw this thing out. Too many bad memories associated with it.
Granddad had left me a note to help myself to the food in the freezer, which translated to pop a frozen dinner into the microwave. He had a hot bingo game at the church hall and planned to have dinner there. Since I was starving and too lazy to do more than kick off my killer heels, I decided to eat first and change later. I secretly hoped I’d drip something disastrous on my dress and be forced to throw it out, though I’m not sure that anything short of toxic waste would do the trick. This dress had a history of concealing many a food and drink mishap.
After my gourmet meal in a plastic tray, I surfed the local channels and settled on Jeopardy. I did pretty well, even getting the final Jeopardy question right. But the only one there to acknowledge my success was Higgins, and he stared at me accusingly like the show must have been a rerun for me to get so many answers correct.
I was about to nuke some popcorn when the phone rang. I got it on the first ring. “Hello.”
“Becca? Is that you?”
Ryder. “Yeah, it’s me.” I moved over to the mirror and found myself patting my hair down and checking my reflection like he could see me. “What’s up?”
“I checked with my sources.
They aren’t holding Joe Rizzo.”
“Thanks, Ryder. I appreciate it.”
I couldn’t hear what else he said because Granddad burst through the back door. “Becca, you won’t believe it. You just won’t. It’s awful.”
“Hold on, Granddad. I’m on the phone. Ryder, are you still there? My granddad just came home, and he’s upset. I need to find out what’s going on.” Ryder shouted into the phone for me not to hang up. Sheesh. I turned to my granddad and held the phone away from my ear a bit.
“They’ve arrested Edna O’Malley,” granddad informed me, clearly furious. “Again.”
I did a double-take. And put the phone back to my ear to hear Ryder saying basically the same thing.
“That’s what I was trying to tell you,” Ryder explained. “My source said they had a warrant out for Ms. O’Malley.”
“But they’ve already let her go once.” I was very confused.
“For her husband’s murder, yes. This is for the murder of Anna Blake.” Ryder spoke in a slow and measured tone.
“She’s been arrested for that other woman’s death,” Granddad said on the heels of Ryder. He was getting way too agitated. I needed to get off the phone and calm him down or I’d be taking him to the hospital.
“Got to go, Ryder. Thanks for calling.” Without waiting for him to say anything else, I hung up and turned all of my attention to my granddad. “Easy. Come sit down. I’ll get you a glass of water and your heart pill.”
“I don’t need a heart pill. Someone needs to set the police straight. This is twice they’ve gotten it wrong. Becca, they arrested her at Bingo. In front of all of her friends. And her mother. It was horrible. They cuffed her and put her in a squad car.” Granddad sank down into his easy chair.
I patted his shoulder feeling more than a little useless. I didn’t believe Edna capable of murdering Anna Blake, but obviously, the police did.
And they had to have some sort of evidence to justify the arrest. Especially after her last arrest. Oh, this was bad, very bad. I continued to pat granddad’s shoulder.
“I just can’t believe this.”
“Neither can I. Neither can her poor mother. You should have seen Louisa Mae. Pitiful. A fine Southern woman like her having to witness the arrest of her child.
Pitiful, that’s what it is.”
Gee, he’d sure come a far cry from considering Mrs. Smith a pain in the butt. I guess they were getting on better since the mop incident.
“I’ll look into things, Granddad. It’ll be okay.”
“You’ll do no such thing! You stay out of it, Becca. I appreciate you wanting to help, but you’re not qualified. Murder is not for amateurs.”
Didn’t anyone believe in my abilities? Chernov, Ryder, and granddad – all telling me to mind my own business. Like that was going to happen. Still, no need to worry my grandfather. I remained silent.
“Becca, don’t think you’re fooling me by not answering. That silent routine of yours did not work when you were six, and it’s not going to work now. Let Edna’s attorney handle her case.”
I couldn’t stand him glaring at me and moved out of his line of vision. So he’d caught onto my silence strategy. And here I’d thought it had served me well all of these years. Just proved that you couldn’t pull the wool over grandparents’ eyes as easily as you thought you could.
Snatching up my purse and car keys I said, “I have to run an errand.”
“Rebecca Sharon!”
“Really. An errand. I’ll be back in a bit.” I shoved my feet into the only shoes available—the death-to-toes torture heels—and raced out the door before granddad could get wound up and summon another lecture from the archives. I drove straight to the office. I circled the lot and didn’t see either of Ryder’s vehicles. The image of him and the attractive blonde flashed in my mind, and I had to beat down the green-eyed monster. Who Ryder saw was no concern of mine. Yeah, right. No concern.
Still….
I whipped the Honda back onto Parham Road and headed toward Broad Street unsure of where I went, or who I wanted to see. I could barely contain my restlessness, my mind buzzing like a hornet’s nest. And then it came to me. I knew where I was going. I did a U-turn and hit the interstate for the ritzy section of town leading to Dr. Dick’s residence. In short order, I pulled up in front of his condo. The lights were on. I took it as a sign. A good sign.
I knocked on his door and listened for sounds from inside, but all remained quiet. Maybe he wasn’t home after all. I rapped harder on the wooden door.
He pulled the door open as far as the wimpy safety chain would allow. When he saw me, he closed the door. Great. And then I heard him working the chain, and he opened the door all the way. “Miss Reynolds, do you have any idea of the time?”
He checked his watch to emphasize the lateness of the hour. Two hours past Jeopardy must be late by Dr. Dick’s standards. From his demeanor, I guessed he didn’t know about Edna’s arrest.
“I know it’s late,” I lied since it really wasn’t, “but I need to tell you something. May I come in?” Not waiting for a proper response, I pushed past him and met no resistance.
“This is highly unusual. I don’t think we should be meeting outside of the office. People might talk.”
What century was this guy from?
I put my purse down on the nearest table and turned to face him. “The police arrested Edna O’Malley tonight at bingo.” Okay, maybe not the most delicate way to break bad news, but then he hadn’t exactly welcomed me with open arms. Besides, like ripping a band-aid off, sometimes it just worked better to blurt out the bad stuff and get it over with. I watched the color drain from his face and he sank into a straight back chair.
“How? Why?” He seemed unable to form a coherent statement past one-word questions.
“She’s been arrested for the murder of Anna Blake. The police handcuffed her at church and took her away in a squad car,” I stated matter-of-factly.
He put his head in his hands. “This is horrible. My poor Edna.”
If I had any doubts about Dr. Daley’s feelings for Edna O’Malley, I didn’t now.
He jumped up. “I have to see her.”
“I don’t think the police will let you. Not tonight. This happened just a short while ago. I’m sure they’re processing her through the system. The person she needs to talk to is her lawyer.”
“Yes, yes you’re right. Of course. But I feel so impotent.”
I didn’t want to know anything about Dr. Dick’s sex life or lack thereof, but then I realized he referred to Edna’s situation with the police.
“Well, we all feel impotent.” Just saying the word kind of grossed me out. But it seemed to cheer my boss up a little.
“Yes, you’re right, Becca. We have to trust the justice system.
But we also have to make sure her attorney has been alerted.” He pulled out the thick black book he carried with him everywhere and flipped pages until he found the number he wanted.
“Miscarriage of justice is more like it.” I stood in silence while he dialed. “This is Dr. Daley. Edna O’Malley has been arrested. You’ll want to go down to the courthouse or the jail, or wherever it is they’ve taken her. Yes, thank you.” He hung up and leaned back in the hardback chair seeming more relaxed than before.
“So you were able to contact her attorney?” I asked the obvious hoping it would be a conversation starter.
“Yes, Jack is a friend of the firm. He’ll know what to do.”
I swallowed hard. “Jack?” No, Dr. Daley couldn’t have phoned my worthless, scum-sucking ex-husband.
“Jack Davis, her corporate attorney. He’ll know who to call. That’s all we can do for tonight.”
I closed my eyes. Crap. Edna’s fate rested with Jack. This was bad. Very bad.
“You’re sure you don’t remember the name of her criminal defense attorney? I think we should call him.” I twisted the ends of my shirt into knots.
“No, I don’t recall right now. Jack will handle everything. I trust him to take care of Edna.”
If he truly believed this, then he had far more faith in Jack than I did.
Dr. Dick opened his eyes with a sigh. “I should call Marcy.” He checked his watch. “No, she’s already upset enough from the funeral today and that man who was there.
No need to disturb her when she can’t do anything. Thank you, Becca. Thank you for caring enough about Edna that you came by in person to let me know.”
He got up, and I grabbed my purse on the way to the door.
“Dr. D., about Jack?”
“Don’t worry, Miss Reynolds. I hear he’s well-connected.”
That was up for debate as far as I was concerned. But I didn’t need to add to Dr. Dick’s angst with my sour grapes opinion of my ex. As far as I knew, he had no idea I’d once been married to Jack. It was fine if he continued not to know. My work here was done. I’d accomplished what I’d set out to and now I should go. “Goodnight, Dr. Daley.”
“Goodnight, Miss Reynolds. And thank you, again.” He shut the door, and I heard the chain slide back into place.
Someone should tell him that that piece of hardware was totally useless. A crook could break through the door and that little piece of metal wouldn’t even slow him down. But then, I thought Dr. Dick had enough to worry about for one night.