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* * *
Edward's lawyer was a funny little man he'd known for years called Hargood. Edward was not sure he knew the man's first name, as all he'd ever gone by was Hargood.
"Your father's instructed me to spare no expense," Hargood said to him in one of the interview rooms at the sheriff's station. He'd managed to get him out of the cell so that they might converse alone. "As I've already told your father, however, I don't see that any great expense will be necessary other than my own. Simply put, they haven't a case."
"Are you quite certain?" Edward asked.
"Oh, yes. There's no body. The chance of you being found guilty of murder without a body present is almost impossible."
"Almost?" Edward asked, not missing that particular qualification of Hargood's statement.
"Well," Hargood admitted, "there is always that one percent chance the judge we receive will be of a disposition not suited to us, no matter how right we are. But there are several judges we may see who are quite sound. Unless we are unfortunate enough to meet with either Judge Marshall or Judge Tabor, I wouldn't lose a night's sleep over it."
Edward attempted to take his lawyer at his word and tried to keep his nerves calm. Frequent visits from Lily and his father helped immensely, though when she spoke of going into brothels and saloons, his stomach turned.
"I don't want you going into those places," he told her.
"Then it is lucky for me you are behind bars where you can do nothing about it."
He was beginning to think she enjoyed taunting him.
A few days after his first meeting with Hargood, the man arrived at the station all smiles and informed him that he'd managed to secure him a speedy trial, arguing that an innocent man was being held against his will and the immediate satisfaction of his release was required.
It was with great joy that Hargood told him they would be going before a judge tomorrow. It was with great trepidation he told him the judge was to be Tabor.
"It's just bad luck, is what it is," Hargood said.
"Do whatever you have to in order to secure my release," Edward instructed him. "Tell him money is no object."
Hargood's eyes widened. "Are you suggesting I bribe a judge?"
Edward had seen how well that had gone over with Sheriff Chambers when his father had made the attempt, but he also knew that judges were a little different.
"No, not at all. Offer no bribe, merely a... contribution to the Judge's Council."
"There is no such thing."
Edward frowned. He heard himself speaking and thought he stunk of desperation. Perhaps that was an accurate description. Ever since Lily had begun her search, he'd been ready to tear the bars out of his cell with his bare hands to get to her. Though he was ashamed to admit it, he was not against a little bribery if it would aid his cause and get him out sooner so that he might be with her.
"Bribery would be a mistake," Hargood told him. He rubbed his chin. "Perhaps if we'd gotten Marshall..." He shook his head. "Never mind. We have Tabor, so we must win Tabor's graces on his standards, not those of another judge."
"And how will we do that?" Edward asked.
"This is not a trial for murder," Hargood reminded him. "Not yet. It is only formal discussion, if you will, to see whether I might get your case thrown out before it even comes to trial. Judge Tabor has a soft spot for two things: women, and men who've been wrongly accused. I believe we can play up both those aspects."
"How?"
"I've already spoken with Mrs. Dickinson."
"Lily? What does she have to do with this?"
"We need her in the courtroom, of course. I've instructed her to show a lot of emotion. A woman's tears work well on Judge Tabor."
Edward groaned, but the next day, when he saw not only Lily but Caroline and Della in the courtroom, his heart filled with warmth. Here were three women who believed him innocent and had come to offer their support. His father was there as well, along with Myra, who clung to him as though he were a gold medallion rather than a somewhat blustery middle-aged man.
Sheriff Chambers sat nearby with Deputy Bixby, who looked more interested in the proceedings than the sheriff. He didn't think Bixby had been to many of these proceedings, whereas the sheriff had probably been to a great deal of them.
The judge entered and Hargood nudged Edward to rise. Once seated again, the process began. Hargood continued to insist this was not a trial but a formal discussion, but it certainly felt like a trial to Edward. He spoke from the witness stand, answering Hargood's questions. The judge posed a few of his own as well, questions which Edward thought strange, such as...
"Was Mr. Dickinson an attractive man?" Edward said not in his opinion.
"And what of his hair? Was it thin on top?" Edward replied in the affirmative.
"Did he seem to strike you as a fool?" Edward said most certainly.
Then Lily broke into sobs and the judge bade her come closer. Hargood introduced her as Mrs. Dickinson, and the judge asked her why she cried.
"My husband was a dangerous man," she said, to which Della and Caroline both shouted, "Yes! That's right! A danger to women everywhere!" and burst into tears themselves. Edward wasn't sure whether his lawyer had instructed them to do so, or whether they were so moved of their own inclinations. Either way, the effect on Tabor was obvious. His face softened, and his eyes formed pity.
"He was a beater of women, you say?" the judge asked Lily and she nodded. Then, much to his surprise as well as that of the courtroom, she lifted the hem of her dress to her knees and showed the judge deep purple and blue bruises that trailed up her toward her thigh.
"My word," the judge said softly and Lily put her dress back on the floor. Her face had gone red.
"I have bruises like that all over me," she said softly.
Even the sheriff seemed affected by this. His eyes took on a glassy look and he quickly cast them to the floor. Edward wished that Ray were here so that he might kill him after all.
Judge Tabor declared that there was no body, therefore no murder could be proven to have taken place, therefore any further trials were unnecessary. He banged his gavel and Edward walked out of the courtroom a free man, despite the shake of Sheriff Chambers' head.
Lily clung to his arm and whispered, "I knew you could never be found guilty."
He squeezed her elbow, his eyes falling on the rise and fall of her chest before returning to her face. "I meant what I said; I intend to make you my wife."
She blushed. "Are you certain you still want me, after all the trouble I've put you through?"
"Oh, yes, I mean to have you like no man before."
Her blush deepened. She opened her mouth, and her words came out in a rush. "There is something I must tell you when we are alone."
"Of course," he said as his father scooted ahead of them with Myra and the others. "First, though, we must find Ray, whether dead or alive. If I am to marry you, we must either obtain your divorce from him or a death certificate from the coroner. Either one will satisfy me, so long as you are mine."
"I'm already yours," she said, and he noted a darkness in her eyes that had not previously been there.
"Are you all right?"
She bit her bottom lip. "I'm fine."
They stepped out of the courthouse and Edward took hold of her hand, just for a moment, but it was enough to send his heart shuddering. Soon, he would be able to touch more than just her hand.
* * *
