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When they arrived back at Maddie’s house, she made a quick dinner of pasta and prepared meatballs for herself and Suzanne. Trixie ate her meal of beef and liver with quiet satisfaction.
“I was so certain it was the judge,” Suzanne said once they’d eaten. “But now, with the car accident ...”
“Exactly,” Maddie replied. That thought had been troubling her on the short journey home. “What if it wasn’t an accident? What if the person who killed Dave Dantzler just tried to kill the judge?”
“But why?” Suzanne wrinkled her nose. “Do you think Mr. Grenville knows more than he’s letting on?”
“Or maybe the killer thinks that.”
The two of them stared at each other.
“Yeah!” Suzanne nodded her head, her ponytail bobbing. “The murderer must have thought he was in danger in some way from Mr. Grenville and decided to silence him.”
“Except it didn’t work – I don’t think,” Maddie said. “Because Mr. Grenville is still alive.”
“We won’t know for sure until we visit him in the hospital.” Suzanne scraped back her kitchen chair and paced the room. “I think we should go and visit him right now.”
Maddie checked her watch. It was over an hour since Detective Edgewater had left for the hospital. Surely he would have finished questioning the judge by now?”
“Okay,” she replied. “But I think we should check what the visiting hours are first. There’s no point going over there tonight if it’s too late for visitors.”
“Agreed.”
Maddie glanced at Trixie as she called the hospital. The Persian was finishing her meal, licking her lips with obvious enjoyment – and seemingly oblivious to the conversation. Did that mean she and Suzanne didn’t have to worry about the judge coming to harm while in the hospital?
She really wished there was a spell in Wytchcraft for the Chosen that would allow her to speak and understand cat.
After talking to a hospital staff member, Maddie ended the call. “Visiting hours are until eight tonight.”
“Let’s go!” Suzanne grabbed her purse. “We can just make it there in time.”
“You stay here, Trixie,” Maddie told the cat, who was wandering into the living room, appearing uninterested for once in the goings on.
“I wonder why Trixie isn’t curious about the situation,” Suzanne said once they were in Maddie’s car.
“I know,” she agreed as they drove to the hospital. “All I can think of is there isn’t any immediate danger, and nothing in the book to help us right now.”
They arrived at the hospital with seven minutes to spare. After being directed to the correct wing, they slowed their pace once they reached the right hallway, the beige and white painted walls adding to the blandness of the building.
“I don’t think we should barge in there,” Maddie murmured to Suzanne as they approached room 319. The smell of disinfectant stung her nostrils.
“Okay,” Suzanne said reluctantly, glancing at her watch. “We only have four minutes, though.”
Maddie knocked on the partly open door. “Hello?” she called out.
A passing nurse frowned at them as she walked past in rubber soled shoes. “Visiting hours are almost over.”
“We know.” Suzanne flashed her a smile. “We only just found out about—”
“Don’t be long,” the nurse admonished them, as she passed them.
“Phew!” Suzanne muttered under her breath.
“Come in.” A low male voice called out to them.
Maddie pushed open the door and smiled tentatively at the judge. He sat in bed with the sheets pulled up to his waist and sported a large white dressing on the side of his forehead.
“Hi, Mr. Grenville,” Maddie said. “We heard you were in an accident and—”
“We wanted to see how you were,” Suzanne jumped in.
“That’s nice of you,” he said, closing his eyes, as if tired. “I’ve got broken ribs, and this.” He pointed to the bandage on his head. “Ms. Goodwell and Ms. Taylor, right?”
“Do you know who did this to you?” Suzanne asked eagerly.
“No one.” He shook his head and then winced.
“What do you mean?” Maddie asked.
“It was my own stupid fault.” He grimaced. “Nearly every time I’ve braked lately when driving the car, I’ve heard a squeaking noise. I thought it was dust in the brakes and I’d get around to taking it to the mechanic when I had time.”
“What happened?” Suzanne asked.
“I was rounding a corner and the brakes failed.” He shook his head, the movement making him wince again. “I crashed into that large pine tree on the corner of Basin Road. Do you know it?”
“Yes,” Maddie replied, thinking the judge was lucky he was still alive.
“If only I hadn’t put off getting the brakes checked out.”
“But how do you know it was ... natural causes?” Suzanne asked, leaning forward. “Maybe someone cut your brake lines.”
“Suzanne!” Maddie whispered.
“Why would anyone do that?” The judge looked puzzled.
“Because you know something and the killer knows you know something,” Suzanne informed him.
“Killer?” He frowned. “Oh, you mean whoever murdered Dave Dantzler.”
“Yes!”
Suzanne seemed to have gone from insisting the judge was guilty to acting like he was innocent. But, Maddie had to concede, his car accident did seem a strange coincidence.
“We were told Dave falsely accused you on his radio show,” Maddie said delicately.
“Yes.” Mr. Grenville sank back against the pillows. “It’s true, he did accuse me of taking bribes when I appeared on his show last year. He didn’t care about the truth – just about his ratings.”
“What happened?” Maddie asked gently, exchanging a look with Suzanne.
“He wouldn’t allow me to explain what had really happened. I was exonerated years ago. It was actually another judge on the coffee circuit who had been taking bribes. When he was discovered, he fled to another state – Maine, I think.” He waved a hand. “It was in the newspapers at the time – you can check. Once the truth came out, my reputation mostly recovered, but when Dave raked it all up again last year, I couldn’t believe it.”
“What did you do?” Suzanne held her breath, waiting for his answer.
“Nothing.” He let out a short, mirthless laugh. “The damage had been done, and this time it’s lasted. These days, people aren’t interested in researching allegations to find out if they’re even true. They prefer to believe whoever is casting aspersions on another person, even when it’s scurrilous lies. So I found myself not being asked to judge major coffee competitions anymore, even though the local newspaper printed the truth.”
“That must have been disappointing,” Suzanne sympathized.
“Yes.” Mr. Grenville looked exhausted. “The only bright side – if you can call it that – was that I’d been thinking of slowing down my schedule anyway, preparatory to retirement. But that decision was taken out of my hands.” He sighed. “Now I’m lucky to be invited to judge competitions such as the one you won, Maddie.”
“I’m sorry,” Maddie said, her tone sincere.
“It was kind of you to visit me,” he said, closing his eyes once more. “But I’m afraid I’m very tired. Would you think it rude of me if I wanted to rest now?”
“Of course not,” Suzanne and Maddie said together.
“Take care,” Maddie added, as they walked quietly out of the room. She pulled the door shut after them.
“Poor man.” Suzanne shook her head as they walked down the hallway.
“I know.”
“But—” Suzanne grabbed Maddie’s arm. “What if those brakes were cut? And what if he cut them himself?”
“Why would he do that?” Maddie crinkled her brow.
“To divert suspicion away from himself,” Suzanne declared.
“And risk killing himself at the same time?” Maddie’s tone was skeptical.
“We don’t know what goes through a killer’s mind,” Suzanne told her. “Hey!” She lowered her voice. “Did you try the Tell the Truth spell on him in there?”
“No,” Maddie admitted. She’d been so caught up in the judge’s explanation that it hadn’t crossed her mind. “He seemed honest and sincere to me.”
“I know.” Suzanne blew out a breath and started walking down the hallway. “I really felt sorry for him in there, and I thought I believed what he said. And then when we came out of the room and I thought about brakes and how someone could cut them, I thought what if ...?”
“Sometimes thinking that way can be dangerous,” Maddie told her as they reached the parking lot.
“Yeah.”
Maddie pulled out of the parking lot and headed home. When she pressed on the brakes, she was relieved to find they didn’t squeak.
“If your brakes start squeaking, you better get them checked out ASAP.” Suzanne’s voice broke the silence. “Just in case a squeak means worn brake pads.”
“Exactly what I was just thinking,” Maddie replied, glad they’d be home in a few minutes.
When she parked outside her house, she turned to Suzanne. “Want to come in?”
“Thanks, but I better head home.” She yawned, her hand covering her mouth. “The first thing I’m going to do tomorrow is call Detective Edgewater and find out what really happened to the judge’s car – whether the brake line was cut, or if it really was natural wear and tear.”
