In his office on the lower level, Alex passed the time by pacing, weeping, gnashing her teeth, staring into space. She agonized in her own private hell over Judge Joseph Wallace’s suicide.
Her head was pounding so fiercely, the stitches in her scalp felt like they would pop. She had failed to bring along her medication. A frantic search through the sheriff’s desk didn’t even produce an aspirin tablet. Was the man totally immune to pain?
She was light-headed and nauseated and her hands refused to get warm, though they perspired profusely. The ancient plaster ceiling conducted every sound from above, but she couldn’t identify them. There was an endless parade of footsteps. The office provided her refuge from the confusion, but she was desperate to know what was happening in the rooms and hallways overhead.
She was chin deep in despair. The facts pointed toward an inexorable truth that she didn’t want to acknowledge. Judge Wallace’s confession to a cover-up further implicated her chief suspects.
Caught in a bind, Angus would have looked out for himself without feeling any remorse. By the same token, he would have bribed the judge in order to protect Junior, and probably done no less for Reede. But of the three, which had actually gone into the stable that night and murdered Celina?
When Reede flung open the door, Alex whirled around, startled. She’d been staring out the window. She didn’t know how long she had waited in the room, but she realized suddenly that it was getting dark outside when he flipped on the light switch. She was still ignorant of what was transpiring upstairs and at the front of the courthouse.
&nbs
p; Reede gave her a hard look, but said nothing. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sipped from it several times. “Why is it lately that every time something happens in this town, you’re involved?”
Tears instantly formed in her eyes. One moment they weren’t there, the next they were heavily pushing against her eyelids. She aimed a shaking index finger at his chest. “Don’t, Reede. I didn’t know that—”
“That when you backed Joe Wallace into a corner he’d blow his brains out. Well, that’s what happened, baby. They’re dripping over the edge of his desk.”
“Shut up.”
“We found clumps of hair and tissue on the opposite wall.”
She covered her mouth, swallowing a scream behind her hands. Turning her back on him, she shuddered uncontrollably. When he touched her, she flinched, but his hands were firm on her shoulders as he turned her around and pulled her against his chest.
“Hush now, it’s done.” His chest expanded against her cheek as he drew in a deep breath. “Forget it.”
She shoved herself away. “Forget it? A man is dead. It’s my fault.”
“Did you pull the trigger?”
“No.”
“Then, it’s not your fault.”
There was a knock at the door. “Who is it?” Reede asked crossly. When the deputy identified himself, Reede told him to come in. He signaled Alex into a chair while the deputy rolled a sheet of paper into the typewriter. She looked at Reede in bewilderment.
“We have to take your statement,” he said.
“Now?”
“Best to get it over with. Ready?” he asked the deputy and got a nod. “Okay, Alex, what happened?”
She dabbed her face with a tissue before she began. As briefly as possible, she told what had transpired in the judge’s chambers, being careful not to mention any names or issues that had been discussed.
“I left his office and got as far as the elevator.” She stared down at the soggy Kleenex that she’d been mutilating between her hands. “Then, I heard the shot.”
“You ran back in?”
“Yes. He was slumped over. His head was lying on his desk. I saw blood and… and knew what he’d done.”
“Did you see the pistol?” She shook her head. Reede said to the deputy, “Make a note that she answered no and that she couldn’t have seen it because it had fallen from the victim’s right hand to the floor. That’s all for now.” The deputy discreetly withdrew. Reede waited several moments. His foot swung to and fro from the corner of the desk where he was seated. “What did you and the judge talk about?”
“Celina’s murder. I accused him of tampering with evidence and accepting a bribe.”
“Serious allegations. How did he respond?”
“He admitted it.”