Letter to Belinda (42 page)

“Everything I told you before was the truth! Yes, it
was
my idea for her to call her dad, and get him to meet her in Bates Park, but that was just a ruse, to get him out of the way, so Penelope could go to his house and get her Bible. That was to avoid a confrontation with him. The
last
thing Penelope wanted was to confront her dad! I agreed to take her to his house so she could go in and get her Bible, but that was just because she didn’t have transportation.”

“And that brings up another thing. She is charged with breaking and entering, and she says you encouraged her to do it.”

“That’s a lie! No one locks their doors in our community. This was where she used to live, and she was merely going in to get something that belonged to her! But I did not encourage her to break in! She didn’t have to break in! She just opened the door and walked in.”

“Okay. I just wanted to be sure we are on the same page. So there was no prior discussion of killing Mr. Deason, or burning down his house?”

“No! Absolutely not! I was just helping her retrieve her Bible from his house, without having to face him. There were no plans for anything other than that.”

“Okay, then that is exactly what you tell them when they ask. Your word against Penelope’s, I think they will be inclined to believe you.”

“I hope so! Gosh, I can’t believe that woman! I tried to help her out,
twice
now, and she has turned on me both times!”

“Some people you just can’t help, Janice.”

“That is exactly what my husband said!”

“Okay, so are we ready to face the prosecutor?”

“I guess so. Let’s get this over with.”

34
 

W
ednesday morning began in England with Travis and Angel driving leisurely back to London, seeing the beautiful countryside as they went. Angel deliberately took a back road instead of the freeway, because there was more to see, and she wanted to spend more time with him. She had thoroughly enjoyed the previous evening of interaction with Travis. She enjoyed his company because he was easy to talk to on any subject, and nothing she could say or do seemed to shock him. Clearly he had been around the block a few times himself. She liked that in a man. They talked constantly as they traveled, even though they had to speak loudly to be heard over the wind, with the convertible top down.

“I am surprised to see grape vineyards so prolific here.” Travis said. “I had the impression that grapes did not grow well in England.”

“These vineyards have appeared only in the past ten years. They say our climate is getting warmer in the UK, and I guess these new vineyards are an indication of that.”

“Yes, the climate fluctuates over the centuries. I read a very telling statistic in college, that said in the year 1350, wine was the most abundant export from the British Isles. That indicates that the climate of England was obviously much warmer in the 1300’s than it is today. But the fact that vineyards are now popping up in England again, means that the climate is definitely getting warmer. A mere change of two degrees can greatly affect grape production, I am told.”

“Yes, when I was growing up, you simply did not hear about wine being produced in the UK. It simply didn’t happen. Now many a winery has appeared, producing some very good wines. They say that wine, like sex, gets better with age.”

“That saying is actually the other way around.”

“Oh pooh! It can go either way, . . . like me!”

“What time should we arrive at my hotel?”

“Are you in a hurry?”

“Well, my son and mother would probably like me to spend some time with them on this trip.”

“They can see you any time, once you get back home. I can only see you while you are here!”

“If I sign a contract with your father, we can still chat occasionally, if only by phone.”

“That would be no fun!”

“I thought you enjoyed talking to me?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I will have to catch up with my group today at noon. I told my son I would meet him at Trafalgar Square.”

“You will have plenty of time to get there. We should arrive at your hotel by 10:30, if traffic is not bad. I talked to my father this morning. He is eager to close a deal with you.”

“It will depend on the details.

*     *     *

Miranda finally felt like she was ‘over the hump’, so to speak, in her quest to rid herself of Judge Rosewood. She felt like all the bases were covered with regard to putting this thing behind her. The only weak link was Lennie, and that really worried her. She knew that when pressed, Lennie was sure to leak the wrong information, to the wrong person, at the wrong time, and that was why she was going to have to ‘coach’ him a bit more before she could trust him fully. It had been a week and a half since Travis liberated her from the judge’s headboard, and it was still a week and a half before Mrs. Rosewood returned from her European trip. Now was the time to stop and think, . . .
did
I
really
do
everything
I
could
do
to
distance
myself
from
incrimination?
Is
there
some
small
bit
of
evidence
at
his
house
that
I
might
have
overlooked?
A
fingerprint
on
the
refrigerator?
A
hair
in
the
bathroom?
My
god,
what
if
my
lip
prints
are
still
on
one
of
those
wine
glasses?

The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she became. While there was still time, she probably needed to go back to his house, and go over it with a fine toothed comb, to be sure there was nothing there that might incriminate her. She knew that when the judge was determined to be missing, the FBI would get involved, and his house was sure to be checked for fingerprints, and other minute evidence, so she had to clean it well.

And then she had another thought.
Why
not
let
Lennie
go
over
there
with
me,
to
help?
I
mean,
he
knows
all
about
what
happened,
or
at
least
he
thinks
he
does.
As
a
favor
to
me,
I’m
sure
he
would
be
willing
to
do
that.
I
will
wear
gloves,
and
Lennie
will
not,
and
that
way,
I
will
rid
the
house
of
my
prints,
and
Lennie
will
leave
his
prints
all
over
everything.
When
the
investigators
go
over
the
interior
of
the
house,
they
will
find
only
Lennie’s
prints!
That
evidence,
together
with
me
coaching
him
as
to
what
to
say,
and
not
say,
will
make
him
look
guilty.
He
already
said
he
would
admit
to
killing
the
judge,
just
to
protect
me.
And
then,
there
were
the
body
parts
in
his
well!
If
that
doesn’t
seal
the
deal,
she
didn’t
know
what
would!

She stopped to consider this. She would be deliberately planting false evidence against Lennie, a decent person whom she really did like. Could she live with that on her conscience? Probably not, under normal circumstances, but this was not normal circumstances. Lennie was dying, and he
wanted
to do this for her. It wasn’t like she was twisting his arm to do it. He
wanted
to do it, because it was, in his mind anyway, the only way he could thank her for being his ‘bestist’ friend. She knew she was taking advantage of him, but it was apparently what he wanted her to do. To her, that cleared away any moral roadblocks.

The Judge’s house should still be unlocked, and she left the security system off, so there should be no problem getting back in. She would wash all the dishes, vacuum the floors, and take the dust bags with her to dispose of elsewhere. She would wipe down everything in the house that she or Travis could have possibly touched, to get rid of fingerprints. She would clean the bathroom, bedroom, living room and kitchen to spotless perfection. This included washing the bed linens, and making the beds. The entire house would be clean as whistle, except that Lennie’s fingerprints would be everywhere.

And oh yeah, she needed to call the Jimmy Hale Mission and get them to come and pick up the freezer from her back porch, after she had thoroughly cleaned it, of course.

But that conjured up another thought that startled her. Perhaps she should thoroughly clean
her
own
house too, for the Judge’s fingerprints, and what-not. Because when the FBI started looking for him, they just
might
come up with some reason to search
her
house too, and that could lead to curious and embarrassing questions.

Why? Because in spite of what she had told Travis, the handcuffing incident was
not
the first time she and the Judge had been in the sack together.

She had met the Judge accidentally, while shopping at Lorche’s Jeweler, a little over six months earlier. She was a sucker for jewelry, and he was there to buy something for his wife’s 50
th
birthday. They started talking, and hit it off well. Very well. In fact, before the week was out, they were meeting at out-of-the-way hotels for their ever more exotic ‘close encounters’ of the sexual kind. The judge was overwhelmed at her sexual energy, and thought it was his
him
that turned her on so, but truth be told, every time she made love to the Judge, in her mind, she was making love to Travis. She had to imagine what it would be like, because she had never actually made love to Travis. Even after all the adventures and mis-adventures they had been through together, and all the opportunities they
could
have
made love, he was too loyal to Janice to be seduced by her. So she began the torrid love affair with the Judge, as a consolation. He was the first man she had met, since she won the lottery, who did not appear to be interested in her money.

Their meetings at out-of-the-way hotels was always a worry to Leon, because he knew that eventually, because he was a high profile judge, someone was going to recognize him, and the scandalous affair would be all over the news. That was why he encouraged Miranda to buy the new house on the Warrior River near Kellerman, because it was conveniently right door to
his
house
, yet isolated by thick trees and bushes on all sides. They could literally carry on their sexual adventures right next door to his wife, and she would never suspected a thing.

So at his urging, she bought the house, and they began regular meetings at Miranda’s house, right under the nose of his wife. This went on for several weeks, before Mrs. Rosewood left on her three week European cruise. As soon as his wife was out of the way however, Leon insisted that Miranda and he have a wild night at
his
house.
To Leon, there was something dangerous and exciting about doing it with Miranda right there, in his wife’s very own bed, that turned him on even more. Unfortunately, the excitement was too much for him to handle, and he dropped dead from a heart attack, which left Miranda in a very embarrassing situation. A situation in which there was only one person she could turn to. Using just her big toe, she called Travis. She shook her head in disbelief over what had happened the past few weeks. This whole mess was her fault, and unfortunately, was just another tragic chapter of her pathetic life.

But it wasn’t over yet.

In addition to cleaning the Judge’s house, she probably needed to do a clean sweep of her
own
house too, to be sure there was nothing incriminating left there. Especially in the bedroom and bathroom. That would be her project for today, to clean her house in minute detail, removing every fingerprint, and every hair left by the Judge. (Later she would be glad she did, because she would find a pair of his underwear under the bed.) At the end of the day, she would rest assured that there would be nothing incriminating found at her house.