Innocent (13 page)

“There’s one other thing,” he said. “And I know this may be hard to hear, because
it’s a detail about the murder itself. Do you want me to go on?”

“Yes,” I said before I’d even stopped to think. Maybe I didn’t. Maybe I should have
at least asked what kind of detail it was.

“Okay, well, the hammer they found in his room matched the injuries to her…to the
head. And there was blood. The same type as your mother’s, so the coroner’s office
was sure it was the murder weapon. Even your father’s defense attorney didn’t argue
that fact.

“What was strange, though, even stranger than the anonymous phone call, was that
there were no fingerprints on the murder weapon. None. The handle had been wiped
clean.”

“But that makes no sense. Why would he have taken the time to wipe off his prints and
then leave the blood on the head of the hammer? Why would he even keep it in the
first place? Why wouldn’t he have thrown it away?” I asked.

“I was thinking that too. The rooming house was practically on the lake. If he’d
tossed it in the drink, nobody would ever have found it,” David said.

“That is confusing.”

“Even more confusing is, why a hammer in the first place? Your father is a huge man,
a real brawler who was in a number of fights that were on the record and probably
more that weren’t.”

“So why would he need a hammer to kill…to do that, right?”

“Right. He’d practically beaten one man to death and put a police officer in the
hospital using his fists. It took five officers with clubs to finally subdue him.
And in none of his prior incidents did he ever use a weapon. Why that night? Why
would he use a hammer?”

“He wouldn’t,” I said. “So you think he didn’t do it?”

“I’m just saying that I’m suspicious. I’d love to talk to your father.”

“You could come with me the next time I go.” I suggested.

“I’m not sure if I could discover anything of value, but at least you'd have somebody
there with you.”

“I’d like that.”

“Then it’s a date. A rather strange date, but still a date, although I don’t think
your father is going to be any too happy to see me.”

“He knows you?”

He laughed. “Of course not. It’s just that he doesn’t seem to have a really good
history with the police, and it’s not going to make him any happier to find out his
daughter is dating one.”

“Dating?”

“Yeah. Our first date was when I drove you to the bank. The second was driving you
home. This is our third date, and, of course, we have the dance coming up. We’re
practically an old married couple.”

I felt myself go red all over, and I looked down at the ground. Toni had always
kidded me that I went as red as a McIntosh apple when I was embarrassed.

David took my chin in his hand, gently moving my head upward until we were looking
directly into each other’s eyes.

“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. Sometimes I talk too much. Please accept my apology,
and I’ll see you Saturday.”

For an instant I thought he was going to draw me near and we were going to kiss, but
he released me and said, “We both better get back to work.”

I REACHED OVER
and turned on the light on the night table; it took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the light. There was no point in even trying to sleep. I needed to talk to somebody, but it wasn’t like I could talk to Mrs. Meyers or James or Nigel. The somebody I needed to talk to wasn’t here. There was only one thing I could do.

I climbed out of bed, shuffled over to my desk and took out pen and paper.

Dear Toni,

It’s two in the morning and I can’t sleep. I can’t even imagine I’m ever going to sleep again because I’m so excited. I just came home from the most incredible night of my life.

I guess I should start at the beginning. I met somebody. It was sort of an accident, but I got to know a young man. His name is David—Officer David Gibson. He’s a police constable, and we met in the strangest way imaginable. He’s very, very nice, and kind and funny and very considerate. He brought me flowers one day. He did first aid on my knee when I scraped it. He really is so kind. Depending on how you count them, we went on our first—or our fourth—date tonight. Either way, the one tonight was the best I could ever imagine. It was like something out of a movie.

He picked me up in his own car. He held the door open and he said nice things about my dress. I wish you could see my dress! Mrs. Meyers made it, and it’s so beautiful. David thought it was beautiful too. He said I was beautiful. Me? Can you believe it? Not cute or attractive but beautiful. I had new white shoes and a white purse to go along with my new dress.

We went to a dance. A dance! All of those times you and I danced together, taking turns pretending we were the man, finally paid off, although there were a couple of times I started to lead. Despite being so big, he didn’t step on my feet even once, which is a lot better than we used to do. We were on the dance floor almost all night, and when we weren’t we sat at a table with three other couples. They were older police officers with their wives, but they were still so nice to me. David was even nicer. He pulled out my chair, and brought me punch, and when I said how much I liked the brownies, he went and got me a second one. He was such a gentleman, all night. Well, at least until the very end. He kissed me.

At the end of the night he drove me home and we stood outside the back door of the house and sort of shuffled around. I was really nervous because I thought he might try to kiss me. Actually, I hoped he would. He seemed as nervous as me, which I thought was strange because he’s so funny and handsome and he is a police officer and he is older—he’s going to be twenty-one in less than two months.

The kiss wasn’t long—just a couple of seconds—and I made sure to keep my lips closed, but it was so nice. I probably shouldn’t have, but I was afraid I hadn’t done it very well and I explained to him that it was my first kiss. He started to laugh, and I thought it was because I’d done so badly, but he told me that he’d only kissed two other girls a couple of times. Then I did something I can hardly believe I did—I reached up and kissed him! The second time was even better!

I’m going to see him again in two days. He’s coming with me to do something difficult—to see my father in jail. Okay, maybe I have to explain all about that, but I don’t really want to write about that now. That’s going to have to wait for another letter at another time because I can’t even think about anything except tonight.

Right now I just wanted you to know one thing and only one thing. I got my first kiss! And I guess I gave my first kiss too.

I hesitated for a minute, thinking about how to sign the letter. Should it be Betty or—then I knew.

With much love,

Lizzy

P.S. I miss you so much. Please, please, please write back soon. I need to know that you are safe and your life is going well.

I’d done it. Not only finished the letter but signed my name—my real name. Lizzy. That was who I was. I put down the pen, folded the letter and placed it into an envelope. Tomorrow I’d address it, put on a stamp and mail it. I laid it down on the desk. I just wished I could be there to see Toni’s reaction when she opened it. I hoped she was doing as well as I was. I was sure she was. After all, she was the strong one. I so wanted to know what was going on in her life.

I went back to my bed, climbed in, pulled up the covers and turned off the light. I didn’t know if sleep would come any easier now, but I’d have to try. Morning was going to come quickly, and I’d promised to help with breakfast even though it was my day off.

“ARE YOU EVER
going to stop smiling?” Mrs. Meyers asked.

“I’ve been told I always smile.”

“Not as much as you have this morning. Obviously, things went well last night at the dance.”

“Yes, they did. It was very nice.”

“I thought as much when you came in so late.”

“I’m so sorry if I woke you!”

“No waking involved. It didn’t feel right going to sleep until I knew you were safe and sound at home.”

“You didn’t need to do that!”

“I didn’t need to, but I wanted to,” she said.

“I didn’t mean to put you to any trouble.”

“It’s not trouble. It’s a pleasure to have somebody to worry about and fuss over—at least, somebody who isn’t an old woman who’s my boss.”

She placed a flower in a little crystal vase on the tray, along with Mrs. Remington’s breakfast, which was covered to keep the meal warm. Mrs. Remington had sent down word through Richie that she wanted breakfast in bed this morning.

“There, all done,” she said. “You take it up to her.”

“Me?” Mrs. Meyers always took her Sunday breakfast up to her.

“That’s too many steps for me this early in the morning.”

I knew there was more to it than that, but I didn’t think it would be respectful to ask. I picked up the tray and started up the back stairs leading to the second floor.

The stairs were very narrow and steep. They certainly weren’t like the main staircases in the mansion. These steps were built so that servants could do their jobs without being seen or heard, but they weren’t built for comfort. At the top of the stairs I came out into the hall right beside the door to the master bedroom. It was closed, and I knocked.

“Come,” she called from within.

Balancing the tray with one hand, I opened the door and entered. “Good morning, ma’am. It’s Lizzy.”

“I know,” she said. “I asked that you bring me my breakfast this morning. You’ll have to forgive me for being a nosy old woman, but I wanted to ask you about last night, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind,” I said, “although I do object to you calling yourself nosy. It’s very kind of you to be interested in me, and I appreciate it.”

I gently placed the tray on her lap and fluffed up the pillows, placing them behind her.

“You, Lizzy, are as kind as your mother, and I am very interested in your well-being. Did you have a good time?”

“Wonderful. We danced and danced and danced.”

“My late husband and I loved to dance. And was your escort a gentleman?”

“A perfect gentleman.”

“If he hadn’t been, I would have had a few words with his chief. I may be old-fashioned, but I feel that I have an obligation to keep you safe. I just wish that I could have kept…”

“My mother safe?”

She nodded.

“I know that if you had had your way, she would have stayed on at the guest house and she would still be alive,” I said.

“That is one of the biggest regrets of my life. I should have been more persuasive, more convincing, but I wasn’t.” She inhaled and exhaled deeply. “The past is the past. We can only deal with the present and the future. Have you given any more thought to your future, to going on for further education?”

“I was talking to David—Officer Gibson last night about nursing. He said that the police have dealings with nurses at the hospital and he and the other officers have such high respect for them.”

“There is nobility in the profession. I think you’d be a fine nurse. We must keep focused on the future and not allow the past to cause unnecessary detours or trouble.”

I knew she was talking about my father and the visits. I didn’t want to disappoint her after all the kindness she’d shown me. Yet even if I didn’t tell her, she’d know within a day of the visit. I had to tell her, but I had to explain it properly.

I took a deep breath. “I’m going to visit my father tomorrow. I’m not going to go very often, maybe never again, but I have to go at least once more.”

“I understand the desire, but not the purpose.”

“He told me he was innocent, that he didn’t do it.”

She laughed. “That man is far from innocent. Don’t you think a murderer could also be a liar?”

“I guess he could be.”

“Guess?” she snapped. “Of course he’s lying, because…” She let the sentence trail away and started again. This time her voice was calm and gentle. “I understand that you want to believe him, it’s only natural, but if you knew about his history of violence and the previous times he’d spent in jail, then you’d—”

“I do know,” I said, cutting her off.

She gave me a questioning look. Had I revealed something I shouldn’t have? Now there was no choice but to tell her how I knew.

“David told me about the three years my father served in prison for nearly killing somebody, and the other offenses, about him coming around here and Edward making him leave.”

“Edward stepped forward to put himself between danger and you and your mother. Did your father tell you that he threatened Richie?”

“Why would he threaten Richie?”

“That’s a question you might want to ask him if you do decide to follow through with that visit. You need to use your head and not your heart. If your mother had only listened to our warnings then, well, none of this would have happened.”

“David is coming with me,” I blurted out.

“And why would he do that?”

I almost told her about his suspicions, about the unexplained details of the case, but I didn’t.

“David said the same thing you did about my father claiming he was innocent. He said that everybody in prison says they’re innocent. He wants to be there for me,” I said.

“He is a considerate young man. It will be helpful for you to have outside ears to hear, outside eyes to see and a policeman’s mind to think. You might want to listen to that young man. Obviously, he is concerned enough and caring enough to want to be there. He must be worried about you. I’m worried about you, Lizzy. I couldn’t live with myself if I allowed your father to harm you in any way. I only have your best interests at heart.”

“I know that, and I’m very grateful for your caring and kindness. I’m sorry that I’ve caused you so much distress,” I said.

“No need to apologize for that,” she said. “Perhaps you should apologize for causing my breakfast to get cold though.” She lifted the tray. “I’d like you to have all of this warmed up.”