Second Chair, A Stan Turner Mystery, Vol.4

by William Manchee

  *****

  On Saturday afternoon I was at the office working on my trial outline, witness list and direct examination questions. I had to be ready to present Sarah’s defense on Monday because Hudson could finish up anytime now. I was surprised when I looked up and Jodie was standing there. “What are you doing here?”

  She smiled. “Jodie Marshall, Private Eye, reporting in,” she said, giving me a crisp salute.

  I shook my head. “PI’s don’t salute. They just grab a flask out of their trench coat and pour themselves a shot of whiskey.”

  “That sounds good. Shall I pour us a round?”

  “No, I get sleepy when I drink and I’ve got several more hours of work to do. . . . Just tell me what happened.”

  "Okay, you’re no fun. . . . . So, anyway my search took place around 10:30 this morning. Michelle was still asleep when I arrived. She was kind of surprised to see me but accepted my explanation for the visit.

  “She let me in and made us some coffee while I got started poking around Sarah's room. The room had been cleaned up since the night of the murder. The bed was made and all of Sarah's things were neatly arranged around her room. There were some pictures on the night stand, one of Greg and Sarah, another of Tom, Joyce, Nate and Sarah at Six Flags. Tom and Joyce seemed so happy in the picture and Nate and Sarah looked to be quite close, almost like a real brother and sister.

  "I felt very guilty going through Sarah's things, I must tell you. It didn’t seem right, but like a good little PI, I continued to search. First her chest of drawers, then the closet and even the pockets of all her coats and jackets. From the pocket of a charcoal coat I pulled out an envelope folded in two. It was an old TU Electric envelope. On the back it had the name Dusty and a phone number handwritten in blue ink. I didn’t know if it was significant so I took it with me. After finishing the closet I went to the desk. There I found a bundle of letters and a note pad. There were some interesting letters,” she said as she pulled one out from its envelope. “Should I read them to you?"

  “Sure,” I said.

   

  “'Sarah, I got your message about the A on your term paper. This weekend we can celebrate. Call me if you read this before eleven. Greg.'

  She handed it to me and then said, "Here’s another one, it’s from Nate."

   

  'Sis, about our discussion the other night, you really should take it slow with Greg. You don't want to make the same kind of mistake you made with Richard. I know you think Greg is a great guy and all, but people are often different from what they appear. I just don't want you to get hurt again, I couldn't bear that. You know I care about you. Love, Nate.'

   

  Jodie handed the second letter to me. I read it again.

  “Michelle caught me reading the letters and seemed upset,” Jodie said.

  “Really.”

  “Yes, she came in to tell me the coffee was ready. I explained to her why we had to do it. Then we started talking about Greg and Nate. I had noticed a lot of letters from Nate. She said he was a wonderful stepbrother. She wishes her own brother was as kind and considerate. Apparently he even sent her flowers on her birthday.'

  'Wow, that is unusual,” I said.

  'She also thinks Nate's pretty cute too. When he came to visit Sarah during Spring Break she came on to him but much to her sorrow, he ignored her.”

  “That figures,” I said. “A big football star destined to be a millionaire probably has a dozen gorgeous women at his beck and call.”

  Jodie nodded.

  “She asked how the trial was going? She’s worried Sarah will be convicted.”

  “Join the club,” I said. “So that’s it, huh?”

  “Yeah, I’m afraid so.”

  “Damn, I really thought you might find something more."

  "Sorry, Stan."

  "It's all right, it was just a long shot."

  "Well, I'm going to run. I just wanted to report in."

  "Listen, before you go, let me run something else by you."

  "What's that," she said.

  "I got a strange call from Marleen Wiggins. She was drunk and very angry. She said some pretty ugly things. I'm really at loss to know what I did to warrant such bitterness."

  "That is strange. I wonder if her attorney knew she was calling you directly."

  "Obviously not,” I said.

  "What do you think it is?" Jodie asked.

  “I don’t know. He and I have always been such good friends. We send each other business. Hell, I do all his kids legal work. This is so bizarre.”

  “Could it be the Parker thing?” Jodie asked.

  “Yeah, I’ve thought of that, but Rob says Bobby never mentioned it. He probably had just discovered it when he was working on his tax return? I doubt this is the source of Marleen’s anger.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. If I could just figure out what it was that was eating her, then maybe I’d know how to deal with it.”

  Jodie looked at me pensively. Then she said, "Maybe you didn’t do anything?”

  “Huh?”

  “Maybe attacking you is a diversion,” Jodie said. “Maybe Marleen is trying to hide something either to protect Bobby’s reputation or herself.”

  “From what?”

  “From the truth. Did it ever occur to you Bobby’s death wasn’t an accident after all?”

  "You think Marleen killed Bobby?"

  “I don’t know, but it’s a possibility you can’t afford to ignore.”