Revenge of Innocents

by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg

  “Are there any signs of strangulation?”

  “No,” Felton told her. “He looks like he just lay down and died. We can’t find any ID. The reporting party was a jogger. He stopped to use the restroom when he found him. He said the guy camped out in the park all the time, so he assumed he was homeless. He hasn’t seen him for a few days. He thinks someone in the neighborhood may have thought he was dangerous and called the police. I’ll have the dispatcher check and see if anyone arrested a vagrant fitting his description recently.”

  Before she returned to the Snodgrass house, Mary received a call from Carolyn. “Do we have any idea where Stockton is?”

  “He’s still in jail on the New Orleans case,” the detective told her. “What happened to you this morning? Marcus made it sound like you were sick.”

  “I just needed a few hours of sleep. Did you tell him to keep me away from Jude, or that I’d been kicked off the task force?”

  The line went silent. “Jude’s been manipulating you, Carolyn. Isn’t it obvious now that Snodgrass confessed? Jesus, his wife caught him in bed with the eight-year-old. She took the girl to the doctor to make certain he hadn’t had intercourse with her. She’s all right, thank God, but Anne Marie came home from school early and found her father. When we got there, she was hysterical. I really feel for them. Can you imagine what the wife has gone through? She hasn’t begun to recover from her daughter’s death. To know the man you’re married to has been having sex with your child for years, then learning he murdered her to protect himself, must be earth-shattering.”

  “Where’s Anne Marie? I’ll have Rebecca call her. They’ve become close since all this happened. I’m sure she could use a friend right now.”

  “They’re staying with the wife’s mother. Hold on. I’ll give you the number.”

  After Mary gave her the information, Carolyn said, “Who did you send to the hospital to talk to Jude?”

  “Gabriel Martinez. He tried to get her to tell him the truth, but she clammed up and slept all afternoon. Gabriel is on his way to the Snodgrass house. Hank and I were planning on going to the hospital and trying our hand with Jude. The only missing link right now is Drew. It’s doubtful Snodgrass killed him. The bastard confessed to killing his daughter, as well as Veronica. I can’t think of a reason for him to kill Drew, unless Drew suspected he was involved in Veronica’s murder. Did Drew say anything along those lines when you picked him up from the jail?”

  “Nothing, and that’s not something he would keep to himself. After sitting in jail, he would have been signing his own death warrant if he went after Snodgrass. Regardless of the fact that Jude cleared him, he could have ended up taking the fall for both murders. Do you agree?”

  “Makes sense,” Mary said. “We know Jude used the information in Haley’s diary to concoct the accusations about Drew. That’s why everything sounded so credible. Redfield is considering filing charges against her, but he doesn’t know what to file yet. I wasn’t trying to exclude you, Carolyn. Hank and I just need to be present to advise Jude of her rights. You want to meet us at the hospital and see if you can get her to cough up the truth? If anyone can do it, you can, especially now that we found out who wrote the diary.”

  “I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes.”

  Carolyn entered Jude’s room with Hank and Mary. She’d asked that they give her a few minutes alone before they advised Jude of her rights. Hank shook his head.

  Jude was awake, a tray of food sitting on a table beside her. “Why are they here? Some dickhead cop showed up today, asking me all kinds of questions. I’ve been waiting for you all day. Why haven’t you come to see me?”

  Carolyn knew there was only one way to play it, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. She turned to Mary. “Advise her of her rights. I have a daughter of my own to take care of. I have no desire to spend time with someone who’s done nothing but lie to me.” She began walking toward the door.

  “Please,” Jude cried. “Don’t leave me. You’re all I have.”

  Carolyn slowly turned around. “If you don’t come clean with me this instant, I’m never going to come and see you again. Do you understand me? The police know you stole the diary from Haley. They know you used the personal things she wrote in it to make false accusations against your father. You told Reggie your father had been abusing both Haley and you since you were children. Isn’t that right, Jude?”

  Tears glistened in her eyes. “I told you I made up the stuff in the diary because I was mad at my dad. God, what’s wrong with you people? I was in a terrible accident. My arm was cut off. I could have died. I didn’t kill anyone. Why did you advise me of my rights?”

  “Come on,” Carolyn said. “You watch TV. You know what a plea agreement is, or what they call cutting a deal. Just to make sure, I’ll explain it to you. Reggie’s going to be charged with first-degree murder. That’s a crime that carries the death penalty. He’s going to spill his guts. We call that rolling over on someone. Who do you think the district attorney is going to believe?”

  “Reggie’s a criminal. Why would they believe him over me?”

  “The truth has a distinctive ring to it, Jude, something you’ve failed to realize. The DA will offer Reggie second-degree murder if he hands you over. That’s only twelve years to life. If you were Reggie, what would you prefer? Twelve years or death?”

  Jude screamed, “I didn’t kill anyone!”

  “Do you really think a jury will believe Reggie killed your father because he didn’t want to be sent back to New Orleans? The hurricane destroyed all the evidence, so that would never have happened. Reggie is a clever young man, Jude. Even if he didn’t know that New Orleans couldn’t prosecute him, all he had to do was go underground like he did after he escaped from jail. Why take a chance and commit a murder? Reggie didn’t even like you, Jude. He was in love with Haley. We’ve talked to your friends. You were stalking Reggie. You ended a lifelong friendship with a girl who desperately needed you. Her father would have been in custody by now if you’d told us the truth. More importantly, your own father might still be alive. Don Snodgrass confessed to murdering your mother.” Carolyn paused to catch her breath, then continued, “Why did Haley call Veronica, huh? You knew all along what Haley was going through. That’s why she stayed at your house so much, to get away from her father. You told her your mother could help her, didn’t you?”

  Mary handed her a tissue, and Jude blew her nose. “Was that wrong, too? She made me promise not to tell anyone. She was scared of Donny. He beat her up really bad when he found out she was seeing Reggie. I tried to get her to talk to my mother. I told her she would make sure he went to jail.”

  “Then you decided to steal the one thing Haley had left, her boyfriend. Why, Jude?”

  “Because I wanted someone to love me, too.” The first glimpse of the innocent child Jude had once been appeared. Swaddled in white bandages and bedding, she looked almost like an infant.

  “Your mother and father loved you,” Carolyn said, her voice softening. “I spoke to your dad the night Reggie killed him. He was concerned about you. He wasn’t bitter about the allegations you brought against him. All he wanted was for you to be safe and happy.”

  “When I told Reggie those things,” Jude said, her good hand clutching the sheet, “I didn’t think he would kill anyone.” She turned around and glared at Mary. “You’re recording this, aren’t you?” Facing Carolyn again, she added, “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. This is hard for me, you know, telling the truth.”

  “Why is that?” Carolyn asked, wondering if a pathological liar could actually provide an answer to such a question.

  “Because I’ve always had secrets, things I couldn’t tell anyone. After a while, you disappear into the stories you make up, so you can’t tell one from the other. It’s a lot easier that way, especially when you know people will look down on you or hate you if you tell the truth. How did I know Haley called my mother from the motel?”

  Caroly
n felt her heart pounding. Everything suddenly slammed together. Jude looked so pathetic, she had to resist the urge to rush over and comfort her. “Did you ever have sex with Mr. Snodgrass?”

  A strange look appeared in the girl’s eyes. “It was Haley’s diary, but the story was about both of us. We wrote it together. She kept it at my house, so her parents wouldn’t find it. Her father started messing around with us when Haley was nine and I was ten.”

  “Jesus,” Mary exclaimed, glancing over at Hank.

  “He gave us money,” Jude continued, “bought us all kinds of neat things, took us to Disneyland. At first, it wasn’t that bad. He would just cuddle with us when I spent the night, usually while Haley and I were watching TV or a movie. Then he started putting his hands inside our pajamas. My mom and dad were always working. They didn’t hug or kiss me very often. I liked having Donny touch me. I didn’t like it later on, though.”

  “What happened that changed things?”

  “I got pregnant.”

  The room took on the atmosphere of a movie theater during a scene so tense that no one even reached for their popcorn. It was as if there was a spotlight focused on Carolyn and Jude. When either of them spoke, their voices echoed off the tiled floors. Hank and Mary were standing motionless, completely riveted, and at the same time, not sure if this wasn’t just another of Jude’s elaborate fabrications.

  “And it was Don Snodgrass who impregnated you?”

  “Yes,” Jude said, pressing her head down on the pillow. “I didn’t start having sex with other guys until later. Haley made me promise not to tell my mom. Her father kept telling her that if she got him in trouble, they’d lose their house and have to live like poor people. He said her mom, Angela, wouldn’t believe it, that she’d hate her for ruining their lives. Angela didn’t work. I don’t think she ever worked. All she did was take care of the kids and spend money.”

  “Did Mr. Snodgrass impregnate you the second time?”

  “No, I was having sex with all kinds of guys by then. I don’t know who got me pregnant that time. Haley couldn’t date or anything because her father wouldn’t let her, but I could do whatever I wanted. She was jealous of me. When she started seeing Reggie, I would say she was spending the night with me so her father didn’t find out. Haley didn’t have a bad reputation like I did, and she was prettier than me. She got really skinny. I think she could wear a size zero or something. I tried to diet, thinking Reggie would like me more. I lost weight, but I was still a cow compared to Haley.”

  They were losing some of their focus. Carolyn knew she had to bring Jude back around. She wasn’t interested in discussing diets and reputations when Stockton’s release could come through any moment. “When did you tell Reggie that your father was the one abusing you and Haley?”

  “Not until she disappeared,” Jude said. “I didn’t know Haley’s father killed her. My dad used to whip me with a belt. That didn’t mean he would kill me. I thought they sent her away to a boarding school or one of those hospitals where they treat anorexia. Reggie was really upset. He kept asking me if I’d heard from her, or if I knew what had happened. That’s when I decided to tell him.”

  “Why name your father?”

  “I don’t know, really. Maybe because I was scared if I told Reggie it was Haley’s dad, he would go to the police and Haley would never speak to me again. I didn’t know then that Reggie was an escaped prisoner. He told me that later.”

  “But Haley had already disappeared?”

  “I thought she would come back.”

  “I thought you and Haley weren’t getting along.”

  “We weren’t,” Jude said. “We’d been in big fights before and always made up. I didn’t know she was already dead.” She asked for a drink of water. Mary poured it into a special cup with a straw and lid. After she handed it to her, she returned to her position beside Hank.

  “Who beat you, Jude?” Carolyn asked. “Was it Reggie?”

  “No,” she said sheepishly. “I just hit myself with one of my dad’s old shoes. I wanted Reggie to believe my dad beat me up. It was kind of like special effects, and I’d seen Haley before after her father hit her, so I knew how it looked. Reggie felt a lot more sorry for me when he saw the bruises.” She finished the water and placed it back on the nightstand. “Do I have to keep talking? You know everything now. I’m a bad person. So what else is new? I’ve been in trouble since I was born. Reggie killed my dad because of me. There, you wanted to know the truth. Now you know it. Send me to jail. I don’t care. I could never make it on my own, anyway.”

  “Is there any way you can prove the things you’ve told us today?”

  Jude was quiet for a while, thinking. “Why would I want to help you prove something that would send me to jail?”

  Mary stepped forward. “If you cooperate and agree to testify against Reggie, the DA may charge you with a less serious crime. I can’t make any promises, you understand, but there’s always the chance that they might even decide not to prosecute you.”

  “Humm,” she said. “What kind of proof do you need?”

  “You’ve heard about DNA, right?” Mary continued. “Do you have anything with Don Snodgrass’s semen on it, or some other type of body fluid, such as saliva or blood? How long has it been since you last had sex with him?”

  “Over five years.”

  “So that’s not going to help us,” Mary said, disappointed. “If you hadn’t had an abortion, we could have confirmed Snodgrass was the father of your child.”

  “I didn’t abort his baby,” Jude said, dropping a bombshell. “My mom wouldn’t let me have an abortion the first time I got pregnant. She made me give the baby up for adoption. I wore big shirts and things, so no one at school knew I was pregnant, outside of Haley. I went into labor when I was six months. I was afraid the baby would die, but they told me he was all right. He just needed to be in an incubator. I only had two abortions. I got pregnant three times.”

  Everyone crowded around Jude’s hospital bed. “Where’s the kid?” Hank said, beginning to believe her. “Did you use an adoption agency? What hospital did you give birth in?”

  “It’s almost time for my shot,” the girl said, wincing in pain. “We didn’t use an adoption agency. My mom handled it through this lady attorney that used to be a DA. All I know was her name was Beth. No, wait, I think her last name was either Levin or Levy. It sounded like the jeans. That’s why I remember it.”

  Hank told Mary, “Get Beth Levy’s ass on the phone. If she gives you any flack, tell her I’m going to book her as an accessory to murder. And call Charley. Find out if they’ve established a time of death on Don Snodgrass yet.”

  “Why?” Carolyn asked, concerned now that Jude was writhing in pain. She walked over and pushed the call button for the nurse, then leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I’m proud of you, honey.”

  Mary was calling the station to get Beth Levy’s number. “Because the wife may have been the first one to find Snodgrass,” she said, pulling out a pen and scribbling the attorney’s number on the back of her hand. “That means she would have had access to the note he left. Since her husband committed suicide, she can’t collect on his life insurance. The last thing she would want would be an illegitimate child floating around, someone who could make a claim on his estate.”

  “Did Haley’s father know you had his baby?”

  “Yeah,” Jude whimpered. “That’s the last time I had sex with the bastard. I didn’t tell my mom, though. No one else knew but Haley and the attorney lady.”

  A flurry of activity broke out in the room. Hank called Redfield at home to get permission to charge Stockton with Drew’s murder. An older nurse with frizzy gray hair and the face of a drill instructor came in to give Jude her injection of Delaudin. When she heard the two detectives talking on their cell phones, she shouted, “No cell phones inside the hospital. Don’t you read the signs? If you don’t leave this minute, I’ll call security.”

  Hank and Mary
made a hasty retreat, continuing their conversations as they walked out. “Please,” Jude pleaded, looking over at Carolyn, “don’t make my mom leave, Maggie. I haven’t seen her all day.”

  “She’s your guardian, honey,” the woman told her, inserting the narcotic into the IV. “Your mother is dead.”

  “But she loves me,” Jude said, reaching through the bars on the bed railing.

  Carolyn clasped her hand, experiencing a rush of maternal emotions. Tears spilled from her eyes. In the end, love had saved the day.

  EPILOGUE

  Monday, October 31—6:30 P.M.

  The air was crisp and fresh. Children were out trick-or-treating, and the rehabilitation wing of the hospital where Jude had been transferred was decorated for Halloween.

  Jude still used a sling to support her arm. The reattachment had been a success. All the therapists had to do now was build up the atrophied muscles. The nerves and blood vessels were functioning perfectly. In time, Dr. Samuels believed, she would regain close to normal use of her left arm and hand.

  Because of the extraordinary circumstances, the DA decided not to press charges against Jude in the death of her father. The lab had matched Stockton’s DNA to a hair found on the sofa where Drew was shot. Two days ago, Stockton had cut a deal, agreeing to plead guilty to second-degree murder.

  Angela Snodgrass had confessed to finding her husband after he had hanged himself, and disposing of the last page of his suicide note, which referred to the abuse he’d committed against Jude. Angela hadn’t known about the pregnancy, however, until Beth Levy had told her the day after her husband’s funeral. Her intent was to call the police and report her husband’s death when she got home from the doctor’s office.

  While searching through the documents stored on the Dell computer removed from the study at the Snodgrass house, Ricky Walters had come across a slew of letters and old e-mails that Angela had written to Drew Campbell. From the way it appeared, they’d been having an affair off and on for almost ten years. This was presumably the reason Angela had set up so many passwords on her computer.