Assault and Batter(56)

“You’re welcome.”

“So, why are you so happy to hear from Vic?” Grace asked. “Does he owe you money?”

“It’s even better than that. He just got back into town, and he wants to try out for Falstaff in my latest production.” When Max wasn’t acting, he was directing our own local community theater.

“I thought you just used older actors,” I said. Max was notorious for mining all of his talent from the Senior Center.

“Sometimes I cast outside of my core group,” he said. “Anyway, Vic left town the night Jude was murdered, and he just now got back. I’m the one who told him the news about what happened.”

“I’m still waiting to hear why that makes you so happy,” I said.

“Vic saw Jude downtown alone by the clock an hour after Emily and Jude had their little chat. It proves that he was still alive after they spoke. That’s got to go a long way toward clearing her, don’t you think?”

“You might be right,” I said.

“I know that I am. I was about to call the police chief when you rang my doorbell. My bride is about to be cleared of all suspicion,” Max said.

I didn’t know that I’d go that far, but it did look better for Emily than it had yet. In order for her to have killed him, she would have had to track Jude down again an hour after they spoke. “It still doesn’t prove that she’s innocent,” I said.

“As a matter of fact, it does. You see, given the new potential times of death, Emily has her own mother as an alibi, along with three of her cousins. They were all working on the wedding together.”

“That is good news,” I said. “Be sure to tell her that I’m happy it worked out that way.”

“But don’t you see?” Max asked as he hugged me. “That means that you’re back in the wedding.”

“Not so fast,” I said. “That’s Emily’s call, but even if she invited me now, there may be too much bad blood between us to make a difference. No, I believe that I’ll skip the festivities, if it’s all the same to you.”

Max’s smile faded. “You don’t mean that, Suzanne.”

“Is it really that important to you that I come to your wedding?”

“There wouldn’t even be a wedding without you,” Max said.

“I’m sure you two would have worked things out on your own,” I said. “Don’t give me too much credit; I don’t deserve it.”

“You’re selling yourself too short,” Max said, and then he turned to Grace. “Talk some sense into her, would you? You two can come together.”

“Sorry, but I’ve already bailed out, too,” Grace said.

“What is it with you both? Can’t you just be happy for me?” He looked genuinely distraught now.

“We’re happy for you,” I said. “Right, Grace?”

“Absolutely. We’re just not coming.”

“Fine. Whatever,” Max said. “Nothing’s going to get me down today. I’m getting married tomorrow.”

“In spite of the murder investigation?” Grace asked him.

“Why should that matter now? As soon as I tell Chief Martin what Vic told me, Emily is off the hook.”

“I hate to bring this up,” I said, “but you and Peter have to still be on his list.”

“None of that matters,” Max said. “I know that we’re innocent, and that’s all that counts.”

“I’m not sure the chief is going to feel the same way,” I said as my cellphone rang. It was Chief Martin himself. “Speak of the devil and he appears,” I said.

“If that’s the chief, I want to talk to him,” Max said.

“Let me see what he wants first,” I answered as I stepped away to take the call.

“What’s going on, Chief?” I asked.

“Good news, at least for your ex and his best man,” the chief said.

“I’m listening,” I replied, not wanting to give anything away.

“One of my officers was interviewing folks who had rooms near the one where the two of them were the night of the murder, and she hit pay dirt.”

“What did she find?”

“It’s kind of sad, really. A man in the room next to theirs was out on the balcony the entire time Max and Peter were there. He can alibi both of them.”

That seemed like a piece of good luck for Max and Peter. “He never left for one minute?”

“The man was thinking about jumping, if you can believe that, but he heard voices, so while he was waiting for them to go back inside, he sat there in the dark and listened. Evidently Max was so enthusiastic about living that he actually convinced the man not to jump after all.”