Assault and Batter(57)

“He’s going to love hearing that. I’ll let you tell him yourself, since he’s right here.”

“Suzanne, I don’t mind if you pass on the news yourself,” the chief said.

“Actually, he has a bit of news himself he wants to share.”

After a moment’s pause, the chief said, “Put him on, then.”

“The chief wants to speak with you,” I said as I handed Max my cellphone.

“What was that all about?” Grace asked me softly as Max relayed the same story to Chief Martin that he had to us.

“Max and Peter are in the clear. A witness was next door on his balcony, and he eavesdropped on them both the entire time they were there, so neither man could have killed Jude.”

“Wow, what are the odds of that?”

“It’s lucky it happened,” I said, “but it was good police work uncovering it. The chief is a lot better at his job than most folks give him credit for.”

“Including you?” Grace asked with a smile.

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t always been his biggest fan, especially since he started dating your mother.”

“A person’s entitled to change her opinion, isn’t she?” I asked.

“Absolutely. You’re living proof of that. If I’d told you right after your divorce that you’d ever end up being friendly with Max again, you would have laughed in my face.”

“So, maybe I’m not the only one with the capacity to change,” I said as Max hung up and handed my cellphone back to me. “What did he say?”

“He’s headed over to Vic’s right now,” Max said happily.

“Did he tell you the other news?” I asked.

“About our friendly neighbor hiding in the shadows? He did,” Max said, his smile broader still. “It was lucky for us, wasn’t it?”

“It sounds as though you had a hand in keeping that man from jumping,” I said.

Max, never one to decline credit in the past, just shook his head. “I don’t know if I’d say that.”

“You don’t have to,” I said. “The chief told me as much himself.”

“Then it was a lucky night for all three of us,” Max said. “I can’t wait to tell Emily. There’s nothing stopping us from getting married now.”

After we left him, Grace said, “It’s funny how things work out sometimes.”

“It is,” I agreed. “We’re closing in now. I can feel it.”

“Unless we don’t even know the real killer,” she said.

“I suppose it’s possible, but my gut is telling me that it’s one of our remaining three suspects.”

“Then even though Max, Peter, and Emily might be out of this, we’ve still got a lot of work to do, don’t we?” Grace asked.

“We do,” I agreed.

“What do we do now?”

“Honestly, I don’t have a clue,” I said.





Chapter 20


We were heading back into town when my cellphone rang again.

“Hi, Momma.” I had to hide the disappointment in my voice when I answered my mother’s call, since I’d been hoping that it was Jake. Clearly he couldn’t call me every half hour with updates. I knew that it was an unreasonable expectation, but that didn’t make it any easier to take. “What’s going on?”

“You’re eating at home tonight, aren’t you?”

“That depends,” I said with a smile. “What are we having?”

She laughed. “Oh, no, you’re not about to catch me in that particular trap. I’ve been cooking all afternoon, so is there really any doubt in your mind if it’s any good or not?”

“No, ma’am,” I replied. “I withdraw the question.”

There was a pause on the other end, and then Momma asked, “Is something wrong?”

The woman could read me as easily as she could large print. “Actually, we’ve gotten some good news, but Grace and I are still having trouble figuring out how to catch Jude Williams’ killer.”

“You can tell me all about it over dinner,” Momma said. “Bring Grace. Goodness knows that I made plenty.”

“Will the police chief be joining us?” I asked.

“No, Phillip is eating at his desk these days,” she said. “I may take a plate to him later.”

I did my best not to laugh. Momma had done that more and more as the chief had worked late. I had to give the man credit. When he’d first started trying to woo my mother, he’d hit a solid wall of resistance, but he’d been determined, and now she was bringing him food to his office. “That’s nice.”