Final Appeal

Final Appeal Read Free Page B

Book: Final Appeal Read Free
Author: Joanne Fluke
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audition, but it was canceled, so I went straight home. And when I opened the door, I found Carole packing her things. I couldn’t believe it when she told me that she was leaving. She wanted a divorce.”
    â€œAnd how did you feel about that?”
    â€œI was shocked. And hurt. Especially when I saw the note, she’d written. It was clear she’d been planning on leaving without even talking to me.”
    â€œDid that make you angry?”
    Michael winced, but he knew he had to tell the truth. “Yes, I thought I deserved better than that, but I tried not to let my anger get in the way. I told her that I loved her, that I wanted to try to work things out. I even suggested we go to a marriage counselor for help, but she wouldn’t listen. She just kept packing things in boxes and repeating that our marriage was over and I had to accept it.”
    â€œShe wouldn’t tell you why she was leaving?”
    â€œNo. She said it was too late to even discuss it. The whole thing was so frustrating!”
    Dr. Bowman leaned forward. “And was that when you killed her?”
    â€œNo!” Michael gripped the arms of the chair so hard his knuckles turned white. “I . . . we had a fight, a terrible fight. And I left.”
    â€œDr. Bowman?” The social worker spoke up again. “The patient is obviously agitated, and I feel we must have some compassion for . . .” Her voice trailed off as Dr. Bowman banged his fist on the table.
    â€œI’m warning you, Mrs. Gray. I’m the chairman of this board, and I have the power to evict you from this proceeding. I’m sure Michael knows that no one in this room, including me, wants to cause him any unnecessary pain. Isn’t that right, Michael?”
    â€œYes, Dr. Bowman.”
    â€œYou’re doing fine, Michael. Now take a deep breath, relax, and tell me where you went when you left the apartment.”
    â€œI went to a bar, Barney’s Beanery, in West Hollywood. I was hoping to run into some of my friends. I needed someone to talk to, someone to tell me what to do.”
    â€œOf course you did. And were your friends there?”
    â€œNo, I sat there for a couple of hours, but no one I knew came in, so I left.”
    â€œAnd that was when you went back to kill your wife?”
    This was the time Dr. Bowman wanted him to break down, to admit he’d killed Carole. But he hadn’t! He knew he hadn’t! It was Heller’s Catch Twenty-Two . If he lied and said, he’d gone back to the apartment to murder Carole in a fit of passion. Dr. Bowman would pat him on the back for accepting reality and release him. He’d said as much in a staff meeting, and Jack had heard about it through the hospital grapevine. There were no secrets from orderlies. But if Michael told the truth and swore that he hadn’t killed Carole. Dr. Bowman would decide he was still denying and keep him locked up with the caged clock forever.
    Dr. Bowman was speaking again. Michael forced himself to listen.
    â€œ. . . your own good, Michael. I want to help you, but my hands are tied if you refuse to cooperate. It’s really quite simple. All you have to do is tell me precisely how you killed your wife.”
    Michael opened his mouth to play the game. It was the only way. Then he saw how Dr. Bowman was leaning forward in rapt fascination. His eyes were unblinking, and he seemed to be having some trouble breathing. The rasping sound of the air passing between his colorless lips reminded Michael of something in his past, something ugly.
    It took a moment, but then he started to remember. Aunt Alice had taken them to a county fair. While she’d gone through the exhibit buildings, they’d explored the midway. Stan had gone off to buy them some cotton candy, and Michael had waited by the brightly colored posters advertising the wonders inside the tents. He’d stared at the pictures of the two-headed snake in a bottle, the

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