The Dying Room Read Free Page B

case.
    “Valerie, you’ve been immensely helpful. I have just a few more questions.”
    The older woman’s patient gaze remained on Jess. “Fire away. I’d like to get a few things done around here. The judge...” Valerie cleared her throat. “His son shouldn’t come home to find his library... like that.”
    “I’m afraid the whole house is part of our crime scene, Valerie. You won’t be able to touch anything or even come back inside after this interview until we release the scene. That could be a while.”
    Valerie heaved a burdened breath. “Well, get on with it then. I’d like to be home before bedtime.”
    Jess looked over her notes. The housekeeper had already stated the judge had no enemies that she knew of. No friends either. She didn’t get into his business, she insisted. He rarely had company or phone calls when she was on duty. He saw his son and grandchildren once a year around Christmas. He visited the cemetery each Sunday morning and left a single long-stemmed rose on his wife’s grave. Otherwise, he read and piddled in his garden. He’d already planted potatoes and prepared beds for the other vegetables he enjoyed. The gardens, Valerie explained, had been his wife’s passion. The judge insisted on caring for the gardens just as his wife had.
    “Do you review the judge’s mail?”
    Valerie shook her head. “I take it from the mailbox and lay it on his desk. He goes—went through it himself.”
    “But you had it in your hands from the street to his desk,” Jess countered. “Surely you looked at the return addresses occasionally.”
    A noncommittal shrug lifted the stern woman’s shoulders. “Utility bills, cable, insurance, stuff like that.”
    “Nothing that looked suspicious to you?”
    She executed another firm shake of her head. “No, ma’am. Just the usual stuff everyone gets and the occasional junk mail.”
    “No visitors who seemed unhappy with the judge? Was there ever a time when he was threatened by someone relative to a case? Did he ever receive any hate mail?”
    “None that I was aware of. He kept his business to himself.”
    “Did the judge have a cell phone or computer of any sort?”
    “Absolutely not. He hated them. Before he retired, he used to complain that even his staff was lost without all their computers.”
    There were times when Jess hated them, too. “How was the relationship between the judge and his son?”
    “The judge always said the best thing that happened to his relationship with his son was when the boy moved out west. They haven’t argued since.”
    “So the judge and his son weren’t on good terms?”
    Valerie chuckled. “Obviously you didn’t know the judge. No one was on good terms with him. You want to know who his enemies were? Pull out the phone book for the greater Birmingham area and pick a name.”
    So much for narrowing down the suspect pool.

 

Chapter 4
    Jefferson County Coroner’s Office
    Monday, March 30, 5:30 p.m.
    Sylvia removed her gloves. “The blows that caused the bruises on his abdomen didn’t do any real damage.” She indicated the torso of the victim with its freshly sutured Y-shaped incision, and then the damaged tissue on his wrists and ankles. “The ligature marks, as you know, resulted from being restrained. He was remarkably physically fit for his age. I can only hope my heart will be in such good condition when I’m in my seventies.”
    “What about the Taser marks?”
    “I don’t think the Taser is what stopped his heart, but I can’t completely rule it out at this point. We’ll know more when the tox screen results are back.”
    “So he didn’t have a heart attack.”
    “He did not.”
    Jess considered the victim. “How long before you have the tox screen results?”
    “The lab is putting a rush on all results related to his autopsy.” As much as she wanted to help move the investigation along, there was little else Sylvia could conclude until she had those in hand. “We may have some