Nancy Grace - Murder in the Courthouse

“Well, what does it say?”

“Pretty much what we thought. The cafeteria has two public entrances. One’s the ramp you said Eleanor Odom came down along with jury members. The other is directly across the cafeteria. It takes you on kind of a winding route out toward the street on the other side of the courthouse.”

“You said public entrances .”

“Good catch. There are two employee-only entrances. One is from a courthouse service elevator. Need a key card for that one because it leads through all the food stores, freezers, machinery. There’s also an entrance into that same kitchen area from the hallway, but it takes a key card too.”

“Hmm. So two public, two employee. Someone could enter a public entrance or if the perp’s an employee, they have a key card. Although somebody could always scoot in behind an employee with a key card. What about the coffee bar?”

“Well, it’s portable. They can roll it around. It gets stocked every morning. The cabinets underneath it include mini-refrigerators. That’s where all the milk for coffee is stored. Creamer, soy milk, skim, whole, 2 percent, cashew milk, and almond milk. So there you have it.”

“So anyone could reach down, get the almond milk, and slip it into the milk canisters? What about cameras? Any surveillance?”

“Yep. Thank you for reminding me. There are two cameras where all the food is stored, one camera trained on the register lines, and two cameras trained on the tables in general. Nobody knows yet whether the coffee bar was in the surveillance shot that day. Does that answer all your questions?”

“Almost. Last question. When are you going to pull the surveillance video?”

“Hailey. I may look like a hick. I might walk like a hick. I might even talk like a hick. But once in a while, I do manage to think like a lawman. I ordered it right after you ran out on me at Williams Seafood. It’s coming in this week.” The smile on his face was real, not sarcastic.

“I never said you’re a hick! Never!”

“Well, maybe I just added two and two. You have been living in Manhattan for several years now. I know how those folks feel about all of us below the Mason-Dixon Line…”

“Well, then, you can’t add. Don’t forget, I grew up on red clay, drinking well water.”

“Ha. OK. I won’t forget it.”

The waiter appeared again. He stood lingering at the corner of the table and finally spoke, clearing his throat first. “Lieutenant, it’s on the house. To thank you. I don’t know if you remember, but we were robbed at gunpoint last year. You got the guys. They’re doing twenty at Reidsville right now. Thanks to you. My fiancée was working that night. The man held a gun in her face. I owe you, man.”

“I remember, it was uh… Henry Hamilton. That was his name,” Billings answered and smiled. “He was a piece of work. A mean SOB, too. Career criminal. His brother too. It’s a miracle they didn’t kill anybody.”

“That’s right! Henry Hamilton! I can’t believe you remembered his name.”

“Yep. They stick with me for some reason. Don’t know if that’s good or bad. But anyway, thanks for the offer, but you don’t owe me a thing. It’s my job.”

Billings stood up and laid down several twenty-dollar bills on the table. “Thanks anyway, man.”

The waiter smiled. “Maybe next time.”

“Maybe. Have a good evening.”

Hailey and Billings walked out into the cooling air.

“Hey, let’s walk back to your hotel.”

“But what about your car?” Hailey asked.

“It’ll be fine where it’s parked. I’ll walk back and get it. I want to stretch my legs.”

“Me too. We can walk past everything on River Street. I want to send my dad some of those pralines I was smelling before we went running. He loves them.”

“They’re in Macon, right? About an hour or so south of Atlanta?”

“Yep. An hour and a half.” They walked along a narrow sidewalk, looking through all the windows into the brightly lit shops full of candles, souvenirs, bake shops, ice cream parlors, clothing boutiques, and sea-town treasures.

“I bet they’re proud of you.”

“I hope so.” Not really wanting to talk about herself, Hailey changed the subject. “You know what’s funny?”

“What’s that?”

“I love window shopping but hate actually shopping. I’d rather try a murder case than go into a shopping mall.” Billings let out a laugh. He put his hand on her shoulder and steered her into River Street Sweets, where at that very moment, the candy makers were pouring out hot caramel mixed with pecans. The smell was incredible.

“This is the place if you want pralines for your dad.”

“Oh my stars. It smells so good! My mom will kill me. My dad has to keep his sugar down, so he never gets any at all. But he loves it! Two pounds of the pralines, please. With pecans. Thanks.”

“Obviously, you’re not that worried about your mom getting mad.”

“I’ll risk it. Plus, I won’t be there when he opens it! I’ll be here!”

A bell on the door tinkled as they left and they strolled the streets for the next few hours. They finally reached the lobby of her hotel.

“Thanks for the Cajun. It was awesome.”

“Hailey, the pleasure was all mine. I’ll see you in court.” And with that, he smiled, nodded his head good night, turned on his heels, and walked off into the night.

And he didn’t even turn around once. Hailey knew because she watched practically without blinking until Billings disappeared totally around a bend in the street.

Hmm. He didn’t even try to kiss her good night this time. Not even a peck on the cheek. She surprised herself… she actually felt miffed.

Shaking it off, Hailey headed up the elevator to her room. She found it all nice and clean with the pillows fluffed up. One light was on beside the bed and she could see the dark night above the river outside.

Her legs were aching, so she headed straight for a hot bath. She thought briefly of ordering hot tea but was afraid the tiny bit of caffeine would keep her awake. She turned off the bedside lamp and sank into the pillows, not bothering to pull the curtains, choosing instead to look out into the dark.

What a day. She wished Finch had stuck around so she could tell him all about what she’d uncovered, but his family needed time with him, too.

Tired to the bone, a niggling thought came to mind that sleep would, once again, elude her. Hailey pulled out her iPad to read herself to sleep. Lying there in the dark, she thought of the bittersweet Waving Girl.

Out of nowhere, but somehow linked in Hailey’s subconscious, the image of Eunah Mabry came to mind. Hailey remembered Eunah’s face, alternately full of loathing for Elle Odom and then wistful longing whenever Bill Regard’s name was mentioned.

On a whim, Hailey went to Google, her fingers deftly entering the name “Willard Fulton Eugene Mabry.” It only took a few seconds for Google to respond. Hailey’s iPad screen lit up in the darkened bedroom and she immediately sat up in the bed to read the first entry.

“Aspiring Supreme Court Judge Willard Fulton Eugene Mabry Dead by Apparent Suicide.” Hailey quickly scanned the article.

“Judge Willard Mabry found dead in the family’s boat docked at the Savannah River Marina. This, following a bitter divorce amid claims of the judge’s alleged infidelity with a courthouse employee named in Mrs. Jane Fickling Mabry’s divorce documents as a Miss Elizabeth Collins…”

Hailey sat stock-still there on her hotel bed in the dark room, letting the whole thing sink in. Moonlight poured in through the curtains. Just outside was the Savannah River and not far away, the marina where Eunah Mabry’s father committed suicide when his wife left him. The root of the divorce was his affair with a courthouse employee, Elizabeth Collins, according to the Savannah Morning News .