Parnell Hall - The Innocent Woman

“You see Amy?”

“Yeah.”

“You know what’s in the next room?”

Tracy looked at him, wide-eyed. The answer was all over her face.

Steve exhaled. “We gotta get out of here.”

“All right, where is she?”

Tracy Garvin looked up at him. Steve Winslow had whisked her out of F. L. Jewelry and had not stopped until they were safely around the corner on Sixth Avenue.

“In the office.”

“No, she’s not. I just called there.”

“When?”

“Just now. Before I went in there. I got the answering machine.”

“The office machine?”

“Yes, of course. Why do you say that?”

“It must have been while we were down the hall.”

“Oh?”

“Amy thought she was going to be sick. She went to the ladies room.”

“There’s a bathroom in the office.”

Tracy gave him a look. “You wanna argue with me about it? I’m leading her up to the office, she says she’s gonna be sick and runs down the hall. I followed her, got her together and brought her back. You must have called then.”

“Then what did you do?”

“Went out to look for you.”

Steve’s eyes narrowed. “Oh?”

“Amy said she left a message for you to meet her at the jewelers.”

“Then she said not to.”

“Right. But I figured you would anyway. And you did.”

“I see,” Steve said. “So this all just happened. I mean, you were just a few steps ahead of me. You got here, met her, took her to the jewelers. You got her out of there, took her up to the office. You were down the hall when I called. You parked her in the office and came out to get me?”

“That’s right.”

“How long ago did you find the body?”

“I don’t know. A half hour. Twenty minutes. Why?”

“I’m trying to figure out what to do. Did you touch anything up there? Leave your fingerprints?”

“I don’t think so.”

“What about her?”

“She may have. But she worked there. Her prints would be there anyway.”

“Yeah, but not for some time. She’s up in the office now?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go.”

Amy Dearborn looked the worse for wear. Her eyes were red, her face was pale. She was so nervous she couldn’t sit still.

Steve Winslow was not feeling sympathetic. “Get a grip on yourself,” he said. “I need answers, and I need ’em fast. Now, to begin with, you knew the body was there before you called?”

Amy Dearborn said nothing. She looked down at her lap, where her hands were fiddling with her handkerchief.

“Hey, wake up,” Steve said. “You’re going to be charged with murder. What happens in the next ten minutes may determine whether you beat the rap.”

Amy looked up then. Her eyes were wide. “Murder?” she said.

“Yeah, murder. That’s what they call it when someone dies. Little more serious than petty theft. Little harder to get off. So snap out of it and clue me in.”

“Oh, my god.”

“How did you find the body?”

“I just did.”

“No, there’s no just about it. You got fired from your job, you haven’t been in the office in over a month and you go there tonight. Why?”

“To clean out my desk.”

“What?”

“I had stuff in my desk. I’d been afraid to go back and get it. What with being fired and being charged with a crime. I figured now that I was found innocent, it didn’t matter.”

Steve frowned. “You went up there tonight to clean out your desk?”

“That’s right.”

“What time?”

“What?”

“What time did you go?”

“Oh.”

“Thought of an answer?”

Amy stuck out her chin. “I don’t like your attitude.”

“I don’t like yours,” Steve said. “We’ve got a situation here where minutes count. I gotta decide if I’m going to report this thing, and how. And you’re playing games with me. Now listen. I’m your attorney. Anything you tell me is privileged. It can’t hurt you. So just tell me what you did, and stop trying to figure out what you want me to know. I’m not here to judge you, I’m here to help you. But you’re not making it easy.”

Amy’s lip trembled. “I’m doing the best I can.”

“Steve, take it easy,” Tracy said.

“Easy, hell,” Steve said. “This is murder. She’s got you involved, and now she’s involving me. So let’s see what we can do to get out from under.”

“I’m not involving you,” Amy said.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Steve said. “I bow to your superior legal knowledge. When they disbar me, I’ll tell the judge, no, no, it’s all right, Amy told me I wasn’t involved.”

“Steve,” Tracy said.

As Amy glared at him defiantly, Steve said, “I have your attention? Good. I wasn’t kidding about there being no time. I want you to stop stalling and answer questions, or I’m putting in a call to the cops. Got it? Good. Now, what time did you find the body?”

Amy took a breath. “I’m not sure. But it was just before I called her.”

“That would be just before eight o’clock,” Tracy said.

“Is that right?” Steve said.

“I guess so. I called right away.”

“From the office?”

“No, no. When I found the body I was scared, I got the hell out of there. I called from the street.”

“You mean from a pay phone?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that’s a break. So, as soon as you found the body you went out in the street and called?”

“That’s right.”

“And how long were you in the office before you found the body?”

“Oh.”

“Weren’t prepared for that one?”

“No. I’m just trying to think.”

“If the cops ask you questions you have to think before you answer, that makes them suspicious. Gives them the idea you’re not telling them the truth.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“Maybe so. I’m just telling you how it looks. If we call the cops and report this, you gotta do a better job with them than you’re doing with me. So, let’s try it again. How long were you in the office before you found the body?”

“Not long. Five or ten minutes.”

“You went there to clean out your desk?”

“Right.”

“So Where’s your stuff?”

“Huh?”

“The stuff from your desk. Where is it?”

“Oh.”

“You don’t have it with you?”

“No.”

“You mean you left it there?”

“I …”

“Did you pack it up and then leave it? When the cops show up, will they find a shopping bag of your stuff in the middle of the floor?”

“No.”

“You didn’t pack up, then?”

“No. I didn’t.”

“You didn’t clean out your drawers?”

“No.”

“Why not? If you were there for five or ten minutes, what were you doing?”

“Looking around.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know. Just looking around.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? I worked there. It was a place I spent time.”

Steve made a loud buzzing sound, imitated a game show host. “Sorry, wrong answer. This is a job you were fired from over a month ago. Then you go to clean out your desk. But you don’t clean out your desk. You spend five to ten minutes just looking around. In an office where there just happens to be a dead body in the other room. Then, after five or ten minutes that you can’t account for, you go into an inner office where you have no business going and find the dead body.”

Steve shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s not right. So, Miss Dearborn, I’m sorry you didn’t win more, but we do have these lovely parting gifts for you.”

Half a dozen expressions struggled over Amy Dearborn’s face. Anger finally won out. “How could you,” she said.