Miranda James - Murder Past Due

“Were you given a receipt for your deposit, Mrs. Wardlaw?”

What was going on here? From Kanesha’s demeanor I began to wonder if she had decided Julia was the murderer. My stomach began to knot up in distress.

“Yes, I suppose so,” Julia said, shrugging. “Don’t they always give you one?”

“They’re supposed to,” Kanesha said. “And generally those receipts record the time of the deposit. Were you aware of that, Mrs. Wardlaw?”

The relentless use of Mrs. Wardlaw was like a nail being slowly hammered into a coffin.

Julia stared at the deputy but didn’t respond. It was clear that she had never given a second thought to the time stamp on her bank receipt.

“I believe also that the bank is open until six P.M. during the week,” Kanesha said. “I can of course check with the bank, and I will, to determine at what time you made your deposit, Mrs. Wardlaw. I have already spoken with hospital personnel in order to verify your whereabouts.”

Kanesha paused, but there was only the sound of hard breathing. Julia was afraid, and the fear was almost palpable in the room.

“Do you have anything you wish to say about the time you made your bank deposit, Mrs. Wardlaw? It’s only a matter of time before I know the truth.”

Julia took a deep breath. “It was a few minutes before six.”

Justin raised his head and looked at his mother. “Mama, what’s going on? Why did you lie about the stupid bank deposit?”

“I guess I was just mixed up,” Julia said, but even Justin didn’t believe her. The pain in his eyes as he looked at his mother was heartrending.

“Mr. Priest wanted to take Justin back to California, didn’t he? You were afraid you might lose your son, weren’t you? And you weren’t going to let that happen.”

“No, that’s not right. Godfrey wasn’t going to do that. I talked to him and he promised he wouldn’t, at least not until Justin finished college.” Julia sounded desperate, but at this point I didn’t think anyone believed her.

“Can I ask a question?” Rick Tackett spoke, his voice low and hesitant.

“Yes, Mr. Tackett, what is it?” Kanesha appeared surprised at the interruption, but she nodded encouragement when Rick failed to speak right away.

“Justin, when is your birthday?” Rick watched Justin, his hands on his knees. I saw that his knuckles were white.

“August fourth,” Justin said after clearing his throat. Then he added the year.

“Thank you,” Rick said. “He wasn’t premature, was he, Julia?”

Tears welled in Julia’s eyes. “No, he wasn’t.” We could barely hear her.

Rick nodded. He took a deep breath as he looked straight at Justin.

“He’s not Godfrey’s son,” he said. “He’s mine.”

THIRTY-THREE

I wasn’t the only one in the room who was stunned. I sneaked a quick look at Kanesha’s face, and I could have laughed at her expression. The English have a term for it: gobsmacked . Translated roughly, it means utterly astounded .

That’s exactly how Kanesha looked.

Rick spoke again. “Son, I’m truly sorry you had to find out this way.”

“Mama, is it true?” Justin put a trembling hand on Julia’s arm.

Julia didn’t answer.

“It has to be,” Rick said, his voice steady. “I suspected it for a long time, and I just let it go, I guess. Julia had dumped me for Godfrey. And then she went and married Ezra. She made it clear she didn’t want me, even though I’d asked her to marry me.” He paused. “I didn’t realize until today that she was claiming Godfrey was the boy’s father. I couldn’t let the lie go on any further.”

“How can you be sure?” Kanesha asked.

Rick shrugged. “The last time I saw Julia back then”—and we all understood that saw was a euphemism—“was in early December. Godfrey didn’t blow into town until mid-January.”

We could all do the math. If Rick was right, Godfrey couldn’t have been Justin’s father.

“Did Mr. Priest know about your relationship with Mr. Tackett?” Kanesha went back on the attack.

“No,” Julia said. “He was only here for about two weeks that time, and I made sure he didn’t hear about it. He never knew.”

I had to speak up, though it hurt me to do so. “He found out about it on Tuesday,” I said. “I told him. It just came up in the conversation. My family and I were here for Christmas that year, and we saw Julia and Rick together. I told Godfrey that, and he seemed surprised by it.”

“She told Godfrey the boy was a preemie.” Andrea Ferris got off the sofa and came to stand near me. “When Godfrey first told me about it, he said he was thankful the boy hadn’t had any significant health problems despite being two months premature.”

“Mr. Priest confronted you that afternoon, Mrs. Wardlaw. He had figured out that he might not be Justin’s father. I imagine he was very angry with you.” Kanesha glared at Julia.

Julia was sobbing now. All she could do was nod.

Rick got up from his chair and extended a hand across the coffee table to Justin. “Son, I think you should come with me.” He glanced at Kanesha, and she nodded.

Justin, obviously torn, still clutching Diesel, looked first at Rick and then at his mother. Julia said, “Go. Please.” She wouldn’t look at her son.

Justin hesitated, then kissed her cheek. He gently pushed Diesel aside and got up from the couch. He moved from behind the coffee table, and Rick put an arm around the boy’s shoulders. We all watched as he led Justin from the room. Diesel came to sit by my chair.

“Mr. Harris, would you go to the door and wave at the cars parked outside? They’ll know what it means.” Kanesha moved closer to Julia, and I got up from my chair to do what the deputy asked.

As I headed for the front door, Andrea, Willie, and Miles Burton all moved to the other side of the room.

I opened the door and waved. A moment later three deputies stepped out of the cars and headed up the walk. I moved aside to let them in. I kept an eye out for Diesel in case he decided to wander outside.

I saw him scampering up the stairs when I closed the door behind the deputies. I was tempted to follow him, because I didn’t think I could bear to see Julia being arrested. I was appalled by what she had done, but I also hated the thought of her being so alone now.

I went back into the living room and sat down on the couch with her. Kanesha had begun the process of arresting her for murder.

On Monday morning when I was about to leave for the college library, Justin walked into the kitchen. With Julia in custody, he had gone home to Ezra Saturday afternoon. I went with him, to try to explain to a very bewildered man what had happened.

Ezra’s illness was taking its toll and Justin stayed with him until the evening, when Rick Tackett arrived. The boy was too dazed to make any decisions for himself, and I encouraged him to go with Rick. He was going to need a father, and Rick had the quiet strength, I thought, to help his son.

All Julia had wanted to do was help her son, too, but she had gone about it the wrong way. Godfrey had treated her badly, driving her to choose Ezra instead of going back to Rick. I had no doubt now she bitterly regretted that choice. She seemed determined, however, to make Godfrey pay for what he had done, and even though Godfrey realized Justin wasn’t his son, he must have felt guilty enough to give her money anyway. He probably thought he could simply buy her off, but by then Julia was, I suspected, so irrational that she simply acted without any consideration for the consequences. Otherwise she wouldn’t have forgotten Justin’s cell phone or have let something so simple as the time stamp on her deposit receipt trip her up.