'What is this information that you believe I have?'
'I'm gonna put my cards on the table,' Anthony told Quinn. 'We have evidence that points to a suspect other than Senator Crease. You know who I'm talking about. Denise Ritter told you that her sister had a customer from Oregon who was an undertaker. If Lamar Hoyt, Jr., is the customer, he becomes suspect number one.
'Now we come to you, Judge. I've been on the losing side of motions before. Hell, everyone screws up. But no judge has ever accused me of intentionally lying under oath. When I calmed down I asked myself why you did what you did. It was a mystery, until we found those pictures of you and Ritter. Then everything fell into place.'
'Lou and I are certain that you were blackmailed to fix Ellen Crease's case,' Dennis said, feeling vindicated by the swift shift of emotions on Quinn's face. 'What we need to know is whether the blackmailer wanted you to acquit Crease or convict her. We figure that Junior would have asked you to make certain that Crease was convicted. If Senator Crease was blackmailing you, she would want you to fix the case so that she couldn't be convicted.'
'So there it is, Judge,' Anthony told Quinn. 'If you tell us that the blackmailer wanted you to convict Ellen Crease, we'll concentrate on Lamar Hoyt, Jr. If you tell us that you were ordered to acquit Crease, we'll go to the D. A. with that.'
'And you'll ask Cedric Riker to move to set aside Dick's order on the grounds that it was obtained by fraud,' Laura told Anthony.
'Yes, ma'am,' he answered without hesitation. 'We'd have to.'
'That would expose my husband to disbarment, criminal charges and disgrace.'
'There is no way around that.'
'Of course,' Dennis said quickly, 'we could work out something with the criminal charges.'
'Like the Eugene Police did with Frederick Gideon?' Laura said.
Dennis blinked.
'Detectives,' Laura said, 'my husband won't answer any more of your questions without consulting an attorney.'
Dennis and Anthony sagged.
'Laura,' Quinn started.
'Listen to me on this, Dick.'
Quinn wanted to talk to the detectives, but he realized that Laura was right.
'I appreciate the way you've handled this case and the consideration you've shown me,' Quinn told the detectives. 'I'm not ruling out our talking further. But you know how serious a decision this is for me.'
'I know that, Judge,' Dennis agreed.
'Just give me some time to think.'
'Cedric Riker also suspects that you fixed Crease's hearing and he wants your blood. If Riker had his way, we'd be questioning you at the station with a rubber hose and klieg lights shining in your eyes. I'd rather trust your good instincts and have you cooperate because you know it's the right thing to do, but we can't wait very long for you to decide.'
'You see our position?' Dennis asked. 'We have a very dangerous person running free. That person has murdered Marie Ritter and was responsible for the death of Lamar Hoyt. He also attacked you. Remember, Judge, you're the key witness here and the killer knows that. He tried to kill you once. You can bet he'll try again.'
Quinn thought about that. If he were attacked at home, Laura would be in danger.
'Before you go,' Quinn said, 'there is something else I learned that might help you. Lamar Hoyt suspected that Junior was skimming from the mortuary business. That's why they argued at Hoyt Industries headquarters.'
'How do you know that?'
'Karen Fargo told me last night.'
Anthony colored. 'Damn it, Judge, you are not one of the Hardy Boys. Stay the hell out of this investigation.
You hear me?'
Laura showed the detectives to the door. Then she returned to the living room, where she found Quinn looking totally lost.
'What should I do?' he asked as soon as Laura sat beside him.
'If you admit to the police that you fixed Ellen Crease's case you can bank on being forced to resign from the bench and you face the additional threats of being disbarred and prosecuted criminally.'
'Maybe I don't deserve to stay on the bench. I covered up what I thought was a murder. I fixed a case.'
'You had good reasons for not going to the authorities on St. Jerome and you decided the motion to suppress the way you did to protect Ellen Crease.'
'I could have told the police about the blackmail threat, withdrawn from the case and let another judge take over.'
'Yes. You probably should have, but you didn't. We have to deal with what really happened. I guess the problem is that anything you do puts you in jeopardy. The ideal solution would be for the police to arrest the killer without your assistance.'
'Without my help they might never be able to do that.'
[3]
Anthony dropped off Leroy Dennis at the police station, then drove to Karen Fargo's house. He got along well with the witness and he had explained to Dennis that Fargo might be more comfortable speaking to him alone.
'I just came from talking to Judge Quinn,' Anthony said when they were seated at a table in Fargo's tiny kitchen. 'He said he talked to you last night, and you told him why Lamar and his son quarreled.'
'It was okay to talk to him, wasn't it?' Fargo asked anxiously. 'He's a judge.'
'Oh, sure. No, you did the right thing. I just wanted to find out if there's anything else you remembered that you think is important.'
Fargo hesitated. Anthony thought that she seemed agitated.
'Is something wrong?' he asked.
'No, I . . .' Fargo could not meet Anthony's eye.
'Karen, if you know something that will help in this investigation, you've got to tell me. There have been three deaths already.'
'I never lied. Everything I said to you and the grand jury was true, but . . .'
'Yes?'
Fargo looked desperate.
'Is it illegal if I was paid to come to see you? Would I be breaking the law?'
'Someone paid you to come forward?'
Fargo told Anthony about the visit from the man with the scar.
'How much were you paid?' Anthony asked when Fargo was through.
'Five thousand dollars.'
'Did this man who visited you say who he was or who he was working for?'
'No, but I saw him again.'
'Where?'
'On the evening news.'
'Did the newscaster say his name?' Anthony asked excitedly.
'No. He was just someone in a news story, but . .
'Yes?'
'It was right after Judge Quinn suppressed the evidence. That's what the story was about. And this man, the one who came here, he looked like he was with Senator Gage.'
[4]
The courthouse was deserted when Quinn arrived. He went directly to his chambers and put up a pot of coffee. While the coffee perked, Quinn went into his office and surveyed the paperwork that was strewn across the top of his desk. Most of it was from the motions in the Crease case. Quinn went back into the anteroom and looked through the filing cabinet behind Fran Stuart's desk. By the time he had pulled the files in the other cases that had to be dealt with, the coffee was ready.
Quinn poured himself a mug and shut the door to his office. After tuning his radio to a classical music station,
