Show of Evil

did that day and evening - up until you went to bed that night.'

'After Mr Delaney told me, gave me the news, I went outside. There's a little picnic area behind the building. People eat lunch there, go outside to smoke, you know, a nice little place to take a break. And I sat outside for a while. I don't know how long. I think… I may have… I guess I cried. It was such a shock, finally realizing it was true, and I was trying to get my wits together - '

'Excuse me, Mrs Stoddard, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you just said, 'It was such a shock, finally realizing it was true.' So you were aware of the rumours, weren't you?'

'Objection,' Venable said sternly, 'that's a conclusion on your part.'

Parver's voice remained calm. 'Not my conclusion, Counsellor. She has admitted she heard the rumours - '

'She hasn't admitted a damn thing!'

Parver turned back to Edith Stoddard. 'You had been hearing these rumours, had you not?'

 'Don't answer that,' Venable snapped.

'! …!…' Stoddard stammered. 'All right,'

 Parver said softly, 'we'll move on. You were saying you were trying to get your wits together?'

Stoddard, rattled, began dry-washing her hands. She licked her lips and said weakly: 'Yes, uh, trying to, you know, I have a full-time housekeeper for Charley during the day and my daughter is going to the university and she lives at the school and, uh, I was… I don't know how long I sat out there. Some of the people came out and talked to me, told me they were sorry. Finally I just couldn't take it any longer, so I went back upstairs and got a box and started getting my things together. One of the women, Mr Delaney asked one of the women to sit there, you know, when I gathered up my things, I guess so I wouldn't… wouldn't steal anything. I really didn't keep many personal things in the desk, anyway.'

'Did you have anything in that middle desk drawer on the left? The one you kept locked?'

'No, there were mainly backup disks from the computer and some confidential files of Mr Delaney's.'

'But you did check it?'

'Yes.'

'Was the gun in the drawer when you checked it?'

'I, uh…'

'We've been over this,' Venable said. 'She said she doesn't remember where the gun was.'

'I realize that. But she was getting her personal things together and she checked that drawer, and certainly if the gun was in there she would have removed it since it was a personal item. Isn't that true, Mrs Stoddard?'

'She says she doesn't remember!'

'Can she answer the question, please? Mrs Stoddard, did you take anything out of the drawer of a personal nature?'

'She… doesn't… remember,' Venable snapped.

'Well, what did you remove from the desk?'

'Some make-up. A Montblanc pen that was a Christmas gift. Uh, uh, some photographs of my family. A dictionary. I can't…'

Stoddard looked helplessly at Venable and started to shake her head. Her hands were trembling. Venable could see she was losing it, beginning to fall apart.

'Can we move on, Shana?' said Venable. 'What she took from the desk is really immaterial. She was obviously distraught…'

Parver leaned back and turned off the tape recorder. 'Would you like to take a break?' she asked.

'I want to get this over with,' Edith Stoddard said in almost a whisper.

Parver pressed the record button again.

'I left the office early. At lunchtime. And I drove around a while. I drove into the city, to Grant Park, and sat by the fountain for the longest time.'

'Was that the Great Lakes Fountain?'

'Buckingham.'

'So you sat by Buckingham Fountain and just cleared your mind?'

'Tried to. I just stared out at the lake.'

'Where did you park?'

'The indoor parking deck by the art institute.'