'Is it possible someone could've broken into your car while you were over by the fountain?'
'Nobody broke into my car. It was locked and nobody broke into it.'
'How long were you in the park?'
'I don't know. I got cold and left after a while. An hour, maybe.'
'Then what?'
'I went over to the gift shop at the art institute and bought Angel a shoulder bag.'
'Angel, that's what you call your daughter?'
She nodded. 'It was one of those canvas bags to carry her books in. I remembered that hers was… it was pretty worn and she had mentioned she needed a new one and I went into the institute to get warm and I remembered that, so I went to the gift shop and bought it. Twelve dollars.'
'It cost twelve dollars?'
'Uh-huh. And at four o'clock I went to the lab on Ellis Street - Angel has lab on Thursdays - and waited for her and we went across the street to the bookstore and had coffee and I gave her the canvas bag, and, uh… and then I, uh… I told her what happened and she was… she was so very… upset.'
Stoddard's voice broke and she stared down at her lap.
Parver snapped off the recorder again, reached into her over-stuffed bag, and slid a box of Kleenex across the table to her.
'Thank you.'
She dabbed her eyes and blew her nose and then straightened her back and nodded. Parver started the recording machine.
'You see, she has this scholarship, but it's not enough to… She studies very hard, A average, and maybe she'd have to get a job and she got furious over that, so we left and I took her back to the house. She cried all the way home. It was very traumatic. So sad. She didn't want to see any of her friends. So I suggested that she spend the night at home.'
'She has her own room?'
'Yes. I didn't tell my husband that night. He had a rather bad day and… Oh, what was the use? Why make the day worse for him? Our day lady had already fed him. We weren't hungry. He had already dozed off. So I took Alice up to the bus stop about five-thirty…'
'Alice is the housekeeper?'
'Yes. Alice Hightower. Been with us since the accident. And I went home. Angel had cried herself to sleep on her bed and I decided not to disturb her, so I went down to the living room and fixed myself a drink and turned on the TV, but I left the sound off. I was exhausted, too. And I guess I dozed off.'
'What time was this?' She shrugged. 'Six or so. It was dark.'
'And what time did you wake up?'
'I guess it was, I don't know, I didn't really notice, maybe ten, ten-thirty. Diane Sawyer was on the TV when I turned it off. I went upstairs and woke Angelica up and told her to get undressed and then I went to bed.'
'So between, say, six and ten or ten-thirty, Charley was asleep in his room and Angelica was asleep in her room and you were asleep in the living room. Is that correct?'
Edith Stoddard nodded.
'And nobody saw you?'
'No.'
'Nobody called? You know, to tell you they were sorry about your leaving?'
'No.'
'Nobody called Angelica?'
'No.'
Parver looked at Jane Venable, but she was busy taking notes on a yellow legal pad and did not look up.
'So your husband and your daughter can't account for your whereabouts during that period of time - between six and ten-thirty, I mean?'
Stoddard looked at her and her face clouded up. 'Leave them out of this,' she said, her voice suddenly becoming strident and stern. 'They don't know anything, don't drag them through the mud!' She glared at Venable, her eyes watery, her lips trembling. 'I told you - ' she began, but Venable quickly cut her off.
'All right,' Venable said. 'That's enough for today. I'm advising my client to end this right now.'
'I have a few more - ' Venable slapped her hand on the table and the sharp smack startled both Parver and Stoddard. 'I said enough!' Venable said. 'She told you about the gun and she told you where she was that night. That's all we've got to say for now.'
'I just have one more question,' Parver insisted, looking back at
