Weep No More, My Lady

'I tried everything. I tried to calm her. I reminded her that she always got uptight when she was in a new show. I told her the play was really a good vehicle for her. I told her Ted was crazy about her and she knew it. Then I tried acting angry. I told her…' Elizabeth 's voice faltered. Her face paled. 'I told her she sounded just like Mama in one of her drunks.'

'What did she say?'

'It was as if she hadn't heard me. She just kept saying, 'I'm finished with Ted. You're the only one I can ever trust. Sparrow, promise you'll go away with me.''

Elizabeth no longer tried to check the tears that welled in her eyes. 'She was crying and sobbing…'

'And then…'

'Ted came back. He began shouting at her.'

William Murphy leaned forward. The warmth disappeared from his voice. 'Now, Miss Lange, this will be a crucial point in your testimony. On the stand, before you can say whose voice you heard, I have to lay a foundation so that the judge is satisfied that you truly recognized that voice. So this is how we'll do it…' He paused dramatically.

'Question: You heard a voice?'

'Yes,' Elizabeth said tonelessly.

'How loud was that voice?'

'Shouting.'

'What was the tone of that voice?'

'Angry.'

'How many words did you hear that voice say?'

In her mind, Elizabeth counted them. 'Eleven words. Two sentences.'

'Now, Miss Lange, had you ever heard that voice before?'

'Hundreds of times.' Ted's voice was filling her ears. Ted, laughing, calling to Leila: 'Hey, Star, hurry up, I'm hungry'; Ted deftly protecting Leila from an overly enthusiastic admirer: 'Get in the car, honey, quick '; Ted coming to her own opening performance last year Off Broadway: 'I'm to memorize every detail to tell Leila. I can wrap it all up in three words: You were sensational…'

What was Mr. Murphy asking her?… 'Miss Lange, did you recognize whose voice shouted at your sister?'

'Absolutely!'

'Miss Lange. Whose voice was that shouting in the background?'

'It was Ted's… Ted Winters'.'

'What did he shout?'

Unconsciously she raised her own voice. ' 'Put that phone down! I told you, put that phone down.''

'Did your sister respond?'

'Yes.' Elizabeth stirred restlessly. 'Do we have to go through this?'

'It will be easier for you if you get used to talking about it before the trial. Now, what did Leila say?'

'She was still sobbing… she said, 'Get out of here. You're not a falcon…' And then the phone slammed down.'

'She slammed the phone down?'

'I don't know which one of them did it.'

'Miss Lange, does the word 'falcon' mean anything to you?'

'Yes.' Leila's face filled Elizabeth 's mind: the tenderness in Leila's eyes when she looked at Ted, the way she would go up and kiss him. 'God, Falcon, I love you.'

'Why?'

'It was Ted's nickname… my sister's pet name for him. She did that, you see. The people close to her-she gave them special names.'

'Did she ever call anyone else by that name-the name Falcon?'

'No… never.' Abruptly, Elizabeth got up and walked to the window. It was grimy with dust. The faint breeze was hot and muggy. She thought longingly of getting away from here.

'Only a few minutes more, I promise. Miss Lange, do you know what time the phone was slammed down?'

'Precisely nine thirty.'

'Are you absolutely sure?'

'Yes. There must have been a power failure when I was away. I reset my clock that afternoon. I'm sure it was right.'

'What did you do then?'

'I was terribly upset. I had to see Leila. I ran out.

It took me at least fifteen minutes to get a cab. It was after ten when I got to Leila's apartment.'

'And there was no one there.'

'No. I tried to phone Ted. There was no answer at his place. I just waited.' Waited all night, not knowing what to think, half-worried, half-relieved; hoping that Leila and Ted had made up and were out somewhere, not knowing that Leila's broken body was lying in the courtyard.

'The next morning, when the body was discovered, you thought she must have fallen from the terrace? It was a rainy March night. Why would she have gone out there?'

'She loved to go out and stand and just look at the city. In any weather. I used to tell her to be careful… that railing wasn't very high. I thought she must have leaned over; she had been drinking; she fell…'

She remembered: Together she and Ted had grieved. Hands entwined, they had wept at the memorial service. Later, he had held her when she could no longer control her racking sobs. 'I know, Sparrow. I know,' he said, comforting her. On Ted's yacht they had sailed ten miles out to sea to scatter Leila's ashes.

And then, two weeks later, an eyewitness had come forth and sworn she had seen Ted push Leila off the terrace at nine thirty-one.

'Without your testimony, that witness, Sally Ross, could be destroyed by the defense,' she heard William Murphy saying. 'As you know, she has a history of severe psychiatric problems. It's not good that she waited that length of time before coming forward with her story. The fact that her psychiatrist was out of town and she wanted to tell him first at least explains it somewhat.'

'Without my testimony it's her word against Ted's, and he denies going back up to Leila's apartment.' When she had heard about the eyewitness, she had been outraged. She had totally trusted Ted until this man, William Murphy, told her that Ted denied going back to Leila's apartment.

'You can swear that he was there, that they were quarreling, that the phone was slammed down at nine thirty. Sally Ross saw Leila pushed off the terrace at nine thirty-one. Ted's story that he left Leila's apartment at about ten after nine, went to his own apartment, made a phone call, then took a cab to Connecticut doesn't hold up. In addition to what you and that other woman testify, we also have a strong circumstantial case. The scratches on his face. His skin tissue under Leila's fingernails. The testimony of the cabbie that he was white as a sheet and trembling-he could hardly give directions to his place. And why the hell didn't he send for his own chauffeur to take him to Connecticut? Because he was in a panic, that's why! He can't come forward with proof of anyone he reached on the phone. He has a motive-Leila rejected him. But one thing you have to realize: the defense will harp on the fact that you and Ted Winters were so close after her death.'

'We were the two people who loved her best,' Elizabeth said quietly. 'Or at least, I thought we were. Please, can I go now?'

'Well leave it at that. You do look pretty beat. This is going to be a long trial, and it won't be pleasant. Try to relax next week. Have you decided where you'll be staying these next few days?'

'Yes. Baroness von Schreiber has invited me to be her guest at Cypress Point Spa.'

'I hope you're joking.'

Elizabeth stared at him. 'Why would I joke about that?'

Murphy's eyes narrowed. His face flushed and his cheekbones suddenly became prominent. He seemed to be