Lacey said mildly, 'Douglas, you need a reality check here. You need to get a grip.'
'All right. So he can play with computers, that's no big deal. He's a nerd with big arms. You can't marry him.'
'Well she can't marry you, Douglas, you're already married to me.' Candice took one step toward Lacey, then pulled up when she saw the look on Savich's face.
'Congratulations,' Candice said, stepping back. 'I do mean that. Marry him.'
'This is getting us nowhere fast,' Savich said. 'Now, Candice, Sherlock and I are here to speak to Douglas about Belinda. Would you like to stay or go?'
'Why? Belinda's been dead for seven years. Her killer is in jail, in Boston. I've even given you two names, women who knew her, who knew what she was like. Why are you talking to Douglas? He doesn't know anything.'
'There are all sorts of loose ends, ma'am,' Savich said. 'Tell you what, why don't we come back, after you and your husband bond or kill each other or eat lunch or whatever else you'd like to do?' Savich rose as he spoke, his hand out to Lacey. She looked at that big strong hand and smiled. She still wanted to belt Candice.
'No, wait,' Douglas called out, but Savich just shook his head and waved.
She said as they walked from Douglas's office, 'What will we do now?'
'Let's just duck around the corner for a minute. Douglas's door is still open, Marge isn't at her desk. Who knows? Maybe we just might hear something we shouldn't.'
They moved as close to the open door as they could, pressing back against the wall.
'You can't still want her, Douglas. Didn't you see what she was wearing? By God, she even chews her thumbnail!'
Lacey looked at her thumbs. Sure enough, one thumbnail was nearly down to the quick. How had that happened?
'That's enough, Candice,' Douglas said. He sounded incredibly tired. 'That's really quite enough. She shouldn't marry him. I'll have to think about this, then write down all the good sound reasons why it wouldn't work. This shouldn't be happening.'
'No, what shouldn't be happening is that you still lust after her. Are you blind? What's there to lust over? Get over it, Douglas. Buy some glasses.'
Douglas didn't appear to have heard her-that or he was just ignoring her. He said, 'They're back here because of Belinda. There must be something going on with Marlin Jones. Savich called them loose ends, but I don't trust that bastard. God knows. Mrs. Sherlock claimed she saw Marlin Jones kissing Belinda in the driveway. You say that it's likely Marlin had slept with Belinda, but you're just jealous, Candice. You didn't know Belinda. Damn, it's all nuts. I don't understand any of it, but I think they must doubt that Marlin Jones killed Belinda. Maybe they think I killed her and that's why they're here.'
'That's crazy, Douglas. They don't have a clue. They're just here fishing around. Just keep your mouth shut. Now, take me to lunch. I have to be back at the station at two o'clock.'
'We're outta here,' Savich said. They were in the elevator and on their way down from the twentieth floor of the Malcolm Building within a minute.
Dinner had been quiet; that is, no one had had much to say about anything, which to Savich, was a relief. Evelyn Sherlock ate delicately, gave Savich disapproving looks, and said again that he was too good-looking and not to be trusted. She said nothing at all to her husband, except over a dessert of apple pie, she finally said, not looking at him, but down at her pie, 'I spoke to one of your law clerks-Danny Elbright. He said he needed to speak to you but I told him you'd gone to the gas station. I asked him if I could help him and he said no, it was something really confidential. Even your wife couldn't know.'
'It was probably about a current case,' Judge Sherlock said and forked down another bite of pie. He closed his eyes for a moment. 'This is delicious. I need to give Isabelle another raise,' he said.
'No, she makes too much already,' said Evelyn Sherlock. 'I think she bought the pie. She's rarely here except when she knows you'll be here. I don't like her, Corman, I never have.'
'How is your companion, Mother?' Lacey said. 'Her name is Mrs. Arch, isn't it?'
'She's fine. She never says anything, just nods or shakes her head. She's very boring, but harmless. She's younger than I am and looks the way my mother would look if she were still alive. She doesn't try to seduce your father and that's a relief.'
'Mrs. Arch,' the judge said, 'is not younger than you are, Evelyn. She must be all of sixty-five years old. She's got blue hair and is a good size sixteen. Believe me, your mother never looked like Mrs. Arch.'
'So? She's not dead yet,' said Mrs. Sherlock. 'You've slept with every size and age of woman. Did you think I didn't know? I remember everything once I'm reminded.'
'Yes, dear.'
It was an hour later in Judge Sherlock's library that Savich finally said, 'Sherlock didn't realize until just recently that Belinda had had a miscarriage. Why didn't this come out?'
Judge Sherlock was stuffing a pipe. The smell of this particular tobacco was wonderful-rich and dark and delicious. He didn't answer until the pipe was lit and he'd sucked in three or four times. The scent was like a forest. Savich found himself breathing in deeply. Finally, Judge Sherlock said, 'I didn't want any more publicity. What difference did it make? Not a bit. What do you mean that Lacey didn't remember?'
'Evidently she'd blocked it out, for some reason neither of us can figure out. She remembered under hypnosis. Do you know why she'd block it out, sir?'
'No, no reason to as far as I can see. It was seven years ago. It no longer matters,' Judge Sherlock said and sucked on his pipe. The library was filled with the delicious, rich smell. Savich took another drink of his espresso, every bit as rich and delicious as the pipe smoke.
Lacey took a deep breath. 'Do you know if Douglas was the father?'
'Look, Lacey, Mr. Savich, Belinda shouldn't have been pregnant in the first place. I told you, Lacey, that Douglas knew they shouldn't ever have children because of her defective genes. Look at her mother. Her father is even worse. Yes, I keep tabs on him. He'll be out one of these days, despite my efforts to the contrary. I don't want that crazy man coming here.'
'But she was pregnant,' Savich said.
'Yes, evidently, but not very far along, not more than six or seven weeks. That's what the doctor said. After the autopsy, they knew, naturally, that she'd just miscarried, but since it wasn't relevant to anything, they didn't mention it. The press never got hold of it, thank God. It would have just caused more pain. Was Douglas the father? I've never had reason to suspect that he wasn't.'
'It would have also caused more outrage,' Lacey said.
'No, not unless they led the public to think that the miscarriage was tied to her murder, and it wasn't.'
But Lacey wasn't so certain. Actually, as she told Dillon later as she walked him to the guest room where he was staying, 'There are more than just loose ends here. There are ends that don't seem to have any beginning.' She sighed, staring down at her navy pumps. Candice was right. She looked dowdy and uninteresting. How then could she be a slut at the same time?
Savich pulled her against him, lightly pressing her face against his shoulder. 'I know what you mean. It's infuriating. Everything that comes out of your mother's mouth makes Alice's Wonderland look like MIT. How long has she been like this, Sherlock?'
'As long as I can remember. She's more so now, I think. But I don't see her all that often anymore.'
'Do you think she could be doing some of this to gain your father's attention?'
'Oh yes. But how much of it is real and how much is her own playacting? I don't know.'
'I don't either.'
'And my father?'
'I don't know,' he said slowly, leaned down and kissed her left ear. 'I just don't know. He's slippery, hard for me to read. But you know, Sherlock, it's tough not to like him.'
'I like him too, most of the time,' Lacey said and looked up at his mouth. 'Do you really want to marry me now that you've seen my mother and father?'
'Unfair. But you haven't met my family yet. Now there's a scary bunch. Actually, they're going to be so grateful that you're taking me on that they'll probably try really hard not to be weird around you, at least until after we're married.
