Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait too long. Sooner than she expected, the door swung open and Ray shuffled in, his head bowed low. He looked terrible. Even when he saw Candy and Doc, the most he could manage was the most pitiful smile she had ever seen. He sank heavily into a chair opposite Doc. His gaze dropped to the table and stayed there.
“I’ll be back in fifteen minutes,” Officer Safford said. He left, closing the door firmly behind him.
A loud click told them the door locked itself as it shut.
Doc tried to ignore that disconcerting fact. “Well, how ya doing, Ray?” he said in a lively tone that sounded much too forced. He managed a smile as he leaned closer to the handyman. “Are they treating you all right?”
Ray shrugged, a quick movement that showed defeat. He let out a long shuddering breath. “Oh, they been okay to me.” His bottom lip puffed out a little. He seemed to be fighting back tears.
Candy felt the despair, embarrassment, and confusion radiating off him in waves. “Are they feeding you, Ray?” she asked, looking worried. “Are you eating?”
Ray nodded, though he still stared at the tabletop. “I had donuts and flapjacks for breakfast. They even gave me some blueberry syrup. I been eatin’.”
Candy went to stand beside him, and she couldn’t help reaching out and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Ray,” she said softly, “do you want to tell us what happened?”
That did it. The tear ducts opened, the emotions bubbled up, and he shook like a house in a hurricane. “I… I didn’t do it,” he stuttered between sobs. “I didn’t do that terrible thing they said I did.” He glanced up at Candy, a horrified look in his eyes. “How could they say I did it? They don’t know me. I could never do somethin’ terrible like that.”
“I know, Ray, I know,” Candy said sympathetically.
“We know you didn’t do it,” Doc added, “but what happened? How’d you get mixed up in this mess?”
“I don’t know, Doc, I just don’t know,” Ray wailed, shaking his head frenetically and dropping it into his open hands.
“Try to stay calm,” Candy told him, sinking into the chair beside him and looking at him intently. “Take a few deep breaths.”
He listened to her. He straightened and took a breath, then another, shaking with grief the whole time. That calmed him a bit, though the distress he felt was still evident on his face. “Why do they think I did it?” he asked finally, looking over at her, his eyes reddened.
Doc leaned forward in his chair, his hands clasped together on the tabletop. “Well, for one thing, Ray, they have witnesses who say they saw your truck at Sapphire’s house Monday night, right before she was murdered,” he explained as gently as possible.
Ray nodded as his lips trembled. “Yeah, that’s right. I was there all right. She left me a note. Said she wanted me to come over at nine thirty and help her fix something. It was late, but I went over there anyway, just like she said. But when I got there she got mad at me for some reason. She yelled at me and told me to go home. I didn’t know what to do. So I left. But I didn’t kill her.”
Candy exchanged a questioning glance with Doc. “Did you tell the police what you just told us?”
Ray nodded emphatically. “I told them-over and over I told them. But they won’t listen. They said I did it. They said they have
“They do,” Doc said quietly. “They found your hammer at her house, next to her body.”
Candy watched Ray to see his reaction to this piece of information, and what she saw surprised her. His expression changed in an instant. He looked as though he had just been accused of the worst crime in the world- something far worse than murder, if that were possible. He started to wail in a high voice, a strange sound that reminded Candy of a wet kitten mewling pitifully.
“My… my hammer,” he said softly. “But how’d it get there?” He lost his composure then and broke down again, crying uncontrollably now.
Candy and Doc sat silently for a moment, feeling helpless. Neither of them knew what to say. They tried to comfort him, but this time it didn’t help. He just shook his head over and over and wouldn’t say anything else.
“Ray,” Doc said finally, trying to get the handyman to look at him. “Ray, do you have a lawyer yet? Have they appointed someone to help you?”
But Ray wouldn’t answer. The sobs finally lessened, but he sat crouched over, his hands around his knees, his shoulders hunched and arms tucked in at his sides, rocking back and forth. And then he started humming something.
Candy put her arm around his shoulders. “Listen, Ray,” she said, leaning close to him, “we’re going to help you any way we can. You hear that? Don’t you worry. We know you didn’t have anything to do with this. And we’re going to do everything we can to prove it. We’re going to get you out of here. That’s a promise.”
She didn’t realize until that moment that there were tears in her eyes. She wiped them away quickly with her fingertips. Doc reached across the table and handed her his handkerchief.
When Officer Safford finally unlocked the door and peered into the room, Ray was still sitting in that same position, rocking back and forth. Doc and Candy were standing quietly beside him. There was nothing more to say.
“Does he have an attorney?” Doc asked as Ray was coaxed to his feet.
Officer Safford nodded. “He’s got someone. And a county social worker has been assigned to him also. He’s in good hands.”
“What’s the lawyer’s name?” Candy asked.
“Big-time guy by the name of Cromwell. Down from Bangor.”
With that, Ray was led away, and Candy and Doc were left alone in an empty room.
EIGHTEEN
As Candy and Doc drove into Cape Willington, the sun finally broke through the coastal clouds, brightening the day, but it did little to lift their spirits. They had talked themselves out on the drive home and had ridden the last twenty minutes or so in silence. But as they approached the Coastal Loop, Doc straightened, rubbed at his eyes, stretched, and then looked over at her. “You want to stop at the diner for a while? Get a cup of coffee maybe, see if Finn’s got any news about the investigation?”
Candy glanced at her watch. It was eleven fifteen. She was supposed to meet Maggie at the diner at twelve thirty for lunch, but she knew she’d have a hard time sitting still until then. She shook her head. “How ’bout I drop you off and meet you back there in a bit?”
“You got something planned?”
Candy shrugged, trying to dispel the disheartening feeling that had settled over her. “Ben asked me to stop by the
Doc nodded approvingly. “Good idea. While you’re there, see what you can find out about Ray’s case. Maybe Ben’s heard something. And I’ll talk to Finn and the boys. Then we can compare notes and see what our next move is.”
Candy felt only the faintest ray of hope, but at least they were doing something. “Sounds like a plan.”
She drove into town, turned onto Main Street, and pulled up to the curb in front of Duffy’s. Doc opened the passenger door and climbed out while the Jeep idled noisily.
“I’ll be back around in an hour or so,” Candy called to her father. “Will you be okay ’til then?”
“Don’t worry about me. Just don’t forget to pick me up on your way back through.”
She gave him an indulgent look. “I won’t forget, Dad.” Doc closed the door and, leaning in the window, smiled at her. “I know you won’t, pumpkin.”
“Dad…” she began, then allowed herself the briefest smile when she saw the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
“You know, you’re mighty pretty when you smile like that,” he said with a wink. Then, slapping the side of the Jeep in farewell, he ambled off toward Duffy’s Diner.
Candy pulled back out onto Main Street and made an almost immediate left onto Ocean Avenue, her eyes
