Cal.E.'s Korner

C.: And now, part two of

MURDER OR MERCY?

 Joel decided he needed some more information that didn’t come from Joaquin, so he set up an appointment to visit the Payne Ranch the next day. He wanted to see how much information he could gather from a conversation with Judith Payne. As he entered the Paynes’ ranch house, he noticed something unusual.

 The public defender looked at the small woman and then at the floor. There was a boot print on the floor, and the boots wouldn’t have fit Judith Payne's feet, even with shoes inside of the boots that made the print.

 “Oh, I’m losing my eyesight. My doctor says that I need cataracts removed in both eyes, but I didn’t want to do that until Jim passed.  I hired a housekeeper to help me until then, but Luna hasn’t been here in a couple of days. She was applying for a scholarship to get into the local community college, and she needed to go talk to some people to make that happen. I didn’t think anyone but the hands and I would be in the house, and they don’t care about the house’s appearance, anyway.”

Joel Steadman estimated that the boot print was made by a large man, and most ranch hands are above average size. “What size shoe do you wear, Ms. Payne, just for the record?” Joel asked.

“I wear a women’s size six. My feet were smaller when I was younger, but feet spread as one ages, you know.”

Judith Payne was a well-spoken, well-educated woman. Although she’d never been obligated to work because of the wealth her husband’s job offered, she taught English as a Second Language classes to immigrants during her free time when she and Jim had lived in Houston. She also wasn’t a murderer; Joel was almost sure of that.

“Well, my girlfriend is a distance runner, but she likes men’s running shoes more than women's. She says that they offer more support for her high arches. She’s a small woman, like you. Age isn’t the only thing that makes one’s feet spread. Running does the same thing. Amanda wears a women’s size six, which would be a men’s size four. I know this because I’ve been with her when she buys her shoes. She’s picky about which brand she wears, like most runners are, so we spend a lot of time picking out her shoes. Sometimes, shoe shopping serves as our date for the week.” Joel took a breath and continued.

“You say the hands come in here sometimes, Ms.  Payne. When was the last time one of them came into the house?”

“Oh, about a week ago, I guess. They’re really busy. They both wanted to see Jim because they’re so fond of him, but they do have a lot of work to do. I know that, because I’ve watched them work, just to see how ranch work should be done. It’s interesting, and, well, there  are worse things for a woman to do than to watch a cowboy ply his trade.” Judith’s face turned red with the statement. She wasn’t sure that she should have shared that thought with her lawyer, but it couldn’t be unsaid now.

“Ms. Payne, my younger brother is a big guy. In fact, he plays basketball for one of the local community colleges. He wasn’t tall enough to play his position at a four- year school. He’s six foot four, but that’s not tall enough to play in the post at a Big Twelve or an SEC school. He wears a size thirteen quadruple E shoe. I would estimate that the boot print on your floor is about the size of a print that my brother’s shoe would leave. Are your ranch hands large men?”

“Well, Joe’s an average size, maybe a little bit bigger than Jim was. But Jorge’s a big man!”

“Joaquin Salazer?” Joel cut in. 

“Yes, he’s a big, strong guy, but he’s so busy that he rarely comes into the house-“ 

“Ms. Payne, is it possible that Juaquin snuck into your house when you were sleeping and overdosed your husband?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Judith said bluntly.

\“How can you be so sure?” Joel was curious.

“Well, I insisted on having the morphine and other drugs, as well as the syringes, locked up in a cabinet. The hospice nurses are the only ones with the keys to the cabinet. I just didn’t want to deal with it after I heard the nurses talk about how some people react to morphine. I’m not a nurse or a doctor, and I’d be afraid that I would overdose Jim or spill it on my skin. The nurses always wear gloves and are very careful with all the drugs, but I’m not skilled in that area. Then, I wouldn’t know if it was an accident or on purpose if I did overdose my husband. The poor man was in so much pain that I almost couldn't bear to be in the same room with him, watching him suffer…” Judith’s voice trailed off. Her German shepherd puppy came and put her head in Judith’s hand, trying to comfort her human mom.