Cal.E.'s Korner

C.: And now, part three of D.C. Scott's short story

MURDER OR MERCY?

“Go get Mommy her newspaper, Belle.” Judith gave the command, and the small pup disappeared. She reappeared two minutes later with the local newspaper in her mouth. The dog laid the paper at Judith’s feet and licked her hand, just as Judith reached for one of her treats.

“She’s smart, and she loves you; that’s obvious. How old is she?” Joel asked. He was fond of dogs, but his girlfriend, Jalisa, was allergic to them, so he didn’t own a dog.

“She’s three months old. She probably loves me because I let her sleep in bed with me. When Jim got sick, I moved to a spare bedroom. I saw how much pain it caused him to move, and I surmised that my moving around in bed would be very uncomfortable for him. I didn’t want to cause him any more pain, but I’m accustomed to being in bed with him. That’s why I let Belle sleep in my bed with me. My CPAP machine has a consistent hum, so it keeps us both supplied with a white noise while we sleep.”

“Why does a small woman like you need a CPAP machine? I thought that only extremely overweight people were afflicted with sleep apnea.” Joel was curious.

“Oh, that’s a common misconception. I’ve had asthma since I was a baby. I never outgrew it as some people do. I developed sleep apnea when I was a chubby preteen girl. I didn’t outgrow that, either. Despite the medical improvements that have been made in treatments for asthma and sleep apnea, my oxygen saturation drops to a dangerous level when I lay down, so I must wear my CPAP machine gear whenever I lay down, even if it’s not for very long.” Judith took a moment to think.

_

“I let the night shift nurse go a little early because she said that she had a family emergency. I know that Jim sleeps for eight hours when he gets his dose of Dilaudid at ten, and the day shift nurse was due to be here at six. I left the front door unlocked and put on my CPAP gear. It was…four a.m. when I turned it on, and turned it off at seven, according to the app. on my phone.”

“Well, besides the large boot print, along with the fact that you don’t have a key to the cabinet where the drugs are kept, this information from your cell phone should clear you of any suspicion. Is it possible, though, that Joaquin Salazar overdosed your husband?” Joel’s job, to clear Judith’s name, was done, but he was still curious.

When he got to his car, Joel called the D.A. and said, “I can prove that my client isn’t the murderer, so you can take her off house arrest,” and waited for an answer.

“I’m not going to do that until the official coroner’s report comes back, and that could take up to six weeks! The initial report makes her look like the prime suspect….Okay, you can call her and tell her that she’s free to move about at will. I just got the official coroner’s toxicology report, and it wasn’t an overdose that killed Jim Payne.”

“Oh?” Gerald was curious. “What did kill him?”

That’s privileged information. You know that I can’t tell you that if you aren’t still involved with the case.” D.A. Harry Morton was distraught, and Joel saw his chance to be endured to the d.a.

“What if I were still involved with the case? Then would you tell me?” Jerald asked, hopefully.

“What do you mean?” Harry was baffled and in a hurry. He didn’t have time for guessing games.

“Well, one of the hands here is Juaquin Salazar, and there was a size thirteen bootprint in the Paynes’ living room.” Joel was trying to be helpful. He knew that, at least for the next few years, he must work with the local D.A.’s office, and it was almost a foregone conclusion that Harry Morton would be re-elected. That wasn’t because of his stellar reputation, though. It was because everyone who was voting for the D.A. knew his name well. He’d held the position for almost thirty years, so he was well-known in the small town, uulike his opponent, who was fresh out of law school and eager to make a name for himself. Joel reasoned that it would be a good idea to keep in the good graces of the D.A.’s office no matter which candidate won the election.