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 Paynes 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’s 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!”
“Jorge 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 Jorge 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 over dose 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.
“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, as 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 me 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 like some people do. I developed sleep apnea when I was a chubby preteen girl. I didn’t outgrow that, either. Despite the medcial improvements that have been made in treatments for asthma and seep 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 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 Jorge Salazar overdosed your husband?” Joel’s job, to clear Judith’s name, was done, but he was still curious.
“No, I don’t think that he would have a key to the cabinet.” Judith stated.
“Thank you for your time, Ms. Payne. You should receive a call by this afternoon. The D.A.’s office should tell you that you’re free to go about your business, once I turn this information over to them.”
C.: Well, I need to take care of some business. I’ll finish “Murder or Mercy” tomorrow. You can read along if you wish, right here on Cal.E.’s Korner.
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