Requiem Murder Part 23

How much did Martin remember about Sunday and Judith's behavior? Had he deliberately forgotten or had his wife put a different slant on the scene? I thought of the desperation in his voice when he'd tried to a.s.sure himself of her love.

We reached the Main Street corner. Martin left me and headed for the drugstore. I entered the bookstore to headed for the children's section to look for Christmas presents for Sarah's gang. Though I wanted no more involvement with the Simpson's, I couldn't abandon Marcie.

When I finished my purchases, instead of going home, I continued up the street toward the Gulliver Apartments. I needed to tell Roger I'd not be available for Pa.s.sion Sunday and to talk to him about his relations.h.i.+p with Judith and Marcie. Though I could have called, I preferred a face to face meeting.

He needed to be told about the trouble he'd caused and I wanted to know if his actions had been deliberate. With someone as unstable as Judith, games could prove dangerous.

When I reached the block where the apartment complex was located, I saw Marcie across the street.

She ran with long strides, lowered head and bookbag hitting her back.

"Marcie."

She didn't stop. Either she hadn't heard my call or she'd ignored it.

I watched until she was a block away. Then I continued on my way. When I was almost to the apartment

door, I heard the squeal of brakes and turned. What was Judith doing here?

She jumped from the car. "You!"

Her tone and narrowed eyes reminded me of out encounter in her office at the library. My shoulders

tensed and my heart fluttered.

"h.e.l.lo, Judith."

"What are you doing here?"

"Since I was uptown, I decided to stop and visit Roger. You must feel better. Martin and I walked

uptown together. He said you were ill."

She looked every one of her forty plus years. Her haggard face bore none of her usual carefully applied make-up.

"Martin believes what he wants to believe. He thinks I'm sick. That's what he'd like me to be."

She stumbled on an elevated bit of sidewalk. I caught her arm and steadied her. Alcohol laden breath

caught me in the face.

"Are you sure you should be out? If you're sick --"

Her laughter cut off my words. "Good old Martin. He stayed home from work today, not because I'm

sick, but to keep me a prisoner. I fooled him. I flushed the pills down the toilet. So of course, he had to rush off for more."

I backed away. "Why did you do that?"

"Do you think I stayed home from work for some silly reason? We had a plan. We were going to spend today together." She straightened. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to Roger."

"Is Marcie still with him?" She waved her hand toward the apartments. "She'd better not be. She sneaked off to be with him but I caught her. She'll be sorry."

"She left a few minutes ago. You must have pa.s.sed her. She looked upset."

"She should be. I told her to cancel her lessons and never see him again. She disobeyed but I caught her when I called to let him know I was coming, he said he was in the muddle of a lesson. I knew this was her time so I demanded to speak to her. She said Martin gave her permission. He wouldn't do that. He does what I tell him. So does Roger. Look at the way he dropped dear Beth."

"Then I guess he sent Marcie home."

She leaned against the wall that edged the walk. "She wants to take him away from me. He wants to make me jealous. He's always making up to the girls. But Marcie? Who could be jealous of her? She's not even pretty. I am. Don't you think so?"

"Yes, Judith."

"I'm leaving Martin. He drags me down. Roger wants me."

What was churning in her head? How had she parlayed Roger's lukewarm attentions into his wanting her? Had something happened during their walk to imprint that idea in her mind? He hadn't looked to me like a smitten man.

She straightened and jabbed her finger at me. "I warned you not to spy on me. I'm glad Mozart is over so no old busybody will be sneaking up the steps to the choir room and eavesdropping on private conversations. Why must you stick your nose in everything?"

"How many drinks did you have before you left the house?"

"That is none of your business." She spoke slowly and precisely. "Are you saying I'm drunk? You're wrong. Why did you turn my daughter against me? Did you know she's after Roger? Beth too. They're not going to have him. I'm the one. He's mine."

She stepped toward me and I backed almost to the door of the building. I wasn't about to enter the foyer where no one could see us. The glare in her eyes scared me. While I searched for an escape, I prayed for a way to divert her attention from me.

She moved closer. The expression on her face made me think of Robespierre the only time I've seen him angry. A stray dog had wandered into the yard. Before I could chase the animal, Robespierre had jumped from the porch railing onto the dog's back.

My knees felt shaky. My heart pounded. I searched the street hoping to see someone I could call for help.

"You shouldn't spy on me. That's not a nice thing to do."

"I'm not spying. I was here first." A dumb thing to say, but the words popped out.

"Judith," Martin said.

I sucked in a breath. I hadn't seen him approach but his presence was welcome.

"Judith, what are you doing here?"

"I came to pick up Marcie. Her lesson should be over by now."

"She isn't here. I met her at the corner. We saw your car go flying past. Get in. We're going home and

I'm driving."

I studied him. Had he finally admitted Judith had an alcohol problem? Did he realize she'd been about to attack me?

She thrust her lower lip into a pout. "I have to tell Roger he can't give Marcie lessons."

"You can do that another time. Mrs. Miller, would you like a ride home?" he asked.

The thought of being in a car with Judith repelled me. "No thanks. I have an appointment." I waited until

their car had vanished before I entered the building and pressed the buzzer for Roger's apartment.

"Who's there?"

"Mrs. Miller." My voice shook with the aftershocks from the meeting with Judith. The buzzer sounded. I

entered and rode the elevator to the second floor. He waited at the open door of his apartment.

He looked masculine, mysterious and unlike the Roger I was used to seeing at the church. A black tee s.h.i.+rt spanned his broad chest and shoulders. His sweat pants were also black. "What's wrong? You look -- Are you ill?" He held my arm and steered me to the couch in the living room.

"I'm fine. I just had an interesting and eerie meeting with Judith."

"She must have come to pick Marcie up."

I studied his handsome face. Did he really think that? What about the things Judith had said?

"She came to see you. She stayed home today so she could spend the day with you, except Martin

didn't go to work because he thought she was sick. He kept her a prisoner. She's leaving him."

"What?" He shook his head. "You're joking."

The astonishment on his face told me he hadn't considered this. He sat on the couch beside me.

"I wish I was joking. She thinks you want her."

He groaned. "That's insane. I never gave her any... How did she get that idea?"

"By twisted logic. She told you to cut Beth off and you obeyed her. Martin always does what she said

and so do you."

"All I wanted was to keep her calm for the performance."

"Are you sure? Why did you choose her as a soloist?"

He groaned. "I didn't mean to but one day when she was here for her lesson, I mentioned that I was

using choir members for the quartet and --" He shook his head. "She accepted but I didn't ask her."

"It might be best to avoid her and to stop Marcie's lessons."

A look of astonishment flashed in his eyes. "Trust

me, I've never encouraged her."

Though I wanted to believe him, his expression seemed wary. "I'm serious about the need to avoid her."

"But she belongs to the choir and she's influential in the church."

"Not as much as she thinks. I know she's driven people from the choir, but she's never influenced a vote

taken by the Vestry. Drop her and drop Marcie's lessons. I'm afraid for the child."

He looked away. "That's a hard thing to ask me. Teaching her is a joy. She's so musically gifted it's my pleasure to help her."