Revenge of Innocents (35 page)

Marcus shook his head.

“The police would have come after me, then?”

“Don’t worry, baby,” Carolyn said, laughing. “I would have posted your bail.”

“You’re a real sweetheart,” Marcus called out as she took off down the hallway. “If I decide to kill someone, I’ll make sure to take your car.”

Thursday, October 20
—
4:15
P
.
M
.

W
hen they were almost ready to clear Snodgrass’s residence, Mary went outside to the car and used the police radio to speak to the officer who had responded to Barranca Vista Park. “Go to scramble,” she said, when an officer she recognized as Larry Felton answered, using his call sign of 2B3. “Tell me about the DOA, Larry. Is it a homicide?”

“Nah,” Felton said. “The guy is a black male in his twenties. Right now, we’re not certain what killed him, but he appears to have died from natural causes. He doesn’t have any external injuries. The paramedics think he died from an asthma attack or choked on a piece of food. His face was blue when they got here.”

“Are there any signs of strangulation?”

“No,” Felton told her. “He looks like he just lay down and died. We can’t find any ID. The reporting party was a jogger. He stopped to use the restroom when he found him. He said the guy camped out in the park all the time, so he assumed he was homeless. He hasn’t seen him for a few days. He thinks someone in the neighborhood may have thought he was dangerous and called the police. I’ll have the dispatcher check and see if anyone arrested a vagrant fitting his description recently.”

Before she returned to the Snodgrass house, Mary received a call from Carolyn. “Do we have any idea where Stockton is?”

“He’s still in jail on the New Orleans case,” the detective told her. “What happened to you this morning? Marcus made it sound like you were sick.”

“I just needed a few hours of sleep. Did you tell him to keep me away from Jude, or that I’d been kicked off the task force?”

The line went silent. “Jude’s been manipulating you, Carolyn. Isn’t it obvious now that Snodgrass confessed? Jesus, his wife caught him in bed with the eight-year-old. She took the girl to the doctor to make certain he hadn’t had intercourse with her. She’s all right, thank God, but Anne Marie came home from school early and found her father. When we got there, she was hysterical. I really feel for them. Can you imagine what the wife has gone through? She hasn’t begun to recover from her daughter’s death. To know the man you’re married to has been having sex with your child for years, then learning he murdered her to protect himself, must be earth-shattering.”

“Where’s Anne Marie? I’ll have Rebecca call her. They’ve become close since all this happened. I’m sure she could use a friend right now.”

“They’re staying with the wife’s mother. Hold on. I’ll give you the number.”

After Mary gave her the information, Carolyn said, “Who did you send to the hospital to talk to Jude?”

“Gabriel Martinez. He tried to get her to tell him the truth, but she clammed up and slept all afternoon. Gabriel is on his way to the Snodgrass house. Hank and I were planning on going to the hospital and trying our hand with Jude. The only missing link right now is Drew. It’s doubtful Snodgrass killed him. The bastard confessed to killing his daughter, as well as Veronica. I can’t think of a reason for him to kill Drew, unless Drew suspected he was involved in Veronica’s murder. Did Drew say anything along those lines when you picked him up from the jail?”

“Nothing, and that’s not something he would keep to himself. After sitting in jail, he would have been signing his own death warrant if he went after Snodgrass. Regardless of the fact that Jude cleared him, he could have ended up taking the fall for both murders. Do you agree?”

“Makes sense,” Mary said. “We know Jude used the information in Haley’s diary to concoct the accusations about Drew. That’s why everything sounded so credible. Redfield is considering filing charges against her, but he doesn’t know what to file yet. I wasn’t trying to exclude you, Carolyn. Hank and I just need to be present to advise Jude of her rights. You want to meet us at the hospital and see if you can get her to cough up the truth? If anyone can do it, you can, especially now that we found out who wrote the diary.”

“I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes.”

Carolyn entered Jude’s room with Hank and Mary. She’d asked that they give her a few minutes alone before they advised Jude of her rights. Hank shook his head.

Jude was awake, a tray of food sitting on a table beside her. “Why are they here? Some dickhead cop showed up today, asking me all kinds of questions. I’ve been waiting for you all day. Why haven’t you come to see me?”

Carolyn knew there was only one way to play it, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. She turned to Mary. “Advise her of her rights. I have a daughter of my own to take care of. I have no desire to spend time with someone who’s done nothing but lie to me.” She began walking toward the door.

“Please,” Jude cried. “Don’t leave me. You’re all I have.”

Carolyn slowly turned around. “If you don’t come clean with me this instant, I’m never going to come and see you again. Do you understand me? The police know you stole the diary from Haley. They know you used the personal things she wrote in it to make false accusations against your father. You told Reggie your father had been abusing both Haley and you since you were children. Isn’t that right, Jude?”

Tears glistened in her eyes. “I told you I made up the stuff in the diary because I was mad at my dad. God, what’s wrong with you people? I was in a terrible accident. My arm was cut off. I could have died. I didn’t kill anyone. Why did you advise me of my rights?”

“Come on,” Carolyn said. “You watch TV. You know what a plea agreement is, or what they call cutting a deal. Just to make sure, I’ll explain it to you. Reggie’s going to be charged with first-degree murder. That’s a crime that carries the death penalty. He’s going to spill his guts. We call that rolling over on someone. Who do you think the district attorney is going to believe?”

“Reggie’s a criminal. Why would they believe him over me?”

“The truth has a distinctive ring to it, Jude, something you’ve failed to realize. The DA will offer Reggie second-degree murder if he hands you over. That’s only twelve years to life. If you were Reggie, what would you prefer? Twelve years or death?”

Jude screamed, “I didn’t kill anyone!”

“Do you really think a jury will believe Reggie killed your father because he didn’t want to be sent back to New Orleans? The hurricane destroyed all the evidence, so that would never have happened. Reggie is a clever young man, Jude. Even if he didn’t know that New Orleans couldn’t prosecute him, all he had to do was go underground like he did after he escaped from jail. Why take a chance and commit a murder? Reggie didn’t even
like
you, Jude. He was in love with Haley. We’ve talked to your friends. You were stalking Reggie. You ended a lifelong friendship with a girl who desperately needed you. Her father would have been in custody by now if you’d told us the truth. More importantly, your own father might still be alive. Don Snodgrass confessed to murdering your mother.” Carolyn paused to catch her breath, then continued, “Why did Haley call Veronica, huh? You knew all along what Haley was going through. That’s why she stayed at your house so much, to get away from her father. You told her your mother could help her, didn’t you?”

Mary handed her a tissue, and Jude blew her nose. “Was that wrong, too? She made me promise not to tell anyone. She was scared of Donny. He beat her up really bad when he found out she was seeing Reggie. I tried to get her to talk to my mother. I told her she would make sure he went to jail.”

“Then you decided to steal the one thing Haley had left, her boyfriend. Why, Jude?”

“Because I wanted someone to love me, too.” The first glimpse of the innocent child Jude had once been appeared. Swaddled in white bandages and bedding, she looked almost like an infant.

“Your mother and father loved you,” Carolyn said, her voice softening. “I spoke to your dad the night Reggie killed him. He was concerned about you. He wasn’t bitter about the allegations you brought against him. All he wanted was for you to be safe and happy.”

“When I told Reggie those things,” Jude said, her good hand clutching the sheet, “I didn’t think he would kill anyone.” She turned around and glared at Mary. “You’re recording this, aren’t you?” Facing Carolyn again, she added, “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. This is hard for me, you know, telling the truth.”

“Why is that?” Carolyn asked, wondering if a pathological liar could actually provide an answer to such a question.

“Because I’ve always had secrets, things I couldn’t tell anyone. After a while, you disappear into the stories you make up, so you can’t tell one from the other. It’s a lot easier that way, especially when you know people will look down on you or hate you if you tell the truth. How did I know Haley called my mother from the motel?”

Carolyn felt her heart pounding. Everything suddenly slammed together. Jude looked so pathetic, she had to resist the urge to rush over and comfort her. “Did you ever have sex with Mr. Snodgrass?”

A strange look appeared in the girl’s eyes. “It was Haley’s diary, but the story was about both of us. We wrote it together. She kept it at my house, so her parents wouldn’t find it. Her father started messing around with us when Haley was nine and I was ten.”

“Jesus,” Mary exclaimed, glancing over at Hank.

“He gave us money,” Jude continued, “bought us all kinds of neat things, took us to Disneyland. At first, it wasn’t that bad. He would just cuddle with us when I spent the night, usually while Haley and I were watching TV or a movie. Then he started putting his hands inside our pajamas. My mom and dad were always working. They didn’t hug or kiss me very often. I liked having Donny touch me. I didn’t like it later on, though.”

“What happened that changed things?”

“I got pregnant.”

The room took on the atmosphere of a movie theater during a scene so tense that no one even reached for their popcorn. It was as if there was a spotlight focused on Carolyn and Jude. When either of them spoke, their voices echoed off the tiled floors. Hank and Mary were standing motionless, completely riveted, and at the same time, not sure if this wasn’t just another of Jude’s elaborate fabrications.

“And it was Don Snodgrass who impregnated you?”

“Yes,” Jude said, pressing her head down on the pillow. “I didn’t start having sex with other guys until later. Haley made me promise not to tell my mom. Her father kept telling her that if she got him in trouble, they’d lose their house and have to live like poor people. He said her mom, Angela, wouldn’t believe it, that she’d hate her for ruining their lives. Angela didn’t work. I don’t think she ever worked. All she did was take care of the kids and spend money.”

“Did Mr. Snodgrass impregnate you the second time?”

“No, I was having sex with all kinds of guys by then. I don’t know who got me pregnant that time. Haley couldn’t date or anything because her father wouldn’t let her, but I could do whatever I wanted. She was jealous of me. When she started seeing Reggie, I would say she was spending the night with me so her father didn’t find out. Haley didn’t have a bad reputation like I did, and she was prettier than me. She got really skinny. I think she could wear a size zero or something. I tried to diet, thinking Reggie would like me more. I lost weight, but I was still a cow compared to Haley.”

They were losing some of their focus. Carolyn knew she had to bring Jude back around. She wasn’t interested in discussing diets and reputations when Stockton’s release could come through any moment. “When did you tell Reggie that your father was the one abusing you and Haley?”

“Not until she disappeared,” Jude said. “I didn’t know Haley’s father killed her. My dad used to whip me with a belt. That didn’t mean he would kill me. I thought they sent her away to a boarding school or one of those hospitals where they treat anorexia. Reggie was really upset. He kept asking me if I’d heard from her, or if I knew what had happened. That’s when I decided to tell him.”

“Why name your father?”

“I don’t know, really. Maybe because I was scared if I told Reggie it was Haley’s dad, he would go to the police and Haley would never speak to me again. I didn’t know then that Reggie was an escaped prisoner. He told me that later.”

“But Haley had already disappeared?”

“I thought she would come back.”

“I thought you and Haley weren’t getting along.”

“We weren’t,” Jude said. “We’d been in big fights before and always made up. I didn’t know she was already dead.” She asked for a drink of water. Mary poured it into a special cup with a straw and lid. After she handed it to her, she returned to her position beside Hank.

“Who beat you, Jude?” Carolyn asked. “Was it Reggie?”

“No,” she said sheepishly. “I just hit myself with one of my dad’s old shoes. I wanted Reggie to believe my dad beat me up. It was kind of like special effects, and I’d seen Haley before after her father hit her, so I knew how it looked. Reggie felt a lot more sorry for me when he saw the bruises.” She finished the water and placed it back on the nightstand. “Do I have to keep talking? You know everything now. I’m a bad person. So what else is new? I’ve been in trouble since I was born. Reggie killed my dad because of me. There, you wanted to know the truth. Now you know it. Send me to jail. I don’t care. I could never make it on my own, anyway.”

“Is there any way you can prove the things you’ve told us today?”