Missing Pieces(52)
Sarah, making sure that the evidence box was completely concealed by the jacket, stepped from the car and peeked through the mullioned windows. A grandmotherly woman with tightly curled white hair sat behind a desk reading a novel. Sarah pulled open the door and a bell tinkled, announcing her arrival. The woman looked up from behind thick reading glasses and quickly slid the book into her desk drawer. “Hello, can I help you?” she asked, folding her arthritic fingers behind a nameplate that read Katherine Newberry. Sarah wondered if this was Arthur’s mother.
Sarah explained who she was and asked if Arthur was available.
“Arthur is still at the jail meeting with Ms. Quinlan. I don’t expect him back until a bit later. Would you like to wait?”
“I’ll have to stop back tomorrow morning if he’ll be in.”
Katherine referred to a large desk calendar. “I have Ms. Quinlan’s arraignment down for 9:00 a.m. Will you be able to stop in beforehand?”
Sarah agreed, thanked her and turned to leave when Katherine cleared her throat. “Now there’s just the little matter of fees. Mr. Newberry prefers payment up front.”
“Of course,” Sarah said, digging through her purse for her checkbook. She quickly scribbled out a check for the retainer and handed it to Katherine, who examined it carefully before stowing it into her desk drawer.
“Are you related to Arthur?” Sarah asked, nodding her head toward the nameplate.
“Oh, yes. Arthur is my grandson.” Katherine smiled proudly. “He just took over my husband’s practice a few months ago after he graduated from law school.” Sarah’s heart sank a bit and she hoped that what Arthur lacked in lawyerly experience he made up for in hard work and tenacity.
“So you’ve lived in Penny Gate for a while?” Sarah asked. If the Newberrys had been here for any length of time, Katherine certainly would have been familiar with Lydia’s murder.
“Our whole lives,” Katherine said. “Born and bred here.”
“Then you might have known my husband’s parents? John and Lydia Tierney.”
“Of course,” Katherine said. “You must be Jack’s wife. It’s nice to meet you, although these aren’t the best of circumstances. I was hoping that Jack would have stopped by himself. I haven’t seen that boy in decades.”
“You knew Jack, too?” Sarah asked, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was well after 6:00 p.m. Sarah was torn between wanting to hear more about Jack and wanting to dig into the case file.
“Oh, yes,” Katherine said with a smile. “Our youngest daughter went to school with Jack. We always liked him. Tragic, what happened to his family. My husband actually represented Jack for a short time during the whole mess.” She shook her head. “Poor boy. Imagine being suspected of your mother’s murder when all along it was your dad who did it? And now all that’s happening with Amy and Julia.” Katherine gave a sympathetic click of her tongue.
“Represented Jack?” Sarah repeated, not sure she had heard Katherine correctly. “Was Jack actually arrested?”
“He was arrested but never charged,” Katherine assured her. “Julia Quinlan called my husband once she learned the sheriff was focused on Jack as a suspect.”
Sarah’s stomach flipped. Another lie from Jack. She contemplated getting back into the rental car, driving to the airport and heading back home to Larkspur without a backward glance. But something kept her there. The need to know the entire truth? Love for her husband? She wasn’t sure anymore. “Do you have any of that old paperwork?” Sarah asked. “Any notes from when your husband met with Jack?”
Katherine gave her an uncertain look. “Why would you want anything from back then? It was a terrible, terrible time.”
Sarah thought fast. “Since coming back to town, lots of memories have been dredged up for Jack and he’s been going over things in his mind. Asking a lot of questions, reading a lot of the old news articles.” Sarah couldn’t believe she was lying so easily to this poor woman.
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anything,” Katherine said more to herself than to Sarah. “I’ll just go and see if I can find the file.” She rose and disappeared through a doorway in the back of the office and emerged a few moments later with a thin file folder in hand.
“This is all I could dig up,” she said, thumbing through the pages. “Like I said. Arthur represented him only for a very short time. Once the sheriff realized that John Tierney had disappeared all the focus went away from Jack. There’s just a few pages of handwritten notes here.” She handed a file to Sarah. “Here, I made a photocopy for you. Tell Jack to stop in and say hello while he’s in town.”
“I will and thank you,” Sarah said, sliding the folder into her purse. “And I’ll be in tomorrow morning at eight to talk with your grandson.”
The sun was slowly dipping behind the tree line, tingeing the clouds pink and gold. Daylight was fading fast. Jack had sent her several more texts giving her updates and asking where she was. The sheriff’s department was still at Hal’s farm. They hadn’t finished the search yet. The wake was scheduled for the next evening and the funeral for the following day. He had tried to go and visit Amy at the jail but she was meeting with her attorney at the time. Was something wrong? Please call.