Page 73 of 4th Silence
“Let’s hope,” Mom continues onscreen, “with all the work done by CSCC and Schock Investigations, that we’ll finally, finally, get justice for this poor child.”
“If she says ‘finally’ one more time,” I say, “I’m absolutely killing her. JJ will make sure I don’t get convicted.”
My phone alerts with an incoming text. Charlie. I mute the television and check the text. A stream of creative profanity fills the screen.
“Yikes,” I say. “Charlie isn’t happy.”
“Can you blame her?”
“Not in the least. JJ is already fending off media inquiries and doing damage control while the press is screaming about how a murderer was on his staff for years and nobody noticed.”
Jerome peels back his lips. “Not a good look. Is the case solid? I mean, is there a chance Alex will get away with it?”
“JJ won’t tell us anything, but Mom heard from her source at the police department that Alex confessed.”
Jerome’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”
I nod. “Apparently, Alex, Tiffany, and a few other kids were playing in the basement. Tiffany thought it would be funny to lock him in the panic room. Have I mentioned Alex is claustrophobic?”
“Ouch.”
“Right. She left him in there for a good ten minutes. When his mother started looking for him, Tiffany ran back down to let him out. By then, he was having a full-blown anxiety attack. When she opened the door, he lost it. Total rage. There was construction happening in the basement. He grabbed a hammer and struck her from behind.”
“Jesus. They were kids!”
“It’s horrific. He freaked and ran to get his mother. That’s when the Hartman machine went into action. These people are evil. She told him to get the Sherman purse, and then she hid the hammer in it.”
“Wait,” he says. “Didn’t you tell me there was security footage of Mary taking the bag out the back door to the cottage? Why didn’t she use the tunnel?”
“It wasn’t connected yet. At that time, the only way to the cottage was above ground. She hid the purse there until the police were done in the main house. At some point, she took it back to the panic room when she knew the house wouldn’t be searched again. According to Alex’s confession, his mother was too paranoid to get rid of the murder weapon. Being the control freak she is, she didn’t want to risk dumping the hammer and someone finding it. She felt the safest place would be in the panic room. Where she knew it would be safe.”
“Alex gave all this up? Totally implicated Mommy dearest?”
“According to mom’s source, he did. He claims he didn’t need to tamper with any evidence while he’s been at the US Attorney’s office, but he fed his mother information about Charlie for her smear campaign. Now, Mary is facing a slew of charges. Evidence tampering, accessory after the fact, obstruction…”
Jerome lets out a whistle. “Merry freaking Christmas.”
How I love him.
“If Alex did confess, and there’s no reason to doubt it, he and Mary will spend most, if not the rest, of their lives in prison.”
“The family name,” he says, “was more important than that little girl. I can’t wrap my mind around that.”
“I’m telling you, evil.”
The image on the television shifts to A Christmas Carol, already in progress.
“Well,” Jerome says, settling back into the cushions, “guess we should plan on bringing food tomorrow. Your mom is obviously not cooking.”
Contemplating this, I curl into Jerome’s side, wondering where, at such late notice, I can get a fully prepped Christmas meal.
21
Charlie
* * *
Thanks to Meg and Jerome, Mom’s dining room table groans under the weight of steaming dishes of rosemary potatoes, a glistening ham, and colorful salads. Mom has added her signature sweet rolls, which smell like childhood Christmases at this same table. And me? I brought wine.
