The deputy D.A. ticked off a list of reasons the accused should remain incarcerated. Weight of evidence. Danger to the community. Undeniable flight risk. The savage nature of the crime, he declared, pointed to the defendants brutal nature. Miranda could not believe that this monster he kept referring to was her. Is that what they all think of me? she wondered, feeling the gaze of the audience on her back. That Im evil? That I would kill again?
Only when she was asked, twice, to stand for Judge Klimenkos decision did her attention shift back to the present. Trembling, she rose to her feet and gazed up at the pair of eyes peering down at her over bifocals.
Bail is set at one hundred thousand dollars cash or two hundred thousand dollars secured property. The gavel slammed down. Court dismissed.
Miranda was stunned. Even as the audience milled around behind her, she stood frozen in despair.
Its the best I could do, Pelham whispered.
It might as well have been a million. She would never be able to raise it.
Come on, Ms. Wood, said the bailiff. Time to go back.
In silence she let herself be escorted across the room, past the gazes of all those prying eyes. Only for a second did she pause, to glance back over her shoulder at Chase Tremain. As their gazes locked she thought she saw, for an instant, a flicker of something she hadnt seen before. Compassion. Just as quickly, it was gone.
Fighting tears, she turned and followed the bailiff through the side door.
Back to jail.
That will keep her locked away, said Evelyn.
A hundred thousand? Chase shook his head. It doesnt seem out of reach.
Not for us, maybe. But for someone like her? Evelyn snorted. The look of satisfaction on her flawlessly made-up face was not becoming. No. No, I think Ms. Miranda Wood will be staying right where she belongs. Behind bars.
She hasnt budged an inch, said Lorne Tibbetts. Weve been questioning her for a week straight now and she sticks to that story like glue.
It doesnt matter, said Evelyn. Facts are facts. She cant refute them.
They were sitting outside, on Evelyns veranda. At mid-morning theyd been driven from the house by the heat; the sun streaming in the windows had turned the rooms into ovens. Chase had forgotten about these hot August days. In his memory, Maine was forever cool, forever immune to the miseries of summer. So much for childhood memories. He poured another glass of iced tea and handed the pitcher over to Tibbetts.
So what do you think, Lorne? asked Chase. You have enough to convict?
Maybe. There are holes in the evidence.
What holes? demanded Evelyn.
Chase thought, my sister-in-law is back to her old self again. No more hysterics since that day at the police station. She looked cool and in control, which is how hed always remembered her from their childhood. Evelyn the ice queen.
Theres the matter of the fingerprints, said Tibbetts.
What do you mean? asked Chase. Werent they on the knife?
Thats the problem. The knife handle was wiped clean. Now, that doesnt make a lot of sense to me. Heres this crime of passion, see? She uses her own knife. Pure impulse. So why does she bother to wipe off the fingerprints?
She must be brighter than you think, Evelyn said, sniffing. Shes already got you confused.
Anyway, it doesnt go along with an impulse killing.
What other problems do you have with the case? asked Chase.
The suspect herself. Shes a tough nut to crack.
Of course she is. Shes fighting for her life, said Evelyn.
She passed the polygraph.
She submitted to one? asked Chase.
She insisted on it. Not that it wouldve hurt her case if she flunked. Its not admissible evidence.
So why should it change your mind? asked Evelyn.
It doesnt. It just bothers me.
Chase stared off toward the sea. He, too, was bothered. Not by the facts, but by his own instincts.
Logic, evidence, told him that Miranda Wood was the killer. Why did he have such a hard time believing it?
The doubts had started a week ago, in that police station hallway. Hed watched the whole interrogation. Hed heard her denials, her lame explanations. He hadnt been swayed. But when theyd come face-to-face in the hall, and shed looked him straight in the eye, hed felt the first stirrings of doubt. Would a murderess meet his gaze so unflinchingly? Would she face an accuser with such bald courage? Even when Evelyn had appeared, Miranda hadnt ducked for cover. Instead, shed said the unexpected. He loved you. I want you to know that. Of all the things a murderess might have said, that was the most startling. It was an act of kindness, an honest attempt to comfort the widow. It earned her no points, no stars in court. She could simply have walked past, ignoring Evelyn, leaving her to her grief. Instead, Miranda had reached out in pity to the other woman.
Chase did not understand it.
Theres no question but that the weight of the evidence is against her, said Tibbetts. Obviously, thats what the judge thought. Just look at the bail he set. He knew shed never come up with that kind of cash. So she wont be walking out anytime soon. Unless shes been hiding a rich uncle somewhere.