Too Close to Home

That nearly brought a smile to my sore and wounded face. “Yeah, well, we know how you feel,” I said.

“What if I talked to the judge?” Penny said. “What if I told him I was with him after, that the things he told me, I could tell he didn’t do it?”

“You can’t talk to the judge, but you can talk to Derek’s lawyer,” I said. “She’ll be more interested in hearing what you have to say in Derek’s defense than Barry is. He thinks he has this thing all figured out.”

“What if my parents won’t let me talk to her?” Penny asked.

“They can’t do that,” Ellen said, then, looking at me, “Can they?”

“Why would your parents want to stop you?” I asked.

“They’ve never really approved of me going out with Derek anyway, you know?” she said.

“No,” Ellen said, trying to keep her voice even. “We didn’t know. Why would that be?”

“I guess they thought we were spending too much time together, that I wasn’t paying attention to school, which is totally not true, because my marks are as good as they’ve ever-”

I held up a hand. “It’s okay,” I said. “I think most boys are viewed with suspicion by the parents of their girlfriends. It’s been that way for a thousand years.”

“But then, after the detective came to the house, they wouldn’t even let me talk to him. Because he was, you know, a suspect.”

“Penny,” I said, “you should call your folks, tell them where you are. We can drive you home, or they can come and get you.”

“I took my mom’s car,” she said. “It’s parked on the side of the road, down a ways.”

“Let me ask you something,” I said, “before you go.”

“Okay.”

“Did Derek tell you about the computer he got from Agnes Stockwell, the one with the novel on it? That he and Adam had been reading?”

“Yeah,” she said. “He said it was really weird.”

“Did you read it?”

“No. I wasn’t really interested, you know?”

“Did you tell anyone about the book, that Derek and Adam had found it? Any of your own friends, your parents?”

She thought a moment. “I’m not sure. I mean, I’ve told them about Derek’s hobby. My dad one time, he even got Derek to restart his computer, when it was all frozen? I thought that would make my dad like him better, but it didn’t really last.”

“So you’re saying you might have told them?”

“Well, if I did, I sure didn’t tell them what it was about.”

“Sure,” I said. “I understand. Okay. Thanks. It was good of you to come by. We’ll tell Derek you were asking about him.”

Penny nodded, sniffed, wiped a tear from her cheek, and said goodbye. As Ellen walked her to the door my cell phone went off.

“Yeah?” I said.

“Hey,” a man’s voice said. “It’s Drew? Drew Lockus?”

It took me a moment. The man who’d pulled my tractor off me. “Yeah, Drew, how’s it going?”

“Look,” he said, “I talked it over with my mom, and she said if I want to earn a few extra bucks cutting grass, it’s okay with her, so yeah, if you still want me.”

“Sure,” I said. As long as I didn’t have more clients cancel like the Putnams, I thought. “Why don’t I pick you up out front of your place tomorrow morning, eight o’clock?”

“Okay,” he said. He sounded more resigned than pleased by the prospect. “See you then.”

I’d barely set the phone down on the counter when it rang again. I flipped it open. “Yeah?”

“Mr. Cutter, Natalie Bondurant, returning your call.”

I took a second to collect my thoughts. “Thanks for calling. Hey, Derek’s girlfriend, Penny Tucker, was just here. I think she’s got things to say that could help Derek.”

“She’s already on my list. I’ll set something up. As for your question, the one you left on my voicemail, the answer is yes.”

My heart sank.

“Officially, yes, New York State has the death penalty, but in 2004 the courts ruled it unconstitutional, so even if it’s on the books, it’s not being used.”

“I see.” Ever since Lance had raised the likelihood of my son facing the death penalty, I hadn’t been able to put it out of my mind. But I’d not shared my thoughts with Ellen.

“So, on that score,” Natalie said, “you can rest easy.”

“What do you mean, ‘on that score’? Is there something else?”

“The police found an earring. Very small, a peace sign.”

“Go on.”

“Did Derek lose one recently?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Ellen was mouthing, “What?” I held up my hand to her.

“The police found one in the Langley house.”

“Okay,” I said, trying not to panic. “He’s already admitted he was there. How does a found earring make things any worse?”

“First of all, it’s not yet confirmed that it’s his. They’re doing DNA analysis on it.”

“They can get that?” I asked. “Off an earring?”

“They’re working on it.”

“But I still don’t understand. So what if they prove it’s his? He’s admitted he was in the house.”

Natalie Bondurant paused. “It’s where they found it in the house.”

I felt my heart skip a beat. “Go on.”

“In Donna and Albert Langley’s bedroom. In the folds of the bed skirt. And Derek’s fingerprints are on the bedroom dresser.”

I felt numb.