BooksBarbecue
Back Murder Past Due Save as PDF
Chapters (36)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Acknowledgements
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE

“I’m sure he did,” I said. “How long were you there?”

Julia thought for a moment. “No more than fifteen minutes, maybe only ten. I had to get back to the hospital.”

“What time was that?”

“I got back a little after three. They were changing shifts.”

“So you left Godfrey alive before three?” I was trying to get the chronology straight in my head.

“Yes.”

“You didn’t try to find Justin before you went back to the hospital?” I asked.

“No. I was concerned about him,” Julia said. “But I had to check on Ezra, and I wanted to stop by the bank to deposit Godfrey’s check. Justin would have called if he needed me.” She turned away for a moment. “Or so I thought.”

“You’ll have to tell the deputies about this,” I said.

“I know. They’ll think Justin or I killed him. Or maybe that we did it together.” Julia rubbed a hand across her eyes as she faced me again. “Lord, I wish I could hear what’s going on in your kitchen right now.”

“I know. I wish I could, too,” I said. “But there’s nothing we can do at the moment except wait.”

Julia nodded.

“It’s possible they might think you or Justin killed him,” I said. “Depends on what they think your motive is. Revenge, maybe.”

“Why would I suddenly decide I wanted revenge now?” Julia snorted. “If I’d wanted to kill Godfrey because he got me pregnant and ran out on me, I would have done it years ago.”

“Possibly,” I said. “But now your husband is terminally ill, Godfrey appears and wants to take your son back to California, and maybe you’re so stressed you lose control and strike him down.”

Julia blanched. “I hadn’t thought of that. It does sound plausible when you put it that way. The Lord knows my stress level is through the roof.”

“No wonder,” I said in sympathy. “Anybody’s would be, with what you’re going through with Ezra.”

Julia smiled her thanks. “But I didn’t kill Godfrey, and neither did my husband nor my son.”

“Then we have to look elsewhere.” I paused. “How often did Godfrey come back to Athena over the years?”

Julia thought for a moment. “Every few years, probably. A few times he came on a book tour. Other times for research of some kind.”

“Once his parents left Athena, did he have that many ties here, other than college?”

Julia didn’t appear to have heard me.

“What is it? Have you remembered something?” I leaned forward in my chair.