Bethany's guilt?"
"Yes, of course," Maxine said. "Hal has done everything he can to keep the investigation going, but the district attorney has blocked him at every turn."
"I think we may have an ally in Varner." Morgan unbuttoned his jacket, sat down and crossed one leg over the other as he relaxed in the leather chair. "We can count on him to work with us. Unofficially, of Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
course.
"And I spoke to Pat Griswold, the FBI agent assigned to investigate the mail bombing. They don't have any leads in the case. They're assuming a crazed Jimmy Farraday fan sent the bomb, since its construction was so simple that a twelve-year-old could have put it together. But after I spoke to Agent Griswold, she agreed to check into the possibility that, if Bethany didn't murder Farraday, the real killer might have sent the bomb."
"My, my, my. You have been a busy boy, haven't you?" Maxine braced her hip on the edge of her desk.
"With Dane Carmichael's connections within the bureau, I'm sure you'll get all the cooperation you need from Agent Griswold."
"We're hoping that, since the FBI knows the package was mailed from the downtown post office, one of the employees might remember something suspicious. It's a long shot," Morgan said. "But it's all we've got right now."
"The person who made the bomb might not have been the person who mailed it." Maxine grunted.
"Well, what do you need from me, Morgan?"
"What I need, before I proceed any further, are the names of everyone either of you think might have had a reason for wanting Jimmy Farraday dead." Morgan glanced from Maxine toBethany. "Who's going to start this little accusation game?"
"I believe most people who really knew Jimmy either disliked him intensely or hated him," Maxine said.
"I didn't know him well enough to hate him. Personally, I just despised him."
"Who knew him well enough to hate him?" Morgan asked. "His wife, his son, his stepdaughter, his step-granddaughter and…"
"You're including Anne Marie and James on your suspects list?" Bethany glared at Morgan. "And Mother?"
"I'm not saying that I think one of them killed Farraday, I'm—"
"Anne Marie wasn't even in town," Bethany said. "She'd been away at camp all week. She didn't get back to Birmingham until hours after Jimmy was murdered."
"That still leaves James and Eileen." Morgan could tell that this discussion was bothering Bethany more than it should. Did she know something she wasn't telling him? Something she hadn't even told her lawyer? "Do either Eileen or James have an alibi for the time Farraday was killed?"
"It just so happens," Maxine said, "that both of them were at the television station when Jimmy's body was found. Eileen was meeting him for dinner and James had stopped by to ask his father to pull some strings and get him a couple of Vince Gill concert tickets." Maxine slid off the edge of her desk and stared directly at Bethany. "If he's going to help us, then you're going to have to tell him everything."
Bethany folded her hands together in her lap. Sighing deeply, she closed her eyes. "All right." Opening her eyes, she turned in her chair and faced Morgan. "I had lunch with Mother the day Jimmy was murdered. I'd never seen her so upset. She told me that he had disgraced her for the last time, that some young starlet Jimmy had let sing on his television show a few times came to her and told her that she was pregnant with Jimmy's baby. Mother said … she said she wanted to kill Jimmy. And at that precise Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
moment, I believe she meant it."
"So you think Eileen killed her husband?" Morgan asked.
"I honestly don't know,"Bethanyadmitted. "But I can't believe she would let me take the blame for something she did, unless…"
"Unless what?" Morgan uncrossed his legs and eased to the edge of his seat.
"Unless something snapped inside her and she
"Yes, of course," Maxine said. "Hal has done everything he can to keep the investigation going, but the district attorney has blocked him at every turn."
"I think we may have an ally in Varner." Morgan unbuttoned his jacket, sat down and crossed one leg over the other as he relaxed in the leather chair. "We can count on him to work with us. Unofficially, of Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
course.
"And I spoke to Pat Griswold, the FBI agent assigned to investigate the mail bombing. They don't have any leads in the case. They're assuming a crazed Jimmy Farraday fan sent the bomb, since its construction was so simple that a twelve-year-old could have put it together. But after I spoke to Agent Griswold, she agreed to check into the possibility that, if Bethany didn't murder Farraday, the real killer might have sent the bomb."
"My, my, my. You have been a busy boy, haven't you?" Maxine braced her hip on the edge of her desk.
"With Dane Carmichael's connections within the bureau, I'm sure you'll get all the cooperation you need from Agent Griswold."
"We're hoping that, since the FBI knows the package was mailed from the downtown post office, one of the employees might remember something suspicious. It's a long shot," Morgan said. "But it's all we've got right now."
"The person who made the bomb might not have been the person who mailed it." Maxine grunted.
"Well, what do you need from me, Morgan?"
"What I need, before I proceed any further, are the names of everyone either of you think might have had a reason for wanting Jimmy Farraday dead." Morgan glanced from Maxine toBethany. "Who's going to start this little accusation game?"
"I believe most people who really knew Jimmy either disliked him intensely or hated him," Maxine said.
"I didn't know him well enough to hate him. Personally, I just despised him."
"Who knew him well enough to hate him?" Morgan asked. "His wife, his son, his stepdaughter, his step-granddaughter and…"
"You're including Anne Marie and James on your suspects list?" Bethany glared at Morgan. "And Mother?"
"I'm not saying that I think one of them killed Farraday, I'm—"
"Anne Marie wasn't even in town," Bethany said. "She'd been away at camp all week. She didn't get back to Birmingham until hours after Jimmy was murdered."
"That still leaves James and Eileen." Morgan could tell that this discussion was bothering Bethany more than it should. Did she know something she wasn't telling him? Something she hadn't even told her lawyer? "Do either Eileen or James have an alibi for the time Farraday was killed?"
"It just so happens," Maxine said, "that both of them were at the television station when Jimmy's body was found. Eileen was meeting him for dinner and James had stopped by to ask his father to pull some strings and get him a couple of Vince Gill concert tickets." Maxine slid off the edge of her desk and stared directly at Bethany. "If he's going to help us, then you're going to have to tell him everything."
Bethany folded her hands together in her lap. Sighing deeply, she closed her eyes. "All right." Opening her eyes, she turned in her chair and faced Morgan. "I had lunch with Mother the day Jimmy was murdered. I'd never seen her so upset. She told me that he had disgraced her for the last time, that some young starlet Jimmy had let sing on his television show a few times came to her and told her that she was pregnant with Jimmy's baby. Mother said … she said she wanted to kill Jimmy. And at that precise Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
moment, I believe she meant it."
"So you think Eileen killed her husband?" Morgan asked.
"I honestly don't know,"Bethanyadmitted. "But I can't believe she would let me take the blame for something she did, unless…"
"Unless what?" Morgan uncrossed his legs and eased to the edge of his seat.
"Unless something snapped inside her and she
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