"No, I didn't ask for a divorce. Hank would've never agreed to one."
"Why didn't you give him a chance?"
"What for? Did he ever give me a chance? Cooped up in that goddamn apartment, waiting for him to come off some burglary or some knifing or some mugging? What kind of life is that for a woman?"
"You knew he was a cop when you married him."
Alice didn't answer.
"You could've asked for a divorce, Alice. You could've tried."
"I didn't want to, damnit.I wanted him dead."
"Well, you've got him dead. Him and two others. You must be tickled now."
Alice smiled suddenly. "I'm not too worried, Steve."
"No?"
"There have to be some men on the jury." She paused. "Men like me."
There were, in fact, eight men on the jury.
The jury brought in a verdict in six minutes flat.
Mercer was sobbing as the jury foreman read off the verdict and the judge gave sentence. Alice listened to the judge with calm indifference, her shoulders thrown back, her head erect.
The jury had found them both guilty of murder in the first degree, and the judge sentenced them to death in the electric chair.
On August nineteenth, Stephen Carella and Theodora Franklin listened to their own sentence.
"Do either of you know of any reason why you both should not be legally joined in marriage, or if there be any present who can show any just cause why these parties should not be legally joined together, let him now speak or hereafter hold his peace."
Lieutenant Byrnes held his peace. Detective Hal Willis said nothing. The small gathering of friends and relatives watched, dewy-eyed.
The city clerk turned to Carella.
"Do you, Stephen Louis Carella, take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife to live together in the state of matrimony? Will you love, honor and keep her as a faithful man is bound to do, in health, sickness, prosperity and adversity, and forsaking all others keep you alone unto her as long as you both shall live?"
"Yes," Carella said. "Yes, I will. I do. Yes."
"Do you, Theodora Franklin, take this man as your lawfully wedded husband to live together in the state of matrimony? Will you love, honor, and cherish him as a faithful woman is bound to do, in health, sickness, prosperity and adversity, and forsaking all others keep you alone unto him as long as you both shall live?"
Teddy nodded. There were tears in her eyes, but she could not keep the ecstatic smile off her face.
"For as you both have consented in wedlock and have acknowledged it before this company, I do by virtue of the authority vested in me by the laws of this state now pronounce you husband and wife. And may God bless your union."
Carella took her in his arms and kissed her. The clerk smiled. Lieutenant Byrnes cleared his throat. Willis looked up at the ceiling. The clerk kissed Teddy when Carella released her. Byrnes kissed her. Willis kissed her. All the male relatives and friends came up to kiss her.
Carella smiled idiotically.
"You hurry back," Byrnes said to him.
"Hurry back? I'm going on my honeymoon, Pete!"
"Well, hurry anyway. How are we going to run that precinct without you? You're the only cop in the city who has the courage to buck the decisions of stubborn, opinionated Detective-Lieutenant Byrnes of the ..."
"Oh, go to hell," Carella said, smiling.
Willis shook his hand. "Good luck, Steve. She's a wonderful gal."
"Thank you, Hal."
Teddy came to him. He put his arm around her.
"Well," he said, "let's go."
They went out of the room together.
Byrnes stared after them wistfully.
"He's a good cop," he said.
"Yeah," Willis answered.
"Come on," Byrnes said, "let's go see what's brewing back at the house."
They went down into the street together.
"Want to get a paper," Byrnes said. He stopped at a newsstand and picked up a copy of Savage's tabloid. The trial news had been crowded right off the front pages. There was more important news.
The headlines simply read:
HEAT WAVE BREAKS! HAPPY DAY!
-THE END-