She sent notes to Stoddard, advising her not to discuss the case with anyone until Venable was back on her feet and able to discuss the case with her. Stoddard never answered the notes and refused to recant the confession she made to Shock Johnson.
Shana Parver, with the assistance of Dermott Flaherty, continued to construct the murder one case against Edith Stoddard, whose arraignment had been postponed for a month because Jane Venable was in the hospital. Parver was the strategist, Flaherty the pragmatist.
'Venable will use the insanity defence,' Flaherty guessed.
'It's still premeditated murder,' Shana snapped back. 'But extenuated. Venable will argue that she was a sexual victim of Delaney. That he kept her in sexual bondage. That her job was at stake. And then he cut her loose and she was mentally unstable because of her daughter and husband.'
'We still have her confession,' Parver countered. 'Which Venable will get thrown out. She was distraught, scared, anguished…'
'Oh blah, blah, blah,' Parver said. Flaherty laughed.
'C'mon,' he said. 'I'll buy you dinner.'
'No, I'll buy you dinner. I'm the primary on this case. And don't let me order a martini.'
'Oh, I don't know,' he laughed. 'You get very lovable when you're loaded.'
She cast a dubious glance at him. 'I don't have to be loaded to be lovable, Flay,' she said.
Trees trembled before a warm spring breeze as Vail drove along Lakeshore Drive. He stopped and bought several bunches of spring flowers from a street vendor before entering the hospital. Jane was sitting up in bed and Stenner, who could now get around with the help of a cane, was sitting across the room.
'I got my walking papers today,' Stenner said. 'They're going to parole me an hour early so I can come to court in the morning.'
'Nothing to see,' Vail said. 'We're going to ask for a continuation of the arraignment until Jane's well enough to go to court.'
'That was thoughtful of you,' Venable said. 'Do I see signs of a crack in your armour?'
'It was Shana's idea,' Vail said with a smile. 'And I don't see so much as a blemish in her armour.'
'She's a tough little cookie, Marty,' Jane said. 'You taught her well.'
'I didn't teach her anything,' Vail laughed. 'She was born tough. Wait'll she gets John Wayne Darcy in court.'
'How about Edith Stoddard?' Jane asked.
'That's between the two of you. I'm not involved in that one, thank God.'
'You're involved in everything that goes on in the DA's office, Marty. Who are you trying to kid?'
'I didn't come here to talk business,' Vail said. He handed her the bouquet of spring flowers. 'I came to tamper with your affections.'
'You can tamper with my affections anytime,' she said and took the dead flowers from a vase on the table beside the bed and dropped them in the wastebasket. Vail took the vase to the sink in the corner and filled it with water.
'I think I'll go back to my room and spend a little time,' Stenner said. 'Been there four weeks. Be like leaving home. Goodnight.'
'I'll drop by and tuck you in,' Vail said.
'My nurse takes care of that,' Stenner responded brusquely, walking as jauntily as he could from the room.
'I'm jealous of Abel,' Venable said. 'He's going home and I have two more operations to go.'
Vail sat down beside her and ran a finger gently down the bandage on her face. 'A few more weeks and it will all be behind us,' he said gently. He stood up and walked to the window.
'Still have Stampler on your mind, don't you?' she said softly.
'You know,' he said, 'there was a moment there… there was a moment when… when it was a catharsis. For a minute or two I had the power of life and death over him. I had him in my sights. God knows, I wanted to kill him. I wanted to shoot him over and over again. A bullet for every one he butchered. The trigger had an eighth-of-an-inch to go and I knew what he wanted, Janey, I knew he wanted me to put him down, to pull me down to his level. Then I saw the sign and eased off and let the devil have him.'
'Well, it's over, my dear,' she said and patted the bed beside her.
Maybe, he thought. And maybe it will never be over.
The next morning, Shana Parver and Dermott Flaherty sat at the prosecutor's table, prepared to ask for another continuance of the arraignment of Edith Stoddard. Vail, Naomi, and St Claire, accompanied by Abel Stenner, sat beside them in the first row. Edith Stoddard's daughter, Angelica, sat on the opposite side of the courtroom, nervously awaiting the hearing to start. She kept staring back at the entrance to the courtroom.
At exactly 9 A.M., Judge Thelma McElroy, a handsome black woman whose glittering, intelligent eyes hid behind round, wire-rimmed glasses, entered the room. A fair judge, she was known for her stern, no-nonsense approach to the law.
Edith Stoddard was led into the courtroom and took a seat at the defence table. She was drawn and thin. It was obvious her weeks in jail had worn her down. She folded her hands on the table and stared down at them.
A moment later there was a rumble from the rear of the courtroom, and Vail turned to see what the commotion was about.
Jane Venable entered the courtroom in a wheelchair. She was resplendent in an emerald green silk business suit, her red hair pulled back in a tight bun, a black patch over her eye, the side of her face covered with a fresh bandage.
She wheeled down the centre aisle, cast her good eye at Vail, smiled, and winked as she headed for the defendant's table. Vail could not conceal his surprise. Shana Parver was even more surprised. She looked back at Vail, who just raised his eyebrows and shrugged.
'What the hell…' he mumbled under his breath.
'I think we're in trouble,' Stenner said.
'We were in trouble when she took the case,' Vail answered.
Judge McElroy lowered her head and peered over her glasses at Venable.
'Well, Ms Venable, this is a surprise. Welcome back.'
'Thank you, Your Honour,' Venable answered.
'Are we ready to proceed?' the judge asked.
'Quite,' Venable answered.
'We were prepared to seek a postponement because of Ms Venable's injuries, Your Honour…'
'That won't be necessary,' Venable answered. 'The defendant is prepared to answer the charges.'
'The State is ready, Your Honour,' Shana Parver stammered as Flaherty dug into his briefcase and began pulling out files.
The judge looked down at her agenda sheet.
'This is an arraignment, correct?'
'Yes,' Parver answered.
'Any motions before we proceed?'
'Your Honour,' Venable began, 'if it please the court, the defence asks that we be permitted to introduce one witness for the defence.'
'Before we even start?' the Judge said.
'We will seek bond for the defendant, Edith Stoddard, Your Honour. She has been incarcerated for almost two months without relief. We would seek permission for a character witness to appear in her behalf.'
'Your Honour…' Parver began, but the judge raised her hand and cut her off.
'Just one minute, Counsellor,' she said, and to Venable, 'who is this witness, Ms Venable?'
'Her daughter, Angelica, Your Honour.'
'Your Honour, this is highly irregular,' Parver snapped back. 'This is an arraignment. We are prepared to present grand jury findings supporting the state's contention that Mrs Stoddard committed the offence of first-degree murder. There can be no bond.'
'Your Honour, there are extenuating circumstances in this case,' Venable countered. 'My client has no previous criminal record. She was a valued executive secretary for years and has supported a daughter in college and a husband who is a paraplegic. Certainly the court and the prosecution can not object to hearing her daughter's plea. Fifteen minutes, Your Honour, that's all we ask?'