Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark [75]
Hearing this exchange, Michael Gordon wondered aloud at the monumental twist of fate that had occurred when the court clerk pulled out Dorothy Winters's card, making her an alternate. “Gregg Aldrich is in a jail cell tonight,” he said, “facing a life sentence. If Dorothy Winters had been in that jury room, he would have had a hung jury and he'd be having dinner at home with his daughter to?night.”
“Life is full of twists and turns that end up having enormous con?sequences,” Judge Reilly agreed. “The cards that a court clerk ran?domly pulls out, keeping two jurors like Mrs. Winters and Mr. Stern out of the deliberations, have undoubtedly changed the outcome of some criminal trials, as we're seeing here.”
When the program ended and Mike was back in his office, he found a note propped up on his phone. It read: “Mike, some woman phoned. Wouldn't give her name. Had no caller I.D. Wants to know if there's a reward for information about who Jimmy Easton was working for when he was in the Aldrich apartment. Would you find out and mention it on your show next week?”
Just Take My Heart
50
With an ever increasing sense of urgency, Zach spent most Saturday searching for a car. He had no intention of going to a dealership where there would be a trail of documents for the Motor Vehicle Department. Instead he responded to the classified ads list used cars and the owners' telephone numbers.
He had seen the television news last night and the newspaper t morning, all filled with pictures and stories about the Aldrich verdict. He worried that there was so much publicity about Emily. He knew what could happen. Some reporter could do a follow-up story on her standing in front of her house and catch me on camera when I'm outside and didn't notice them coming. I could end up in the national news. Somebody, somewhere, could recognize me.
I have to be ready to leave.
The last ad he had responded to turned out to be exactly what wanted. The dark brown van was eight years old but in pretty decent shape. It was the kind of vehicle that wouldn't attract attention, one would even look at it twice. Just like me, he thought bitterly.
The owner, Henry Link, lived in Rochelle Park, a nearby town. He was an elderly man who liked to chat. “This was my wife, Edith’s car,” he explained. “She's been in a nursing home for six month always hoped she would be able to come home, but that's never going to happen. We had a lot of good times in it.”
He was smoking a pipe. The air in the small kitchen was heavy with the odor of stale smoke. “Not that we went very far,” he emphasized. “That's why the mileage is so low. We just drove up the Hud?son a little way in good weather, then found a place to have a picnic lunch. She made the best fried chicken and potato salad in the world! And . . .”
Zach had been sitting across from him at the kitchen table for fifteen minutes, listening to the seemingly endless details of Henry's life with Edith. Unable to waste any more time, he stood up abruptly. “Mr. Link, your ad said four thousand dollars for the van, as is. I'll give you three thousand in cash right now. I'll take care of turning in the license plates and registering the other paperwork. You won't have to be bothered with any of it.”
“All right,” Henry said, sensing that, as usual, he had lost his audience. “That's fair, seeing that you have the cash. Thanks for doing the paperwork. I hate standing in those long lines at the Motor Ve?hicle place. When do you want to pick it up? I mean, you can't drive two cars at once. You gonna come back with a friend?”
I don't have any, Zach thought, and if I did, they wouldn't know about this. “Leave it in the driveway and give me the keys. I'll get a ride back later tonight and pick it up. I won't even have to ring the doorbell.”
“That'll work fine,” Henry Link answered, heartily. “That will give me time to take Edith's things out of the car. You know, like her St. Christopher medal that's hanging from the visor. Unless