Monument to Murder - Margaret Truman [60]
Louise cocked her head defiantly. “So? You got the money?”
“Yes,” Felker said, “but first I need to talk to you. I’m told that you’re looking for a thousand dollars to remain quiet about what happened at the club.”
“That’s right. Seems to me what I know is worth it.”
Felker noticed that the battered black girl was starting to shake, probably because the drugs she’d taken earlier were wearing off.
“I’m told that you want the money to get away from the life you’ve been leading in Savannah,” he said.
Louise kept her eyes on the ground as she said, “I’m all messed up, that’s all. I got to get me straightened out.”
“And I’d like to help. Of course, you know that a thousand dollars won’t go very far. It’ll be gone before you know it and you’ll end up back the way you were.” When Louise didn’t react, he continued. “What someone like you needs is a nice, long vacation where you can get yourself straightened out.”
Louise nodded and shuffled her feet.
“I’m sure your mother and brother would be very proud of you.”
The mention of her mother and brother caused her to look up at him with eyes now moist. Felker had done his homework before the meeting and knew about Eunice Watkins and Louise’s preacher-brother, Lucas.
“You need to go to a place where they’ll take care of you,” he said, “make you healthy again, put you in classes that will teach you skills you can use later on in life. I know that your brother, Lucas, is a minister. You need God in your life, young lady, and there are places where God will be brought to you and made a part of your life.”
“I—I just need the money.”
“How would you like ten thousand dollars?” Felker asked.
Louise was stunned by the question; her fingers fluttered to her mouth.
“Did you hear me?” Felker asked.
“Yes, sir, I heard you.”
“Well?”
“Ten thousand. You got to be joking with me.”
“No, I’m not joking. But you have to do something in return.”
“What I have to do?”
“Go to the police and tell them it was you who stabbed the man in Augie’s parking lot.”
“I didn’t do that. It was her.” She pointed at Jeanine.
“It doesn’t matter who actually did it,” Felker explained. “It was obviously an accident. The man tried to rape you. He used a knife. You grabbed the knife and in the struggle it killed him. By confessing to the crime you’ll be given leniency. I assure you that the right judge will see it that way and will go very easy on you, give you just a few years in prison, where you can find yourself and find God, get off the streets, and become the sort of good young person your mother and brother want you to be. Believe me,” he concluded, “what I’m offering you is a gift from God. We don’t often get second chances in this life. I’m giving you a second chance, and so is God.”
“I don’t know. I—”
“The police will believe you. You threw the knife in the water and you know where that is. Your fingerprints will be on the knife unless the water has dissolved them, which I don’t think will be the case in such a short period of time.”
Felker sensed that she was softening.
“The women’s prisons aren’t there to punish. The facilities at Metro State Prison in Atlanta or the Lee Arrendale State Prison in Alto are there to help you forge a new life. Just think about it—free of drugs, maybe your GED diploma, and a bright future ahead for you.”
When there was still no response, Felker said, “This is your one and only chance. You’ve obviously made some bad decisions in your young life. Don’t make another one. And if you think you can go to the police with your story about someone else having done it, they’ll laugh you out of court. You’re a druggie and a hooker. How do you think that will play with the police and a judge?”
Finally Louise spoke. “You give me the money now?”
Felker chuckled. “I don’t think so,” he said. “Here’s what I suggest. Tomorrow you go to the police and tell them that you were the one who stabbed the man in the parking lot. I’ll spend time with you tonight to help you come up with your story. Once you’ve been arrested, I’ll arrange for ten thousand dollars to be delivered anywhere