The House on Timber Lane, Robert F. Clifton [books to read as a couple TXT] 📗

Manfred Edwards to the chair.”

When Edwards approached the bench Judge Anderson said, “Doctor you are still sworn. You may be seated.”

Edwards sat waiting as James Mason approached him. “Doctor Edwards were you in this court room while Doctor Riser was on the stand?”

“I was.”

“And did you hear his testimony on the subject of immunuassay and your lack of using it?”

“I did.”

“Would you explain why you did not use immunuassay?”

“Certainly…I don’t use immunuassay because it is relatively crude and can create false artifacts.”

“For the benefit of the jury Doctor, please define artifacts in relation to the use of immunoassay."

“In this case artifacts would be the undesired alteration in data introduced by a technique and or technology.”

“I see, a undesired alteration of data. Can we preasume then Doctor that if Doctor Riser was given the opportunity to test your results using immunuassay that he would risk the chance of receiving altered data as a result?”

“Yes.”

“And did you hear him testify that in his opinion the lack of glucose in the kidneys of Mrs. Grey was due to decomposition of her body?”

“I did.”

“And how do you explain his conclusion?”

“His conclusion is based on his viewing of colored eight by ten photo prints and not the actual examination of the organs.”

“One more question Doctor Edwards. Are you aware that Doctor Riser is a member of The American College of Pathologist’s?”

“So am I.”

“Thank you Doctor, no further questions your Honor”, said Moore.

“Mr. Kaplan?”, asked the Judge.

“No questions your honor.”

“Very well. Are both parties ready to present their case to the jury?”

“The State is ready sir”, said Mason.

“As is, the defense”, said Kaplan.”

“Very good…Then, I will adjourn court until tomorrow morning at nine A.M…Court is adjourned.”

“All rise!”, called the bailiff and Wallace and Edwards stood next to one another as the judge and jury filed out of the court room.

The next morning Wallace and Doctor Edwards listened as first Mason and then Kaplan addressed the jury, each man laying out the facts of why Doctor Vernon Gray was either guilty of murdering his wife or innocent of the crime. When they were finished Judge Anderson then instructed them on their duties and responsibilities and charged them to render a verdict. The jury then went to the jury room and the people of New Jersey, Doctor Edwards and Captain Wallace waited to hear their decision.

“The jury will be awhile Doc. Let’s hit the diner across the street. I could use a cup of coffee”, said Wallace.

“Yeah, that’s better than sitting here for who knows how long”, Edwards replied.

At the diner both men slid into a booth. Edwards lifted the menu from the napkin holder and looked through it. “Same old thing, eggs, hot cakes, bacon, sausage, nothing new”, he said.

“This is a diner, what the hell do you expect?”, asked Wallace.

“Pan Perdu.”

“It’s there only they call it French Toast.”

“No shit?..What would I do without you?”

“You’d have to find someone else to put up with you. You old bastard.”

Their friendly banter was interrupted by the waitress who arrived at their table. “Are you ready to order?”, she asked.

“I’ll have the French Toast, sausage and coffee”, said Edwards.

“Make mine bacon and eggs over easy, toast and coffee and I’d like the coffee just as soon as you can get it to me”, said Wallace.

“Listen, I know you’re going to smoke those damn cigarettes, so smoke it now before my meal comes”, said Edwards.

“Hey, thanks a lot I. knew I was missing something”, said Wallace as he lit a cigarette blowing the smoke up towards the ceiling.

After the two men finished a late breakfast they went back into the court room. At exactly eleven seventeen A.M. the jury informed the court that they had reached a verdict.

“Damn, that was quick. That usually means guilty”, said Edwards. Wallace remained silent as he stared at the door that led to the jury room.

At twelve fifteen in the afternoon Judge Anderson asked for the jury’s decision. “We find the defendant, Vernon Gray…Not Guilty”, said the foreman.

“Son of a bitch…I told you that panel was a bunch of shit heads. How in the hell could they let him off?”, asked Edwards.

Wallace did not answer, instead he watched Vernon Gray hug and then shake hands with Daniel Kaplan and Harold Ginsberg. Then, when he was done celebrating Gray looked for and found Captain Robert Wallace standing in the court room. When he did he looked long and hard at the police officer and then laughed. Wallace turned slowly and walked out of the room. Doctor Edwards followed.

Chapter Thirteen

Robert Wallace sat at his kitchen table smoking his fourth cigarette with his third cup of coffee. In his hands he held a copy of the Nautilus Beach Press and the headline of the daily edition appeared in bold print for all of its readers to see: LOCAL DOCTOR ACQUITTED OF MURDER! He then read the article written by Herman Walker a staff reporter. “Yesterday, Friday, April 19, 1974 Doctor Vernon Gray a local endocrinologist faced a jury of his peers and was acquitted of murdering his wife, Philadelphia socialite, Grace Hodges Gray. Assistant Prosecutor James Mason stated that the people had spoken and justice had been served. He also stated that the defense presented strong evidence that convinced the jury, enabling them to reach their verdict. When asked about the evidence submitted by the State Mr. Mason more or less admitted that any homicide where insulin is used as the weapon causing death is difficult to prove. When asked why, Mr. Mason acknowledged that since insulin is a natural product of the pancreas in the human body it is very difficult to measure and determine the amount that could or would cause a death. Attempts to question Captain Robert Wallace, the lead investigator in this case were fruitless and the press reporters were referred to Mrs. Victoria Cummings, the Information Officer of the Nautilus Beach Police Department, leaving this reporter to question why Captain Wallace refused an interview by this reporter. Perhaps, the Captain enjoys positive press when there are convictions, but avoids negative print when his investigations are failures. Hopefully, the Captain could solve this quandary in the immediate future. And, Captain if you are reading this I’ll still be asking questions.”

Wallace was interrupted by the ringing telephone on the kitchen wall. He got up from the table and answered. “Hello.”

“Robert. Did you see the paper this morning?”

“Yes, Elaine I just finished reading it.”

“What went wrong. I thought that you had him.” “I did have him. The people let him go.”

“Why is Herman Walker acting so nasty towards you?”

“Let’s say that it’s a mutual dislike for each other.”

“Really, well what I called for is I have some very important information I want to give you. Can you come over?”

“Can’t you tell me what it is on the telephone?”

“It’s rather personal.”

“You’re not pregnant are you…We haven’t been together in months.”

“No. you idiot…Are you coming over or not?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Any special time?”

“Come for lunch.”

“Sounds OK…See you then.”

Wallace then called Doctor Edwards and the doctor answered with his usual gruff, “Hello.”

“What are you doing?”, asked Wallace.

“You?…Let me tell you something when they invent something that identifies who is calling me I’m going to run out and buy it. That way I can ignore you. What the hell do you want?”

“Nothing special. Did you read this morning's newspaper?”

“Yeah? So?They mentioned you and Mason, nothing about me.”

“That’s because you did a wonderful job.”

“Are you trying to be funny?”

“Nope, I’m dead serious. Your testimony was great. The problem was the jury didn’t understand the evidence.”

“I told you Mason allowed Kaplan to load the jury. They were next to morons.”

“Well, thanks for the effort Doc.”

“You’re welcome and don’t let that asshole reporter get you down. Now get the hell off of the telephone.”

“Good by Doc.”

“Good by.”

An hour later, Wallace drove his Ford into Elaine Benson’s driveway. He got out of the car and as he headed for her front door the door opened and Elaine said, “I hope you like tuna fish, I made a large salad.”

Wallace walked into the house and as he headed for the kitchen he said, “Tuna is fine, now what is so important that you couldn’t tell what it is over the telephone?”

“Don’t be in such a hurry. Sit down. Would you like a beer or do you prefer ice tea?”

“Tea”, he answered as he moved a large paper bag that was on the table."

“That bag has your things in it?”

“My things?”, said Wallace as he slid the bag towards him. He opened it and looked inside finding a pack of cigarettes, a bic lighter, tooth brush and toothpaste, razor and blades, a Yardley soap on a rope, a pair of old, black, flip flops and his bathing suit.

“Had enough huh?”, he asked.

“Do you remember the guy I told you about? The guy I met in Vegas?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he proposed and I said yes. The way I see it you are not interested in marriage, at least not to me. Our affair, if that’s what it was, meant arguing and sleeping together. That’s not too much security for me Robert. Together we have nothing in common except maybe the arts. With Tim we’re both Realtors, we’re both Catholic and we have both lost our spouses. I hope you understand and I also hope that we can remain friends.”

“Hey, congratulations. Of course we’ll remain friends. When's the big day?”

“He’s flying in the day after tomorrow. I’ll pick him up at the airport. While he’s here we’ll make our plans.”

“Are you staying here or are you going to live in Vegas?”

“I haven’t decided yet, Vegas maybe.”

“I don’t think so. You’re a Nautilus Beach girl, born and raised here. You have sand in your shoes. You can’t leave.”

“You may be right. Well enough about that. let’s have lunch”, said Elaine as she go up and went to the refrigerator.” As she removed the bowl of tuna salad she changed the subject and said, “I hope you don’t mind, but can you tell me just how you lost that case against Doctor Gray?”

“I had everything except a key witness, Joan Applewhite. Try as I might I couldn’t locate her. She could have testified that Gray shut off the glucose I.V. in the hospital room.”

“That’s a shame. I haven’t seen her since I got back last month.”

“No one has. Her parents filed a missing persons' complaint with the Bridgeton Police. As far as I know they’ve come up empty.”

“She’s probably scared Robert. It’s such a shame. She’s a lovely young lady.”

“Well, there’s nothing to be scared about now. The case is over. She can come out of hiding.”

After lunch Wallace picked up the paper bag with his belongings inside and walked to the front door. He stopped and kissed Elaine on the cheek and went outside. Walking to the rear of the Ford he opened the trunk placed the bag inside closed the trunk lid and turned around. Then, he noticed something. Looking across the street at the house where Joan Applewhite lived he noticed a small, red sign stapled on the garage door. “How long has that been there?”, he asked Elaine.

“What are you talking about?”, she asked.

“That sign on the garage door.”

“I never noticed it before”, said Elaine.

Wallace walked out of the driveway, crossed the street and passing high hedges that almost hid the entrance to the house proceeded to the garage. There, stapled on the

door was a red, “STOP WORK” sign. And, it was issued by the Code Enforcement Bureau of Nautilus Beach. Wallace read further. “Owner is in violation of building codes and found to be lacking required permits.” “What the hell has been built?”, he asked himself. Walking past the row of hedges that grew on the side of the house Wallace made his way to the back yard. He stood and looked at a new, concrete slab he figured that it measured eight by ten feet that had been poured maybe two or three months ago. He walked to the slab and looked down seeing a stamped