Dinner had been quiet; that is, no one had had much to say about anything, which to Savich, was a relief. Evelyn Sherlock ate delicately, gave Savich disapproving looks, and said again that he was too good-looking and not to be trusted. She said nothing at all to her husband, except over a dessert of apple pie, she finally said, not looking at him, but down at her pie, “I spoke to one of your law clerks-Danny Elbright. He said he needed to speak to you but I told him you’d gone to the gas station. I asked him if I could help him and he said no, it was something really confidential. Even your wife couldn’t know.”
“It was probably about a current case,” Judge Sherlock said and forked down another bite of pie. He closed his eyes for a moment. “This is delicious. I need to give Isabelle another raise,” he said.
“No, she makes too much already,” said Evelyn Sherlock. “I think she bought the pie. She’s rarely here except when she knows you’ll be here. I don’t like her, Corman, I never have.”
“How is your companion, Mother?” Lacey said. “Her name is Mrs. Arch, isn’t it?”
“She’s fine. She never says anything, just nods or shakes her head. She’s very boring, but harmless. She’s younger than I am and looks the way my mother would look if she were still alive. She doesn’t try to seduce your father and that’s a relief.”
“Mrs. Arch,” the judge said, “is not younger than you are, Evelyn. She must be all of sixty-five years old. She’s got blue hair and is a good size sixteen. Believe me, your mother never looked like Mrs. Arch.”
“So? She’s not dead yet,” said Mrs. Sherlock. “You’ve slept with every size and age of woman. Did you think I didn’t know? I remember everything once I’m reminded.”
“Yes, dear.”
It was an hour later in Judge Sherlock’s library that Savich finally said, “Sherlock didn’t realize until just recently that Belinda had had a miscarriage. Why didn’t this come out?”
Judge Sherlock was stuffing a pipe. The smell of this particular tobacco was wonderful-rich and dark and delicious. He didn’t answer until the pipe was lit and he’d sucked in three or four times. The scent was like a forest. Savich found himself breathing in deeply. Finally, Judge Sherlock said, “I didn’t want any more publicity. What difference did it make? Not a bit. What do you mean that Lacey didn’t remember?”
“Evidently she’d blocked it out, for some reason neither of us can figure out. She remembered under hypnosis. Do you know why she’d block it out, sir?”
“No, no reason to as far as I can see. It was seven years ago. It no longer matters,” Judge Sherlock said and sucked on his pipe. The library was filled with the delicious, rich smell. Savich took another drink of his espresso, every bit as rich and delicious as the pipe smoke.
Lacey took a deep breath. “Do you know if Douglas was the father?”
“Look, Lacey, Mr. Savich, Belinda shouldn’t have been pregnant in the first place. I told you, Lacey, that Douglas knew they shouldn’t ever have children because of her defective genes. Look at her mother. Her father is even worse. Yes, I keep tabs on him. He’ll be out one of these days, despite my efforts to the contrary. I don’t want that crazy man coming here.”
“But she was pregnant,” Savich said.
“Yes, evidently, but not very far along, not more than six or seven weeks. That’s what the doctor said. After the autopsy, they knew, naturally, that she’d just miscarried, but since it wasn’t relevant to anything, they didn’t mention it. The press never got hold of it, thank God. It would have just caused more pain. Was Douglas the father? I’ve never had reason to suspect that he wasn’t.”
“It would have also caused more outrage,” Lacey said.
“No, not unless they led the public to think that the miscarriage was tied to her murder, and it wasn’t.”
But Lacey wasn’t so certain. Actually, as she told Dillon later as she walked him to the guest room where he was staying, “There are more than just loose ends here. There are ends that don’t seem to have any beginning.” She sighed, staring down at her navy pumps. Candice was right. She looked dowdy and uninteresting. How then could she be a slut at the same time?