I was still sitting at the kitchen table in front of my laptop when Todd came in, clean-shaven and dressed for work. I had long since finished writing the document I hoped would keep us all safe. Now I was sipping coffee, reading the headlines of the news online and contemplating how thankful I was to be alive that morning.
“Did you get any sleep?” Todd asked, leaning over to brush his lips against my cheek.
“A little.”
“I forgot to tell you when you got back last night—Grace called while you were out. She wants us to come into her office this afternoon.”
“Did she say why?”
“No, but she said she hoped to have good news for us. She needs to talk to the prosecutor on your case this morning, and then she’ll meet with us after that.”
“I could use some good news,” I said with a wan smile.
“What good news?” Liam asked, bounding into the kitchen. He was still wearing his pajamas, and his hair was sticking up. “What’s for breakfast? Are you going to make eggs?”
“No, let your mother rest. Have some cereal,” Todd said.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” I stood and stretched. My muscles felt stiff and sore from the hours of sitting uncomfortably against the banyan tree.
“Am I going to school today?” Liam asked.
Todd and I exchanged a glance. He shrugged. “I don’t think another day off is such a bad idea.”
“I agree,” I said. “Let’s keep the kids home today, at least. We’ll know more about what we’re dealing with after we talk to Grace.”
* * *
“Come in,” Grace Williams said, waving us into her office. Unlike John Donnelly, Grace didn’t have a corner office with a water view. Her law office was located in a two-story building on North Dixie Highway just down the street from the courthouse. But it was an open, airy room with stylish touches, like a demilune desk with curved legs and a leopard-print rug. There was a large table to one side covered in file folders and stacks of paper.
“I know, it’s a mess,” she said, waving at the piles. “But there is a method to the madness. Or at least, I know where everything is. Please sit down.”
Todd and I sat side by side on cream upholstered French armchairs. He reached over and took my hand in his. The gesture reminded me of a frightening moment during my pregnancy with the twins. The doctor had ordered an amniocentesis, and when Todd and I were brought in to be given the results, we’d sat just like this. Now, as then, we were hoping for the best but bracing for a potentially life-altering blow.
Grace sat down behind her desk and laced her fingers together. “I have good news.”
Todd and I glanced at one another.
“Let’s hear it,” Todd said.
“The prosecutor is dropping all of the charges,” Grace said. “The paperwork is being processed as we speak.”
I gasped and covered my mouth with my hands. Todd raised his hands in triumphant fists and said, “That’s fantastic! What happened?”
“It was actually Alice’s idea,” Grace said, nodding approvingly in my direction. “And you were absolutely right.”
“About what?”
“That the key to the whole case was the witness who claimed he saw Howard Grant pushed over the balcony,” Grace said. “I sent my investigator to meet him.”
Todd looked over at me. “Does this have anything to do with your meeting last night?”
Grace frowned. “What meeting?”
“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head at Todd before turning back to Grace. “Who was the witness?”
“His name is Ronald Shaw,” Grace said. “Apparently he’s a bit of a character.”
“And this man, Mr. Shaw, said he didn’t see anyone push Howard after all?”
Grace shook her head. “No, he still claims he saw someone that night. He was quite insistent. He said that he had a clear view of the Grants’ house through his telescope, and he saw a woman push Howard Grant off a balcony.”
Todd and I exchanged another perplexed look.
“Then why are they dropping the charges against Alice?” Todd asked.
“Ronald Shaw has Alzheimer’s,” Grace said. “He’s lucid at times, but during the course of the interview, he lost track of what year it was and who the president was.”
“That’s very sad,” I said.
“Sad for him, yes, but good for you,” Grace said. She shook her head. “Mr. Shaw’s wife told my investigator that the police officer who interviewed her husband showed him a photo lineup and put a lot of pressure on him to identify Alice as the person he saw push Howard Grant. Someone named Sergeant Sofia Oliver.”
“I’m not surprised. She’s not my biggest fan,” I said drily.
“In any event, Mr. Shaw is not competent to testify against you. And without a witness, the state’s attorney doesn’t have a case. They can’t even prove that Howard Grant was murdered,” Grace continued.
“I can’t believe it,” I said, feeling dazed. “After all of this, after everything I went through, it’s just...over. Just like that.”
“It’s good news, Alice,” Grace said.
“The best news,” Todd added.
“In fact, if you’re interested, I think you have grounds for a lawsuit,” Grace began.
“What kind of lawsuit?” Todd asked.
“False arrest. False imprisonment,” Grace said crisply. “If the police had done their job and investigated properly, they would have known that their main witness wasn’t of sound mind. In fact, it sounds to me like Sergeant Oliver seriously overstepped by putting so much pressure on Mr. Shaw to identify you in the photo lineup. They should never have arrested Alice.”
“No,” I said quickly. “I don’t want to sue the police. I want to put all of this behind me.”
Grace nodded philosophically, although I thought she looked a little disappointed. “It’s your choice, of course.”
“What happens now?” Todd asked.
Grace went over the basics in her fast, bullet-point way of talking—the clerk of court would record the dismissal of the case, and Grace would petition to have the arrest expunged from my record. I sat still, trying to absorb all the information, while Todd nodded along.
Grace finally paused to take a breath. “Do you have any other questions?”
“No, I think that’s everything.” Todd slapped both hands against his legs. He looked to me. “Do you have any questions?”
“Actually, there is something I want to talk to Grace about,” I said. “But I need to speak to her privately.”
“I can’t hear what you’re going to say?” Todd asked, surprised.
I was sorry to hurt his feelings, but it couldn’t be helped. The stakes were too high.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” I assured him. “I’ll be only a minute.”
Todd stood. “I guess I’ll wait for you outside.”
Once Grace and I were alone, she looked at me with her cool, calculating gaze. “What’s up?”
I pulled a manila envelope out of my bag.
“You said that the attorney-client privilege covers all communications between us. I need it to cover this.” I held the envelope up for her to see.
Grace nodded. “Is that something you want me to read?”
“No,” I said. “And I know this is going to sound a little melodramatic, and maybe even a little crazy, so I apologize in advance. But I need you to hold on to this for me. Please don’t break the seal while I’m alive. But if something happens to me—if someone kills me, or if I die in an accident or apparent suicide—open it then. Read it and then give it to the police.”
To give her credit, Grace’s expression didn’t change. “Okay,” she said slowly. “Is there an end date?”
“What do you mean?”
“Will there come a time when you’d prefer I destroy the contents of this? Without opening it?”
I considered this. “Five years. If I’m still alive in five years, I’ll contact you and ask you to destroy it.”
I handed the envelope to Grace. She looked down at it and nodded. “Until then, I’ll keep it in my file.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” Grace hesitated. “I don’t want to know what’s in here, do I?”
“No,” I answered. “Probably not.”