Suggestion of Death

by Susan P. Baker

  Judge Lopez inhaled and studied the people sitting in the audience. They stared back, no movement, no talking. “The court finds that upon presentation of a duly certified copy of the death certificate, this case shall hereby be dismissed with costs assessed against the movant.” She pounded her gavel on its block and handed the file back to Mrs. Peterson.

  A man in the back of the room muttered to the man next to him. “That’s pretty cold-blooded, ain’t it?”

  “What do you mean?” the other man asked.

  The first man covered his mouth with his hand. “She don’t believe he’s dead. She ain’t going to close his case until she sees the death certificate with her own eyes.

  “So that’s what she was saying?”

  “That’s what I mean. She thinks that guy will do anything to get out of paying his child support.”

  “I would,” the other man replied. “Say, have you been here before?”

  “Sure. Been coming up here for about ten years.” He held out his hand. “My name’s Richard Cook. What’s yours?”

  Judge Lopez pounded her gavel again and yelled, “Order. If you want to talk to your neighbor, take it outside. Otherwise, sit still. Nelson versus Nelson, come on up.” The judge peered at the audience and scowled. The clerk handed her the next file folder and a man and woman stepped forward.

  Thump. Something banged against the rear door of the courtroom. Someone shoved open the door, and Patricia Reinhart stepped inside, holding the door wide. A woman in hospital scrubs pulled on the back of a wheelchair that had a bottle of glucose hanging down from a metal rod. In the chair sat a man with a neck brace, bandages wrapped around his head, and one arm and one leg in a cast. The woman in scrubs turned the wheelchair to face the front of the courtroom. Jim Dorman flashed a playfully wicked smile at the judge and waved. He had no fear of her doing anything to him. After the night before, he wasn’t afraid of much. His chest filled with euphoria. “Hi-ya, Judge. I’m here!”

  Richard Cook’s eyes widened when they made contact with Jim.

  Jim said, “Hey, Rich. How's it going?”

  Richard rose part way out of his seat. “Man, they said you were dead,” he said in a loud whisper.

  Jim looked at the front of the courtroom and met Judge Lopez’s eyes. Knowing the disruption would annoy her; he persisted anyway and saluted with his good arm. Bitsy Wink, who stood in her usual position in front of the clerk’s bench, took a step backward, her eyes swollen into huge orbs. They flitted from him to Pat, a glower like none Jim had ever seen. Then her eyes shifted to the exit nearest the bench. The door into the hall.

  Jim motioned to the Texas Ranger coming in behind them. “That's her,” he said, pointing at Bitsy and wishing he had the power to do something more to her than turn her in to the authorities.

  At the same time Jim fingered her, Bitsy spotted the Ranger and charged into the hallway. The Ranger ran out before the door could close.

  Judge Lopez banged her gavel. Bam-bam-bam. Bam-bam-bam. “What's going on here?”

  “Push me over to that glass where I can see into the hall,” Jim asked the woman in scrubs. His heart drummed in his chest at the idea of Bitsy getting away. He knew she couldn’t, the Ranger had brought backup, but Jim wanted to be in on the action as much as he could.

  Pat and the nurse each took a corner of the chair and spun him about face and to the window. As they looked on, the first Texas Ranger struggled with Bitsy who was every bit as big as he was. A second Ranger was trying to cuff her. Because of her size, they weren't having an easy time and scuffled for a few long moments like they were in a three-way folk dance. People on other business in the hall had backed up, glued to the walls like posted notices.

  Bitsy was trying to get her weapon out of her holster as they shoved her up against the door. The door shook. She wrestled until she fell to the floor.

  The rest of the people in the courtroom crowded behind Jim and Patty. The judge banged her gavel. “Order! Order!” But no one paid attention to her.

  Jim didn't care if he was held in contempt or not. He was going to watch Bitsy get what she deserved. He’d told the hospital personnel that and threatened to check out of the hospital AMA if they didn’t let him go to court so they relented, sending the medical assistant with him.

  Even with her face smashed against the door, Bitsy continued her tirade, yowling like a wild dog. One of the Rangers kicked her feet out from under her, and a few moments later, the marble floor was cooling her cheek. The other Ranger put his knee in her back and held her wrists as he cuffed her. The first one disarmed her and shoved her gun in his belt as he spoke into the walkie-talkie on his epaulet. Bitsy's stony, dilated eyes stared into space.

  As the Ranger on Bitsy’s back jumped up, he yanked her with him by the handcuffs. Her face was red, and angry words spewed from her mouth as he led her away. Jim could hear most of them, and she was not making small talk. Just before she was out of their range of vision, she turned and stared Pat down. Then she turned her hard eyes on Jim. With his free hand, Jim grabbed Patty's arm and squeezed it. “Don’t be afraid. We're going to be okay now.”

  Patty patted his cheek. “We are as soon as we get this case against you thrown out and get you back in bed where you belong.” She faced the judge as the rest of the people went back to their seats. “Your honor, may we come forward?”

  Judge Lopez rested her cheek on her palm, her fingers entwined in her hair as if she’d surrendered. She rolled her eyes at the ceiling. “If you must. Come on up. The rest of you people sit down and be quiet before I have all of y'all thrown in the hoosegow.”

  Jim pressed his lips together and concealed his laugh at the judge's expression. She was the biggest control freak he'd ever met and for once events were totally beyond her power. Her piercing yellow eyes roved over his injured parts as the assistant pushed him forward.

  Patty said, “Do you remember us, Your Honor? We're the Dormans.”

  “And the ones responsible for turning my courtroom into a circus side show.” Her voice showed her annoyance.

  “I apologize, Judge,” Jim said, recognizing that an apology was what the judge was looking for. “It was my fault. Please don't blame my wife.”

  “Your ex-wife, you mean,” the judge said. “And I suppose you have an explanation for your actions this morning.”

  “Yes, Your Honor,” Jim said, for once feeling just fine about speaking with her, no jitters, no upset stomach, no weak knees. “Could we tell you about it in chambers instead of here on the record? I'm not sure the authorities are ready for it to be made public yet.”

  “Come around then.” In a loud voice she said, “We'll be in recess for fifteen minutes.” She picked up a stack of papers and put them under her arm, and stepped down from the bench.

  Jim, Pat, and the medical assistant went out the side door and into the judge's reception area where the coordinator worked on the computer. When she saw them, she waved them in. “Whoa, Mr. Dorman! How are you?” she asked, eyes wide. “Bitsy said you were in an accident the other day.”

  “I'll wait out here,” the medical assistant said, sitting down next to the magazine stand.

  Just which accident had Bitsy told her about? Plainly, she knew of both of them. Caused both of them. “I survived,” was all he said, with a look at Patty.

  They found the judge with the telephone to her ear. Smoke hung heavily in the air. She waved them into chairs and said into the phone, “I don't give a rat’s ass how short of personnel you are, get me a bailiff over here, and I mean right now. And you can have someone come and pick up Bitsy's personal effects, too.” She paused, then said, “I don't care whether she gets out on bond or not, but I will not, I repeat, not take her back, not now, not ever. Never. And if you know what's good for you, you'll suspend her without pay pending grand jury indictment. All right. See that you do. Thanks.” She hung up. “Y'all have a preference for coffee or a Coke? I can send Clarice down to the machines.”

&nbs
p; “Nothing for me,” Pat said.

  Jim shook his head. He felt a bit guilty now for thinking the judge might be involved in the killings, but all that was now out of his hands.

  “Well, Mr. Dorman. Miss Reinhart. I hear you're responsible for busting my bailiff.”

  Jim studied the judge's face. He couldn't tell for a moment whether she was angry or joking, but either way her demeanor didn’t have the same punch it had held just a week earlier.

  “Why don't you tell me about it?” She leaned back in her chair, her eyes cutting from one to the other of them.

  Patty exhaled. “It's rather complicated, Your Honor, but we’ll try to make it short and sweet.”

  Jim said, “You know Bitsy founded a women's support group called WiNGS.”

  “Yes. I'm on the advisory board. They've provided a much needed service to divorced women in this county.” Her tone was just a mite defensive.

  “Yes, but it was a front for her killing spree.” Jim watched her to see if she was surprised.

  “Spree? How many people did she allegedly kill?”

  Patty said, “Well, it wasn't exactly a spree. It was more like a revenge thing. We think she killed about six or seven men.”

  “By herself?” The judge pointed at Jim's head. “Concussion? You must have been next on her list.”

  Jim nodded. “Yup. And lucky I’m not dead.” He was beginning to feel tired now the excitement of Bitsy’s arrest was over. There were just a few more things to do, then he could go back to the hospital.

  “As far as anyone can tell no one else is in on it, but the police are still investigating. Jim thought I was part of it.” Patty reached out to Jim and laid her hand on the arm of the wheelchair.

  “Well, you could have told me you had been approached by the authorities.” Even though she’d been explaining her role to him since he regained consciousness in the recovery room, she still hadn’t convinced him that she hadn’t been allowed to tell him what was going on.

  “I was sworn to secrecy, honey,” Pat said. “I’ve told you that about fifty times.”

  Judge Lopez said, “Hold on. Miss Reinhart, you were working for the police?”

  “Not working for them exactly. After I joined WiNGS and got on the board, they asked me to keep an eye on Deputy Wink. They didn't think she'd be suspicious if I made friends with her. That way I could hang out with her and report to them.” She ran her hand down Jim’s arm cast. “The trouble was, when Jim started investigating WiNGS, Bitsy got nervous.”

  He felt warm all over at the thought of what Pat had done for him—for them. His brave little wife. He took Patty’s hand. “I just wanted a story at first. But Patty kept acting so strange that I wondered what she was up to. And the last few days, every time I turned around, something happened—like my brakes going out.”

  Pat glanced from Jim to the judge. “I'm sure Bitsy must have been listening to our conversation. We’d been in a special-called board meeting. I’m sure she overheard and knew his car would be parked near Wendy’s while we were inside. She had to have been the one who did something to the brakes. I kept trying to get rid of Jim, to protect him, and he kept showing up at all the wrong times.”

  “Bitsy is very mechanically minded,” Judge Lopez said. “Her father owned a garage. That's where she met her husband. Tsk. Tsk.” She shook her head. “Too bad they couldn't have gotten anything on her back then.”

  “Did you suspect something when her husband died, Judge?” Jim asked. He’d wondered about that since Bitsy had been cleared in her first murder.

  “Yes, we all did, but the grand jury didn't indict. Bitsy testified, and they believed her.”

  “Weren't you worried that she might come after you?” Patty asked.

  “No. She liked me. She was very protective of me. I could tell she hated men. I just didn't know how much.”

  “Enough to kill one every time the opportunity arose,” Jim said, “at least that’s what it seems like now.”

  “And you were almost her next victim,” Judge Lopez said and made some notes on a pad in front of her.

  A vein in his temple throbbed. Jim stroked his chin and reached for Patty’s hand. “I’d be dead if Patty hadn't come along. She called for help and stayed with me until the ambulance came.”

  “You should have seen it, Judge,” Pat said. “We were in this meeting, and Bitsy got up and left all of a sudden and didn't come back. Jim had shown up earlier and was supposed to be waiting for me...” She pushed her hair out of her face and gave him a slight cutting look. “But he left and then Bitsy went outside. When she didn't come back, I called the police and headed after them. I came around a curve and spotted her pushing him off the highway in her truck. I started to kill my lights so she wouldn’t see me, but instead I took a chance and flashed them on and off, hoping she’d drive off.” She turned to Jim. “I had to do something! I punched nine-one-one again and when Bitsy drove off, I hurried over and left my flashers on so the police could find us and climbed down the hill after Jim.”

  “She was wonderful,” Jim said. “The last thing I remember was rolling side over side down the hill. The next thing I saw was Patty in the recovery room. I knew then that she couldn't have been in on it.”

  The judge shook her head. “You two are pretty brave if you ask me. Bitsy could scare the bejesus out of anyone she didn’t like. Well, I'm glad it’s finally over.” She shifted in her chair as if she were about to get up.

  “Judge, there's something we'd like to ask you,” Patty said. “Would you waive the three day waiting period and marry us today?”

  “You want to marry this bum again?” she asked, her eyes shining with mirth.

  “Yes, ma'am.” Patty stepped beside the wheelchair and took Jim's unbroken hand. “You see, we're moving to Dallas to start a new life. Jim's got a new job there and he's sold his book and we're buying a house.”

  “Well, congratulations. And I suppose you'll be selling that article about child support now, too.” She did rise then and push her chair back.

  “In a slightly different version, Your Honor.” He’d have to remember to send her a copy once it got published. For it would get published, he had no doubt about that.

  “I suppose it will be more than slightly different. Tell you what. Go get the waiver, and I’ll have my coordinator see if she can find the district judge to sign off on it and marry you. That’s one of the things I’m not allowed to do as an Associate Judge.”

  “It's a deal,” Jim said. “And even if you can’t marry us, we’d like to have you be with us at the ceremony if you don’t mind taking another recess from your hearings.”

  “And Judge,” Patty said.

  The judge had stepped over to the door leading to the courtroom. “What is it now?”

  “Would you please dismiss all contempt charges against my husband?”

  “I guess a death certificate won't be forthcoming from the medical examiner.” Judge Lopez studied the serious faces of the couple before her. “Kidding. I'll go right in and do it on the record.” She bustled out and spoke to Clarice before going into the courtroom. They followed her and stood in the doorway.

  “Mrs. Peterson, you want to give me back the Dorman file?”

  The judge took the file and read the cause number and style into the record again. “Upon oral motion to dismiss made this date, this Motion for Enforcement of Child Support Order by Contempt is hereby dismissed without prejudice.”

  Judge Lopez added, “And the Suggestion of Death is hereby voided. Mr. Dorman is alive and well.”

  Several people clapped. Lopez banged her gavel. “Order!” But she didn’t look angry.

  A male deputy sheriff passed by Jim and Patty and entered through the side door.

  “You my new bailiff?” Judge Lopez asked.

  “Yes, ma’am. Sheriff just assigned me.”

  “Very well. You stand over there,” she said, pointing to the spot where Bitsy always stood. “We’ll have a brief orientat
ion after I get through with my morning cases.”

  “Yes, Your Honor.”

  “Nelson versus Nelson. Let’s finish this up.”

  Thank you for reading!

  If you enjoyed reading Suggestion of Death, I would appreciate it if you would help others to enjoy this book, too.

  Lend it. This e-book is lending enabled, so please, share it with a friend.

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  Review it. Please tell other readers why you liked this book by reviewing it at Amazon or Goodreads. If you do write a review, please send me an email at susan@susanpbaker.com so I can thank you with a personal email.

  If you enjoyed Suggestion of Death, you’ll like my short story “The Rules.”

  THE RULES

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three