Chapter 30
RELUCTANT WITNESS
Tuesday
The following day Ken's secretary called me and gave me the time and place of our meeting with Melissa. We were meeting for lunch at Luby's Cafeteria on Alpha Road at noon. I arrived ten minutes early and went inside and waited. Before long Melissa arrived. She walked over to me, smiled and extended her hand.
"Hi, Stan. How's your wife holding up?"
"Pretty well, but she's getting a little nervous as the trial date gets closer."
"I bet."
"How's Bird?" I asked.
"Oh . . . he's doing a little better. He took Sheila's death pretty bad. At least he's back to work now so his mind will be occupied with other things."
As we were exchanging small talk Ken walked in and, seeing us, walked over quickly.
"Hi, I'm sorry I'm late but the traffic on Central Expressway was murder today."
"That's not unusual," I replied. "Ken, I'd like you to meet Melissa Madigan."
"Hi, Ms. Madigan, thank you for agreeing to talk with us."
"Well, I really doubt if I'm going to be of much help. I didn't know Sheila at all other than what Bird has told me about her."
"Well, let's get some lunch and then we can talk some more," Ken said.
"Fine," Melissa replied as she moved to the back of the long lunch line. We followed her, and after we had picked out what we wanted, sat down to eat. Ken ate quickly and when he had eaten about half what he had taken he pushed away his plate, pulled a cigar out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth.
"Do you mind?" Ken said.
"No, go right ahead," Melissa said. Everyone smokes back at the office. I've gotten used to it."
Ken lit up his cigar and then leaned back in his chair.
"Melissa, I reckon you know I'm defending Rebekah Turner," Ken said.
"Sure, I read about it in the newspaper."
"Well, I'm pretty damn sure my client is innocent but the problem is I can't prove it. The DA has a good case and unless I can flush out the truth here pretty quick an innocent young mother may go to Huntsville."
"I don't see how I can help you."
"You may not be able to. Who knows, but I need to find out as much as I can about Sheila and Bird and their friends. This is where you might be able to help. Obviously you know Bird pretty well since he's your boss and boyfriend and you must know something about Brice Tomlinson."
"What makes you think I would tell you about either of them?"
Ken took the cigar out of his mouth and laid it on the ash tray while he searched for another match. After he located the match he relit the cigar.
"I can't force you to talk to me, honey. I know that. Sure, I could subpoena you, but if I did you'd just have a convenient lapse of memory, right? Ken laughed. "No, I just hoped you would help me because it's the right thing to do."
"Well, I don't want to do anything to hurt Bird or Mr. Tomlinson, but I don't see any harm in telling you what I know since I really don't think I know anything anyway."
"We're not out to hurt anybody, honey. We just want to find out the truth."
"Fine."
"Okay then. So, let's get started." Ken took out a small note pad and pen and laid them on the table in front of him. "Did you go to the party out at the well?"
"Yeah, I was there."
"When did Bird leave?"
"Not until Sunday morning. It was very late when the party ended and he was pretty much plastered."
"When did you come back?"
"I left just after they did."
"Were you alone?"
"No, I brought a girlfriend with me."
"Oh, what was her name?"
"Monica Sands, she's a neighbor. I didn't want to go alone."
"It must have been tough for you to see Bird with Sheila?"
Melissa dropped her head for a moment and then flipped her dark brown hair back and looked Ken straight in the eye. "I know how the game works. Bird had to play the role of loving husband even though he didn't love Sheila anymore. I could have stayed home, but that wouldn't have been any fun. Besides I would have missed Stan and Sheila's little romp in the bunkhouse. God, I would never have forgiven myself if I'd have missed that."
Melissa smiled at me and then looked back at Ken who was now taking notes.
"So, what did Sheila and Bird do after Stan and Rebekah left Saturday night?"
"Sheila locked herself in the motor home and wouldn't talk to anyone. Bird mixed with the crowd trying to act like nothing had happened. After the party was over he crashed in the bunk house, although I don’t know how he stood it. It was a mess after the fire and reeked of smoke."
"Where did you all sleep?"
"We had a station wagon so we put the seats down and slept in it."
"Did you see Bird at all that night after the fire in the bunk house?"
"I wanted to. I went to the bunk house hoping to be able to sneak in and be with Bird, but there were a couple of other guys in there passed out, so I went back to the car."
"Did you see Bird and Sheila take off in the morning?"
"Yeah, I was awakened by their arguing."
"About what?"
"Bird wanted to go back to Dallas since the well had come in. He had lots of work to do to get the well into production. Sheila wanted to go home to Corpus."
"So, who won the argument?"
"I thought I heard Bird say he would take Sheila to Love Field so she could catch a flight home."
"What was Mr. Tomlinson doing while all this was going on?"
"I didn't see much of him. I think he was pretty busy on the rig supervising the men working there. I don't think he was planning to go home until Sunday night."
"When did you and your friend leave?"
"Right after they left we packed up and headed home too."
"When did you get back to Dallas?" Ken asked.
"It was nearly noon before we got home."
"What did you do all day Sunday?"
"I crashed. I didn't sleep too well in the station wagon plus the drive home tired me out."
"When did you get up?"
"It was dark when I finally woke up, after seven."
Ken nodded. "Okay, honey, just a couple of more questions then I'll let you go. I really appreciate you talking to us. This is a personal question, but it’s something I'm really curious about."
"What?"
"Was Bird planning to divorce Sheila?"
"No, he made it clear he wouldn't divorce her?"
"Why? Didn't he love you?"
"Yes, but there are things more important than love as far is Bird is concerned."
"Like what?"
Melissa took a deep breath, smiled and replied, "I think I've said enough. I've got to get back to work."
Melissa got up and slipped her purse over her shoulder. Ken and I got up and put on our jackets.
"Sure thing, Miss Madigan, I understand. You've been mighty helpful already," Ken said.
Melissa turned to me and said, "Stan, I really hope Rebekah gets off. I know she's not a killer."
"Thank you," I replied. "I'll tell her you said that."
"Oh. One last question," Ken said. "What are your plans now that Sheila is gone? Are you and Bird gonna get hitched?"
Melissa turned and gave Ken a dirty look. "Good day, gentlemen," she said and then left.
After our meeting we went back to my office to digest what we had learned. General Burton was there, so I introduced him to Ken and then we went into my office.
"Well, Melissa seemed pretty calm," I said.
"She's a slick little lady, that's for sure," Ken replied.
"So what do you think, Ken? Is she a murderer?"
"She had a motive and she sure doesn't have an alibi. All we need to do is put her at the hospital around the time of the murder."
"How do we do that?"
"I don't know. We just have to keep digging and if she was at the hospital, hopefully we'll find that out
before it's too late."
"I wonder why Bird wouldn't divorce Sheila if he didn't love her anymore? She wasn't going to get her inheritance any time soon. I can't imagine him waiting four or five years just to become a minority partner with Sheila's family."
"It doesn't make a lot of sense does it, Stan. There's obviously more going on here than meets the eye. Unfortunately, we're running out of time."
"So, now what?" I asked.
"Why don't you keep digging into Bird's life. Check back with Miguel and see if he's found out anything new. I'll do some more checking into Melissa's story. Someone may have seen her leave her apartment on Sunday or maybe someone saw her at the hospital.'
That night I worked late trying to make the pieces fit in the Sheila Logan puzzle. When I got home the house was dark and Rebekah was sitting on the sofa sobbing.
"Honey, what's wrong?"
As she looked up at me I could see her bloodshot eyes in the dim light.
"Why are you crying, Babe?"
"I'm going to miss you, Stan."
"What are you talking about?"
"We've had a good life, haven't we?"
"Of course, but don't talk like this. We're going to get you off, don't worry."
"I can't imagine not seeing my babies grow up. I love them so much,” she said looking at me sadly with her big brown eyes. “Please take good care of them."
"Rebekah, come on now. You've got to be optimistic. We met with Melissa Madigan today, you know, Bird's secretary. Remember she was having an affair with Bird. Well, she had a motive to kill Sheila and she has no alibi. I bet you she did it."
"Was she at the hospital?"
"We don't know for sure, but Ken's going to find out. It's just a matter of time."
"But the trial is less than two weeks away. What if you can't find out by then."
"We will, you've got to have faith."
Rebekah put her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder. "I went to mass this morning and prayed to God to help us. Do you think he was listening?"
"Of course he was, he's always pulled us through in the past and he'll be there this time."
Rebekah squeezed me tightly and said, "I hope so. I couldn't bear to live without you."
"You won't have to, I'm afraid you're stuck with me for life."
"I hope so."