Martha's Second Chance

Ricky saw headlights flash in the alley and went down to let Ed in. He had a file about an inch thick.

He opened it and separated the papers into two stacks. "I made two copies of everything," Ed said pushing one pile toward Martha.

"Ma'am these are law enforcement reports. That means they are plain written and sometimes very graphic. Just so you know."

"Thank you for the warning Ed, please call me Martha."

He nodded and started reading the first report. Because he was used to reading them he finished each page before Martha and passed his to Ricky.

"Hey Ed, do you know Dennis Parker?"

"A little, used to have a car repair shop when I was a kid, retired and bought a house in town, right around here matter of fact."

"How close?"

He reached up and keyed the mike attached to his shirt collar, "Dispatch can I get an address for a Dennis Parker here in town."

"Stand by Eddie," said a female voice, "honey it's 214 Maple."

"Roger, copy dispatch, out," he replied then noticed them smiling, "there is only one person in this world that can call me both Eddie and honey and that is my wife. She works as a dispatcher."

They all laughed and went back to reading reports. They were near the bottom of the stack when Ed very softly said, "Son of a bitch."

He pointed at the name on the accident vehicle inspection report and told Martha to look at the next page in her stack. The inspector was Dennis Parker.

Ed sat staring at the far wall for a minute then pulled out his cell and began scrolling. He found the number he wanted and hit send. "Hey Allen it's Ed Wilson, yeah I can tell time, my turn to ask a question. When did you buy the garage from Dennis Parker. You're sure of the date? OK thanks, what? No I am not going to explain. Night."

"Dennis Parker sold his business one month after he inspected your parents car. Does all of this sound like a coincidence to you guys?"

"Especially not if you listen to this tape," Ricky said.

Ricky briefly explained and Martha showed him the notebook. He asked if he could hear one.

"Yeah sure, there's maybe three or four left," Ricky said hitting play.

After listening to a couple Ed said, "It's called masking, bands used to do it it, even the Beatles. I never heard of it having such a profound affect on anyone though, unless they were predisposed or primed to act on the messages."

"How do you mean predisposed?" asked Martha.

"I don't know, this is all half remembered from a psych course in college. Oh it was like if you were hypnotized before you heard the messages it would trigger a predisposed or preconditioned response that would be very powerful, almost a compulsion."

Martha went very white and said, "That cold hearted murdering bastard. That evil son of a bitch. A week before my sophomore year Barry was here, at this very table, and my father was teasing me. I had gained my freshman 20 and he was saying he hoped I wouldn't gain another twenty pounds because he couldn't afford to buy me another new wardrobe. Barry said he heard that a hypnotist could help with controlling your eating. He said in fact there is a new doctor in town that did hypnosis. I was a little worried about gaining more weight so Barry said he would set everything up. That was the end of August, my parents died on October 1^st. He was plotting this for months."

Ed said, "That checks out, Allen said he bought Dennis Parker's business on October 31^st, Halloween."

"Fuck, sorry Martha, you remember who set up the two shrinks you saw Martha?"

"Of course," she said bitterly, "Barry Goldfarb."

"I have seen it too many times," Ed said sadly, "what money does to people."

"Well we have evidence, an outraged lawyer, an honest cop and justice on our side, we can't lose," Ricky joked.

Ed stood to go and said, "I'll keep one of these copies for safekeeping."

Ricky followed him and let him out of the gate and made sure everything was secure. When he went back in Martha was standing in the kitchen in her ninja outfit.

"I take it we're going for a walk tonight, or I should say this morning. You do know it's going on four am?"

"Yes I do," she said taking his arm and pulling him toward the front door.

They went out the front gate and Martha turned left. She led the way down the block and then crossed the street. They walked to the next house and Martha turned and put her hands on her hips. They were in front of Dennis Parker's house.

She stood staring at the place then looked at him and said, "Richard the man who had a hand in murdering my parents lives here, as God as my witness he will not get away with it."

"No, no he won't Martha, God or no God."

She turned and put her arm in his. They walked for nearly six blocks before she turned them around and started back. It was getting light by the time they got back to her house. They climbed the stairs and when they got to his room he tried to turn in. She didn't let go of his hand and pulled him to her room. They undressed and fell into bed holding each other.

The alarm clock was an annoyance he didn't need but accepted, grumbling all the while. They had a quick omelet for breakfast and he was out the door. His deliveries all went smoothly but Ricky couldn't help but feel someone was watching him. He never caught anyone doing it, he just felt it. Two o'clock came around and he headed to Martha's.

He pulled into the alley and knew something was wrong immediately. The back gate was open and he jumped out of the truck and ran for the house. The back door was also open and he ran in shouting Martha's name. He found her on the floor of the library groggily trying to sit up. He made sure she was OK and called 911 and Ed.

By the time the EMT's got there Martha had recovered to the point she refused to go to the hospital. Ricky had found a rag with a chemical smell that Ed identified as chloroform. The cassettes, the reel to reel tape and the Sheriff's report were missing.

Martha told them she was just going to put the four annual reports back in the safe in the library when she was grabbed from behind and the cloth put over her mouth. She never saw or heard anything else. The annual reports were gone too. Ed announced that the gate lock and the back door were both opened with lock picks. Ricky went to the garage and got the other tape from the boot of the Rolls. He told Ed where the copies of the cassettes were at Mike's. He was going to take all the evidence and put it in the safe at the Sheriff's office.

They called Mr. Chambers and related the news. He said as bad as it seemed it was actually good news. Goldfarb had obviously arranged the robbery and would assume he had all the incriminating evidence safely in his hands. They had copies of everything except the annuals of the last two years. The only thing they had to do now was watch their backs and wait for Goldfarb's next move.

Ricky quit his job and moved out of Mike and Debbie's. They tried to give him his rent money back seeing he had only stayed in the room one night but he wouldn't take it. He and Martha hung around the house all day and then went for longer and longer walks at night. She was doing better at being out. She even had a rather comical conversation with a drunk at two am.

Then a week later a registered letter came from Goldfarb's law firm. It was an order for her to appear at a competency hearing. If she didn't appear in person she would be adjudged as incompetent and be placed in a mental institution. To show how far she had come when she read it she laughed and called Mr. Chambers. He drove the eighty miles from his office to pick up the papers and plan their response.

"He's really pushing this. Normally a person has ninety days notice of a hearing like this. Our hearing date is in two weeks. Well we aren't going to file anything with the court so he won't know you have retained me until we walk into court. That is, as I see it, our largest concern. Martha can you walk, in daylight, into the Bluffs County Courthouse and testify in front of what Barry will make sure is a packed courtroom?"

Martha paled at the thought and slowly shook her head no.

"I didn't think so. I will move for a closed hearing and be granted it. I have been involved in three similar cases and they were all granted. We have an edge here because I know Judge Douglas Merritt. Barry perjured himself in front of this judge but the judge couldn't call him on it because the proof of his perjury was obtained by let's say, questionable means. In other words, he hates Goldfarb's ass."

"So that means appearing before the judge, a court reporter, me and our expert witness; Goldfarb and his expert."

"And Richard."

"Of course and Richard."

'There will still be crowds of people right?"

"And he will stir the media pot and have those snakes on hand."

"Well with Richard to help I will try my best"

"That's all any of us can do Martha."

They continued their routine of night time walks and coming home and making love or wildly fucking until sunrise then sleeping until noon or later. She met with Chambers' psychiatrist four times and seemed to really like the woman.

She dressed in her ninja outfit and added sunglasses and they drove 50 miles to the next big town and walked through the mall in daylight. It was not busy and Ricky even got Martha to screw up her courage and buy them ice cream. It went well until they were leaving and met a group of about eight loud teenaged girls coming in the door. Even that did not cause a full blown panic attack, just a couple nervous minutes.

The night before the hearing Ricky called Ed and asked him if there was a way to sneak in the back door of the courthouse. Ed laughed and said he had something better than that and to meet him at the Sheriff's office at eight am.

They both slept badly and were too nervous for sex so they found themselves at two a.m. playing Parcheesi. At 7:30 they showered and dressed in their best clothes. Ricky didn't have a suit coat but Martha had given him one of her father's ties that looked good on him.

They pulled into the rear of the Sheriff's department and Ed hustled them into an interrogation room and handed them orange jail coveralls. They put them on over their clothes and he led them outside to the jail van. He pulled into the sallyport of the courthouse and took them to a holding cell. He disappeared but soon came back with coffee and donuts. He sat with them until five minutes to ten then let them out and took the coveralls from them. He led them up the back stairs to the second floor where Mr. Chambers met them in the stairwell.

"OK I talked to Judge Merritt and he will grant the private hearing. Goldfarb and I will meet the judge in the courtroom and I will ask for the private hearing, Goldfarb will object, the judge will tell him to sit down and shut up and we will adjourn to the judge's chambers. Ed will lead you down the back hall right into chambers and we will do this thing."

He turned to Ed and asked, "Everything else ready Deputy Wilson?" Ed just nodded.

Ten minutes later the judge's clerk found them and led them to the room. Goldfarb was grinning broadly until he saw Martha walk into the room. Then he scowled and turned his back on them. The judge smiled warmly at Martha and got them all seated. He then outlined the procedure of the hearing. When he was sure everyone understood he called Goldfarb's pet expert witness. He proceeded to give a lecture on agoraphobia and anxiety and told the judge that Martha displayed all the classic symptoms of hav-.

"Excuse me but I have a question doctor, when did you examine Martha Stratharn last?"

Well," the doctor spluttered, "I never have examined her."

"Have you ever observed her behavior?"

"No I never have," he said quietly.

"Thank you doctor, please sit down. Goldfarb you have any thing else to add?"

"No your Honor, not at this time."

"Mr. Chambers I assume your expert witness has actually spent time with Martha Stratharn."

"Yes your Honor."

"Well then let's have it."

"I won't bore you with my credentials, they are on file with the court, thanks to my colleague we have a good definition of Martha Stratharn supposed conditions. I observed Martha a total of four times for a total of ten hours. I found her to be a pleasant well adjusted middle aged woman of above average intelligence. All four times we met we sat outside, on two occasions we walked in the open for fifty feet to sit in an open gazebo."

"See here," Goldfarb interrupted, "everyone in town knows she hasn't left her home in more than twenty five years."

"Sit down Mr. Goldfarb or you will be removed," the judge warned.

"Your Honor, my name is Richard Koss, I have been a friend of Martha's for a while now. I have some pictures taken last week of us at a mall eating ice cream and walking around if you would like to see them."

The judge gestured for the digital camera and scrolled through the pictures. He turned to the court reporter and said, "Let the record show I have looked at over twenty pictures of Mr. Koss and Ms. Stratharn enjoying themselves and eating ice cream in a public setting. Please continue doctor."

"I believe with a few more hours of therapy and the help of her friend Mr. Koss, that Martha will be able to fully engage in any manner with any group of people she desires."

"I hereby declare Martha Stratharn to be competent in all ways to engage in any private, public or corporate endeavor she so desires," the judge proclaimed and rapped his knuckles on his table.

Barry Goldfarb jumped up and shook his fist at Martha yelling, "You haven't heard the last of this, you're not getting rid of me that easy."

There was a knock on the door and the judge called enter. Ed stepped in with an evidence folder and announced, "Barry Goldfarb you are under arrest for the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Stratharn and the unlawful detention and attempted murder of Martha Stratharn. Stand up and turn around."

"What kind of nonsense is this, you don't have any proof of anything," he blustered.

Martha stood and walked up to him saying, "We made certified copies of the cassettes and of the reports you stole. We taped the cassettes and slowed them down to reveal the masking job you did on those mix tapes you gave me. You are going to the electric chair for murdering my parents Barry. Oh by the way, you're fired. And I am going to sue you for all the money you've stolen from the company and me over the years. You won't be able to afford a second year law student when I'm through with you you worm."

Deputy Ed chimed in then, "We picked up your old buddy Dennis Parker this morning trying to skip town, he had a hundred thousand dollars he couldn't explain. He just couldn't wait to rat you out," he opened the evidence folder and pulled out a legal pad, "over twenty pages confessing to cutting the brake line on Herb's Lexus, to you buying his house for him, to paying him to spy on Martha all these years, to being lookout when you sent a burglar to reclaim the tapes. Oh and he gave us a really good photo of your guy coming out of Martha's back door. Like Martha said, you're going to fry Barry."

"And Barry if you think I'm going to recuse myself and not be the one to try you you're sadly mistaken," the judge added.

Ed jerked the almost catatonic lawyer out of his chair and put the cuffs on him. With a nod to everyone and a wink at Martha he roughly jerked his prisoner out the door.

"Is it really over?" Martha asked quietly.

Judge Merritt said, "Yep, all but the shouting."

She put her arm in Ricky's and said, "Take me home please Richard."

They got to her house and Martha seemed at a loss as to what to do now. Richard seemed preoccupied and she asked him what was wrong. He claimed he was fine and said he had something to do in the garage. He was out there for two or three hours when she heard his truck leaving. Three hours later he was back and came in with supper. It was a quiet meal with Richard responding but not really joining in on her conversational attempts.

He disappeared to the garage after supper and finally at midnight she made sandwiches for them and carried them out to him. On the way she dropped some things off in the gazebo. She found him sitting on a stool at the workbench. He had been crying and looked miserable. She put the plates down and went to hold him. As soon as he was in her arms he started crying again. She asked him three times what was wrong and he just shook his head and cried harder.

He finally picked up a not very clean rag and wiped his eyes. "I didn't think it was going to be this hard to say goodbye," he croaked out.

"Goodbye, what do you mean goodbye, where are you going, why, why would you go?" she implored him.

"You have your life back again, you can find someone your age, someone as smart as you. You don't need some kid hanging around. I'll go in the morning."

She hugged him fiercely and said, "Richard you fool, you wonderful wonderful fool. I never want you to leave. I could have never ever done any of this without you. If not for you I would be trapped inside that house for the rest of my life. Richard the Lion Hearted you have rescued the princess! And she is never going to forget that."

"But you are 24 years older than I am. What will people say about us. It doesn't matter a damn to me but I worry about you. Now that you can go out I don't want people pointing at you and saying there's that women who is screwing that kid."

"And that is why I want you. You are more mature then a lot of men ten years older. Hell a lot of men never grow up, they just grow older. I just thought of something else. I have been locked away since I was nineteen, you are twenty. You are, outside the house age, older than me."

"That's one way to look at it I suppose. Those sandwiches look good, I'm starved," he said reaching for one.

They ate and drank their iced tea enjoying the quiet of the garage.

Finally she said, "What were you doing out here all day besides feeling sorry for yourself."

"Come and see," he said jumping off the stool. He led her over to the Porsche 993. The forest green paint glistened from a fresh wax job. He climbed in and fired the engine up. It rumbled so sweetly just as she remembered. He pressed the throttle and she could hear the twin turbos spool up. He shut it down and got out.

"I had to drain the gas and run some Gumout through it. The battery was shot and the tires had dry rotted. I'm glad it's air cooled so no radiator related problems. All the rubber parts will have to be replaced. Damn it, I forgot wiper blades. Anyway I wanted to get it running for you before I left. You will be wanting to get out and do stuff now. I got new plates and insurance is paid for one month."

"This is incredible, where did you get the money to do this?"

"Well I made $480 a week plus another $200 a week in tips. I didn't spend even half of it up to now."

"So how much you spend today?"

"Maybe twelve, fourteen hundred all told"

"So you did all this and you were going to sneak off tomorrow with what, five hundred dollars in your pocket?"

"Yeah about that I suppose, it's enough to get by until I find another job."

"Well you're not going anywhere mister."

"Oh yeah," he challenged her, "says who?"

"Says me and a pair of handcuffs and a whip."

"That just might entice me to stay," he grinned.

"Besides you have to get my favorite car running for me," she said pointing to the car in the corner of the garage under a tarp.

He went over and pulled up one corner and said, "Oh my." He quickly pulled the tarp all the way off.

"A 1965 Mustang."

"Nope, a 1964 ½ Mustang. It was made on April 20^th, 1964 the third day of production."

"Well I guess I can't leave for a while now."