Split Second

"I don't know if it made the papers, but I guess there was a record of it somewhere because it obviously did hurt my dad's career. I checked into my mom's story. I confirmed that Berkeley let my dad graduate with his Ph.D. but did so very reluctantly. I guess they didn't have much choice; he'd already completed all the course work and his dissertation. The incident happened shortly before he graduated. But from what I could gather word spread in academic circles, and the places he applied to teach at after he graduated shut their doors on him. My mom said Dad bumped around here and there, scraping by before he got the job at Atticus. Of course, during those years he'd written all those books that were very well received in the academic community. Looking back, I think my dad was so bitter about being kept out of the top schools that even if any of them had come calling, he would have stayed at Atticus. He was a very loyal person, and Atticus had given him a shot."

King asked, "Any idea how your parents survived during the lean years? Did your mom work?"

"Here and there some, but nothing permanent. She helped my dad write his books, with research and such. I'm not really sure how they got by." She rubbed her eyes. "Why, what are you getting at?"

"I was just wondering," he said, "who these lawyers were who came in to represent your dad. Did your father come from money?"

Kate looked bewildered. "No, my father grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. My mother was from Florida originally. They were both pretty poor."

"So it becomes even more puzzling. Why the lawyers coming to the rescue? And I wonder if your parents were getting by on money from an unknown source during the tough times."

"I guess it's possible," said Kate, "but I don't know where from."

Michelle looked at King. "Are you thinking the person who talked to Ramsey in his study that night might be connected to the L.A. incident?"

"Look at it this way. This thing happens in L.A. and Arnold Ramsey gets nailed. But what if he wasn't alone in it? What if some person who was well connected was also at fault? That would explain some fancy lawyers swooping in. I know lawyers-they don't usually work for free."

Michelle was nodding. "That might explain why the man mentioned Regina Ramsey. Maybe he was recalling the past fights against authority in getting Ramsey to pick up a gun and rejoin the struggle."

"God, this is all too much," said Kate. She looked like she might start crying. "My father was brilliant. He should have been teaching at Harvard or Yale or Berkeley. And then the police lie and his life is over. It's no wonder he rebelled against authority. Where's the justice in that?"

"There isn't any," answered King.

"I can still remember so vividly when I heard the news."

"You said you were in algebra class," said Michelle.

She nodded. "I went out in the hallway, and there was Thornton and my mother. I knew something bad had happened."

King looked startled. "Thornton Jorst was there with your mother? Why?"

"He was the one who told my mother. Didn't he tell you that?"

"No, he didn't," said Michelle adamantly.

"Why would he have known before your mother?" asked King quizzically.

Kate looked at him, puzzled. "I don't know. I assumed he heard about it on TV."

"What time did they come and get you out of class?" asked King.

"What time? I… I don't know. It was years ago."

"Think, Kate, it's really important."

She was silent for a minute and then said, "Well, it was in the morning, well before lunch, I know that. Say eleven o'clock or so."

"Ritter was killed at 10:32. There is no way the TV stations could have run a story with full particulars, including the identity of the assassin, barely thirty minutes later."

"And Jorst also had time to pick up your mother?" asked Michelle.

"Well, she wasn't living that far from where I went to school. You have to understand, Atticus isn't that far from Bowlington, about half an hour by car. And my mom lived on the way."

Michelle and King exchanged anxious glances.

"It couldn't be possible, could it?" said Michelle.

"What? What are you talking about?" asked Kate.

King rose without answering.

"Where are you going?" asked Kate.

"To pay Dr. Jorst a visit," he said. "I think there's a lot he hasn't told us."

"Well, if he didn't tell you about coming to see me at the school that day, maybe he didn't tell you about him and my mother."

King stared at her. "What about them?"

"Before she died she and Thornton were seeing each other."

"Seeing each other?" asked King. "But you said your mother loved your father."

"By then Arnold had been dead almost seven years. Thornton and my mother's friendship had endured and had turned into something else."

"Something else? Like what?" he asked.

"Like they were getting married."

52