“Ray was a good husband for twenty nine of those years,” said Lilly, “that ought to account for something. I owe him this much, I figure. Not sure what to tell you to do with it all, but Ray was determined. This was no suicide.”
Her eyes welled up again and she let the tears slide down her cheeks making lines through the powdered exterior.
“Did Ray ever mention Stanley Woermer?” asked Wallis, knowing she was slipping into something unasked for and unwelcomed.
Lilly looked momentarily startled.
“You know Stanley? That was Ray’s best friend. Why’d you bring him up?” She took a step back from Wallis.
“He paid me a visit. Said something about Ray.” Wallis wished she had let Stanley talk, given him a few more minutes.
“You think Stanley knows? I asked him, he said Ray never mentioned anything, was just mad about the whole divorce. You think Stanley lied to me?” Lilly looked confused and more worried than when she had first found Wallis.
“Asked him when?”
“Before I came looking for you.” Lilly grew pale behind all of the makeup and leaned in and hissed, “What’s going on Wallis. You in on this?”
Wallis looked at Lilly, not sure what to say.
“Ms. Jones? Could we finish up here? I have other places to be.”
It was Richard making a point of checking his watch every few seconds like time was racing away from him. Wallis was grateful for his condescension for once.
“I have to go, Lilly. I don’t know. I’m not sure what I can do. It’s not really my area. I’m a family court attorney. I don’t know,” she mumbled, as she backed away. Lilly looked like she wanted to say something, but fear had spread across her face when Richard had approached. She quickly turned and hurried down the hallway toward the exit without ever looking back. Wallis watched her go, taking a glance over her shoulder but only saw Richard and the usual clusters of people nervously waiting their turns.
“Everything alright?” asked Richard, the same even smile of perfect teeth.
“Yes, everything’s fine,” she said, wondering if there was more to the question than she realized.
The bailiff had come back, a little more impatient this time.
“Are the parties ready? If you’re not, the judge says to come on in and argue it there. Enough in the hall.”
“No, no, we’re ready,” said Wallis, glancing once more toward the exit. What was all that, she thought. She felt for the paper inside of her pocket. It was still there. She knew better than to tell anyone before she had more information.
Have to find Norman, she thought, looking at her watch. Ned’s recorder concert. Maybe Norman will be there. She felt a little desperate, so out of character, as she followed everyone into the courtroom. Norman will make sense of all of this, she thought as the door shut behind her.
Chapter Eleven
An hour later Wallis was driving as fast as she could, taking the long, narrow back road to Ned’s school, trying to get there before the concert was really under way. She pulled onto the grass in front of Ned’s school, lining up with the other cars that had turned the side lawn into an impromptu parking lot.
She got out and ran as fast as her high heels would let her for the door closest to the auditorium, hoping they hadn’t started yet. She looked around quickly for signs of Norman’s old Jeep but didn’t see it and wondered if he had managed to get there at all. Have to put it out of my mind for now, she thought. Concentrate on Ned.
She ran across the foyer, becoming aware of how loud her heels sounded on the green tile floor and stopped short in front of the large double doors. The assembly had started and she could hear Mr. Beasley’s muffled voice through the doors talking about what a great year they were having and how proud we all are of our teachers and children.
Wallis pulled on the large curved black handles of the heavy wooden door, opened it far enough to slide inside and stood at the back with the other late-comers. A few heads turned to look and she gave a small wave and smiled. Sorry, she mouthed to a disapproving father, rolling her eyes as he turned away. She noticed Ned’s class sitting in the first few rows on the right side and tried to pick out Ned, but in the low lighting it was too hard to spot his perpetually tousled head in a small sea of them.
“Hey Wallis, nice to see you again,” whispered a tall, blonde woman. Wallis quickly squeezed up next to her, getting out of the way of the door as it slid open again and another anxious parent entered still breathing hard from the run across the grass. The man turned around and sneered again. Wallis felt better.
“Hi, Sharon, how much did I miss?”
“You missed the business meeting. Perfect timing. We all dutifully raised our hands to pass amendments one and two.”
“What are they?”