Down a Dark Road (Kate Burkholder #9)

I cover some of the same territory I did with Edward. “How was his marriage to Naomi? Did they get along?”

“They had some issues. Money troubles. Right before … it happened, she took a part-time job at a restaurant in town. Joseph didn’t like the idea of her working. Hurt his pride, I think. But they needed the money so he let it go. To tell you the truth, Katie, he wasn’t always a good husband.”

“How so?”

“He can be impulsive and irresponsible. Blows money like it’s going out of style. Naomi’s frugal, but Joseph was always buying things he didn’t need. A few years ago he used his whole paycheck to buy a boat. She was furious, and rightfully so. Once, he went fishing up to Lake Erie for two days and didn’t even bother to tell her. He had a temper, too. He never quite got a handle on it.

“Don’t get me wrong; Joe’s a lovable guy.” He gives me a small smile. “You remember how charming he was. Especially if he wanted something. That’s never changed. But let me tell you something: If he got pissed it wasn’t pretty. He’d yell at Naomi over stupid stuff. The kids, too. I think part of the problem was that he thought she was too good for him. He felt like he didn’t measure up.”

“Did he tell you that?”

“It’s just an observation. Frankly, she was a saint for putting up with his crap.”

“What about the other trouble Joseph got into? The DUI? Drugs?”

“Hell if I know.” Jonas shakes his head. “Trouble just seemed to follow Joe. Yeah, he liked to have a good time; he drank too much sometimes. Smoked a little dope. He just had a penchant for handling things wrong. Never learned to use the good judgment God gave him. Rubbed people the wrong way. The harder he tried, the more he seemed to screw things up.”

“How were things between you and Joseph after his arrest?” I ask.

“Our relationship took a beating those first few months after Naomi was killed. I mean, the evidence against Joe was overwhelming.” His expression turns pained. “I found myself doubting him. I mean, I’ll be the first to tell you Joe isn’t perfect. He’s screwed up so many times I lost count. Even the Amish gave up on him.” His smile is wry. “But I knew he could never hurt Naomi. She was everything to him. The glue that held his life together.”

I nod, not liking the knot that has taken up residence in the pit of my stomach. “You attended the trial?”

“Every excruciating day.” He gives me a weighty look. “It was heartbreaking. I mean, I was close to Naomi, still mourning her. I sat there day in and day out, listening to a whole litany of how and why he shot his wife to death. The prosecutor was polished and credible and laid it all out so convincingly. I felt … betrayed by Joseph.”

He sighs. “It wasn’t until a few weeks later that I was able to look at the trial with an objective eye.”

“And?”

“Frankly, the public defender didn’t do a very good job of defending him. Of course, Joe didn’t help his case. He was sullen and stoic and that’s not to mention all the bad-husband stuff that came out about him in the course of the trial. But a bad husband does not a murderer make.”

“Did any of the children testify?” I ask.

“No.” Something flickers in his eyes. “But a couple weeks after the trial, Logan and I went to see the kids. They’re good kids, Katie. I mean, they lost their mamm; their datt had just been convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison. And here they are putting on a brave front.” Blowing out a breath, he shakes his head. “They were so sad, it broke my heart. Anyway, Rebecca invited us to stay for dinner. Later, when I was tucking the youngest into bed, Sadie told me something that chilled me to the bone.”

I wait, knowing what’s coming next, hoping for it and dreading it at once.

“She said there was a man in the house the night Naomi was killed. At first, I figured she’d just made it up. You know, because she couldn’t accept the truth about her datt. But the way she told the story…” He shakes his head. “Katie, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I mean, she was only four years old, but I swear to God she was telling the truth.”

I stare at him, aware that the hairs on my forearms are standing up. “What did you do?”

“The next morning I called the public defender’s office. He basically told me Sadie would be deemed unreliable because of her age.”

“It seems like the defense attorney would be all over that,” Glock says.

“He wasn’t the least bit interested.”

“What’s his name?”

“Leonard Floyd.” He frowns. “He’s not going to be much help.”

“Why not?”

“Killed in a car crash six months ago down in Bainbridge.”

“Did anyone follow up?” I ask.

“I made a few calls. Talked to several attorneys.”

“Four to be exact,” Logan puts in.

“To make a long story short, they all said that while Sadie could be questioned as a possible witness, because of her age and the inability to cross-examine, her testimony would be disallowed.” Jonas grimaces. “But I couldn’t get it out of my head. I mean, I believed her. And I started thinking about some other things that had happened to Joe during and even before the trial. Things that just didn’t add up.”

“Like what?” Glock asks.

“A few weeks before the murder, the sheriff’s department busted Joseph with some meth during a traffic stop. It’s true that Joe had been drinking; he admitted it. But he swore the meth wasn’t his. Said he’d never tried it. But in usual Joe fashion, he screwed up and ended up pleading no contest for a lesser sentence. Then there was the domestic-violence charge for when he”—Jonas makes air quotes with his fingers—“‘hit’ Naomi.

“Joe always denied it, but he’d been in so much trouble I didn’t know whether to believe him. I mean, everyone knew he had a temper. I saw him put his fist through a window once, the asshole. So I never really questioned the charge. He did time in jail for the domestic-violence charge, by the way.

“Anyway, while he was in jail, I went to see Naomi and the kids, just to check on them and see how they were doing. I’m sitting at the kitchen table with Naomi and she told me Joe didn’t hit her.”

Jonas makes a sound of exasperation. “I’m, like, what? Then it’s confession time for her. Naomi starts crying and told me the police got it wrong. She told me the deputy who responded to the call just started putting words in her mouth. And get this: Because she was Amish, there were no photos taken, so they didn’t even have that as evidence.” He sighs. “In the end, Joe was convicted. He denied it from the start, but by then he had zero credibility and no one believed him.”

“Did Naomi go to bat for him?” I ask.

“She was big into the whole separation thing. She didn’t like the cops or the whole legal system. She didn’t understand the legal process. Didn’t want to get involved. Frankly, I think she didn’t realize how serious the charge was, and she wanted to be rid of Joe for a few days.”

“So she let her husband go to jail?” Glock presses.