Murder Past Due by Miranda James

you still want to see Mr. Priest?”
    Nodding as he got his feet, Justin went to the sink and splashed his face with water. After patting himself dry with a towel, he washed his hands.
    “I’m ready,” he said as he turned to me.
    I put a hand on his shoulder and kept it there as he preceded me out of the kitchen and to the living room. His steps were slow but steady.
    We paused in the doorway of the living room. Godfrey stood, facing us as we came into the room.
    Justin stopped several feet away from his biological father, and Godfrey drank in the sight of his son like a man who hasn’t had water for weeks.
    “Justin, this is Godfrey Priest. Godfrey, this is Justin Wardlaw.”
    “It’s nice to meet you, sir,” Justin said. He took a step forward, his hand out, but Godfrey didn’t move. Justin faltered.
    Godfrey started to speak. He stopped to clear his throat. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” He finally held out his hand, and Justin stepped forward to take it.
    Godfrey shook his son’s hand, his eyes still fixed on the boy’s face. Now that I saw the two of them together, I spotted certain features they shared. Justin had Julia’s coloring and her eyes, but his nose and cheekbones were just like Godfrey’s.
    Godfrey drew Justin toward the couch, and they both sat down, neither one of them speaking, each simply staring at the other.
    “What happened to your face?” Godfrey asked.
    I turned and stole away, leaving father and son alone together. I would let Justin explain the bruise.
    Back in the kitchen, I picked up the phone and punched in Melba Gilley’s number. I had called her earlier, before I took Justin to the hospital, to tell her I might not be back this afternoon. As Diesel rubbed against my legs, I glanced at the clock. It was now almost two-thirty.
    “Hey, Melba, it’s Charlie.” I listened for a moment as I leaned back against the kitchen counter. “I’m not sure. I might be back a little later. Oh, so you’ve already heard about that?”
    I shouldn’t have been surprised that news of Ezra’s set-to with Godfrey had already hit the Athena grape-vine. And trust Melba to be one of the early grapes on the vine.
    “Yes, I do know what it’s all about. I’m surprised your informant didn’t tell you that, too.”
    Melba squawked a bit in my ear.
    “You’ll find out soon enough.” I hated the fact that this scandal would be all over town, and all over the college, before long. Justin and Julia deserved some privacy, but thanks to Ezra and Godfrey, they had lost all chance of that.
    “I’ll tell you more about it when I see you,” I said. She might as well have the real story from me instead of who-knew-what wild rumors were flying around.
    Diesel had his paw on my thigh now. He chirped at me.
    “Gotta go now. I’ll talk to you later.” I listened a moment longer and then hung up the phone.
    “What is it, boy?” Diesel was talking away.
    Then I heard the front door close.
    Diesel followed me from the kitchen into the hallway. The living room was empty.
    “Justin? Where are you?”
    There was no answer. I went to the window and looked out in time to see Justin getting in the car with Godfrey.
    “Well, they’re gone,” I said to Diesel. “That’s what you were trying to tell me, weren’t you?”
    Diesel looked up at me as if to say, Of course .
    “I really wish they hadn’t,” I said, heading back to the kitchen. “But nothing I can do about it now. Guess we’ll go back to work, okay, boy?”
    About fifteen minutes later, back in my office, Diesel and I were settled in for the remainder of the afternoon. I planned to work till around six, then we would head home. I needed to change for the big dinner tonight, an occasion I did not anticipate with much joy.
    I had hardly sat down in my chair before Melba popped in, eager to get the scoop from me. I gave her a bare outline of the facts, and her jaw dropped a couple of times.
    “Poor Julia,” she said when I finished.