or not.”
“What about me?” Betty whined, hating the sound of her voice. “Why couldn’t you tell me?”
“You weren’t but a year old when the poor girl was killed,” said Ophelia, “and they’ve already convicted a man for what happened to her. Would you have even been interested in a story like that?”
“June would have,” spat Betty, “but that’s not even all of it. You saw the flyer for the show that she brought here. Why do so many people think this Duke guy is innocent?” She turned to Andrea. “I know that he confessed, Mom, but the website I found said that the police broke a lot of laws talking to him, and that—”
“How much bullshit have you read online?”
Andrea asked the question so coldly that it stopped Betty’s stream of questions dead. It was all she could do to keep her eyes locked on her mom’s heated gaze. For the first time, Betty wondered if more time researching this subject might have been a good idea before throwing ideas around the dining room table. “A lot, I guess,” said Betty finally, and Andrea nodded.
“There are a lot of groups like this, Betty, and not all of them are trying to help an innocent man. Just because some guy looks cool and there’s circumstantial evidence suggesting that he might be innocent doesn’t really mean a whole lot. Cases of convicted people being exonerated get a lot of press, but believe me, they’re few and far between. The fact of the matter is that it takes a number of gross mistakes for that sort of thing to happen, and—”
“This doesn’t sound like that, Mom.” Betty couldn’t stop herself from interrupting. “Everything about this sounds really, well, interesting, at the very least. And not just because the girl who got killed was June’s aunt. I only read a little bit about Duke, but it does seem possible that he’s innocent.”
“Betty.” Andrea took a breath and sighed it out. “This guy was convicted by twelve of his peers and he’s been in prison ever since. There’s a reason for that, trust me on this. I see children every day that are at real risk of turning out just like that poor girl. Though hopefully they’ll have a better end, there always seems to be someone around them like Duke. Men like that always find someone weak to be with them, someone they can lord over. And far too often, this is the result: a dead girl and a man sitting in prison and trying to figure out why he did what he did.”
“You’re really turning on that feminine charm, Mom,” said Betty with a grin, and to her relief, Andrea smiled wryly back at her.
“That’s one of my better traits,” Andrea said, “and I thank you for calling attention to it. That said, how’s that paper coming along?”
“All right, all right.” Betty stood and then paused by the table. “Can I tell June about this?”
She watched her mothers exchange glances, and then Ophelia turned to her and said, “That’s up to you, Betty. Just remember, this isn’t going to be just ‘interesting’ or exciting for June. This is probably the biggest skeleton in her family’s closet, and if you act like it’s something to be played with, you’re liable to get burned.”
TEN
I was already pretty familiar with the Mandy Reasoner case before Claire mentioned it in the park, but I knew I needed a refresher to get up to speed, so that’s exactly what I got to work on when I came home.
My office used to always be a mess, but these days I keep it pretty clean, at least by my standards. I’m sure it could still use a good deep cleaning, but I barely even know what that means, so I doubt I’m the right person for the job. That’s OK, though—no one’s been in the house besides me in years, and I like it that way. The house feels like my soul a lot of the time. It’s one of the only things that’s mine, and sharing it could just end up with me getting hurt, or worse. I’ve got experience to back that up: the last time a girl came inside, she
“What about me?” Betty whined, hating the sound of her voice. “Why couldn’t you tell me?”
“You weren’t but a year old when the poor girl was killed,” said Ophelia, “and they’ve already convicted a man for what happened to her. Would you have even been interested in a story like that?”
“June would have,” spat Betty, “but that’s not even all of it. You saw the flyer for the show that she brought here. Why do so many people think this Duke guy is innocent?” She turned to Andrea. “I know that he confessed, Mom, but the website I found said that the police broke a lot of laws talking to him, and that—”
“How much bullshit have you read online?”
Andrea asked the question so coldly that it stopped Betty’s stream of questions dead. It was all she could do to keep her eyes locked on her mom’s heated gaze. For the first time, Betty wondered if more time researching this subject might have been a good idea before throwing ideas around the dining room table. “A lot, I guess,” said Betty finally, and Andrea nodded.
“There are a lot of groups like this, Betty, and not all of them are trying to help an innocent man. Just because some guy looks cool and there’s circumstantial evidence suggesting that he might be innocent doesn’t really mean a whole lot. Cases of convicted people being exonerated get a lot of press, but believe me, they’re few and far between. The fact of the matter is that it takes a number of gross mistakes for that sort of thing to happen, and—”
“This doesn’t sound like that, Mom.” Betty couldn’t stop herself from interrupting. “Everything about this sounds really, well, interesting, at the very least. And not just because the girl who got killed was June’s aunt. I only read a little bit about Duke, but it does seem possible that he’s innocent.”
“Betty.” Andrea took a breath and sighed it out. “This guy was convicted by twelve of his peers and he’s been in prison ever since. There’s a reason for that, trust me on this. I see children every day that are at real risk of turning out just like that poor girl. Though hopefully they’ll have a better end, there always seems to be someone around them like Duke. Men like that always find someone weak to be with them, someone they can lord over. And far too often, this is the result: a dead girl and a man sitting in prison and trying to figure out why he did what he did.”
“You’re really turning on that feminine charm, Mom,” said Betty with a grin, and to her relief, Andrea smiled wryly back at her.
“That’s one of my better traits,” Andrea said, “and I thank you for calling attention to it. That said, how’s that paper coming along?”
“All right, all right.” Betty stood and then paused by the table. “Can I tell June about this?”
She watched her mothers exchange glances, and then Ophelia turned to her and said, “That’s up to you, Betty. Just remember, this isn’t going to be just ‘interesting’ or exciting for June. This is probably the biggest skeleton in her family’s closet, and if you act like it’s something to be played with, you’re liable to get burned.”
TEN
I was already pretty familiar with the Mandy Reasoner case before Claire mentioned it in the park, but I knew I needed a refresher to get up to speed, so that’s exactly what I got to work on when I came home.
My office used to always be a mess, but these days I keep it pretty clean, at least by my standards. I’m sure it could still use a good deep cleaning, but I barely even know what that means, so I doubt I’m the right person for the job. That’s OK, though—no one’s been in the house besides me in years, and I like it that way. The house feels like my soul a lot of the time. It’s one of the only things that’s mine, and sharing it could just end up with me getting hurt, or worse. I’ve got experience to back that up: the last time a girl came inside, she
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