Page 39 of Feared

“About twenty minutes.”

“How do you know that?”

“I don’t know, I don’t remember, I was so exhausted and I think I looked at my phone because I just kept thinking about calling Mary.” Judy looked at Mary, her eyes welling. “I wanted to come over and tell you everything, that John and I were seeing each other and that we just broke up, but I didn’t call you. It was late and I knew that you needed to rest after the doctor’s appointment, and I didn’t want to upset you or stress you, so I just decided to go home.”

Mary groaned. “Aw, honey, I’m so sorry. You know, you can always call me and—”

Bennie interrupted, “Carrier, is that what you did next? You went straight home?”

“Yes, well, not straight home.”

Bennie frowned. “Where did you go?”

“Let me think, I was really upset and I didn’t know what to do”—Judy’s words ran together with emotion—“and I went to this pocket park because it was such a nice night and I just wanted to calm down, but then I knew I had to gethome because the dog had to go out, so I got a cab and went home.”

“What time did you get the cab?”

“I don’t know.”

“Was it a Yellow cab or what?”

“Yes, a Yellow.”

“How long did you spend in the park?”

“About an hour, I think.”

“Do you know or are you guessing?”

“Both.” Judy dabbed her eyes.

“Were there other people in the park, that you saw?”

“Yes, a few.”

“Did you talk to any of them?”

“No.”

“Where’s the park located?”

“Around the block. Does it matter?”

“Then you went home?”

“Yes.”

“What did you do when you got home?”

“I walked the dog. I didn’t take him that day, because he was so bad the day before.”

“Did you see any of your neighbors when you were walking the dog?”

“No.”

“And then what happened?”

“I went to bed and I couldn’t sleep, I was so upset and I thought about calling him, like, so many times, I just kept lying in bed staring at my phone.” Judy’s eyes spilled over with tears, and she began to sob again. “And now… I keep thinking what if, what if…what ifI had called, that was probably when the killer was there, and I could have stopped it… or interrupted it and if I did then John would still be alive m—”