From Cradle to Grave by Patricia MacDonald Read Free Book Online Page A

attorney-at-law,’ it read over the address.
    ‘Noreen, then,’ said Morgan. ‘What did she say?’
    ‘She’s pregnant,’ Claire said, and her eyes filled with tears. ‘Any minute she’s going to have her baby.’
    ‘Claire!’ Morgan spoke sharply. ‘What did she say? About your case.’
    Claire shook her head and sighed. ‘She said it was a difficult case because I confessed to the police. Honestly, Morgan, I can’t remember much of what she said. I’m so exhausted. I just kept wishing I had a tranquilizer or something to knock me out so I could sleep. They won’t give me anything in here.’
    Morgan felt an unreasoning flash of anger. Tranquilizers? That was all she could think of after all that had happened? How could you admit to killing your husband and your child and then forget how your lawyer had advised you? How could you admit to killing at all, and just want to sleep. ‘Never mind,’ said Morgan coolly. She slipped the card into her own jacket pocket. ‘I’ll talk to her.’
    Claire looked up at her gratefully. ‘Would you, Morgan?’
    ‘Yes, of course,’ said Morgan stiffly. ‘I came here to help.’
    ‘Thank God for you,’ said Claire. ‘I feel like I have no one else in the whole world. Guy’s family won’t help me.’
    ‘You can’t blame them,’ said Morgan sharply.
    Claire blushed beneath her sallow skin and looked down at her lap. ‘No,’ she whispered. ‘Of course not.’
    Looking at that familiar bent head, Morgan felt a sudden, unexpected rush of tenderness. This couldn’t be true. There had to be some mistake. This wasn’t some crazed killer. This was Claire, with whom she had shared dorm rooms and apartments and hotel rooms on the road. Claire, with whom she had streaked her hair, taken long walks discussing the meaning of life, laughed till she cried remembering how they had stalked the science teacher they both had a crush on in junior high. Claire, who was closer to her than a sister.
    ‘Oh Claire,’ Morgan pleaded. ‘Tell me this is some big misunderstanding. I mean, you couldn’t kill anyone. Let alone your baby . . .’
    Claire remained silent. A tear trickled down her cheek.
    ‘How did it happen? Just tell me what happened . . .’
    Claire gripped the sides of her head as if it were pounding. ‘Don’t make me say it all again.’
    ‘Why?’ Morgan cried. ‘Why would you ever do such a thing?’
    Claire looked up at her with torment in her eyes. ‘I don’t know why. I keep going over it in my mind. I mean, the baby had been so . . . fussy. And Guy . . . I threw him out. I was so angry at him for lying to me about his daughter.’
    ‘Wait,’ said Morgan. ‘If you threw him out, how come he was at the house?’
    Claire shrugged. ‘I let him come back home that night. To the guest room. I was trying to get over it but every time I looked at him . . .’
    ‘So that’s why you killed them?’ Morgan said incredulously. Even as she said it, it seemed preposterous. Impossible. ‘Because of Eden?’
    Claire shook her head. ‘Maybe. I’m not sure.’
    ‘I don’t understand,’ Morgan wailed. ‘How . . .’ How could you, Morgan wanted to say.
    Claire misunderstood. ‘It was very early this morning. It was still dark. I was in the bathroom. With Drew. He was in the tub.’
    ‘What were you doing with the baby in the bathroom at that hour?’
    ‘I . . . don’t know. I guess . . . I was giving him a bath.’
    ‘In that big, clawfoot tub? He was so little. He was barely big enough for the sink.’
    Claire seemed to be staring past Morgan at the scene in her mind. ‘There was water in the tub. Drew was in the water. Guy came into the bathroom and I . . . we had an argument. And, I don’t know. I guess, maybe, we struggled. And Guy slipped. He hit his head on the edge of the cast iron tub. There was a lot of blood. Everywhere.’
    ‘So, you’re saying it was an accident,’ said Morgan skeptically.
    Claire looked at her