The Wages of Sin by Nancy Allen Read Free Book Online

was inches away from her own, blowing stale coffee breath up her nostrils.
    The bailiff, Eldon, snapped his fingers at her, nearly tweaking her nose. “Elsie! Wake up!”
    She tried to sit up, but the movement sent a vicious twinge through her head. “What the hell?” she whispered, massaging a knot on her skull with a tentative hand.
    Judge Carter called from the bench, “Should I clear the courtroom?”
    Bracing herself with her elbows, Elsie turned to respond the judge, and saw Larry Paul smirking at her. A wave of anger coursed through her veins, blurring her vision again.
    Madeleine stood at her side and gave her a smart rap on the shoulder. “Are you all right? Can you stand?”
    Elsie tried to rise from the tile floor, grasping at the wooden railing for balance. “I’m kind of dizzy.”
    Judge Carter said, “Do we need an ambulance?”
    Resolutely, Elsie shook her head, and immediately regretted the movement. With an effort, she grasped the wooden spindles to pull to a stand. “No, Judge, thanks. Maybe I could just sit out in the hall for a minute and let my head clear.”
    The bailiff looked doubtful. “Shouldn’t she stay where she is at? Could be she has a back injury.”
    Impatience made stars dance before Elsie’s eyes. “I hit my head, Eldon. Not my back.” With an involuntary groan she took a step to prove her point, and toppled sideways, landing at the feet of a television reporter from Good Morning Four States .
    â€œSorry,” Elsie muttered, as he scooted out of danger.
    A deputy approached her; with his arms crossed against his chest, he looked at Elsie on the floor, assessing her. Deputy Joe Franks was a slight man in his forties.
    Franks said, “Reckon you ought to carry her out of here, Eldon?”
    The bailiff gave a slow whistle. “Don’t know that I can. Too heavy.”
    Elsie grimaced with chagrin. Even a blow to the head couldn’t mask the sting of the bailiff’s implication.
    â€œWe’ll both tote her. You get her around the chest and I’ll grab her feet,” Franks said.
    Though Elsie squawked in protest, the men executed the plan, bearing Elsie out into the rotunda like a supersized bag of potatoes. When they deposited her on the wooden bench outside the courtroom door, Eldon groaned with relief.
    â€œGlad I don’t have to do that all day long, I tell you what.”
    â€œOh, Jesus Christ,” Elsie muttered.
    Deputy Franks appeared incapable of speech; he wheezed until his face turned violet.
    â€œMaybe you need to cut back on the smokes, Joe,” Elsie said, miffed.
    Deputy Franks nodded as he walked off, still gasping. Madeleine darted through the doorway and stood over Elsie, regarding her with her lips pressed together in a thin line.
    The bailiff gave Madeleine a subservient nod. “Mrs. Thompson, I’d best get back in court see what Judge Carter wants me to do next.”
    Madeleine waved a hand in dismissal, still focusing on Elsie. When Eldon walked away, Madeleine took a deep intake of breath before she spoke.
    â€œI need help.”
    Elsie raised her head from the bench; she wasn’t sure she’d heard Madeleine correctly. “What?”
    Madeleine broke eye contact and looked off with a pensive air. She paced the hall of the top floor of the courthouse, studying the ceiling. After several moments of silence, she said, “The stained glass is filthy.”
    Trying to gauge the focal point of Madeleine’s attention, Elsie also looked up and stared at the green and blue stained glass windows decorating the third floor of the old courthouse. The old structure was a local jewel, one the community refused to desert for newer quarters. Built on classical lines, with a low dome over a rotunda, the white stone courthouse had changed little since its construction in 1905; and the stained glass panes of the dome had been set in place a century