Fred said, "Hello, Mr. Droughton? My name is Fred Vigeretti. Just like on TV. What does my smoking pot nearly three decades ago have to do with your daughter? I've been drug-free for a decade longer than she's been alive! Hey, don't hang up! I've got something important to tell you..."

Fred set down the useless receiver. He flipped through the squishy phone book again. He dialed.

Fred said into the phone, "Hello, Mrs. Newman? I want to talk to you about your son. I'm aware he's out on bail. He was just here."

As Fred talked, he put on some coffee. Although not a cordless phone, the cord was long enough to move around the kitchen. Fred had been talking for a long time when the doorbell rang. Fred finished the call, then went to the door. Nora was standing with her arms crossed tightly and a scowl on her face.

Fred said, "I can tell you're angry, but now is not a good time to tell me again how stupid I was in my college days. I’ve got a pounding headache already."

Nora complained, "You're so egotistical sometimes! It just so happens that it's not you I'm mad at this time. Are you going to invite me in or just let me freeze out here?"

Fred said, "Come in. I've just made hot coffee."

Nora remarked, "That's not what I expected you to be drinking after what Joel told me. I was worried about you, but I couldn't leave until now."

As Nora sat, she jumped back erect.

She complained, "This chair’s wet."

Fred handed her a towel. She wiped the chair, handed back the towel, and sat back down. Fred filled two cups with coffee. He added sugar and milk to one, knowing Nora’s preferences.

Handing her the cup, Fred asked, "If not me, who're you mad at?"

She answered, "Mrs. Blackstone! I thought her husband had been beating her. I really believed she had killed her husband in self defense."

Fred only added sugar to his coffee, then said as he stirred, "That's the way it sounded on the news. However, I'm painfully aware that what's on the news isn't always true."

Nora said, "I felt we could win in court. However, then she was offered a new plea bargain. The charges would be dropped from Murder One to Involuntary Manslaughter if she pleaded guilty. A five-year sentence. I urged her not to take it."

Fred remarked, "That's a huge drop! The five-year term would more likely really be three years in prison. Why'd you suggest she not take it?"

"Because I thought she was innocent! She shouldn't get any punishment for self-defense. I was confident that we could win."

Fred sipped, then said, "She took the deal, didn't she?"

"Yes," Nora said. "I felt like I'd failed her as a lawyer. Yet, after the deal was all signed and done, she asked me about the meaning of Double Jeopardy."

Fred asked with interest, "Did she now?"

Nora starred down at her coffee as though reading tea leaves, then said, "I told her that she could never again be tried in a criminal court for the murder of her husband. Because she took the plea deal, it was over."

"That's what I thought Double Jeopardy meant," Fred stated.

Nora frowned and continued, "She then went and talked to the reporters. She bragged about having murdered her husband! She said that he'd never beat her! She'd broken some bones as a teenager in a horse riding accident. Those were the old fractures that showed up in the X-rays. She hadn't even met him yet when that happened. She had me fooled! She was so proud of herself! When she gets out, she’ll have his millions all to herself."

Fred said, "She fooled a lot of people. However, it's not like she's getting off scott-free. Even a few years in prison is going to be a lot more miserable than she suspects. Besides, you've often told me that even those who are guilty deserve a good defense. You did your job."

Nora responded, "I know I've said that. I'm just so mad that she had me fooled! Usually, I can tell when a client is lying."

Fred noted, "It wasn’t criminal court, but civil court that nailed me with Mr. Shuster’s lawsuit. Mr. Blackstone’s relatives might nail her financially in civil court, especially if she publicly confessed to murder. Double Jeopardy for the criminal case doesn’t cover that."

Nora chimed in, "I could have told her that, but she was in too much of a rush to gloat to the reporters about being so clever."

The phone rang.

Fred answered, "Hello, Aunt Gail. No, I haven’t tried your recipe yet. Nora’s here right now. No, we didn’t go out to eat instead of trying your recipe. She just got out of court. I know it’s very late for that."

Nora requested, "Let me talk to her."

Nora talked briefly to her, explaining about how everybody had stayed hours beyond normal times to work out a deal, but the case was now over. Nora hung up the phone after talking for a while.

Nora said, "Gail said that she and your mother are going to bed. She teased me about being here so late like I was doing something naughty. Hey, this phone book is dripping!"

Fred explained about Ray and Beth’s visit, and how that led to the phone book being wet. This took a while.

The phone rang again.

Fred answered, "Hello, this is Fred Vigeretti. No, Mrs. Newman. He left here about just before I called you. I haven’t seen him since. Goodbye."

After he hung up, Nora asked, "What was that all about?"

Fred told how he'd snitched to Mrs. Newman about what he'd smelled on the front steps.

Nora looked at her watch and said, "It's after midnight. That's late for a high school kid to be out on a school night."

Fred said, "According to Beth and Ray, they've been expelled. I don't think they're going to school tomorrow."

"Not going to school will only make them worse," Nora said.

Fred said, "I just remembered something from 1974. I was with the police. We raided the same house where I used to live, and found more drugs than you'd believe. We had Stephen nailed cold, but he made bail. Stephen asked me to destroy the evidence. He said that I should do it because I'd lived at the house a couple years earlier. He acted as though I was his best friend, not somebody who had exposed him as a thief to the others in the house. I made it clear I wouldn't do it. He then bragged about how he was going to sue everybody who'd done him wrong, including me. He said that he was going to have so much money that he won't be able to count it, and I’d be sorry then. I never saw him alive again."

Nora remembered, "You had mentioned he died from an overdose when we were talking in the cemetery a couple weeks ago. Deliberate?"

Fred answered, "Yes, it was suicide. I guess since I wouldn’t destroy evidence, he thought the case was hopeless, despite his bragging about suing. The way Beth and Ray were talking tonight about suing to get rich reminded me of how Stephen talked that night."

Nora said, "Maybe Ray’s over at Beth’s house. You made it sound like he’s sweet on her."

Fred went over and flipped through the wet phone book. Fred dialed.

He then said into the receiver, "Hello, this is Fred Vigeretti. Please, Mr. Droughton, don't hang up again."

Fred hastily hung up himself, then dialed again.

Fred said, "Yes, it's me again. I know what time it is. You're going to sue me for harassing you? Before you do that, will you tell me something first. Is your daughter home? Because Ray Newman’s mother called here looking for him. The last time I saw Ray, he was with your daughter. She’s not there? Thank you. No, I didn’t see them earlier because I was selling them drugs! I’ve never sold drugs. That’s a lie, Mr. Droughton!"

Fred then hung up the receiver, then told Nora, "He hung up on me. He really seems to believe I’m a proven addict and drug dealer because I smoked some joints nearly three decades back. Still, I found out Beth and Ray aren’t there."

Fred then dialed a number he knew by heart.

"Hello, Stan. It’s Fred. I have a favor to ask," Fred said.

Fred then explained about Ray and Beth’s visit. He said that he was concerned they might hurt themselves, as they sounded to him about like Stephen had the day he deliberately overdosed.

Fred then explained into the phone, "Stan, you know the favorite spots drug users hang out. Could you go check them for Ray and Beth? You’re probably right that I’m worried for nothing, but you could you do it? I’ll owe you one. Thanks."

Fred chuckled, then hung up.

Nora asked, "What’s amusing?"

"Stan asked what good it did for me to owe him a favor when I am not working there anymore. He’s doing it, though."

"Seems a wise thing to try," Nora said.

Fred asked, "Do you think I should have searched Ray when he was here? I'd have found a pipe and marijuana in his pocket."

Nora said, "Claiming to recognize the smell as cause for a search is easy to challenge in court. It might be ruled an illegal search. Plus, you admit you were drinking earlier, so that could be used to claim your judgment was impaired. Your voice is still a little slurred. Plus, you’re not a cop anymore."

Fred remarked, "I feel like I didn't do the search because I'm a coward. Frankly, I was worried that Mr. Shuster would sue me...again."

Nora said, "I wouldn't want Mr. Shuster for my defense lawyer. Those kids don't realize what serious trouble they're in."

Fred said, "I really thought I was getting through. To Ray, at least. I was so frustrated when he burned that sheet!"

Nora suggested, "He was deliberately provoking a reaction."

Fred closed his eyes and said, "When he burned that sheet, I felt about the same way as all those years ago when I exposed Stephen as a thief. I thought I had convinced everybody, but only convinced Carrie. I didn’t convince either Ray or Beth of anything tonight."

"It’s too soon to be sure of that. Later, when they aren’t so high, they might remember and think about what you said," Nora noted.

Fred remarked, "I teased Joel about whether he had taken over Eric’s holy mission of trying to save Ray and Beth from themselves. Maybe I’m the one doing that."

Nora said, "You have noble streak for doing things like that, but sometimes you try so hard it leads damage to yourself."

Fred said flippantly, "Like ruining my phone book?"

"At least you didn’t let the fire spread," Nora said.

The phone rang.

Nora glanced at her watch and said, "It’s nearly two in the morning. I wonder who’s calling at this time?"

Reaching for the phone, Fred said, "Maybe it’s Stan calling to tell me what he found."

Fred said into the receiver, "Hello, this is Fred Vigeretti. Mom? What’re you doing up at this time? Tell Aunt Gail to stop screaming so I can hear you. Really? Leave the bag right where it is. Don’t go outside! Call nine-one-one! Gail’s going out? She’s in a wheelchair; you can stop her. I’ll be over as soon as I can."

Fred hung up.

Nora started to ask what was going on, but Fred just shook his head at her. She held off.

Fred said into the phone, "Hello, Ralph. It’s Fred. Is Joel there? How about Maureen? Stan? Dave? They’re all out at a murder scene? Look, I need somebody to go to my Mom’s house right now. She should be talking on the nine-one-one line right now. Yes, that’s her address. I’ll meet you there. Oh, right, you need to know what happened."

Nora leaned toward Fred to better hear.

"After we caught Gary Alexander, I installed an alarm system at my house to detect any future break-ins. I put in an identical system at Mom’s house. Mom called here just a minute ago. Her alarm went off. The outside lights came on automatically. Looking out the window, Mom saw a bearded man in a cowboy hat in the center of the lawn. He dropped a bag, then ran. I’ll be shocked if that bag doesn’t contain drugs. I told her to leave it in the yard. See you there. Bye."

Fred hung up the phone.

Having heard all this, Nora asked, "A man in a cowboy hat?"

Fred said, "Clearly, Cowboy is not Gary Alexander. I’m being set-up again. Cowboy probably guessed I had taken precautions against another break-in here, but didn’t guess I did the same there. If Cowboy had gotten the drugs planted in their house, the police would probably be getting an anonymous tip right now that I’m a drug dealer, but I store the drugs at my mother’s house."

Nora stated, "Mrs. Lewis accepted the settlement arranged by Mr. Shuster. That ended the lawsuit. What good does it do to try to make you look like a drug dealer now?"

"Maybe somebody just doesn’t like me. Let’s get rolling."

Fred and Nora hurried out of the house. They jumped in her Corvette. Nora was backing the sports car when the white Suburban raced up. The truck screeched to a stop, blocking the driveway. Fred and Nora leaped out of the ‘Vette at the same time Maureen and Joel sprang from the truck.

Joel ordered, "Fred, put your hands on your head!"

Fred did this immediately, but protested, "We’ve got to get over to Mom’s. I’m being set-up again."

Joel said, "Turn around, Fred. No, I just can’t do this. Fred’s right. It’s a set-up."

Maureen broke in, "Of course it’s a set-up, but we’ll do Fred more harm than good if we don’t follow proper procedures. Continue turning around, Fred. You’re under arrest for murder and attempted murder."

Nora demanded, "Of whom?"

Maureen said, "Ray Newman and Beth Droughton."

Joel explained, "Ray left a note stating that you’re Cowboy, Fred."

Fred asked, "For which person is it only attempted murder?"

Maureen said, "Beth is in a coma. Ray’s dead."

Joel remarked ruefully, "That prevents questioning Ray on why he wrote that."