"Damn, you may be right."
"It would certainly explain the way Quinn is acting. Those photographs scream blackmail, Leroy."
"And Denise Ritter has just supplied the link between Junior and her sister," Dennis answered thoughtfully. Then he frowned. "But there are problems with your scenario, Lou."
"Such as?"
"Jablonski for one. He was in prison for a long time. When he was out, he wasn't running in Junior's circle. How did they meet?"
"I don't know, but I'm gonna nail Junior's ass as soon as I find out."
"And another thing," Dennis continued. "Until you learned about this possible connection between Marie Ritter and Hoyt, you thought Crease killed her husband."
"She still could be good for it," Anthony answered grudgingly. "That blood spatter evidence bothers the hell out of me."
"Exactly. And don't forget Judge Quinn. If Ritter was blackmailing him, he'd have a powerful motive to kill her."
Anthony sighed. "I have to admit that I've been really pissed at Quinn since he accused me of lying, but I have a hard time seeing him as Ritter's killer."
"Quinn has been acting like a man with something to hide."
"No doubt about that. The judge flat out lied about knowing Ritter and he continued to lie after being confronted with the pictures, but I still don't make Quinn for the Ritter killing. Any man can commit murder under the right circumstances. Ritter threatens to ruin Quinn, go to his wife, go to the press. Quinn hits her in a rage. One moment of passion, one dead woman. But that isn't what we have here. Marie Ritter was raped and systematically tortured. My gut tells me that Quinn couldn't kill her like that."
"So you think that the judge is concealing information about the murder because he's being blackmailed?"
"That's the only way I can explain the way the judge has been acting. Quinn definitely saw those pictures before we showed them to him at the Heathman. He almost peed his pants when he saw them, but he didn't ask a single question about where they came from or how we got them. And why else would he be playing detective in Seattle? I think he's trying to figure out who killed Ritter himself."
Dennis thought about what Anthony had just said. His brow furrowed. Then Dennis shot up in his seat.
"Hot damn. If someone did use those pictures to blackmail Quinn it might be our lucky break."
"I don't follow you."
"If Junior was the blackmailer he would have ordered Quinn to fix the case so that Crease would be convicted."
Anthony frowned. "Quinn rigged the case for Crease."
"Right."
"That puts us back to square one again with Crease as the main suspect."
"Not necessarily. I've been checking on Quinn. Everybody says that the man's a saint, and I mean everybody. Real high principles. Look at the way he sent that Eugene judge to jail. Everyone was betting that he'd give him probation. It's possible that the blackmailer ordered Quinn to make certain that Crease was convicted and Quinn just couldn't do it."
"So where does that leave us?"
"I think the key to identifying the blackmailer is finding out what Quinn was told to do, not what he really did. And to do that, we've got to ask the judge."
[2]
On Saturday morning, Quinn and Laura slept until nine-thirty. They decided to visit Frank Price at the hospital. After that Quinn would go to the courthouse. He had put his decision to resign on hold, but he still had to prepare the memos on his cases so he could take time off.
Quinn was washing the breakfast dishes when the doorbell rang. Laura looked up from the paper when her husband walked to the door. Quinn peered through the peephole. Lou Anthony and Leroy Dennis were standing on the welcome mat.
"Good morning, Judge," Dennis said. "May we come in?"
"What's this about?" Quinn asked warily.
Dennis glanced at Laura. He looked uncomfortable.
"Maybe we should talk in private, Judge."
"I have nothing to hide from my wife."
Dennis hesitated. "Some of the questions we're going to ask . . . The subjects are delicate."
"I repeat. I have nothing to hide from my wife."
Quinn led the detectives into the living room.
"What do you want to know?" he asked when they were all seated.
"Denise Ritter called me this morning and told me about your trip to Seattle," Anthony said. "What were you doing up there?"
"She called me. She said that she wanted to talk to me about her sister."
"So you hop a jet and fly to Seattle?"
Quinn did not respond.
"Why didn't you tell me that Andrea Chapman and Claire Reston were the same person when we were at the crime scene?"
"I only suspected that the two women were the same when I saw the dead woman at the hotel. I wasn't certain. I was pretty upset."
"I remember," Dennis said, "and I can't believe that you want the person who tortured Marie Ritter to death to get away with it."
"I don't."
"That's not the way you're acting," Dennis said.
"We think that you have information that will help us identify Marie Ritter's killer," Anthony told Quinn.
"We're counting on your decency, Judge," Dennis said. "We're counting on you coming through for us."
"What is this information that you believe I have?"
"I'm gonna put my cards on the table," Anthony told Quinn. "We have evidence that points to a suspect other than Senator Crease. You know who I'm talking about. Denise Ritter told you that her sister had a customer from Oregon who was an undertaker. If Lamar Hoyt, Jr., is the customer, he becomes suspect number one.
"Now we come to you, Judge. I've been on the losing side of motions before. Hell, everyone screws up. But no judge has ever accused me of intentionally lying under oath. When I calmed down I asked myself why you did what you did. It was a mystery, until we found those pictures of you and Ritter. Then everything fell into place."
"Lou and I are certain that you were blackmailed to fix Ellen Crease's case," Dennis said, feeling vindicated by the swift shift of emotions on Quinn's face. "What we need to know is whether the blackmailer wanted you to acquit Crease or convict her. We figure that Junior would have asked you to make certain that Crease was convicted. If Senator Crease was blackmailing you, she would want you to fix the case so that she couldn't be convicted."
"So there it is, Judge," Anthony told Quinn. "If you tell us that the blackmailer wanted you to convict Ellen Crease, we'll concentrate on Lamar Hoyt, Jr. If you tell us that you were ordered to acquit Crease, we'll go to the D. A. with that."
"And you'll ask Cedric Riker to move to set aside Dick's order on the grounds that it was obtained by fraud," Laura told Anthony.
"Yes, ma'am," he answered without hesitation. "We'd have to."
"That would expose my husband to disbarment, criminal charges and disgrace."
"There is no way around that."
"Of course," Dennis said quickly, "we could work out something with the criminal charges."
"Like the Eugene Police did with Frederick Gideon?" Laura said.
Dennis blinked.
"Detectives," Laura said, "my husband won't answer any more of your questions without consulting an attorney."
Dennis and Anthony sagged.
"Laura," Quinn started.
"Listen to me on this, Dick."
Quinn wanted to talk to the detectives, but he realized that Laura was right.
"I appreciate the way you've handled this case and the consideration you've shown me," Quinn told the detectives. "I'm not ruling out our talking further. But you know how serious a decision this is for me."
"I know that, Judge," Dennis agreed.
"Just give me some time to think."