Capitol murder

Chapter Fifteen

Millie slept in fits and starts the night before the hearing on the motions in Clarence’s case. She was up before her alarm went off, exhausted, her stomach in knots. All she could handle for breakfast was tea and toast, but moments after she ate, she rushed into the bathroom, bent over the toilet bowl, and threw up. When she tried to straighten up, she felt light-headed and had to sit on the floor, paralyzed by fear.

Millie squeezed her eyes shut and imagined what Clarence would say if he were sitting beside her on the cold bathroom tiles. He would tell her that there was nothing to worry about, that their plan could not fail. But was it foolproof? Would she bring him down? She had no confidence that she could carry out her part of the plan. She was certain that she would blunder and the plot would unravel.

If Clarence were with her, he would whisper, “Have faith,” in that self-assured way that made Millie believe she could do anything when she was with him. But she wasn’t with him now, and she was terrified that she would be caught, disbarred, disgraced, and sent to prison.

Millie’s head fell into her hands. She took deep breaths, but they didn’t help. She couldn’t do it. She was too frightened.

Then she thought about what would happen to Clarence if her fear caused her to abandon him. He would die. It was that simple. Her cowardice would kill him. Clarence had explained how the state had stacked the cards against him. He had convinced her that no matter how brilliant she was in court, he would be convicted and sentenced to death. If she didn’t execute their plan, the man she loved would die, and it would be her fault.

Millie struggled to her feet and staggered to the sink. She rinsed her mouth and splashed cold water on her face. Then she straightened up, squared her shoulders, and took slow, deep breaths. When her composure returned, Millie went into the bedroom and dressed for court. Then she put the thick, older model cell phone she had found in a pawn shop in her purse. Last night, she had taken out the phone’s innards and replaced them. If she could get the cell phone past the metal detector at the courthouse, Clarence would go free, and they would spend the rest of their lives together. If she failed, her life as she knew it would be over.

C larence had instructed Millie to park on the street as close to the courthouse as possible. After she parked, Millie drew a detailed map of the car’s location and wrote a description of her car, including its license plate number, for Clarence had never seen it.

The Multnomah County Courthouse had been the largest courthouse on the West Coast when it was completed in 1914, and the eight-story concrete building took up an entire block in downtown Portland between Southwest Main and Salmon and Southwest Fourth and Fifth avenues. As Millie drew closer to the courthouse, she paused to see if there were any reporters waiting in ambush. She spotted vans from several local television stations, but none of the faces that had become familiar to her since the reversal in Clarence’s case had made her famous. She assumed that the reporters would be waiting outside the courtroom.

Millie entered the courthouse and stood in the shorter security line reserved for attorneys, court personnel, judges, and police officers. As she inched toward the metal detector, doubts assailed her again. She was weak-kneed and light-headed when she finally got to the head of the line. A stack of plastic trays stood on a table in front of the metal detector. Millie took her keys, her change, and the cell phone out of her attache case, put them in the tray, and passed the tray around the metal detector to a guard. Then she took off her coat and put it and the attache on the conveyor belt. The guard barely looked at the contents of the tray because her attention was focused on Millie as she walked through the metal detector. Millie went through without setting off the alarm. Then she put on her coat, put the cell phone, change, and keys back in her briefcase, and walked up the stairs at a natural pace, even though she wanted to run.

When Millie reached the second floor, she found the ladies’ room. As soon as she locked herself in a stall, she started to shake. She bent forward and rested her elbows on her thighs. It took an effort to keep from crying with relief, but she didn’t want to ruin her makeup. She knew Clarence would be so proud of her. She’d done it. She had gotten through security.

When Millie regained her composure, she took the cell phone out of her purse and smacked the casing against the side of the toilet until it cracked. Inside the hollowed-out cell phone was a gun. When Clarence told her about it, Millie had trouble believing it existed, but it did: a. 22 Magnum Mini-Revolver that held five bullets but was so small that it fit in her hand and looked like a toy.

Millie slid the revolver inside the crotch of her panties and rearranged her clothing. When she stood up, the metal felt odd and cool against her skin. Millie left the stall. No one else was in the restroom. She took a few steps to get used to walking with the gun in her underwear. When she was comfortable, Millie left the ladies’ room and walked down to the ground floor and around to the back of the courthouse to an alcove near the door that opened onto Fifth Avenue. Inside the alcove was an elevator that went up to the courthouse jail where prisoners with court appearances were held.

Millie checked her watch. Clarence’s court appearance was scheduled for 9:00. At 8:30 Millie pressed a button on the intercom attached to the wall. A disembodied voice asked her business, and she told the jailer she was Clarence Little’s attorney. Moments later, the elevator took her up to the jail. She waited in a narrow hall for a guard to escort her into a room similar to the noncontact visiting room at the prison. Glass separated her from Clarence. At Clarence’s insistence, Millie had gotten a judge to order that Clarence be allowed to wear a suit and tie to court appearances.

“You look more like a lawyer than I do,” Millie joked to ease the tension that threatened to paralyze her.

Clarence smiled. “And you look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Millie answered nervously.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes.”

As they spoke, Millie hiked up her dress. She took the miniature gun out of her panties and palmed it.

Millie and Clarence engaged in small talk while they anxiously waited for a jailer to end the meeting so Clarence could be escorted to court. Millie felt faint when the jailer unlocked the door behind Clarence and led him out. She opened her door and waited. Two guards handcuffed Clarence and walked him to the elevator. They made no objection when Millie asked to ride down to the fifth floor with her client. The elevator door opened and Clarence stepped to the rear. Millie pressed against him and passed him the gun. One guard stood facing the door. The other stood next to Clarence but slightly in front of him. As soon as the elevator door closed, Clarence raised his hands and shot the nearest guard in the back of the head.

The tiny gun made a popping sound that would not have attracted much attention in a large room but sounded hard and horribly loud in the confined space. Millie gasped as the jailer slid down the wall. The other guard turned. Clarence pressed the gun between his eyes and squeezed the trigger. There was no room to fall and the guard lurched against Millie. She screamed.

“What have you done?” Millie asked.

“The key,” Clarence commanded. “Quick, Millie. We only have a few moments.”

Millie had seen the guard put the handcuff keys in his front pocket after he handcuffed Clarence. The guard was pressed against her. She fought back a strong urge to throw up as she groped in his pocket. Blood was flowing from the wound between his eyes and she had to contort her body to keep it from getting on her dress.

“Good girl,” Clarence said when Millie unlocked his cuffs. The elevator shuddered to a stop on the fifth floor. Clarence found the button that kept the elevator door shut and jammed it in. Millie stared at the dead men.

“You said no one would get hurt,” she said, her voice breaking.

“It was us or them, Millie, and I chose us. It was the only way we could be together. Now we have to move fast. Where is your car?”

Millie was horrified by what she’d just seen, and she didn’t trust herself to speak. So she took the map with the location and the license plate number out of her attache case and held it out to Clarence with a trembling hand.

“Did you put my change of clothes in the trunk?” Clarence asked. Millie nodded.

“Give me your car keys.”

Millie handed Clarence the keys, and he put the keys and the gun in his pocket. He looked sad. “Here comes the hard part. Come to me.”

Millie turned her back to Clarence. She was shaking.

“We’ll be together soon,” he said.

“Will it hurt?”

“No, dearest. I’ll be gentle. It will be quick, and you’ll just pass out. I have to do this so they don’t suspect you helped me.”

Millie closed her eyes and felt Clarence’s arm encircle her throat. She was frightened. Then Clarence kissed her ear and said, “I love you, Millie.”

She tried to smile, but she was too tense. Then she remembered that they were going to be together forever. She imagined palm trees, a warm, gentle breeze, a pearl white beach, and a sea so blue that the scene looked like a picture postcard. Then the choke hold tightened and she panicked.

Millie tried to speak but her larynx was being crushed. She clawed at her true love’s arms, but the hold didn’t ease. Fear flashed through her. Have I made a terrible mistake? Millie thought, moments before she died.