Ed's friendly but puzzled smile faltered for a moment. The narrow appraising replaced it. "Gosh, what did I do? Can you help me figure it out?"
Ralph glanced at McGovern, and the relief he saw in Bill's eyes mirrored what he was feeling himself. Leydecker was maybe not such a hick after all.
"What in God's name would I want an attorney for?" Ed asked.
He made a half-turn and tried the puzzled smile out on Chris Nell, who was still standing beside the boombox on the porch.
"I don't know, and maybe you don't," Leydecker said, still smiling. "I'm just telling you that you can have one. And that if you can't afford one, the City of Derry will provide you with one."
"But I don't-" Leydecker was nodding and smiling. "That's okay, sure, whatever.
But those are your rights. Do you understand your rights as I've explained them to you, Mr. Deepneau?"
Ed stood stock-still for a moment, his eyes suddenly wide and blank again. To Ralph he looked like a human computer trying to process a huge and complicated wad of input. Then the fact that the snow-job wasn't working seemed to get through to him. His shoulders sagged. The blankness was replaced by a look of unhappiness too real to doubt... but Ralph doubted it, anyway. He had to doubt it; he had seen the madness on Ed's face before Leydecker and Nell arrived. So had Bill McGovern. Yet doubt was not quite the same as disbelief, and Ralph had an idea that on some level Ed honestly regretted beating Helen up.
Yes, he thought, just as on some level he honestly believes that these Centurions of his are driving truckloads of fetuses out to the Newport landfill And that the forces of good and evil are gathering in Derry to play out some drama that's going on in his mind. Call it Omen V: In the Court of the Crimson King.
Still, he could not help feeling a reluctant sympathy for Ed Deepneau, who had visited Carolyn faithfully three times a week during her final confinement at Derry Home, who always brought flowers, and always kissed her on the cheek when he left. He had continued giving her that kiss even when the smell of death had begun to surround her, and Carolyn had never failed to clasp his hand and give him a smile of gratitude. Thank you for remembering that I'm still a human being, that smile had said. And thank you for treating me like one. That was the Ed Ralph had thought of as his friend, and he thought-or maybe only hoped-that that Ed was still in there.
"I'm in trouble here, aren't I?" he asked Leydecker softly.
"Well, let's see," Leydecker said, still smiling. "You knocked out two of your wife's teeth. Looks like you fractured her cheekbone. I'd bet you my grandfather's watch she's got a concussion. Plus selected short subjects-cuts bruises, and this funny bare patch over her right temple. What'd you try to do? Snatch her bald-headed?"
Ed was silent, his green eyes fixed on Leydecker's face.
"She's going to spend the night in the hospital under observation because some asshole pounded the hell out of her, and everybody seems in agreement that the asshole was you, Mr. Deepneau. I look at the blood on your hands and the blood on your glasses, and I got to say I also think it was probably you. So what do you think? You look like a bright guy. Do you think you're in trouble?"
"I'm very sorry I hit her," Ed said. "I didn't mean to."
"Uh-huh, and if I had a quarter for every time I've heard that, I'd never have to buy another drink out of my paycheck. I'm arresting you on a charge of second-degree assault, Mr. Deepneau, also known as domestic assault. This charge falls under Maine's Domestic violence law. I'd like you to confirm once more that I've informed you of your rights."
"Yes." Ed spoke in a small, unhappy voice. The smile-puzzled or otherwise-was gone. "Yes, you did."
"We're going to take you down to the Police station and book you," Leydecker said. "Following that, you can make a telephone call and arrange bail. Chris, put him in the car, would you?"
Nell approached Ed. "Are you going to be a problem, Mr. Deepneau?"
"No," Ed said in that same small voice, and Ralph saw a tear slip from Ed's right eye. He wiped it away absently with the heel of his hand. "No problem."