Twenty-Five
Helen said nothing after I finished telling her the story. After a few minutes she said she had better start getting back to Myerton. We walked the path from the grotto to her car in silence.
At her car Helen said, “You do know I could charge you with making a false statement to police?”
“I know you could.”
“Why didn’t you just tell the truth at the time? Pride?”
“Pride, guilt, some combination. I didn’t want people to know how I failed her.”
“Well your male ego made things that much harder,” she said. “You’ll have to make a formal statement revising your original statement.”
“I know.”
“And I’ll have to mention this to the State’s Attorney, but,” she said, “I’ll go to bat for you. I’ll make the point you’ve suffered enough and in the end it probably didn’t affect the
