Death of A High Maintenance Blonde (Jubilant Falls Series Book 5) by Debra Gaskill
Authors: Debra Gaskill
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together this weekend. Earlene told me they argued that night and I stupidly told Gary.” Addison continued. “Police also have Earlene’s fingerprints on the steering wheel of Eve’s Lincoln. Graham and Pat will be covering her arraignment this morning.”
“What happens next?” Dennis asked. “Who’s acting as publisher while she’s in jail?”
“I don’t know. Watt could come in while Earlene is in jail, but that’s just conjecture on my part. He asked me to go downstairs and round up the rest of the staff and make the announcement to them. But before I do, here are the ground rules: Nobody is to speak to any other media about this case. Only Watt or Earlene’s lawyer are authorized to say anything about the case. We can’t tolerate any speculation or anybody’s comments showing up anyplace, not in another newspaper, not on somebody’s B roll on the six o’clock news. I don’t want the prosecutor or anybody’s lawyer screaming about us poisoning the jury pool or having either Earlene or her father coming in here pissed about something someone on the staff said. Am I clear?”
“Do you think that will be a problem?” Marcus Henning asked.
“I’ll bet you a dollar to a donut that every one of you will be approached by some out-of-town media. This will be huge news when it hits and we’re going to be in the center of it. You all keep your mouths shut. ”
We all nodded somberly.
“We need to keep going, just like any other day. We keep doing a good job covering the news. And this story gets covered like any other—fair and impartially and without any kind of editorial commentary, however innocuous you may think it is. Graham, I need you to stay on anything that happens in court on this. I have a few things I need to look into on this story, so while I’m not here, Dennis is in charge, as always. Charisma, I’ll still need you to keep covering the night police calls. Marcus, you continue on as usual.”
“You want me to keep going on those unsolved murders we talked about last week?” I asked.
“Absolutely. Where are you on that?”
“I’m interviewing the old fire chief, Hiram Warder, this afternoon on the first murder. There’s also an old house that looks like it could have been there at the time of the murder. I’m going to see if anybody who lives there remembers anything. I should be able to have it for you for tomorrow’s edition.”
Addison nodded. “You’ve got the fire story, I’ve got the Eve Dahlgren murder and what else do we have for page one?” She looked pointedly at Graham.
“I have that story on the Jessop woman who sued the county commissioners,” he said. “The suit was thrown out after the jury couldn’t agree if the commissioners terminated her unfairly or not. I wrote it after I got home last night and then e-mailed it to myself here at work, so it’s done.”
She nodded tersely. “OK. I’m going to head downstairs now and talk to the other staff. Let’s do this, people. We got a newspaper to put out.”
Everyone returned to the newsroom to begin building today’s edition. Addison, looking somber and with her coffee in hand, headed downstairs toward the advertising and business offices. The newspaper didn’t open until nine—nearly an hour from now—so Addison had time to break the news before the public came through the door. Graham, with Pat Robinette behind him, en route to the courthouse and Earlene’s arraignment, followed behind her.
I sat down at my desk and turned on the computer. It came to life at the same time Marcus and Dennis’s computers did, the three of them chiming in a disembodied electronic chorus.
I didn’t have a whole lot to do that morning, just check in with the fire chief to see if they had a total on the damages, then check in with the Red Cross on where the former guests were housed and add that to my story.
But I was nowhere close to making that phone call.
I couldn’t have Dr. Huffinger following me
“What happens next?” Dennis asked. “Who’s acting as publisher while she’s in jail?”
“I don’t know. Watt could come in while Earlene is in jail, but that’s just conjecture on my part. He asked me to go downstairs and round up the rest of the staff and make the announcement to them. But before I do, here are the ground rules: Nobody is to speak to any other media about this case. Only Watt or Earlene’s lawyer are authorized to say anything about the case. We can’t tolerate any speculation or anybody’s comments showing up anyplace, not in another newspaper, not on somebody’s B roll on the six o’clock news. I don’t want the prosecutor or anybody’s lawyer screaming about us poisoning the jury pool or having either Earlene or her father coming in here pissed about something someone on the staff said. Am I clear?”
“Do you think that will be a problem?” Marcus Henning asked.
“I’ll bet you a dollar to a donut that every one of you will be approached by some out-of-town media. This will be huge news when it hits and we’re going to be in the center of it. You all keep your mouths shut. ”
We all nodded somberly.
“We need to keep going, just like any other day. We keep doing a good job covering the news. And this story gets covered like any other—fair and impartially and without any kind of editorial commentary, however innocuous you may think it is. Graham, I need you to stay on anything that happens in court on this. I have a few things I need to look into on this story, so while I’m not here, Dennis is in charge, as always. Charisma, I’ll still need you to keep covering the night police calls. Marcus, you continue on as usual.”
“You want me to keep going on those unsolved murders we talked about last week?” I asked.
“Absolutely. Where are you on that?”
“I’m interviewing the old fire chief, Hiram Warder, this afternoon on the first murder. There’s also an old house that looks like it could have been there at the time of the murder. I’m going to see if anybody who lives there remembers anything. I should be able to have it for you for tomorrow’s edition.”
Addison nodded. “You’ve got the fire story, I’ve got the Eve Dahlgren murder and what else do we have for page one?” She looked pointedly at Graham.
“I have that story on the Jessop woman who sued the county commissioners,” he said. “The suit was thrown out after the jury couldn’t agree if the commissioners terminated her unfairly or not. I wrote it after I got home last night and then e-mailed it to myself here at work, so it’s done.”
She nodded tersely. “OK. I’m going to head downstairs now and talk to the other staff. Let’s do this, people. We got a newspaper to put out.”
Everyone returned to the newsroom to begin building today’s edition. Addison, looking somber and with her coffee in hand, headed downstairs toward the advertising and business offices. The newspaper didn’t open until nine—nearly an hour from now—so Addison had time to break the news before the public came through the door. Graham, with Pat Robinette behind him, en route to the courthouse and Earlene’s arraignment, followed behind her.
I sat down at my desk and turned on the computer. It came to life at the same time Marcus and Dennis’s computers did, the three of them chiming in a disembodied electronic chorus.
I didn’t have a whole lot to do that morning, just check in with the fire chief to see if they had a total on the damages, then check in with the Red Cross on where the former guests were housed and add that to my story.
But I was nowhere close to making that phone call.
I couldn’t have Dr. Huffinger following me
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