Austin, Texas

12 March 1967

"We've been over this. He took advantage of her and I made sure he knew he wasn't to continue doing that. He left this cabin alone and I didn't see him after that. I have several witnesses to both sides of my night."

Frustrated, Bobby repeated the same thing he'd been saying since they'd started the interview.

Things had gone from bad to worse in the hours since Sam had delivered the bad news, the sheriff and swarm of officers gathering from onsite interviews that he was someone they needed to talk to, despite him knowing nothing about Alex's actions after leaving the bedroom in the cabin.

"We'd like to focus on the assault."

"It was hardly assault."

Thinking back, he knew he'd been in no state to fight, nor had Alex, so they hadn't. He'd pulled him out of bed and hit him, that much was true, but they hadn't been in a brawl and Alex had left very quickly after he'd arrived.

"That's not for you to decide."

"He drowned. I wasn't responsible for that."

"Let's go over this again."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Sue Ellen's statement was entirely true. She hadn't wanted to talk about it with her sorority sisters earlier and had even less desire to go over the evening with the detective. She didn't have a good recollection of the previous night but what she did recall wasn't pleasant and wasn't something she ever wanted to think about again.

"We need to understand what might have happened."

"You said he drowned. I wasn't there. It's not my fault."

Alex was gone. She'd wished never to see him again and she'd been granted that wish in the most permanent way. She'd like to move on, to forget the entire thing, but that wasn't so easily done it seemed.

"We're not saying it is. What we're trying to establish is why he was at the lake when witness accounts have him returning to the cabin with you and whether he died before or after entering the water."

"How can I help with that? Witness accounts also have me in the cabin all night and most of the morning."

"Yes."

"So, what do you need to understand?"

"Why he left."

Feeling like she was going to be sick, she didn't want to answer the question. Her answer would clear her but it would also open her up to more questions, questions she didn't want to answer.

"Did Martha tell you? Or Bobby?"

"We have their statements, we can't discuss those here."

It sounded to her like they knew exactly what had happened, that Alex had only left because Bobby had forcibly removed him, so she didn't need to explain it.

"Am I under arrest?"

"No."

"Then I can go?"

"If you wish."

"I do."

Shaking, she stood and walked out into the hallway, heading straight for the bathroom.

Unable to keep her emotional and physical distress down any longer, she didn't even get a chance to lock the cubicle door behind her before everything she felt over the last twenty-four hours came up.

There had been a scuffle, he couldn't deny that. What he could and did deny was any further wrongdoing. He'd been defending Sue Ellen from a worse crime than what he'd done but they didn't seem to want to focus on that.

All he had to defend himself was his recollection of events however, he'd given them that over and over and they still weren't satisfied.

He was lucky to be alive and lucky to be a Ewing, receiving guidance from a lawyer his daddy had sent just a little while ago, but still, he wasn't free and that was difficult to reconcile.

Looking away, not wanting to see it, she didn't have the luxury of not feeling the needle prick. What she did have the luxury of was life and freedom. Alex was dead and couldn't come back to hurt her anymore. It wasn't all over though, she couldn't move forward until Bobby was free. She barely knew him, but he had helped her when she'd needed it and now he needed help, so she felt she should return the favour.

"They're asking you to have a blood test."

"Why?"

"I don't have the information they do but my guess would be they want to compare the level of drugs in your blood to his."

"Drugs? I don't take drugs."

"I was referring to the pill you said Alex offered to you and then took himself, the same type you said both Bobby and Martha are sure he put in your drink."

"Oh."

"Should I do it?"

"That's for you to decide."

Paula had stayed away from swaying her decision one way or another, leaving her uncertain for several hours, until she'd heard Bobby was still detained, then she'd made up her mind. Locking herself away in her room since returning to campus, the papers delivered to the sorority house had been the first reminder that things weren't going away just because she ignored them, the second had been a visit from a lawyer who had been hired by the Ewing family to defend Bobby.

"Ewing?"

Opening the door to the room he was being held in, the guard gave him the best news he'd heard in days.

"You're free to go."

"Thank you."

Walking out into the public area, he found his father, Martha, and his Austin based lawyer waiting for him.

"They said I'm free to go. What happened?"

"Two things. Russ and Julia recall Alex tapping on their car window after the reports of him leaving the cabin, and Sue Ellen tested positive for traces of the medication Alex also had in his system. They assume he ingested more than one pill, which mixed with alcohol can be fatal. They found a container of medication in his jacket pocket and it's prescription, anyone can get them, they're not meant to be used the way he was though. No one will ever know the exact order of what happened after he left the bedroom but it appears Alex went from the cabin to the campfire and down to the lake, and he never returned."

Listening to Martha, he immediately felt a weight lifted from his shoulders.

"They ruled his death an accident?"

"I suppose so. You're free to go and they're not seeking anyone else."

Nodding, he didn't make any further comment. None of the three people present believed he'd done anything wrong and there was no need to defend himself anymore.

"How's Sue Ellen?"

"Relieved."

Quite relieved himself, this time he felt he entirely understood her. He'd never be able to completely feel the pain she had on Friday night, but he had a fair idea of how scared she must have been when Alex's last movements were under investigation.