Burden of Truth (Cass Leary Legal Thriller Series Book 1)

by Robin James

  Jack nodded. Castor sat back in his seat, crossing his legs. I think he was enjoying the show a little.

  “We’ve got ’em,” Jack said. “I woke the computer forensics guys in the middle of the night. I’m willing to stipulate only to the fact that Hyde got an incoming call from his wife at exactly 10:49 p.m. on June 22nd. It lasted three minutes.”

  “Let me guess,” I said. “It pinged the tower near Shamrock Park too.”

  Jack slowly closed his eyes and sighed. “Yeah.”

  “I want a directed verdict,” I said. “When did Bowman come to you?” My mind raced. Wray knew. It’s what they were fighting about outside of Mickey’s last night. He kept saying something about Bowman needing to do the right thing.

  “Now hold on,” Judge Castor said. “This trial isn’t over yet. I can reopen proofs. Jack puts the guy on. It’s unusual, but it’s not unprecedented.”

  “No way,” I said. “With all due respect, Your Honor. Let me put him on. Jack can cross. If this had been disclosed to me in the proper course, Benny would be my witness. I want him.”

  Castor raised a brow and looked at Jack. Jack nodded. “Fine.”

  But I still had a gut feeling something else was going on. I acted on it. “Jack? What else aren’t you telling me?”

  “Look,” he said. “When this is all over, I want Bowman’s badge. You can believe what you want, but I’m telling you, I didn’t know about Hyde or the tape. Bowman called me at two in the morning. He was drunk off his ass and he got into some kind of bar fight. I don’t know, I guess his conscience got to him. He says he just forgot about Hyde.”

  “What tape?” I asked.

  Jack sighed. “He went into the office. He dug up Hyde’s statement from his notes.”

  “Why weren’t those notes part of what you turned over to me in discovery?” I asked.

  “Because I didn’t have them. I told you. This was Bowman’s fuck-up. Not mine. He found some security footage from Beanie’s Coffee Shop. He overlooked it. It was mislabeled on the property room shelf. He found it when he was looking for the rest of his notes. As much as you might want to go after him—and believe me, there will be a disciplinary investigation—this is worse for you. Your client was there at Beanie’s on the 22nd. It shows her walking in at 11:03, ordering a latte, then sitting in a booth drinking it until 11:42.”

  My world turned upside down as I tried to process what he was saying. “You’re telling me Bowman just happened to find this security footage last night?”

  “Yeah,” Jack said. He turned a mottled shade of green and put his head down, almost in a crash position.

  “Jack,” Castor started. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  “So let me get this straight,” I said. “You have access to evidence that your murder victim was alive in the park twenty minutes after my client testified she left. And he was on the swing just like she said he was. That information was never disclosed to the press. Not even after Aubrey’s testimony. Nobody has it. There’s no way Hyde could have pulled that out of thin air. He saw it, Jack. It happened. I don’t care how drunk he was. And then, you have evidence that Aubrey was at Beanie’s at 11:03. Beanie’s is on the other side of town. Even in no traffic, it’s going to take somebody twenty minutes to get there. She has an alibi, Jack. You drop these charges, never mind directed verdict.”

  Jack glared at me. “She killed that man. She confessed to it. You keep wanting to forget about that. And she had plenty of time to go back to that park and do what she said she did. The body wasn’t discovered for almost an hour after she left that coffee shop.”

  I put my hands on the top of my head, afraid it might pop off. “Your Honor,” I started.

  He put a hand up to silence me. “I think our positions are clear here. You can make your motion on the record. I’ll hear argument. But I’ll tell you right now, as much as this stinks to high heaven, we’re still dealing with fact questions, not legal ones. The jury is free to interpret all of this when they deliberate. I can’t direct a verdict. You’re dealing with the credibility of a potential eyewitness. You’re dealing with a timeline issue.”

  “It’s more than that,” I said. “I should be able to present testimony about how long it would even take for my client to drive from Beanie’s back to that park. It’s not plausible.”

  “Your Honor,” Jack said. “I’ve gotta live with Bowman’s screw-up. But regardless of any footage, Aubrey Ames never said she was at Beanie’s that night. Why is that? I’ll argue it’s because she knew damn well it left her enough time to go back to that park. It makes sense that she would have. She left her phone. I say that’s exactly what happened. She’s been lying to you, Cass. She went back looking for it and found Coach D still there. This is a mess. But it’s still a murder. We aren’t backing down from that.”

  I felt ready to murder someone myself. I just didn’t know who. Jack? Tim Bowman? Or Aubrey? Jack was right about one thing. She had never once told me she’d gone to Beanie’s.

  “All right,” Castor said. “We’ve got a plan here. We will reopen the evidence so Cass can call Benny Hyde to the stand. Please tell me he’s here and ready to testify.”

  “He is,” Jack said.

  “Fine. You’re going to stipulate to the cell phone evidence for Hyde. And you’re going to stipulate to entry of the coffee shop footage.”

  “Your Honor, we …” Castor’s blistering glare stopped Jack cold. “Yes. We’ll stipulate to the authenticity of the Beanie’s tape. I have a statement from Bud Cross, the owner. He handed it over to the police the week after the murder. It was reviewed then. Bowman swore there was nothing on it. He logged it. It was part of the report you did get.”

  “Bowman swore,” I muttered.

  “All right, then,” Castor said, rising. He grabbed his robe from a coat rack behind him. “Let’s get out there. I don’t want to keep the jury waiting any longer.”

  Jack rose and turned to me. He opened his mouth to say something. Maybe it was an apology. More than likely, this was a bad cop’s screw-up, not his. I wasn’t yet in a place where I could be magnanimous.

  I turned on my heel and went back into the hallway. The stunned look on Jeanie’s face told me she’d already heard the bombshell from Hyde and Bowman. She was at my side as I stormed into the courtroom, ready to pick up my sword.

  There wasn’t time to clue Aubrey in. Judge Castor took the bench and I called Benny Hyde to the stand.

  Benny was terrified, but he spoke clearly into the microphone. Once we’d gotten through the preamble, I went straight to the heart of the matter.

  “Mr. Hyde, how can you be so sure it was Coach D you saw in the park that night?”

  Benny cleared his throat. “I wasn’t at first. It was just weird to me to see a grown ass … er … sorry, ma’am … a grown man on the swings at that time of night. So I went up to him. I been to a lot of those basketball games. It’s one of the only interesting things to do in this town in the winter. I played for Delphi back in the day, you know. I mean, before that coach came in. I wasn’t very good … but …”

  “Mr. Hyde,” I said, trying to get him back on track. “You’re sure it was Larry Drazdowski you saw on the swings that night?”

  “Yes, ma’am. He was wearing one of those Fighting Shamrock t-shirts. Always thought that was such a dumb phrase. Shamrocks don’t fight. They’re weeds mostly. Anyways, I called out ‘Hey, Coach D’ and he looked up at me and said hello. Well, I went over there and started to strike up a conversation. He was kind of rude. Y’know. Like he was too good for me or something. But, I mean, he was the one on the swings. I was going to say something about that. But that’s when my phone rang. I would have ignored it, but it was my Dottie’s ringer.”

  “What time did you receive that call?” I asked.

  “Ten forty-nine,” he answered.

  I moved for entry of the phone records confirming it. Jack, of course, didn’t object.

  “Then what happened,
Mr. Hyde?” I asked.

  “Well, Dottie was pretty steamed. I was supposed to be home for dinner. Didn’t make it. Anyway, she was hollering pretty loud and I walked away so the coach wouldn’t hear it. I was only on the phone for a minute or two, but I walked toward the front of the park and kept on going. That’s the last I saw of that guy until the news the next day that said he was dead.”

  “Mr. Hyde,” I said. “Did you ever tell anyone about what you saw that night?”

  “Sure did.” Benny puffed out his chest. “Like I said, it was on the news the next day and they had that crime stoppers number asking for information. So I called it. They put me through to that fat detective. Bowman. I told him what I saw.”

  “And what did Detective Bowman do with that information?” I asked.

  “Well, he was rude as fu… uh …he wasn’t real nice about it. Kind of blew me off. Especially when I told him my name.”

  “And you never heard from Detective Bowman or the police again regarding Larry Drazdowski and what you saw that night?”

  “No, ma’am,” he said. “Not until last night. Bowman called me up out of the blue. Well, he was real interested in talking to me then. Then this here Mr. LaForge called. He brought this nice suit over to the house this morning and drove me in so I could talk to you all.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Hyde,” I said. “I have nothing further.”

  Jack’s cross was quick. “Mr. Hyde,” he said. “How much alcohol had you consumed on the night of the 22nd?”

  Benny shifted in his seat. “I had some.”

  “Can you be more specific? Beer? Liquor? Wine?”

  “I had a few beers earlier in the day. Maybe three or four. Then I went to the liquor store. I bought a pint of bourbon.”

  “Did you drink the whole pint?” Jack asked.

  Benny looked at his shoes. “Yeah. I did. I knew Dottie was going to be mad so I went to the park to try and sleep it off before I went home.”

  “I see. One more question, Mr. Hyde. Are you drunk now?”

  “I had a few,” he said.

  “Thank you, I have nothing further,” Jack said.

  I rose. “Mr. Hyde? Have you told the truth as you remember it here today?”

  “Yes, ma’am. You can say what you want about me. But Benny Hyde never lies.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “The witness may step down,” Judge Castor said.

  There was one thing left to do. Bowman took the stand. The members of the jury sat still as statues as I asked him about Benny’s testimony.

  “It was a mistake,” he said. “An oversight. That’s all.”

  Then I moved to introduce the videotape of Aubrey at Beanie’s on the night of the 22nd. I hadn’t yet had a chance to even talk to her about it. Jeanie had done her best to whisper and pass notes to her and her family while I was questioning Benny Hyde. I couldn’t read Aubrey as the tape played and the jury gasped. The time counter on the grainy security footage ticked by. Aubrey sat alone in a yellow booth at the back of the store. She wore her Dewar’s t-shirt and jeans like she did every night she worked. She sipped from a Styrofoam cup as the minutes passed. Finally, at 11:03, she put a bill on the table and walked to the front exit.

  “Counsel,” Castor said. “Is there anything you’d like to add to your closing statement?”

  The less-is-more lesson had never been this poignant. Jack scribbled furious notes. I didn’t need any for what I was about to do. I walked to the lectern and faced the jury. This was not the closing argument I had planned for. As much as my own adrenaline raced, I knew the jury’s did too. They were shocked by the eleventh-hour developments and still trying to process them. A few of them had held scorn in their expressions as Tim Bowman retook the stand. I would use their shock as a weapon. The sooner I got this case to them, the better.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” I said rising. “That tape speaks for itself. Aubrey Ames has an alibi. She has told you the truth. No one but the police and now the people in the courtroom knew Aubrey said Coach D was on the swings when she left. Benny Hyde isn’t perfect, but he’s telling you the truth. I ask that you now render the only just verdict in this case. Aubrey Ames is not guilty.”

  Chapter 44

  Judge Castor gave Jack LaForge fifteen minutes for a rebuttal closing. He only took two. “You cannot be swayed by defense counsel’s theatrics. You cannot be swayed by your own emotions. You must review the facts alone. Even if Aubrey Ames left that park at 10:30 as she claimed and went to Beanie’s as she has not claimed, it makes sense that she would have returned to the park and murdered Larry Drazdowski. She admitted as much. Once again, I implore you to take her at her word. There is still a thirty-seven minute gap from the time Aubrey Ames left Beanie’s coffee shop to when Larry Drazdowski’s body was discovered. I challenge you, ladies and gentlemen. Let thirty-seven minutes go by when you’re in that deliberation room. It’s an eternity. And it is ample time to commit premeditated murder. You’ll be instructed by the judge on the law here in a minute. The facts are up to you. They are incontrovertible. There is no doubt that Aubrey Ames murdered Coach D. I ask that you return the only verdict you can. Guilty. Thank you.”

  Jack hesitated for a moment as if he had more to say. Then he gathered his notes from the lectern, gave the jury a grim nod, then took his seat back at the table.

  Judge Castor read the jury instructions and just before lunch, he released the case to the jury. Their faces were solemn as they filed out of the courtroom tasked with determining nineteen-year-old Aubrey Ames’s fate.

  As soon as the last jury member left the room, Dan Ames broke into tears behind me. “What do we do now?” Diane asked. It was the first time I’d heard her speak since the trial began.

  “You go home,” I said. “You be together as a family. This could take a while.”

  Jack had already stormed out of the courtroom. I craned my neck. The Delphi Chief of Police, Dennis Bell, stood in the hallway waiting for him. Another badged man stood beside him wearing a black suit. I’d bet money it was Tim Bowman’s union rep. Good call, I thought. But that would be a fight for another day.

  “Come on,” Jeanie said. “Let’s head down to the courthouse diner and grab lunch. You look like you could use some air.”

  I hugged Aubrey. She was stiff as a board and her face unnaturally white. “Honey, I need you to keep it together a little while longer. We’re in a different world than we were just a couple of hours ago. I still can’t promise you what this jury will do, but this fight is far from over, even if it’s bad news.”

  “We’ve already started an online fundraiser,” Dan offered. “Baby, you hang in there. Cass was a rock star today.” For the first time since I met him, Dan Ames was actually smiling. I wanted to share his enthusiasm, but I knew juries were unpredictable. Like it or not, Jack had made some solid points on rebuttal.

  “We’ll take her home,” Diane said. “Thank you, Cass. Thank you so much.”

  “Don’t thank me yet,” I said. “But you’re welcome anyway.”

  With that, Dan and Diane collected their daughter and led her to the back of the courtroom.

  “He’s right,” Jeanie said. “You were great just then.”

  “What’s your read?” I asked.

  Jeanie bit her bottom lip and shrugged. “Son of a bitch, Cass. I think we’re still dealing with a coin flip. If only that kid hadn’t said she did it. It makes it all too neat for the jury even with all the other stuff.”

  She was right. Jeanie had always been right.

  “Come on,” she said. “Most of their food sucks, but there’s this grilled cheese sandwich that’s not so bad.”

  I put my arm around Jeanie and headed out of the courtroom with her. It seemed like the entire Delphi police detective bureau had shown up en masse. I couldn’t tell whether it was in support or condemnation for one of their own. Eric Wray had caught up with Dan Ames. He shook his hand and pulled him into a bro hug. He was a good friend to D
an and I hope he knew I appreciated it. I had a feeling I had him to thank for Bowman’s recent crisis of conscience. But for now, my brain was still buzzing too badly to sort that out.

  Jeanie and I shared that grilled cheese sandwich in relative peace. She watched me eat and made me drink a bottle of water. God bless Jeanie. It seemed she was always there when I felt the bottom falling out on my life.

  Forty minutes later, my cell phone buzzed on the table. It was Judge Castor’s clerk.

  “Holy shit,” Jeanie said it for me.

  I picked up the phone. “They’re back,” the clerk said. “I’ve got a bailiff running down to the parking lot to head off your client. Get to the courtroom in fifteen minutes.”

  “You got it!” I said, my heart racing again.

  Jeanie threw two twenties on the table and we ran out of the diner together. Sure enough, one of the bailiffs strode beside the Ames family as we rounded the corner. Aubrey still looked too pale for my comfort level. I got to her and put an arm around her, guiding her away from her family. Jeanie would manage Aubrey’s parents.

  Forty minutes. I kept repeating that over and over. It could mean anything.

  Jack and his team were already at the prosecution’s table as we walked in. The gallery was empty of spectators and two bailiffs guarded the courtroom entrance to keep it that way.

  Judge Castor took the bench. His clerk and court reporter slid into their seats. The jury filed in.

  I could hear nothing but the beat of my own heart as the bailiff ordered us to our feet. Castor said words. I watched his lips moving, but to my ears, no sound came out. The clerk handed him the verdict form. The man could be a poker champion. He turned to the jury as the foreman stood. She was a middle-aged woman. Juror number eleven. A mother of three. Homemaker. She had two years of college and her husband was a pipefitter. She nodded as she told the judge they had reached a verdict and it was unanimous.

  There was a rushing sound, as if a dam broke in my head. My heart stopped.

  “On count one of the complaint, murder in the first degree, we the jury find the defendant, Aubrey Ames … not guilty.”