They stopped talking when the hallway door creaked as it opened. Leyton entered, followed by Allison. Allison gave no sign of surprise when he saw Jack, but merely nodded his head in their direction as he pushed through the gate. Damn, Jack thought. He’s a great actor, or maybe someone else tried to kill me. No. That doesn’t compute. It has to be Allison.
When the jury was in the box, Jack rose and said, “Pass the witness, Judge.”
Leyton did his best to rehabilitate Allison. He established that he had thousands of employees and former employees. Then he elected to change course and face the dead policy issue head on.
“Mr. Allison, being a businessman, does it strike you as unusual that with all of those employees and about seven thousand insurance policies that after all of these years you would start having a few former employees die?”
Allison shook his head. “Not at all, Mr. Leyton. As any group of people advance in age, more of them are going to die.” He looked at the jury. “Just common sense, ladies and gentlemen.”
“And one more thing, when we were talking about your activities in Fort Worth, is there a current one we failed to mention?”
Allison turned to the jury. “You remember that I told you my wife died of cancer. When that happened, I became very involved with cancer charities. This year I’m president of the local chapter of the American Cancer Society.”
Leyton figured he had done what he could to rehabilitate his client. “Pass the witness, Your Honor.”
Jack rose at his table and leaned with his hands on his cane. “Just one question, Mr. Allison. If it turned out that all of those dead employees met violent, unexplained deaths, would your answer to Mr. Leyton’s question be the same?”
Leyton was hunched forward in his chair, his arms on his knees and hands folded. The judge looked at him, expecting an objection; only Leyton just stared at the floor.
Allison sighed, wanting this whole experience to be over. “I don’t know, Mr. Bryant. I do know I had nothing to do with their deaths.”
Leyton recognized that his client had taken some body blows on cross-examination. The kindly civic benefactor has been replaced by an employer who preyed on the deaths of his employees. Leyton knew he had to shift the emphasis back to the policy on Willie Davis and the agreement behind it. He had two witnesses left, his forensic document examiner and an insurance expert. Terri Christopher was a woman in her mid-fifties who had been studying documents and handwriting for thirty years. She was short, trim, nicely dressed and carried an aura of confidence that whatever she said would be believed by a jury. After establishing her qualifications, Leyton put the same signatures on the overhead. Christopher used a laser pointer to highlight the similarities in the signatures. The jury watched with interest as she explained the loop in the “D” and the way the “s” in Davis was almost exactly the same. Her opinion was that there could be no conclusion other than the two signatures were made by the same person.
Next came Erwin Steinman, a former director of the Texas Department of Insurance. He completely refuted Gamboa’s testimony and added that if an employee agreed, a life insurance policy could continue to be in force after the employee left, particularly if the employee was to receive benefit from the continuation of the policy, like $10,000 going to his family at the time of his death. After his two experts testified, Leyton rested his case.
The expert testimony was most typical of almost every trial in the country. There were experts with opinions for hire on any subject, any time. It was like Jerry Buchanan said to Jack. If Leyton had hired him, he could make an equally compelling argument that the signatures were the same. Jack made a few minor points with each of the experts and then quit. His gut told him that the case was no longer going to be decided by opinions from experts. In fact, he had decided not to call Buchanan.
87
Allison was shocked when he returned from lunch to find Quillen, sitting on a hallway bench outside the courtroom, a frown on his face. He didn’t even get up when Allison approached.
“Beau, what the hell are you doing here?”
“That goddamn Jack Bryant subpoenaed me this morning.”
“Shit. What does he want with you?”
“Damned if I know. The subpoena just said to be here. I know that I can’t ignore it. I wish your lawyer had let me know it was coming. I could have gotten out of town.”
“Sorry, Beau. We didn’t know.”
When the court was assembled for the afternoon, Jack announced, “Your Honor, we call Beauregard Quillen in rebuttal. He’s under subpoena and is waiting in the hall.”
McDowell nodded to Waddill who went out the door and returned momentarily with Quillen in tow. Quillen was dressed in his banker’s three piece, pin striped suit with his customary red tie. He took the witness stand with an air of confidence. While not quite as well known in Fort Worth as Allison, most jurors recognized either him or his name. They had all seen commercials for Quillen Bank and Trust.
Before Jack could ask his first question, Leyton asked to approach the bench. “Judge, we don’t understand what evidence Mr. Quillen can bring to this jury. We object.”
“Your Honor, Mr. Allison has testified that Allison Southwest is in the best financial condition it’s seen for the past several years. I have information to the contrary, and believe that Mr. Allison’s banker would be the person to enlighten the jury on that condition. It goes to the credibility of Mr. Allison as a witness, Your Honor.”
“Your Honor,” Leyton said, taking a shot at Jack. “I’m beginning to question the legality of how Mr. Bryant is obtaining this information on my client.”
“Mr. Leyton, this is not the time or place for that. Take it up with the grievance committee or the D.A. after the trial. Objection overruled. You can begin your questions. If I believe you are going too far afield, understand I’ll rein you in.”
Jack noticed a subtle shift in the judge’s attitude almost as if the evidence was impacting on his opinion of Allison. Jack forged ahead, quickly establishing the long relationship between Allison and Quillen, going back to that first loan. “Allison and his dealerships are your biggest customers, are they not Mr. Quillen?”
Quillen looked at Allison for several seconds and concluded that he was under oath. The last thing he needed in his life right now was a charge of perjury. He elected to answer the questions, including the good, the bad and the ugly.
“Allison and his company were certainly my biggest clients for a number of years. They are still a major client, but the economy has gotten to Allison just like it has to a number of my other customers.”
“Mr. Allison has described his company as being financially very strong. Is that an apt description?”
Quillen folded his hands on the rail in front of his seat. “Look, Mr. Bryant, Dwayne has half the dealerships he had five years ago. That ought to give you a pretty good clue.”
Jack got up from his table and walked over to stand in front of the witness, leaning on his cane. “Sorry, Mr. Quillen, but clues aren’t good enough. Is he current on his notes to you, floor plans, that kind of thing?”
Quillen hesitated and looked at Allison again. “No, sir. He hasn’t made a principal payment on any of his notes in three years. Currently, he’s behind on interest to the tune of fifteen to twenty million dollars.”
“Has Allison Southwest made any payments at all on loans from your banks in the past three years?”
Quillen saw the opportunity to help Allison out. “Of course, Mr. Bryant. He’s begun to pay down the interest. Maybe his business is improving. I’m just happy to see the debt coming down.”
The wheels were spinning in Jack’s head. “Are these regular, monthly payments, Mr. Quillen?”
Quillen saw where Jack was going and didn’t want to go there. “Sometimes, counselor.”
Jack walked toward the witness until he was about five feet away. “In fact, most of the payments have been in the last six months and are large sums that show up ra
ndomly. Isn’t that true, Mr. Quillen?”
Quillen shifted in the witness chair, took a sip of water and thought about his answer. “I suppose that’s at least partially true.”
Jack had just confirmed what he suspected all along. The proceeds from the dead peasant policies were being used to pay on Allison’s loans. “Those payments are usually round figures, from $200,000 to $600,000, right Mr. Quillen?”
“I couldn’t say for sure without looking at the books.”
Jack asked a throwaway question. “How are these loans secured, sir?”
“I have a lien on everything Mr. Allison owns. That includes his real estate, buildings, cars, trucks, horses, his house, even life insurance policies on his employees.”
“Shit,” Leyton said softly to Allison. “Why the hell did he have to say that?”
“Do you have records on the employee life insurance policies?”
Quillen didn’t want to answer, but he was in too deep to back out now. “I do. Mr. Allison is required by our loan agreements to update those records monthly.”
“And the reason for that is because he’s required to turn over the proceeds of any of those policies to you upon their receipt, and that would explain the lump sum payments for the past six months, wouldn’t it, Mr. Quillen?”
Quillen looked at Allison with an apology etched on his face before he answered.
“Probably true, counselor.”
Jack walked to stand in front of the witness. “So, the fact of the matter is that Allison is not making payments from net income from his business because he doesn’t have such income. Those payments are coming from proceeds on life insurance on the lives of his former employees, correct, Mr. Quillen?”
Quillen looked for a way to avoid answering the question and could think of none. “You’re correct, Mr. Bryant. His payments have coincided with proceeds from those policies.”
Jack looked at Leyton and let a small smile cross his face. At last he had a way to legally get his hands on the entire list of dead peasant policies. “Your Honor, at this time we are advising the court that we will be issuing a subpoena for production of documentation of Allison Southwest dead peasant policies in Mr. Quillen’s possession as well as payments from Allison Southwest to Quillen Bank and Trust for the past six months, to include, of course, Your Honor, dates of any such payments. If Mr. Leyton chooses to object, I direct the court’s attention to my statements as to relevance yesterday afternoon after the jury was gone and Mr. Allison’s testimony that his payments to Quillen Bank and Trust came from net income from his business. We will serve it on Mr. Quillen as soon as he leaves the courtroom today.”
J.D. took his cue and quietly left the courtroom to get the document from the district clerk’s office.
Leyton rose and made a half-hearted objection about relevance which the judge overruled.
Quillen turned to the judge. “Judge McDowell, this will be a grave inconvenience of me and my staff. I have an important meeting tomorrow that I can’t get out of.”
“Mr. Quillen, I’m quite certain that you’ve got someone in your office who can pull that information from a computer. It’s your choice as to whether to be there or not. We’re adjourned for the day.”
88
Once the judge and jury were gone, Jack had his team remain in the deserted courtroom to discuss the day’s events. With the evidence he expected to get from Quillen, he thought he now would have all the pieces to the puzzle. When he started the trial, he thought he was going to establish a pattern and practice of defrauding employees out of their benefits under the policies. Now it appeared that pattern and practice may have included murder to collect on the policies. Jack turned to J.D. “Did you get Quillen served with the subpoena?”
“Yes, sir. Out in the hallway like you said. He was not a happy camper.”
“Okay,” Jack said. “You walk June to where Willie, Jr. is waiting and meet Colby back at the Hummer. I’m going to go over to Sherrod’s office and give my statement.”
“Jack,” Colby said. “Don’t you think it’s about time to tell him what we’ve uncovered about these policies?”
Jack pondered the question. “You’re right. I’ll tell him what we’ve put together with the understanding that we need to finish this trial before he starts investigating Allison. We ought to wrap this up tomorrow anyway.”
Allison was washing his hands in the men’s room when Quillen entered.
“Dwayne, I’m glad I caught you in here. I don’t like the way this case is going. I think you’re going to lose your ass, and there goes our chance to recover on seven thousand dead peasant policies.” Quillen raised his voice. “You need to settle this damn case. Pay the widow her $400,000 and shut this son of a bitch down. You hear me!”
Allison dried his hands and turned to face Quillen. “Dammit, Beau, maybe you haven’t looked at my financial statements lately. All of that money from those policies went to your bank, including the $400,000 on Willie Davis’s life. I’m broke.”
Quillen’s anger boiled over and he shoved Allison up against the wall. “You bastard, you’re not the only one in financial trouble. You’re the cause of my banks being close to failure. The main topic I have with regulators currently is Allison Southwest. Goddam it! I’ve waited long enough. Understand me. If you fuck this up, we’ll both be in bankruptcy court. Those dead peasant policies are keeping both of us afloat. If you don’t do as I say, you won’t like the consequences. You get what I’m telling you?”
“Shit,” Dwayne yelled, “I’ve paid you about five million in the past six months. The feds ought to see that I’m doing what I can. Tell those fuckers to go regulate the damn Wall Street bankers.” Allison pushed back away from Quillen. “Wait just a goddamn minute. Bryant has pounded me in the courtroom, accusing me of murdering my employees to collect on those policies. I didn’t do it. You’re the only person besides my brother who knew exactly which of my employees had life insurance coverage and how much. You son of a bitch!”
Allison shoved Quillen aside and stormed out the door. When Allison was gone, Quillen pulled his cell from his pocket.
Allison was walking down the courthouse steps when he saw Colby about to reach the Hummer in the now almost deserted parking lot across the street. He waved his hand. “Colby, hold up.”
Colby felt uncomfortable with having Allison confront her but stopped. Allison ran across the street. When he reached her, he paused to catch his breath. “I think I know who killed my employees and tried to kill you.”
Before he could say anything else, a white panel truck wheeled around the corner, and a shot rang out. Allison crumbled to the ground as the panel truck sped away. Colby had the presence of mind to get a partial license plate number before she bent over Allison and called 911. Next she called Jack, telling him what happened and assuring him that she was unharmed.
The ambulance was there in five minutes. The wound was in the right side of the chest. The lead EMT said Allison had a collapsed lung. Working rapidly, he stemmed the blood flow and inserted a breathing tube before loading him on a gurney. Ten minutes later Allison was on the way to the hospital. By then Jack and Joe arrived.
“I’m okay, Jack. Allison was shot. The EMT says he’s got a collapsed lung, but he’ll live.”
Joe sized up the situation and said, “You’re both coming back to my office. I want some answers.”
When they were settled in Joe’s office with the door closed, Joe said, “Tell me why you guys are in the middle of a crime wave.”
Jack told Joe everything they had learned, including that they had subpoenaed policy information from Quillen Bank and Trust. When he got through, Joe said, “Holy shit! Dwayne Allison. Never in a hundred years would I have pegged him to be doing something like this.”
“But, Joe,” Colby said. “Maybe it’s not him. He’s the one shot and in the hospital.”
Joe shook his head. “Colby, that shot may have been intended for you.”
Colb
y’s face went white and her hand came to her mouth as she gasped at the thought.
“Look, I’m putting one of my investigators on this first thing in the morning. I’ll be calling Judge McDowell in just a minute. He’ll most likely postpone the trial for a while, depending on Allison’s condition. That means my investigator will need copies of those records of policies and the former employees who have died. I’ll also post a car and two officers outside your house. They’ll follow discreetly when you go anywhere, including the courthouse. I’ll also have a second bailiff assigned to help Deputy Waddill. Oh, and I’ll also put someone on tracking down that partial license number. You’re going to be okay, Colby, and it sounds like with one more day of evidence I may be able to dismiss the murder charge.”
That night Jack received a call from Judge McDowell’s clerk, advising that he wanted a conference call with the two lawyers in thirty minutes.
“Gentlemen, I’ve talked to Joe Sherrod. Ace, let’s start with you. How’s Dwayne doing?”
“He’s doing okay, Judge. He’s stable. The bullet went through his lung and came out the other side. They had to do laparoscopic surgery and then re-inflate the lung. He should be out of the hospital in a few days.”
“That’s good to hear. Jack, are you going to oppose a mistrial?”
“Judge, you know I don’t want that. I figure we just have a few hours of evidence left. I don’t have any reason to re-call Allison. I want to keep going, but, it’s really Ace’s call.”
“Judge, this may surprise you. Allison is intubated but alert. He wrote me a note, and said he doesn’t want the case continued. He wants to testify again. He’ll write out notes on the witness stand if necessary. We just need a two day continuance.”
“You sure about that, Ace?” the judge asked, concern in his voice.
“Judge, that’s our best estimate for now. If it changes, I’ll let you and Jack know.”
Jack received a call early the next morning from Joe Sherrod. “Jack, here’s what I’ve got on the partial license number. This is not certain, but the most likely owner is Federal Bank Security, a company that provides security services for banks in Texas and several other states. I’ll be putting someone on it, but I figure you’ve become Sherlock Holmes. You may beat me to the punch. Just keep me in the loop.”
Dead Peasants Page 27
