Mystery Writers of America Presents the Prosecution Rests

by Inc. Mystery Writers of America

  After Shawnie had started college, Jimmy finally got up the nerve to leave Mary Shawn. He moved into an apartment; Mary Shawn stayed in the house. When Shawnie graduated, Jimmy filed for divorce. Mary Shawn asked for the house, but it wasn’t his to give. The deed was in my name. Mary Shawn’s attorney told her as much. She was undeterred. She said she’d die in that house.

  Mary Shawn got what she wanted.

  Jimmy said that when he pulled his cell phone off his belt to call the sheriff, everything went black. He figured he’d passed out. When he came to, the place was on fire. He barely escaped. He knew people would think he’d done it again, that he’d killed someone in a fight, then burned down the house to try to cover his tracks. So he ran. The sheriff—the same sheriff he’d turned himself in to twenty-four years ago—picked him up on the road out of town.

  My brother might have done a stupid thing by running, but the reasoning behind it was valid. It would be almost impossible to find anyone in the county who’d believe him to be innocent.

  Twenty-four years ago, a justice of the peace pronounced Jimmy man and wife with Mary Shawn. Jimmy kissed his bride, walked across the street, and turned himself in to the sheriff for killing Mary Shawn’s father and burning down his house with him in it. He said it was an accident, that he’d gotten into a fight with the old man because Mary Shawn’s father had been roughing her up. Jimmy said he shoved the old man, and he had hit his head and died. He said he’d burned down the old man’s house to try to cover up what he did. It wasn’t the truth, but Jimmy stuck to the story. Shawnie was born while Jimmy was serving his fourth month in the penitentiary.

  After five years of prison and a nineteen-year drinking career peppered with three DWIs and several dropped domestic violence charges, Jimmy had already been convicted in the mind of just about every potential juror. A change of venue or some other legal maneuvering might help, but it wasn’t a certainty. If they sent him back to prison now, he’d die.

  Elizabeth and Riley were gone, and as hard as it was to admit to myself, there was no bringing them back. Jimmy was the only family I had left. He hadn’t passed out that night. Someone tried to kill him, and now he was being held for a crime he didn’t commit. I had to save him while there was still time.

  ____

  THE FIRST E-Z Mart was a bust. I drove to the one at the other end of town and walked inside. The woman with the bad hair from the county jail was behind the counter ringing up a carton of Camels and a bag of Funyuns for a sunburned man in paint-stained work boots. She didn’t seem to notice me. I made my way to the back of the store and pulled a bottle of Perrier from the cooler. I waited there until the man in the work boots left and we had the place to ourselves. I hurried to the counter. The woman’s nametag read Patricia. I still had no recollection of her from high school, but I doubted she’d go by such a formal name.

  I approached the counter and looked her straight in the eye. “Hi, Patty.”

  She gave a yellow smile. “I didn’t think you remembered my name last night.”

  “How could I forget?” I smiled back at her. “I take it this is your second job?”

  She nodded. “It sure wears me out, but I have to do it. Got them grandbabies to feed and clothe.”

  “Listen”—I leaned over the counter—“I don’t practice law anymore, but I’d like to help if I can. Would you like me to see what I can do about getting some of your money back from Kenny Earl?”

  Mouth open, she nodded.

  “Do you have e-mail access?”

  “At the library.” She spoke as if she were in shock. “I check my e-mails at the library.”

  I passed her what would have been my business card if I were still in business. “Send me an e-mail with every scrap of information you have on him. I’ll see to it just as soon as I get back home.”

  “How long do you think that’ll be?” She gave an embarrassed look. “I mean, how much longer are you going to be able to stay in town?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ve got a criminal defense man coming down from Little Rock tomorrow. There’s really nothing else I can do for Jimmy. My main concern now is Shawnie.” A mud-encrusted Chevy pickup pulled into the parking lot. “She won’t talk to me, but I know there’s something going on. I’m worried about her.”

  “A lot of people are worried about her.” Patty gave a smile. “Such a pretty thing—homecoming queen, just like her mama—but she’s a drinker, just like her mama and her daddy. And she’s well on her way to becoming a big ol’…”

  I remained silent.

  Patty waved her hands in the air. “Forget I said anything.”

  I stood upright.

  “I really shouldn’t say any more.”

  I nodded as if I understood.

  She looked out the glass storefront. The man in the muddy pickup was still behind the wheel, talking on a cell phone. Patty’s voice lowered to a near-hush. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but…”

  It was hard not to smile. There’s nothing like silence to get people to talk.

  She leaned in over the counter. “The night Mary Shawn died, Shawnie was supposed to have been down in Dallas. She’d won a big shopping spree in some contest.”

  I nodded knowingly.

  “But one of the deputies spotted her convertible at a cabin up in the hills north of here. Sheriff went up to give her the news about her mama. He found her alone, but there was no telling what she’d been doing up there before. Rumor is, she’s been sneaking around with an older man, a doctor out of Hot Springs. Thing is, Sheriff didn’t mention where he found Shawnie in his report. I think he kept it out of the record because it was an open-and-shut case… and the doctor’s married… and he’s the sheriff’s cousin.”

  ____

  IT WAS DARK by the time I left the jail. I returned to the Marriott, put on a suit, and walked up one flight of stairs to the fourth floor. Light shone through room 411’s peephole. I knocked. The peephole light remained steady until Shawnie opened the door. She wore an expensive-looking black dress. “Hi, Uncle Robert!”

  “You should really see who’s there before opening.”

  She just shrugged. A cigarette smell drifted out of the room.

  “Were you smoking in there?”

  Shawnie tilted her head to the side as if to say, So what?

  “This is a nonsmoking hotel.”

  She shrugged again. “Can we go to dinner now? I’m starving.”

  The Red Lobster was a hundred yards from the hotel, but Shawnie insisted we take my rental car so she wouldn’t scuff the soles of her new shoes. She tossed down an endless stream of vodka tonics before, during, and after dinner. She ordered the most expensive entree on the menu. She talked incessantly about the bargains she’d found while shopping. A few people in the restaurant stared at us as if they were amazed she could act so carefree with her mother rotting in the funeral home and her father rotting in jail. They also might have been wondering if I was the older married doctor out of Hot Springs.

  We drove back to the Marriott, and I waited outside while Shawnie smoked what she said would be her last cigarette of the evening. I knew she’d have a few more in her room. She was a liar. Just like her mother.We rode the elevator to the fourth floor, and I walked her to her door. “Well, I guess this is good-bye.”

  “Don’t you mean good night?”

  “No. I mean good-bye.”

  Shawnie’s flawless brow wrinkled. “I don’t understand.”

  “I wanted to tell you at dinner, but I never got a chance. Jimmy started talking. He’s going to plead guilty.”

  Shawnie stumbled back as if I’d just hit her.

  “But he…”

  “He what, Shawnie?”

  “I didn’t really believe he did it. I thought it was just an accident.”

  I shrugged. “The attorney from Little Rock’s due here at nine tomorrow morning. I’m going to meet with him and Jimmy, help them nail down a plea-bargain strategy, then I’m taking the first f
light back to California.”

  “But you can’t leave yet.”

  “Of course I can.”

  Eyes wide, she shook her head. “You have to go to Mama’s funeral.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  She looked as if she could scarcely believe I would say anything but yes to her.

  “I’m not going to bad-mouth Mary Shawn in front of you or anyone else, but everybody knows how I felt about her. I’m not a hypocrite.”

  “Well…”

  “Well, what?”

  “What about me? What am I going to do?”

  “The sheriff’s removing the cordon from Jimmy’s apartment in the morning. I took care of the rent until the end of his lease. And I paid off your car. The bank’s going to mail you the title.” I reached into my coat pocket, pulled out a small wad of hundreds, and placed it in her hand. “There’s five hundred there, and I had three thousand more transferred into your checking account. After that, you’re on your own.” I walked away and headed for the stairwell to return to my room on the third floor. “Good luck, Shawnie.”

  The words floated down the hallway after me. “I can’t live on that.”

  I kept walking. “Then get a job.”

  “But you’re rich! Mama said you could buy half the state.”

  I glanced over my shoulder. “I have no idea what Mary Shawn told you, but I’m not rich anymore.”

  “You made a gazillion dollars as a lawyer, and then you got that big payoff from…” Her words trailed off.

  I stopped and faced her. “You mean the settlement from the trucking company? The settlement they paid me after that semi crossed the median and killed my wife and son? Is that the settlement you’re talking about?”

  She just nodded.

  “You want some of that money?”

  She nodded again.

  It took effort, but I contained my anger. “I gave it away. I gave away almost everything. I kept enough to live on, but I can’t afford to support anyone else.” I turned and made my way into the stairwell. I stopped at the top of the stairs. The first flight down was long and steep.

  Shawnie ran past me and stopped two steps below, blocking my path.

  She turned to face me. “But…”

  “But what?”

  “What about the insurance money from the fire?”

  “It was my house.” I shrugged and looked past her, down at the landing far below. “Not that it matters. There’s not going to be any insurance money. The policy doesn’t pay in case of arson. Jimmy admitted to starting the fire. So that’s that.” I stepped to the left.

  She moved in front of me again. “What about the trust you set up for Daddy? Can you sign it over to me?”

  I shook my head. “The lawyers’ fees will eat up most of it. The state will probably take the rest. If there’s anything left, Jimmy’ll need it to live on when he gets out. He’s not young and able-bodied… like you.” I stepped to my right.

  She blocked my path once more. The skin around her lips went pale, then her cheeks turned bright red. “You can’t just leave me here like this! I won’t let you!”

  “There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

  “Yes, there is!” She half-spat the words.

  “Oh, really? How’s that?”

  “I want a million dollars, or I’ll tell everybody the truth!”

  “What truth?”

  “Mama told me Jimmy’s not really my daddy. She told me what you did to her the night he surrendered to the sheriff.”

  I just looked at her.

  “You raped Mama, and you got her pregnant with me!”

  I started to laugh. I laughed so hard, I could hardly control myself. I laughed so hard, it took a moment for me to realize that a stream of obscenities had begun flowing from Shawnie’s pretty mouth.

  The vile things she said about me I could let pass, but not the disparaging remark about Elizabeth. That’s where I drew the line with her. It’s where I’d drawn the line with Mary Shawn.

  I looked down at Shawnie. As drunk as she was, it wouldn’t take much to tip her off balance. Just one little push, and… But that wasn’t going to get Jimmy out of jail. I had to stay focused on saving him. I lowered my voice. “I didn’t rape your mother. I was never with her. I’m not your father.”

  “Yes, you are. Mama told me so.”

  “Mary Shawn was a liar.” Just like you.

  Shawnie’s face grew so red, her blue eyes seemed to glow. Her hair looked like white flames.

  I gave half a thought to telling her the truth about her mother and her grandfather, the truth about why Mary Shawn killed the old man, but I promised Jimmy I wouldn’t. Ever. Some truths were too horrible to be told. Instead, I said, “Mary Shawn was pregnant when Jimmy turned himself in. My brother took the blame for what your mother did so you wouldn’t be born in prison.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “Once was too much. I’m not going to let him serve time for you again.”

  “Serve time for me?” She seemed to regain her composure. “What do you mean by that?”

  “It’s over, Shawnie.” I pointed my finger at her sternum. “I know what you did.”

  She put her hands on her hips. She looked so nonchalant, it infuriated me. It would be so easy. Just one little jab, and…

  I had to keep my cool. “You came home and found your mother dead. You stashed your car out of sight and you called Jimmy and pretended to be Mary Shawn and you got him to come over to the house. You were hiding when he walked in. You waited until he found Mary Shawn’s body, then you sneaked up behind him and knocked him unconscious and set the house on fire.”

  A strange sort of calm came over her. “You can’t prove any of this, Robert.”

  “If Jimmy had died in the fire, the money in his trust would have been yours.”

  Shawnie’s expression showed nothing.

  “I have just one question: Why were you so anxious for me to get my brother out of jail? Were you going to try to kill him again? Or were you just going to try to get your hands on some of the money you thought I had?” I let out a soft laugh. “Sorry. I guess I had three questions.”

  She shook her head and said, “This is ridiculous. I don’t have to stand here and—”

  “I had a chat with a certain doctor up in Hot Springs this afternoon. Guy about my age. Wealthy. Married.” I smiled. “Horrible taste in mistresses.”

  The color drained from Shawnie’s face.

  “Seems your doctor friend broke off his relationship with you the night Mary Shawn died, the night you were supposed to have been in Dallas. He said you were very upset when you left the cabin. He was worried about you driving with all you’d had to drink. He followed you to make sure you made it home safe.”

  She stood there looking more like a wax figure than a human being.

  “The doctor would be willing to testify that he saw you walk into the house ten minutes before that call Mary Shawn supposedly made to Jimmy.”

  Shawnie’s blue eyes darted from side to side.

  “You didn’t really think you’d get away with it, did you?”

  A siren blared nearby.

  The police were probably just stopping a speeding motorist, but Shawnie must have thought they were coming to arrest her. She turned to run. When she did, she lost her balance. She began to fall. It was a long way to the landing below. I gave a fleeting thought to just letting it happen. But I couldn’t. It wouldn’t save Jimmy. I caught Shawnie by the arm, in the nick of time. Not at all like her mother.

  ____

  THE PACIFIC STRETCHED to the horizon, smooth as velvet. Jimmy and I sat on my back deck with mugs of coffee and our laptop computers. He’d regained a few pounds over the past couple of months, and the La Jolla sun had brought back some of his color. He wasn’t fully among the living yet, but at least he wasn’t mostly dead anymore. He’d stopped drinking. He’d even started running with my group in the mornings. Everything was going to be okay. I just knew it.

 
My laptop dinged. I looked down to see an e-mail with Thanks from Patty in the subject line. I opened the note and read it. I didn’t even mind the misspellings.

  “Hey, Jimmy. Remember Patty Ingram?”

  “Sure. Nice girl. Works in the sheriff’s office. Kenny Earl Boyd took all her money and ran off to Houston with some stripper or something.” He paused. “Why do you ask?”

  “I just got a message from her.” I smiled. “Kenny Earl returned all her money… with interest.”

  “How did you manage that?”

  “I have my ways.” I shut off my computer and said, “Good-deed-doing gives me an appetite. Wanna drive down to the Broken Yolk in PB and get some breakfast?”

  Jimmy took a long drink of coffee, swallowed hard, then said, “Ever since you were a little kid, you never did give up. You always were a real bulldog. That tenacity made you a good lawyer. That and your willingness to do whatever it took.”

  “Thanks… I think.” I stood. “I’m hungry. Let’s go.”

  Jimmy didn’t budge. “You know, your running buddies sure are a chatty bunch.” He took another drink of coffee. “According to them, up until the day Shawnie came out here to get you, you hadn’t missed a morning run in over three months. It was some kind of record, according to them.”

  I shrugged. “What’s your point?”

  “Well, you couldn’t have flown commercial. It would have taken too long. You never would have made it back here by morning. Besides, with all the ID restrictions nowadays, your name would have ended up on the airline’s passenger list. You’re not that sloppy.”

  I was suddenly light-headed. I tightened my stomach muscles trying to keep the blood pumping to my brain.

  “What’d you do? Charter a plane using an alias or something?” Jimmy took another sip of coffee. “Better yet, maybe you never sold your Gulfstream at all. I’ll bet you transferred it to some entity you control. Heck, I’d even wager that you never gave away your money. A thousand bucks says you still have it all, every penny.”