Wellington stared at Stritch. “I'm sorry, can you say that again?”
“You’re right, that was a bad question. When you left the courtyard to go to your car in the back lot, Archie Mack was coming toward you, wasn’t he?”
“He was.”
“He was coming from the direction of the abandoned stairs, right?”
“That's right.”
“And you avoided him by standing over by the restrooms?”
“True.”
“And that would've been around 11:45, 12 o'clock?”
“Somewhere in there. I couldn't swear to the exact time.”
Stritch tapped his chin. “Mr. Wellington, did you notice blood on Archie Mack’s hand when he came back?”
“You know I couldn’t say, Mr. Stritch. It seemed like he was walking pretty fast.”
“Like someone who wanted to get away?”
“I can't say that. Like someone who was ready to go maybe.”
“And then you went back to your car?”
“Yes.”
“Without ever seeing Ms. Ackerman?”
“Exactly.”
“Thank you, Mr. Wellington. I have no further the questions, Your Honor.”
I stood. “Mr. Wellington, Archie Mack didn't threaten you, did he?”
“He did not.”
“He didn't push you?”
“He did not.”
“He was animated, though, when he talked about his brother Hamish and the well, wasn't he?”
“He was.”
“And he was right, wasn’t he? The two of you were looking to make a deal behind the family’s back, weren’t you?”
“I wasn’t going behind anyone’s back.”
“Hamish was though, wasn’t he?”
Wellington shrugged. “I don’t know that.”
I thought. “Mr. Wellington, you were hiding before you went to the back of the Quarry, weren’t you?”
He looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you were hiding so people didn’t see you go back there.”
“No.”
“Tell you what, Olivia, cue up the video.”
Olivia clicked and the concession view of the video came up.
Wellington was hiding behind the corner of the restrooms.
I used the laser pointer. “That’s you right there, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but I—”
“—wasn’t hiding, right. Run it, Liv.”
The video ran.
People moved. Wellington stayed in the corner.
“Seems like you’re hiding.”
“I didn’t want to see Archie. There, you can see Archie coming into the picture right now!”
“A minute or so after you were hiding, yes.”
“There, see, now I’m walking by after Archie has passed, just like I said.”
“Yes, that’s right. You hid until Abby’s future brother-in-law had come back. And there you go.”
“I was going to my car!”
“Which led you right past the stairs where Abby was found.”
Wellington sputtered so that he really didn’t say anything. I gestured to Olivia and she stopped the video right when Wellington was at the edge of the frame heading toward the back stairs.
“Mr. Wellington, what is your commission rate per lease?”
“I can’t tell you that. It’s a trade secret.”
“What’s your commission rate on a barrel of oil?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“What’s your commission rate on fifty-nine million barrels of oil?”
Stritch stood. “Objection, Your Honor.”
Judge Wesley thought as long as I’d seen her in the case before she said, “Overruled.”
“I can’t tell you that,” said Wellington.
“You get paid a commission rate on cubic feet of natural gas too, don’t you?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“What’s your total commission rate on fifty billion cubic feet of natural gas?”
“I’ve never had a commission rate on fifty billion cubic feet of natural gas.”
“No. I don’t suppose you have. What would your commission be on more?”
“What do you mean?”
“What would your commission rate be on more gas than is in the Albion-Scipio?”
Wellington looked furious. Then he said, “I can’t tell you that.”
“No further questions.”
As I sat back down, I saw that Danny had come back in at some point and was right behind us in the first row of the gallery. He motioned for me to come over. I raised my hand and pointed to the judge.
Right on cue, Judge Wesley said, “Members of the jury, that’s the morning. Please take a break for lunch and come back in one hour.”
We all stood as the jury filed out. Danny waved at me again. I gestured for him to hang on as the jury left. While we waited, I leaned over to Olivia and whispered, “What did you think?”
“The jury is thinking about Wellington more than Stritch would like.” Olivia’s eyes were inscrutable behind the glasses. “What about you?”
“Too close to call.”
She nodded. “I agree.”
Once the jury was gone, Judge Wesley left the bench and Olivia and I went over to see what Danny wanted. His face was pale and he seemed a little out of breath, although I thought he’d been there awhile.
“Geez Reddy, you're in worse shape than I thought,” said Olivia. “Cade has his work cut out for him.”
“What’s the matter?” I said.
Danny's face didn't get better, it got worse. He started to speak, stopped, and actually seemed to choke for a moment before he said, “Don’t either of you check your phones?”
“The Judge makes us turn them off, you know that,” I said. Olivia pulled hers out and powered on.
Danny just shook his head.
“Hey,” I said and put my hand on his arm. “What's the matter?”
“He was there,” said Danny.
“Who?” I said.
“Where?” said Olivia.
“Professor Timmons. He was there at the Quarry the night of the attack.”
44
I looked around. Stritch was gone, but I knew the Judge was right next door, so I kept my voice low. “What are you talking about?”
Danny still seemed to have trouble catching his breath. “I went over to the University like you said and waited at the entrance to the Earth Sciences building. They have assigned parking, so I waited near Professor Timmons’s space so I could give him his illustration back.”
“He was late and I was worried because I knew you’d already started, but I also knew he’d done us a favor and it seemed important to you that he get it back today.”
When he paused, I said, “You did the right thing.”
Danny nodded then said, “So finally, a little after eight-thirty, a silver Explorer pulls into his spot and Professor Timmons gets out. So I go over and introduce myself and give him back his illustration and he asks how it went and I said it was going on right now and he just smiles and says good luck and tips the rolled-up map to his head in salute and walks into the building.”
I did not sigh or raise my eyebrows or grab Danny by the shoulders and shake him until he got to the point. Instead, I said, “And?”
“When I got back in my car, I noticed it. His car has a vanity plate—G ROCKS.”
Olivia shook her head. “Of course, he does.”
Apparently, my head was full of rocks because I wasn’t seeing the connection. “Okay?”
“That car was there, in the front lot.”
“You just said that, that he was parked in front of the Earth Sciences building.”
“No! The front lot of the Quarry. The night of the attack!”
I felt a chasm open up in the courtroom floor. “What?”
“You know I’ve been doing nothing but study that security video.”
“Right.”
“Well, there’s a car that sat there overnight in the lot. Actually, there were a bunch of them. I just figured they belonged to people that had too much to drink or got together and shared rides or, whatever, just came back and got them the next day.”
“Sure,” said Olivia.
“One of them was a silver SUV with a plate that says ‘G ROCKS.’”
Inside, I swore as the chasm grew wider. Outside, I said, “You’re sure?”
“Yes,” said Danny. “I saw it so many times I was sick of it. I wouldn’t have recognized the car at all, but the plate stood out.”
“What about him?” said Olivia. “Did you see him?”
Danny shook his head and looked genuinely pained. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before today so there’s no reason I would have noticed him on the video.”
I knew we had the video loaded on the computer to use as an exhibit. “Come on,” I said, and the three of us unhooked the laptop from the projection system and turned it toward us. Danny sat down and began tapping keys as Olivia and I hunched over his shoulder.
I will say this for him, Danny is organized. He had broken out the video by time and usable segments and he clicked right through a series of files until he got to the parking lot footage that he wanted. I glanced at the time stamp. 1:30 a.m., after Kirby had left for the night. Danny was right, there were maybe twenty or thirty cars sitting there, scattered about the lot waiting to be picked up the next morning.
In the second row on the far right side of the camera’s view was an Explorer with its license plate facing the camera.
G ROCKS.
I swore. “Does he have kids?”
Olivia’s thumbs flurried across her phone. “Facebook,” she said to my unasked question. She clicked scrolled and swiped. “Married. Cat lover.” She made a face. “Aggressively so. No kids that I see.”
“When does he pick up the car?”
“He doesn’t,” said Danny. “Our video runs through noon the day after the concert and it’s still there. We have to get the next one.”
“When does the car get there?”
“I have no idea,” said Danny.
“Can you find it?”
“Probably. It’ll take a little while though.”
I nodded. “We need to see him get out and follow him through the video.”
“That’ll take longer than forty minutes.”
The G ROCKS shouted at me from the video screen and I swore again.
“What?” said Danny.
I ground my teeth. “He prepped me for an hour last night.”
So I could point the finger at Wellington.
“Let it go,” said Olivia. “What’s next?”
We had another person to place at the scene. And I was starting to get an idea where he might fit in.
“Where’s Cade?” I asked.
“On his way,” said Olivia. “He was coming anyway for Archie’s bond in case we finished today.”
“Send him to the Mack’s farm to get Hamish. Have Cade tell Hamish he’s still under subpoena and is being recalled to testify.”
“Done. Next?”
“Follow Timmons. From a distance! Don’t talk to him, just keep an eye on him so that we know where he is if things develop the way I think they might.”
“Got it.”
“Olivia, I said don’t talk to him.”
A mirrored stare. “I said, I got it.”
“Danny, search the video. Find when he got there so you could see what he was wearing and follow him through.”
“That’s going to take a while, Nate.”
“I know. Set up in the back of the gallery.”
He nodded. “What are you gonna do?”
“Buy us time.”
I met with Judge Wesley and Stritch in Judge Wesley’s office just before we started for the afternoon session.
“Your Honor, the defense would like to request a brief continuance of the proceedings today.”
Judge Wesley raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay, Mr. Shepherd?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Family emergency?”
“No, Your Honor.”
The raised eyebrow turned into a scowl. “Then why?”
“We learned that there may be a new witness to what happened the night of the incident.”
“Who?”
I hesitated. “I’d rather not say that this point, Your Honor. If we’re wrong, I don’t want to prejudice the Court or the prosecution.”
“How long of a continuance are you seeking?”
“Just until Monday.”
She looked at Stritch. “I assume you object.”
“Absolutely. We’re practically done with this case. Mr. Shepherd has had months to prepare. Besides, I have a full docket next week.”
“We just became aware of some new information today, Your Honor. We only need a few hours to follow up on it.”
“You’re going to have to give me more than that if you want this continuance, Mr. Shepherd.”
I thought, then said, “There might have been another person at the scene that neither Mr. Stritch nor I knew was there.”
Stritch scoffed. I don’t know if I knew exactly what that sounded like before that moment, but he definitely did it. He scoffed.
“A one-armed man, maybe?” he said. “Or was it Kaiser Soze?”
“Neither,” I said.
“Can you tell me anything else, Mr. Shepherd?” said Judge Wesley.
“Not yet, Your Honor.”
“Then your motion is denied. You will proceed with your next witness and if you’re out of witnesses, we will move on to closing.”
I nodded and we stood. At the door, I turned to Stritch and said, “You know they both did it, right?”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
I went out to the counsel table to Danny and Archie and shook my head. “No continuance.”
“What do we do?” said Danny.
“Are Abby’s friends ready?”
Danny nodded.
“Then we’ll put them on and hope that Cade gets here in time with Hamish. I can handle this. You work on the video.”
Danny slipped to the back of the courtroom.
Judge Wesley brought the jury in, then said, “Mr. Shepherd, are you prepared to proceed?”
“I am, Your Honor.”
“You may call your next witness.”
“Your Honor, we call Heather Farrow.”
It was one o’clock. Court ended at four-thirty. If Cade couldn’t get Hamish back here in time, I had to make the testimony of the three women who went to the concert with Abby last three and a half hours or the case was going to go to the jury.
The first one, Heather, lasted forty minutes and honestly that was a stretch. I could see the jury getting irritated with me for going over the same things with her in different ways and, when Stritch started objecting that my questions had already been asked and answered, I pretty much agreed. But I did it again anyway until the judge directed me to move along and there was nowhere else to go.
The second woman, Kayla Sapowicz, started even worse. It only took twenty minutes before it was clear that, while she had memories of Big Luke that would last a lifetime, we had exhausted every relevant memory she had that was in any way related to the case. I was down to my last topic with her. It was 2:05 p.m. when I asked, “Ms. Sapowicz, did Abby mention her fiancé Hamish at all that night?”
“She did.”
“What did she say?”
“Well, early in the evening, she mentioned a couple of times that she wasn't sure what Hamish was doing that night but then, as we were leaving, she saw him and said she was going to catch up with him real quick.”
“Did you expect her to return?”
“Not there. We had driven separately, so we were going to meet at HopHeads for a drink after. She told us to go on ahead and she would meet us there.”
“Did you leave
in the same direction?”
“No. We were parked in front and she had parked in the employee lot in the back.”
“Did you wait for her at HopHeads?”
“We did.”
“Were you worried when she didn't show up?”
Kayla looked down. “I texted her a couple of times but she didn't answer.”
“Did that concern you?”
Kayla shrugged. “She had gone to meet Hamish, so we figured she was…busy.”
“I see.”
“I felt terrible when I heard later.”
“And the last time you saw her that night, she was going to meet her fiancé, Hamish?”
“That's right.”
I was out of rope with Kayla. “No further questions, Your Honor.”
Stritch looked at me, looked at the clock, then looked back at me, smiled, and said, “I have no questions for this witness, Your Honor.”
I only had one witness left, Bonnie Price, and I didn’t want to put her on. As Archie’s fiancée, she could confirm too many of the circumstantial details—his presence at the concert, the blood on his hand, the history of conflict with Hamish, and worst of all, the lack of an alibi—that would seem all the more damning coming from her. Still, if that was all I had to get us to the weekend, I’d have to risk it.
“Very well, you may step down, Ms. Sapowicz.” Judge Wesley looked at the clock and then looked at me. “You may call your next witness, Mr. Shepherd. If you have one.”
“Your Honor, the defense calls Bonnie Price.”
As Bonnie made her way to the witness stand, Cade opened the courtroom door. He slipped in quietly with Hamish and indicated a place for him to sit. Hamish wasn't dirty, but it was clear that Cade had pulled him from the field—he was wearing a Mack Farms baseball cap, a blue work jacket, jeans, and boots. I saw Hamish make eye contact with his parents and shrug.
I turned back to the judge. “I’m sorry, Your Honor. With apologies to Ms. Price, I’d like to call a different witness. The defense re-calls Hamish Mack to the stand.”
Stritch stood. “May we approach, Your Honor?”
Judge Wesley waved us up.
“This is just another delaying tactic, Your Honor,” said Stritch. “Mr. Mack has already testified.”
I shook my head. “It's not, Your Honor. We're calling Hamish in response to evidence that was put on after he testified and which has relevance to the matter we discussed in chambers. We have a right to re-call him in our case-in-chief.”
Blind Conviction (Nate Shepherd Legal Thriller Series Book 3) Page 30
