killed by our business competitors, do we?"
Bart chuckled. "Listen, my naive little wife, corporate espionage is rampant all over the world and people die every day so that one company can get a leg up on another one."
"That's horrible. It shouldn't be like that," I said. “Life is sacred. You shouldn't have to be worried about someone killing you to make a buck."
Bart took my hand and smiled softly. "I know. That's why we became prosecutors, remember." He laughed. "And now look at us, we're defending criminals."
"Alleged criminals," I corrected. "Maybe Stan is right. We should only defend those who we believe are innocent."
"They all say they're innocent and as long as you believe them it's okay to defend them. Sure, you may be wrong a time or two, but at least you believed you were seeking justice. That's what's important."
We decided I would continue to pursue the Brown-Willis affair and Bart would dig into Chester Brown's employment some more and try to identify TI's competitors. This case was turning out to be more complicated than it first appeared, so I decided to call our client to see if he wanted us to continue work even though he hadn't been indicted yet.
"I don't know,” Stanley said. “I've already given you $5,000.00. I hate to spend a lot of money unnecessarily."
"I know. That's why I'm calling you. We've developed a number of leads that are worthy of further development." I filled him in on what we'd come up with so far.
"That's good work. What would you do, if it were you?"
"It's important in a murder case to get right on it quickly before the trail gets cold. I suspect the reason the DA hasn't indicted you yet is that they are finding the same thing we are. There are a lot of potential suspects out there. If it were me, I'd want my own team working hard to find the real killer, so I'd never get indicted. Do you realize how your life will be turned upside down if you're arrested for murder?"
"Oh, yes. It would ruin me. Go ahead. Keep digging and find out who killed Chester Brown. I'll spend my entire profit sharing plan if I have to keep from going to jail."
"Good. We'll keep you posted."
I felt bad about taking Stanley's money, but he was right. It was worth all of his pension plan, and then some, not to be arrested for murder. He'd immediately become a public spectacle and branded a demon for killing five innocent people. Even if he was acquitted his life would never be the same. A lot of people would think he'd gotten away with murder.
After hanging up, I looked at my notebook. My next entry on my list of things to do was talk to the arson investigator, Charles Stewart. I needed to know all the particulars of the fire. Fires usually had a signature and I wondered if there had been any other fires with a similar one in the recent past. It was possible that the fire was a random act and that the Browns' weren't murdered at all. When I finally caught up with him, Stewart dismissed that possibility.
"Yes, we've compared this fire to every other fire in the Dallas Metroplex in the last five years. There is nothing about this fire that would tie it to any of the others. In fact, it has a pretty unique signature."
"How's that?"
"It appears the arsonist used a delayed triggering device—a quite sophisticated one that would set off the fire hours after it had been installed. I think we are dealing with a professional here."
"A professional?" I asked.
"Yes. The arsonist either had military or commercial training in handling explosives or he hired someone with that kind of training to set the fire."
"Really?"
"Yes, the fire was expertly designed to spread quickly and trap the victims inside."
"How did they do that?"
"The victim had a number of propane canisters. Apparently he liked to barbeque. He had quite a setup on the patio. It utilized two canisters and it appears he kept three backups. The perpetrator put the five canisters at strategic places around the house. Each probably hidden so they wouldn't be seen. On each there was a blasting cap triggered by a telephone receiver. All the arsonist had to do was make a phone call and the whole place went up. Kerosene was placed in glass jars near the canisters so when they were set off there'd be plenty of fuel to help intensify the fire. There is no doubt that this was cold-blooded murder, Ms. Waters. There is no doubt about it at all."
"Well, you know Mr. Brown was working on a top secret military project."
"So I heard."
"Yes, and I understand there was a lot of competition between defense contractors for whatever they were working on. I'm told that Chester Brown was key to the project, so I would think you'd be looking at these competitors, particularly given the professional manner in which the Brown family was murdered."
"We're looking into all possible scenarios including the possibility that your client started the fire."
"But I thought you said it was a professional job?"
“That’s what it looked like, but it may have been staged to look like a professional job to throw us off. We don't know if the triggering mechanisms actually worked. Your client could have distributed the canisters and kerosene around the house and then lit a match or left a lit cigarette."
"What about the blasting caps?"
"They wouldn't be easy to get, but he might have been able to find them if he knew someone in the construction business."
"Wonderful," I moaned. "Well, I appreciate you filling me in on the investigation. Let me know if anything else develops."
"I'll inform Mr. Shepard and I assume he'll pass the information on to you."
"I wouldn't make that assumption, but I know you have your protocols. Thank you, again."
When I got back to the office, I filled Bart in on my meeting with Stewart. He said what I'd found out didn't surprise him. It was looking more and more like our client was innocent, but it was going to be difficult to prove since the government and TI's competitors refused to talk to him. I suggested our best hope was that Mr. Brown's employer might be interested in discovering the truth. After all, they lost a key employee and, if a competitor was responsible, they'd be interested in nailing them for the crime.
13
Indictment
Stan Turner
When I got in work on Monday there was a message from Ben Stover. I prayed it wasn't bad news as I didn't feel like driving to Waco again. When I returned the call, Alice answered and seemed to be in good spirits.
"Hi, Alice. I was returning Ben's call."
"Oh, he went to the bank, but I can tell you why he called."
"Okay, what's up?"
"The grand jury indicted Ralph Herman."
"Oh, wow. They didn't waste any time."
"No. Larry has been working hard on the case ever since you called him."
"Well good. Did you have to testify to the grand jury?"
"No. I could never do that. I made Ben go. He testified yesterday for over an hour. They arrested Ralph within an hour of the indictment. He's in the county jail right now. I guess because of his prior arrest and the off shore account they set the bail pretty high. I understand he hasn’t been able to make it."
"Great. So, what did the DA tell you he thought would happen? Does he think he'll plead out?"
"No. Ralph hired an attorney and says he's going to fight."
"Well, I guess you can't blame him. His attorney, I'm sure, advised him that it's difficult to prove embezzlement. He's probably thinking he can beat the charges."
"Larry thinks we have a good case. He's going to meet with Ron Jacobs, Herman's attorney and offer him a reasonable deal if he agrees to restitution."
"I hope he hasn't spent all the money."
"Larry says they've done an asset search and they think he owns a ranch. If we can show the money went into the ranch, the court might order him to sell it and use the proceeds to fund his restitution."
"That would be nice. I hope it all works out for you."
"Me too."
"So, how’s the business holding up?"
"U
p and down," Alice replied. "We've got a potential buyer. Ben signed a contract on Monday. If it doesn't fall through, we'll be able to unload a lot of our debt."
"Wow! That's wonderful. When are you supposed to close?"
"If all goes well, next Friday. All we have to do is get the lender to approve the loan assumption and we'll be home free."
"Well, let me know if I can help."
"There is one thing." Alice said. "Ralph called my daughter Peggy, you know, his ex-wife. She works at our Austin plant."
"He called from jail?"
"No, from the courthouse just before the grand jury began deliberations."
"Yeah. So, what did he want?"
"He told her he’d heard we were going to file bankruptcy and that she should start looking for a new job."
"Jeez. What a bunch of crap. She didn't believe him, did she?"
"Well, it upset her," Alice replied, "and she told the manager, Paul Brim about it."
"Uh huh."
"So, he just called a few minutes ago to tell me he's resigning."
"Shit! You've got to be kidding."
"I wish I were, but that's what he said. Apparently one of our competitors has been trying to recruit him and when Peggy mentioned the possibility of bankruptcy he got right on the telephone and accepted their offer."
"Damn. So, do have someone to replace him?"
"No, but that's not the worst of our problems. If our buyer hears that we're filing bankruptcy you know what's going to happen."
My heart sank. "Oh, shit. They're going to try to cut the sales price."
"Exactly and then what little equity we were going to pull out of the business will go up in smoke."
"Well. What are the odds the buyer will find out?"
"Pretty good, I'm
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