An Unspeakable Crime

by Theresa Lorella

  C of V: Can you explain, Mrs. Randolph?

  PJR: Well, as you know, there are rumors that Richard has defiled Nancy, and that said defilement resulted in a pregnancy that ended one way or the other at Glentivar.

  C of V: And what are your beliefs, Mrs. Randolph?

  PJR: Mr. Smith, I haven’t seen Nancy in several months. What has occurred at Bizarre is beyond my scope of knowledge. She was a pleasure at Monticello, although she had physical ailments, as I mentioned.

  C of V: These physical ailments, Mrs. Randolph, would they be consistent with the pains and complaints of labor?

  PJR: Well, Mr. Smith, I think I know what and why you are asking, but please know that it is unlikely that Nancy was experiencing labor pains every other day or so for several months. Labor usually only happens once per pregnancy.

  Henry would have laughed if he had not known that Patsy had perhaps just slipped and admitted to a known or suspected pregnancy. Now, with two Randolph women admitting the same, Nancy and Richard may be fighting an uphill battle. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Smith would not miss this.

  C of V: Mrs. Randolph, may I be blunt enough to presume that you also knew Nancy Randolph was pregnant around the time she went to Glentivar plantation?

  PJR: Mr. Smith, if I may be equally blunt: I never said that Nancy was pregnant definitively. That said, yes, the rumors that have abounded in this county and in my family included, is that she was in fact carrying a child at some point. I have simply testified that she suffered from colic as she apparently told everyone at Glentivar. I also testified that I gave her information about—and a tincture of—gum guaiacum. That would certainly cure both colic and pregnancy.

  Henry dropped his pencil. He joined in with the members of the courtroom who gasped.

  C of V: Mrs. Randolph, can you please explain what you just implied?

  PJR: Certainly, Mr. Smith. I already mentioned that a tincture of gum guaiacum is used to cure stomach ailments such as colic and other such aches. It is also used—this is folklore, please note—as a method to bring on a woman’s courses, should she be having trouble with such a thing. Should a woman be with child at the time she takes the tincture, it would have the effect of producing an abortion of that child.

  C of V: I’m sorry, what did you say, Mrs. Randolph? That you gave Nancy Randolph a known abortifacient?

  PJR: Yes, that is correct, Mr. Smith. It can produce abortion, bring on a woman’s courses, or help with ailments such as colic. There is a long list of beneficial uses to gum guaiacum. One of those uses is to terminate a pregnancy. Yes.

  C of V: I, uh, may I have a moment your honor? Your honor?

  Justice Carrington, like everyone else in the courtroom had his eyes trained on Patsy Jefferson Randolph. Likely he was in shock. “Yes, yes, Mr. Smith. Just a moment though.”

  Henry looked over at Smith and Jones, whispering madly to each other. Henry could feel an energy in the room behind him that compelled him to twist around to sneak a peak. Henry was wrong. He thought everyone was fixated on Patsy; in fact, all eyes in the courtroom were pasted on Nancy. Her eyes were trained straight ahead, her back stiff and her head held high. She was a shade of pink much different from her normal color. Henry turned forward and saw that Patsy was looking directly at Nancy.

  “What is happening?” Richard whispered. “Why is everyone so shocked?”

  “Richard, your sister-in-law,” Henry had to pause to determine if he had got this family connection correct, “your wife’s sister-in-law just implied that Nancy knowingly terminated a pregnancy.”

  Marshall leaned over Richard to address Henry. “But did she? She implied that the gum guaiacum was for colic—which is what Nancy was suffering from at Glentivar—and that the plant just happens to have the side effect of ending a pregnancy if used by a pregnant woman. It’s a huge difference.”

  Henry took a deep breath and considered. “It’s a subtle difference. Either way, the implication is that Nancy was pregnant, and that everyone knew it.”

  “It’s a huge difference—in one scenario she purposely ended a pregnancy and in the other she did so accidentally, thinking she was merely treating a common ailment.”

  “May I say something, sirs?” Richard cut in, addressing both men. Henry was tempted to say no, but it seemed as good a time as any to get Richard’s input. He just hoped Richard didn’t admit any criminal wrongdoing in open court. He nodded yes as did Marshall.

  “Well, why in the world would Nancy knowingly and purposely cause an abortion the one time in months we had traveled off of our own farm? If she was going to do so, wouldn’t she do it at Bizarre in private?”

  “Ha,” Henry exclaimed, slapping his client on his back. “Yes!” It finally was coming together, everything these Bizarre Randolphs said and did. Honestly, Henry wasn’t certain it was the truth, but suddenly he and Marshall had a complete picture, a theory of this case they could use in closing to argue a plausible alternative. And if there was a plausible alternative to the prosecution’s case, there was reasonable doubt that Richard and Nancy had committed a crime. Worst-case scenario, an accidental misuse of a medicinal plant, but not a crime.

  Henry looked up and noticed that now eyes were on him. Likely because of the loud shout of joy that had escaped his lips. One set of eyes were those of Mrs. Randolph still in the witness stand waiting for Smith to stand back up and follow up with his questions. By God, Henry thought, what she had said was shocking and horrible, but it was also brilliant. It clearly ran in the family—Jefferson, not Randolph. She had given each side enough to use to the advantage—the trick was to see what counsel could do with such information.

  Henry’s outburst hadn’t gone unnoticed by Justice Carrington. “Mr. Henry, please remember we are in open court.” Henry stood and apologized, nodding his agreement. He couldn’t be persuaded to be unhappy by a frustrated judge; this gift was too great. “And Mr. Smith, that is sufficient. Do you have any further questions from your witness?”

  Smith looked over at Jones as the two remained sitting at the prosecution’s table. There seemed to be a nonverbal communication passing between the two men. Finally, after several silent moments, Jones stood up and made his first appearance of the trial. “No sir, the Commonwealth of Virginia has nothing left to say.”

  Henry could see the look of pure anger that passed onto Smith’s face. Even in profile, the man’s countenance was stormy. Well, Smith may be upset with his witness, but Henry could have jumped up to the witness stand and kissed Mrs. Randolph, even if she looked like a female copy of her famous father.

  “Mr. Henry, Mr. Marshall, does the defense have questions for Mrs. Randolph?”

  Henry and Marshall looked at each other and, like the prosecutors, had a strong and immediate nonverbal understanding. Henry stood and addressed the court with pleasure. “Your honor, the defense has no questions for this witness.” Why mess with a good thing?

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  HENRY DIDN’T ANTICIPATE THAT the crowd wouldn’t wait to leave the courtroom to go crazy; they went up like tinder the moment the judges left the room. As the bailiff came to collect Richard, Henry noticed that Nancy was being consumed by a group of audience members who had gathered around her to ask what she thought about Patsy’s testimony.

  “Oh God,” Henry muttered.

  “I’ll deal with Richard, you go with Nancy. Get her out of here,” Marshall said, following Richard and the bailiff as they left through the side door. Lucky, Henry thought. Marshall got along better with Nancy than Henry did, but even he didn’t seem to want to face the press of people that would likely be a constant from the defense table all the way to a carriage out front. Henry sighed and took a couple deep breaths. While he centered himself, Nancy would have to handle the crowd on her own as he did so. Frankly, she deserved as much, Henry thought.

  Since Marshall had abandoned him with no other choice, Henry pushed a way through the throng of people around Nancy, who had now made it
to the center aisle. Without saying a word, he grabbed the young woman by the elbow and turned her firmly and surely towards the door and started walking.

  “Mr. Henry,” she began as she skipped to keep up with Henry’s longer stride.

  “No, again, not a word. How it is you are being allowed to walk out of this court at all is nothing short of a miracle. Let us exit this building—indeed this very property—and not speak until we enter my carriage. Do you think you can handle such a thing?”

  Henry felt the girl stiffen in indignation. “Why, you don’t have to be continuously rude, Mr. Henry,” she protested. If Henry had his way, he would have characterized her response as a whine rather than a protest. But he also begrudgingly realized that this girl had a certain fortitude to her that was admirable. Or, he would think that once his anger with her had subsided. This would likely take a fair amount of time to achieve.

  “Indeed, Miss Randolph,” he grumbled more to himself than to her. Nothing seemed to get through to this woman. He thought it might be possible she was enjoying the attention. That said, once they exited the courthouse proper and were engulfed in the rowdier crowd outside, people shouted to Nancy, “Did you abort your pregnancy?” and “Did you do it on purpose?” Nancy herself put a hand on that of Henry still holding her arm. She did not seem to revel in negative attention. Perhaps there was hope for her yet. Not that Henry particularly cared, but if there were a glimmer of hope for her, he would like to see her pull out her winning attributes right about now.

  Henry would have thought Nancy would remain quiet and contemplative about what had occurred in that courtroom. Her own sister-in-law had implicated that Nancy had knowingly terminated a pregnancy. That may very well mean that neither she nor Richard killed a living baby, but Henry wasn’t certain it was a great implication. It was not illegal, however, so that was something. All that said as he and Nancy jumped into his waiting carriage he figured he could collect his thoughts in peace as Nancy did the same.

  Such was not the case. “Mr. Henry, wasn’t that magnificent?” she effused. “What Patsy said, I mean?”

  Henry frowned and studied the young woman. “My dear girl, while I agree that it was likely very helpful for Richard, I hardly see how her testimony was ‘magnificent’ for you. She did a rather fine job of corroborating your crazy aunt’s testimony with the added twist that you caused your own miscarriage. I don’t know that is what I would call a positive result.” Henry looked at the girl. “And under the unfortunate circumstance that you were pregnant, I’m not sure anything counts as a positive at this point.”

  Nancy shook her head as if Henry was a difficult but adorable child. “Do you always focus on the worst-case scenario, Mr. Henry?”

  “Yes. I believe it is usually my job to think of the worst outcomes, Miss Randolph. It is my job to help people avoid the worst and I can’t do that job if I pretend away possibilities I dislike or that provide discomfort.”

  Nancy laughed. “Well, in this situation, kindly disregard the negative—yes, yes, I see it, but that is my problem. I am prepared to suffer the effects of my decisions. But what Patsy has said may save Richard, and that is a huge positive, Mr. Henry. And I would like to think it was because Patsy could see my face.”

  Henry shuddered to think what Patsy might have said about her in-laws if she hadn’t seen Nancy sitting there. Henry wasn’t certain that Nancy was thus the hero of the day. He was willing to presume that Jefferson’s daughter had come to her testimony on her own, with no help from Nancy. Did it give them an out? Yes. But did it confirm that Nancy was pregnant without a husband? Yes to that as well. It was hard to control the latter without pointing out that Richard and Nancy had lied. That was often the worst mistake people made, and it held true in this case.

  “I hope that I have saved Richard. I have done all I could to help him.”

  Henry mused, still staring at this girl who was so capricious and so brave that it was insanity. “And I’ve done nothing to hurt him, Miss Randolph.”

  ******

  “We can’t let Richard take the stand, John. I honestly feel like I should add ‘over my dead body.’” Henry was adamant, his face red. “He is both a loose cannon and a liar!”

  He and Marshall had met again at Henry’s home after Marshall had consulted with Richard and Henry had deposited Nancy with some reluctant family members. “Go home,” Henry had said, but he was certain she was beyond listening to his advice. “Or at least promise you won’t come back to the courthouse and risk detention.” To that she had nodded her agreement.

  “We honestly have no idea where the truth lies in this matter. For all we know it is something so far from what we can see that any admission to the same will acquit Richard in this matter but result in charges for something different. They aren’t trustworthy.”

  “They?” Marshall asked.

  “Every single Randolph,” Henry sighed. “Even Patsy came in with a wild story that was a wonderfully helpful theory if we admit pregnancy, but also wildly damning to Nancy, at least socially, at the same time. Every single person has testified to something different. Our client failed to mention a key detail. Nancy’s story mostly makes sense but only raises additional issues. If it is the truth, we didn’t either she or Richard tell us earlier?

  “The Harrison’s couldn’t tell that Nancy was largely with child—or they lied to the court, I suppose—but, still a fact that her aunt says was so obvious that you could see it through a keyhole. And then Patsy tells all the world that Nancy knew how and had the means to effect an abortion of a pregnancy. It’s not the horrid story that the prosecution tells, but it’s not great. We have risks all around—with the truth, with Richard’s story, with every single option available.” Henry paused and looked up at Marshall. “I can’t remember the last time I had a case that was so difficult. Such an unspeakable crime and such a cast of characters!”

  Marshall nodded. “Oh, I don’t disagree. To clear Richard, we may have to crucify Nancy Randolph’s reputation, deserved or not. And as much as it pains me, I don’t see how we can avoid that result.”

  “Well, and that raises another problem, John.” Henry paused for effect. “What is going on between Nancy and Richard Randolph? You have to be a fool to not see that his face lights up like the sun every time she comes into the room—he did it again in the courtroom the other day.”

  Marshall groaned. “I noticed.”

  Henry continued, “And then there is Nancy’s almost Christ-like willingness to sacrifice herself for her brother-in-law. While I admire her for her nobility in the matter, I would also argue that if her story is true, Richard has caused almost all of his own problems in this matter. His responsibility in Nancy and Theo’s relationship is real, but not detrimental. Why then would she sacrifice her whole life, her reputation, her chances at happiness for this man? Again, it looks again like these two are in love.” He paused and looked at Marshall. “We don’t want that. That doesn’t help.”

  Henry respected John Marshall very much, but he had an increasing worry that his colleague was too besotted with Richard, or perhaps with Nancy. Not to imply anything untoward, simply that Marshall seemed to have bought into Nancy’s story more so than Henry had. Marshall had seemed to like the girl from the start and appeared fairly serene considering her confession. That could equal a disaster if it impeded his colleague’s decision-making capacity. In Henry’s view, there was almost never a good time to put the accused or their accomplices on the stand. If they weren’t guilty of the crime charged, they were guilty of something. And God only knew what Richard and Nancy were collectively guilty of doing. Henry had a variety of theories. He didn’t want to see which one won out when Richard took the stand. If Richard took the stand. He needed to get his colleague on board with keeping Richard silent.

  “John, we have enough reasonable doubt without Richard coming in and ruining it all by presenting in a disjointed and inconsistent manner.”

  Marshall looked at Henry for
a moment before nodding slowly. “I see what you are saying. As usual, I don’t disagree. I also know that you and I perhaps different levels of confidence in these Randolphs.”

  “So, do we put him on or not, John?” Henry took a breath for a full count of five while he waited for Marshall’s answer. He so badly wanted a negative in response.

  Marshall smiled. “No, don’t worry, Patrick. I think you are right. We need to work with what we have and not ruin a good thing. What has Smith done to show that Richard committed the crimes with which they have charged him?”

  “Exactly! Yes, that’s exactly right, John. He himself has provided us the evidence to show the reasonable doubt. And if there is reasonable doubt…”

  “That is all we need,” Marshall finished the sentence. “And so that is what I’ll give them.” He paused. “You know, I’m not the speaker you are, Patrick.”

  “John, you are likely the most intellectually gifted attorney we have in this country of ours. I am not worried about your closing argument. I am more worried about the company of Smith and Jones trying to pull out some questionably ethical surprises in their argument.”

  “Let’s continue to segregate Mr. Jones from the wrongdoings of Smith, if you don’t mind, Patrick. And how much can he do? He has bad evidence.” The justices don’t have enough to send this to a full trial. Not even Smith can change that.

  “Well, he has a bad habit of trying everything he can think of.” Henry wouldn’t be happy until both sides had issued their closing arguments and this case was done and the justices had delivered their decision. And he had been paid his five hundred pounds. Henry sighed thinking about the unpaid bill. This was not worth doing for free. It hardly counted as charity, nor was this a client deserving of being helped for the sake of help.

  Marshall must have misunderstood Henry’s outward signs of his inner turmoil. “Do not worry, man. We’re almost done. Hang in there.”

  Henry considered correcting Marshall, but he agreed that if there was ever a reason for celebration, it was that this inquest was coming to an end. It didn’t matter if they won or lost, it would be over. Winning would be better, and would likely increase the chance of seeing payment, but even losing meant that the whole ordeal would finally be done. That said, the next burden was on Marshall’s shoulders and so Henry could likely hope to get some real sleep for the next night or two. Still, he had a sense that true rest would elude him just a bit longer.