by Dan Decker
“Stop messing with me, Mitch.”
I had been trying to do the opposite of making her angry.
“I’m trying to help you. If I would’ve gone to Frank Ward, this would not have gone well for you. I have found some stuff I need to turn over.”
“How is this embarrassing?”
My attempt to pacify her had not worked, it felt like I was circling around a whirlpool and was about to get sucked in.
“Where do you think I found it?”
“If you’re talking about the apartment, we went over that place with a fine-tooth comb. There is nothing to be embarrassed about there. What did you find?” I saw doubt in her eyes and felt bad for her. “Did you invite me here because you wanted to pay me back for that day all those years ago?”
“It was nothing like that. I honestly didn’t remember until afterward. I have pleasant memories of this place and I thought it would be a good spot for us to meet and discuss a touchy subject. Nothing could have been further from my mind. I promise you.”
Stephanie studied me for a moment.
“It may not look like it to you,” I went on, “but I am sincerely trying to help you. I have given a lot of thought as to my approach and my first thought was to give you a chance to spin this in your own way. If I was wrong, please tell me.”
“I’m going to try to believe you.” She took a deep breath as she studied my face. “No, you’re not wrong. If you truly found something, I’m glad for the chance to fix it.”
The fight and anger were still there but it was now disappearing. She was starting to believe I had something of importance to her investigation.
“I just have a lot going on at work right now, the last thing I need is an embarrassment. Thank you. I appreciate you giving me a chance to handle it how I see fit.”
She looked at me expectantly.
“And?” I prompted.
She rolled her eyes. “What do you want?”
“I don’t know yet. When it comes up, I want you to do me a favor.”
“We’ll see. That’s the best you’ll get. I don’t make any promises unless I know what it’s going to be.”
I shrugged. “Fair enough.”
“So spill it already.”
“You should order something,” I said. “My intention was to take you to it afterward.”
“I still have keys to the apartment. I know you have your own, but it’s best I have my copy if I need to reopen the site investigation. I will get them and meet you there.”
She was gone before I could argue. I thought about pulling out my phone and calling her, but decided I had plenty of time to eat my meal and get over to the apartment before she was able to retrieve the keys.
The conversation had gone poorer than expected. If I was honest with myself there was a part of me that had been hoping I would be able to convince her to stay and have lunch.
It was probably for the best that did not happen, because I would have had to tell Britney about that and she was already touchy about Stephanie.
When the waitress brought my sandwich, she favored me with a sympathetic smile as if I had lost my date. I shrugged it off and took a bite.
19
Jun 7 – 2:39 PM
Stephanie drove up as I was getting out of my car in front of Timothy Cooper’s apartment. After I called up to Ellie to let her know that we were coming, I used Timothy’s key card to open the door and held it as Stephanie approached.
She was angry again, but I suspected that it might be more in regards to a mistake on her part, then at me. She had been something of a perfectionist in law school and it had been trying for her to not get straight A’s, even though she had been one of the top people in our class.
“What other cases are you working on?” I asked in an effort to make small talk as we waited for the elevator.
Stephanie gave me a grim smile. “Trying to get inside information for your next case?”
I shook my head. “Just trying to make conversation with an old friend.”
“Former friend. Don’t forget it.”
I chuckled, ignoring her sigh of exasperation.
The elevator ride was quiet and while I was tempted to make further conversation, I figured it was best to let her stew in silence.
When the elevator opened, I motioned for her to get off first. She frowned and gave me a suspicious look as if I were up to something as she did.
The door to Timothy Cooper’s apartment opened just as we arrived and Winston stepped out.
“Pleasure to see you, Miss Gray,” he said with a tension in his voice that was not unusual whenever he dealt with somebody from his former department, even though it had been years since he had been a cop and Stephanie had not been employed there at the time.
“Winston.” Stephanie pushed past as if he were an obstacle. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I shrugged.
Ellie was leaning up against the bar as we entered. When Stephanie gave me a questioning look, Ellie spoke for herself.
“I am Ellie.”
She folded her arms with a look of defiance, which made me hide a smile. She knew who Stephanie Gray was, and all about our history. Ellie tended to be defensive around people she thought had wronged me.
Britney sometimes mistook this as jealousy, but my girlfriend had nothing to worry about. Ellie was in a committed relationship and had worked for me full-time for close to half a decade. She was just fiercely loyal.
Stephanie arched an eyebrow as she glanced back at me. “Nice to meet you.” Her words held the hint of a question, and if anything, only served to irritate her further as if she thought Ellie was a love interest. Stephanie’s eyes focused on the loveseat. “I see you have been moving furniture.”
“Timothy asked me to review the site. He’s probably going to hire somebody to clear out his room so he never has to come back.” This was something I had suggested he do and Timothy had liked the idea.
“Because he is filled with guilt and does not want to be reminded of what he did.”
“Because his roommate was murdered, he’s been framed for it, and he doesn’t understand why.”
Stephanie looked at me and I held her gaze. “Is that your theory of the case?”
“One of them.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
I thought about suggesting to Ellie and Winston that they were no longer needed, but decided I’d rather have them around. I had done my best to try to make the situation easier for Stephanie, and she did not appear to be as grateful as I would have liked. It was nice to have backup.
I glanced away from Stephanie and when I looked back, she had pulled out a tube of lip gloss. I almost did a double-take when I recognized it as the same lip gloss I had picked up from underneath the couch cushions. It was bad enough that she had missed a piece of brass and the murder weapon, but there were others who should have found that as well. If she accidentally left a tube of lip gloss, it would not be looked at favorably by others in her department.
I felt a sinking in my stomach as she put it away.
“I came across several pieces of evidence.” I hesitated for a moment and almost added “that you guys missed,” but thought better of it. I motioned to the back of the couch. “The first is some spent brass from a 9 mm gun.”
Stephanie strode over and look down, a frown covering her face. “There is no way this was here when we left the scene. We moved the couch and looked behind it.” She stared at me with a face that could have killed. “Are you messing with me, Mitch? I really hope you’re not. You do realize that we went over this place carefully, moving everything. We have pictures of everything. I can show you a picture of this floor with nothing there.”
I shrugged. “I believe you. Yet, the brass is still there. Perhaps it was lodged underneath the couch and dislodged during your investigation when you replaced the chair and you didn’t realize it.”
“Not possible. I am telling you this was not here. I stood in this exact spo
t and looked down and did not see it.”
While Stephanie had been speaking, I glanced over at the place where we had found the pistol and saw a pillow had been placed over it. The attorney in me grimaced, but I was also pleased that this action had given me an opportunity to make a dramatic reveal.
It was also best to dole this out to Stephanie in pieces rather than hitting her with it all at once.
“This is the small piece of evidence I discovered,” I said, thinking of the bagged lip gloss in my briefcase and wondering if I dared mention it.
“It doesn’t matter what you found, Mitch. The spent cartridge wasn’t here. You need to get it into your head.”
I hesitated. There was no going back. Since we had made the decision to not suppress the evidence, I had to reveal the pistol too. Ellie had been brought in on it. Winston knew about it. Three people keeping a secret like that wouldn’t work.
I won’t hide evidence.
“I too went through this place carefully. Checking every nook and cranny. Every crack.” I studied Stephanie. “Every conceivable place.”
“I give up,” Stephanie said through clenched teeth. “What did you find? Enough dramatics. This isn’t the courtroom, I’m not a jury, and there’s no judge to impress.”
I went to the sofa and picked up the pillow, showing the pistol underneath.
Stephanie’s eyes bulged. “Do not even try to tell me you found that here. I will not believe you. No way that we missed that. It just didn’t happen.”
“We found it here.” I looked at Winston.
“He is telling the truth, ma’am,” he said taking his cue. “I was here when he found that.”
“You mean Mitch was here by himself?” She threw a suspicious glance my way. “How am I supposed to believe you didn’t plant any of this?”
I shrugged. “How was I supposed to know you guys left some things behind? I just wanted to get a feel for the scene. I was trying to keep costs down for my client and thought I might not need to bring along an investigator. When I found the brass, I called Winston right away.”
“A likely story. Very likely indeed.”
“If I was trying to exonerate my client, why would I plant a pistol in his own apartment? Even if I did find the murder weapon, the last place I would want it to be found is here. Come on, Stephanie, think this through. You’re a little smarter than me but I’m hardly dumb. If this was all a ploy, I would have a hundred different better ways of doing this. If anything I was tempted to hide it; of course, I did not do that. Despite what people on your side of the aisle think, we on this side abide by the ethical code of conduct as well. You broke up with me because you said I was boring, not because I was a liar.”
The last part slipped out but I did not regret using it, even with the others in the room. Sometimes my own rhetorical skills got ahead of me, but this worked out well because I could see my words had sent my point home. She did know I was honest, even though we worked at odds with one another.
Stephanie turned back to the pistol and shook her head. “That makes sense, I suppose. But I am telling you this wasn’t here. Where did you find it?”
“In the sofa. It was pushed into a tear in the fabric.”
“It was in the sofa? Do you have any gloves?”
I nodded at Ellie who pulled out a pair from a bag I had left on the counter. As soon as Ellie had arrived, I had insisted she put on a pair.
I was surprised Stephanie had not brought her own, this made me think that she had not believed I had found anything substantial.
Stephanie pulled on the gloves, carefully moved the pistol and examined the sofa until she located the place I had referenced. She forced her hand inside and muttered a curse when she realized the gun could have easily fit.
“No way,” she muttered to herself. “There is no way we missed that.”
I didn’t want to rub salt in her wounds, but I needed to make the point. Her accusation that I had somehow been complicit in planting a weapon had ruffled my feathers, and even though it looked like I had safely put that to bed—at least for the time being—I wanted to make sure she realized there was a distinct possibility they could have missed this. When she called her people back in, they were going to look for every way they could blame me.
“Did you or somebody else feel along the couch for any bulges?”
She didn’t answer but I could tell from the look on her face that it was a place they had not considered, people didn’t typically hide things in back of their couches. It was pure happenstance that I had found it. “Did you bring in an x-ray machine? Or use a metal detector?”
None of those things had been done, but that was hardly a surprise. This was an unusual find and we both knew it.
“I don’t know what else to tell you, but that pistol was there when we got here.” I nodded at the door. “I had Winston examine it and there was no sign of forced entry. It has not even been twenty-four-hours since you released the scene, what are the chances somebody was able to get in and plant that? Who would have even known? Your office didn’t send word until after 9:00 this morning.” I had asked Ellie to check on that for me so I knew the exact timeline.
“Okay, I get it. Still, you can’t deny it looks suspicious.”
“And you can’t deny there’s a possibility you guys missed this.”
“It’s just our luck this apartment building doesn’t have working security cameras,” Stephanie muttered. “I would be interested to know who has come and gone in the last twenty-four hours.”
“Indeed. Do you believe me?”
She snorted. “Look, I know you’re an honest guy, but we are going to have forensics go over this with a fine-tooth comb, I don’t think there’s going to be anything left of the couches when we’re done. Your story is far-fetched, but I can’t see you planting evidence that would incriminate your own client. Not unless you knew for sure that it was tied to somebody else.”
“And even if I did find such evidence, would I plant it here? No way. First off, I would not plant evidence. But if I were to do so, I would put it in a place that nobody would connect to my client. The situation speaks for itself. The facts are what they are.”
She gave me an evenhanded look. “If this proves out, this might just restore your reputation over there with the department.”
Was she implying I had done this at the expense of my client? After studying her face for a moment, I dismissed the idea.
“As long as it doesn’t open me up to a malpractice lawsuit,” I muttered.
Ellie gave me a sympathetic look and I knew by the time we got back to the office she would have some recommendations for things I could do to mitigate any claim against me. It was part of why I liked her, she was smart and talented but always took a practical approach to things. I had tried to convince her that she should go to law school, but she always told me she didn’t have the interest. I thought she was wrong and hoped one day to prevail upon her to at least take the LSAT.
“Where do we go from here?”
I imagined Stephanie would want to take a few minutes before she called in her team. If I were her, I would want to have my story straight before I brought anybody else in on this. I would be thinking of how to blame the forensics team so it didn’t fall back on me. And I would be pulling out a knife and tearing up all the furniture just to see if there was anything else I had missed.
Stephanie walked back to the brass. “That wasn’t here, Mitch, it just wasn’t. I know that for sure.” She looked at the pistol. “I can’t say anything about that.” She wagged a finger at me. “And you better never quote me on that. Nobody could have known the pistol would be stuffed into the couch. The tear is barely visible. It’s remarkable you found it.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “I have to make a call. Are you guys done with the place?”
I was little surprised at the question, primarily because she would have been within her rights to just order us out, but she was playing nice. I could see it grated on h
er to do so, but underneath the anger she recognized I had done her a considerable favor.
Finally.
“We’re done.” I pointed at the door, but Winston had already picked up his gear and was headed in that direction, Ellie was not far behind.
I slung my bag over my shoulder, wondering if I was making a mistake to not mention the lip gloss. I looked back at Stephanie as she faced the window, already dialing a number into her phone.
I had hardly expected a thank you, but it would’ve been nice to have some measure of recognition for my consideration of her situation.
She must have already decided how she wanted to handle things, because she hadn’t hesitated to get the team back over here.
Times like this made me glad I didn’t work for the state. I had no boss. Nobody was ever going to call me to the carpet. Unfortunately, that was about to happen to her.
As I shut the door, I caught a final look at her face and saw fear written there.
Yeah, I was glad I didn’t bring up the lip gloss. It was a small thing, but I was happy I could save a former flame a little more embarrassment. That would’ve made it a bit too personal for her.
I could spare her that.
20
Jun 7 – 3:35 PM
I dialed a number and waited while the phone rang, wondering if I was making a mistake to summon Timothy for questioning. A part of me feared I was getting too emotionally involved in this case, but I was not about to step back as counsel now, so I had to deal with the issues head on.
Timothy answered. “Yeah?”
“I need to meet with you, do you have time right now?”
“If I still worked there,” his voice was more than a little sarcastic, “I could just pop in.”
“I explained why I had to let you go. It was for the best, the last thing you want is for our judgment to become anything less than objective as we deal with your case. Your job will be waiting for you once we clear this up, but we cannot have you around the office when we need to be focusing on dispassionately serving you. Or would you rather increase your risk of going to jail?”