By Reason of Insanity
Page 21
He bowed his head. “Right.”
“Not even Edison. Because she died, too, didn’t she? She was killed by a mugger on the street right after she talked to Lawrence, wasn’t she?”
I knew that Dr. Weber was behind her death, too, but that wasn’t a part of this trial, so I didn’t want to bring that in.
"Yes, that's correct. The situation was kept between Lawrence and me. In fact, it was my understanding that he never got a chance to even talk to attorneys exactly about what I did. He just wanted to make sure that the company would be financially solvent when the lawsuits started coming.”
“And Lawrence never went to anybody about what you were doing when he first found out about Marina, because you threatened to kill him if he did, isn’t that right?”
“Right.” He glared at me, but what could he do? It was going to come out, one way or another.
“And you promised him that Marina and Oksana were the only ones, didn’t you?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But this time, Lawrence was going to turn you in, wasn’t he?”
“Yes. He was.”
“And you killed him to keep your secret, didn’t you?”
He bit his lower lip. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he admitted to that as well. That guy had a way of justifying absolutely anything in his head. He would probably tell the jury that killing Lawrence was the right thing to do, because, in his head, it was.
He lifted his chin and then looked at the jury. “Yes. I did.”
And then he looked down at the witness stand again.
“Yes. You did kill Lawrence?”
“Yes. I did,” he repeated. “I did. I had to. He was going to ruin me. I was going to be sued by all 500 of those kids, not to mention by their identical twin, the one who was placed in a good home, because I violated every ethical rule in the book. I was going to spend the rest of my life in prison. I panicked.”
“I have nothing further for this witness,” I said.
“I did nothing wrong,” he mumbled. “I did nothing wrong. Those mothers, those kids, they all would have died if I didn’t come along. What did I do wrong? I collected great data. No other study could come close to finding out the data I found out. Researchers have been studying the nature v. nurture question for years, and I’ve definitively answered it. What did I do wrong?”
He kept babbling like that while the bailiffs approached him and slapped the handcuffs on.
He kept babbling as they took him out of the courtroom.
He probably kept babbling all the way to the jail. I didn’t know that for sure, but I imagined that, by the time they got him to the jail, they would be ready to kill him themselves just to shut him up.
After he left, Jenna stood up. “Well, I guess I need to dismiss this case with prejudice.”
“I don’t think you have a choice, Ms. Powell,” Judge Watts said. “Ms. Vasiliev, you are free to go.”
I looked over at her and smiled.
My very first at-bat, and I hit it out of the park.
Avery would be so proud.
Chapter 40
That night, Regina and I were sitting on the beach. It was a dark, cool night, and we were sitting on a large blanket, just listening to the waves coming in.
Even though alcohol wasn’t allowed, we didn’t care. We each had a plastic wine glass filled with Chablis. For the moment, we weren’t talking.
Regina looked over at me. “Aidan, I-“
I watched her, waiting for her to say something else.
But she didn’t.
She just kissed me.
And I lost my breath.
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A young black boy serving life in prison...
A city on fire...
One man stands between a life behind bars and total exoneration...
Christian Davis, a former big-firm lawyer turned social justice warrior, has just been assigned the case of his life by the State of California. Jamel Jackson, a 16-year-old black boy, has just been convicted for the brutal rape of a prominent movie star.
Christian digs into the case with gusto, as he examines the trial court transcript for any hint that the trial court might have erred in Jamel's case. As he gets into the investigation of the case, he's shocked at what he has found. Corruption at the highest level is staring him in the face.
The problem is, the person who Christian suspects was actually behind the rape is somebody who is powerful and connected. And this person will stop at anything to make sure that young Jamel stays in prison for the crime.
Christian soon finds himself not only fighting the system, but also trying to stay one step ahead of the man who Christian knows was the one who raped the actress.
Because Christian knows that Jamel will not remain in prison for this rich bastard's crime.
And he will risk all, even his life, to make that doesn't happen.
With the lightning pace and twists and turns you've come to expect from a Rachel Sinclair thriller, Wrongful Conviction is a book that you will not want to miss!!!!
Also by Rachel Sinclair
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