Chapter 4
Turner & Waters
When I decided to go to law school, it had always been my intention to be a criminal defense attorney. As a teenager I loved to read legal thrillers. Earle Stanley Gardner was my favorite author. I wanted to be a female Perry Mason. Fortunately, unlike Stan, I had aced all my criminal law classes at SMU. Of course, Stan was so distracted with politics, work, his family, and slaying windmills, it was a wonder he passed any of his courses.
Unfortunately, getting high profile felony cases wasn't easy. The big firms or the well known solo practitioners usually gobbled them up pretty quickly. A new attorney would have little chance at getting anything but court appointments. So, that would mean I'd have to go to work for an established law firm and become their slave for four or five years before I'd start getting any good cases. The money would be okay, but the partners would end up with all the profits from my long hours and hard work.
In my third year of law school I had a short fling with my criminal procedures professor and he advised me to go work at the District Attorney's Office first. He said not only would it give me valuable experience in court but it would also allow me to forge friendships and alliances within the District Attorney's office that would make life easier for me when I switched sides and joined the defense bar. That made a lot of sense, so after graduation I applied for a job with the Dallas DA and was immediately hired.
It was a Monday morning and I'd just arrived at work. I grabbed a cup of coffee from the break room before walking briskly to my cramped office. Clearing a spot on my cluttered desk, I set the cup down and looked at the stacks upon stacks of files neatly arranged on my desk and let out a sigh of desperation. When I'd taken the job it was no secret ADA's were overworked and under paid, but I hadn't really appreciated how bad it would be.
It wasn't that I minded hard work. That wasn't it. What I couldn't stand was prosecuting petty crimes--DWI's, minor possession cases, criminal mischief, domestic battery and the like. What depressed me most was that I'd been working now almost two years and I'd yet to sink my teeth into a good felony case--like an armed robbery, assault and battery, manslaughter, or murder.
As I was lamenting my decision to go to work for the DA, the intercom buzzed.
"Molly Rogers on line 3," the receptionist advised.
Molly Rogers was an intake clerk for the Dallas Police Department. I'd known Molly Rogers since high school. We hadn't been good friends back then, since Molly was a grade ahead of me at Hillcrest High School, but we had known each other from the drama club. Since I spent a lot of time at the Dallas city jail, we'd become friends and loved to exchange courthouse gossip.
"Paula," Molly said excitedly.
"What?" I asked.
"You won't believe who was in here Saturday night running a writ."
"Who?"
"Your old law school buddy, Stan Turner."
"Stan Turner? Are you serious?"
"Yes, girl. I talked to him myself."
"Hmm. Who was he getting out?"
"A kid named Rob Blaylock. He was in for DWI and his friend for public intoxication and assaulting a police officer."
"Huh."
"It gets juicier. The arresting officer lets the two girls take Blaylock's car home, which he never should have done. And on the way they get into an accident with a Mercedes and the driver is killed."
"What? Oh, my God! Were the girls hurt?"
"No. I don't think so, but your friend's gonna have his hands full defending the kid for DWI and the girl and the dad for wrongful death."
I sighed. "Yes, Stan has a propensity for falling into juicy cases. You followed the Sarah Winters case, didn't you?"
"Sure. Who didn't?"
"From what I heard he didn't even want the case. The girl's father had to beg him to take it."
"Well, it's a good thing he took it," Molly said. "Now he'll never be wanting for business."
"Yes, he's got way more than any one person can handle," I said thoughtfully.
"I've heard he turns down most of the criminal cases that come his way," Molly went on.
"Yes, it's time he had a partner, don't' you think?"
"Like you?" Molly chuckled.
"Exactly. I've already worked a case with him. We're very compatible. It would be a perfect fit."
"Go get 'em, girl."
"I plan to," Paula said. "Thanks for the heads up."
Paula hung up and headed straight for Margaret McLaughlin's office. Margaret supervised six ADAs and handled their case assignments. Marge looked up when Paula strolled in.
"Hi, Paula. What's up?"
"Hey, who did you assign the Blaylock DWI to?" she asked.
"Ah. I don't know. Let me check," Marge said as she started rummaging through a stack of papers on her desk. Finally she pulled out the one she was looking for and studied it a minute. "Blaylock. Let me see. John Sergeant has been penciled in but I haven't given him the file yet."
"What about his buddy, Jesse Ramirez.
"Sergeant got him too, since the cases are related."
"Good. I'd like them both."
"Why?"
"Their attorney is Stan Turner. We went to SMU together. I know him like a book. I'm the best person in the office to deal with him."
"I don't know. He tore up Sherman's best prosecutor in the Sarah Winter's case."
"Yes. I followed that case very closely. Howard Hudson underestimated Stan. He figured he was fresh out of law school and would be a push over. I know Stan Turner. He and I were study partners in law school. I have a good rapport with him and I'm sure we can work out a reasonable plea bargain and save the taxpayers a lot of money."
"Well, I guess since I haven't actually given him the cases yet, he won't know the difference."
"Good. Thanks. Can I get the files?"
Marge nodded and started digging through stacks of files. Finally she pulled them out and handed them to me. I took them, smiled appreciatively and walked back to my office.
According to Blaylock's file, he had a clean record and was a model student. Being his first offense he probably wouldn't be looking at any jail time, so it was a perfect opportunity to rekindle my relationship with Stan. I'd play hardball at first and then reluctantly give in. Then, when he was in a good mood, I'd suggest we get together to catch up. He wouldn't suspect a thing.
The second file was a different story. I couldn't be too lenient on a kid who had assaulted a police officer. He'd have to do some time, but I was sure Stan would understand. You can't let people attack police officers with impunity.
Stan was a married man, unfortunately, and that had been a problem for me at SMU. He liked me and we flirted a lot but I could never get him to betray his wife. Just when I thought he'd give in to his passions, he'd bail out on me. It was infuriating and just made my desire for him that much more intense..
But my fascination with Stan Turner wasn't just physical. While most of the students were struggling to survive law school, Stan was working full time and also acting as the campaign manager for a friend who was running for state representative. Just as the campaign was getting off the ground a major contributor came under investigation by the FBI. Soon after that Stan's friend and family were found dead, allegedly the victims of a murder-suicide.
Stan didn't believe his friend could have killed his wife and family, so he set out to clear his friend's name and asked me to help him do it. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to work on an actual case and never regretted my decision. It was a thrill ride I'll never forget. Unfortunately, along the way we got at odds with a Mexican drug cartel and things got dicey. But it all worked out in the end, we managed to survive with all our body parts in tact, and both graduated from SMU.
After graduation we went our separate ways and I didn't hear anything about Stan until his wife was arrested for murder a year or so later. I didn't try to cont
act him then, although perhaps I should have. I did follow the case in the newspapers where it was reported that Stan had supposedly had an affair with some oil and gas promoter's wife. Rebekah was accused of killing the wife while she was hospitalized following an auto accident. It was a pretty bizarre case and I will admit I was a little disappointed when Rebekah was cleared of the charges. But, I suppose, that would have been too easy.
I wondered if Stan was still as devoted to Rebekah as he had been during law school. Could he really have had an affair? Knowing Stan that seemed unlikely, but apparently Rebekah was convinced he had. Still, it was hard to believe.
Although, I still wanted a personal relationship with Stan, my first objective was to partner up with him. At the DA's office it would be five or six years before I started getting decent cases and I'd never be paid what I was worth. With Stan I was convinced I'd be swamped in no time with the kinds of cases I'd always dreamed of handling.
But I knew Stan wouldn't necessarily accept me with open arms. He was very independent and liked his freedom. I'd have to come up with some good reasons for him to take me on, but I wasn't sure what those would be. Rebekah might be a problem too. She was the jealous type and didn't like Stan's propensity to hang around pretty women. She would be against a partnership with a woman.
Turner & Waters--it had a nice ring to it. But, it was obvious I needed to do some research to find out how best to approach the situation. Admittedly, there were some serious obstacles to overcome, but I was a determined woman and I almost always got what I wanted. This was just too good an opportunity to pass up. Turner & Waters--yes, it did sound awfully good.
Cash Call, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 5 Page 4