Hand of Justice (Mara Brent Legal Thriller Series Book 3)

by Robin James

  “Yes,” Sarah said. “She dated a guy about two years ago, Ty Bryant. He smacked her around a few times. I know her dad went and had words with the guy.”

  After Sarah’s testimony, Elise waived cross but reserved the right to call Sarah during her case in chief. That threw me, but I had an important witness yet to call.

  I called Leslie Noble to the stand. Leslie had been Chris and Jenny Sutter’s family attorney.

  “Ms. Noble,” I said. “Can you tell me the substance of your representation of Skylar Sutter?”

  “She asked me to help her get a restraining order,” Leslie said.

  “Against whom?”

  “Against the defendant, Mickey Harvey.”

  I entered Skylar's unfiled petition into the record. Leslie then read the pertinent parts in Skylar’s own words.

  “The respondent, Michael Harvey has on multiple occasions threatened me with physical violence. I found a tracking GPS device on my car and believe the respondent put it there.”

  “A tracking device?” I asked. “When did Ms. Sutter discover this?”

  “Skylar first came to see me on March 7th of this year. She’d discovered the tracking device sometime before that.”

  “What was the nature of the physical violence threatened?” I asked.

  “The respondent had grabbed her hard enough to bruise her. Skylar showed me those. I took some pictures for my file. She indicated at one time he’d struck her across the face hard enough to break the glasses she’d been wearing.”

  I entered two photographs of Skylar Sutter into evidence. She had deep purple bruising on each of her forearms.

  “Ms. Noble,” I said. “What did you do when you learned of Skylar Sutter’s murder?”

  Leslie Noble dropped her head. “I was approached by Detective Cruz. He’d gotten word from one of Skylar’s friends that she might have come to see me. So I gave him what I could.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “I have nothing further.”

  “Ms. Noble,” Elise said on cross. “Why wasn’t this petition ever filed?”

  “Ms. Sutter changed her mind,” Leslie said.

  “Did you speak to her about that?”

  “No,” she said. “She called my office and left a message with my secretary. She asked that her final bill be sent but that she and the respondent ... the defendant, had worked things out.”

  “Would you say you’ve filed a lot of restraining order petitions on behalf of clients?” Elise asked.

  “I would say so,” she said. “I handle mostly family law cases. Unfortunately, domestic disputes require them.”

  “How confident were you that this particular petition would have been granted had you filed it?” she asked.

  “Objection, calls for speculation,” I said.

  “Your Honor, Ms. Noble is a family law expert. She’s just testified that she handles many petitions such as this. As such, this is expert, not lay person testimony. Her opinion is admissible.”

  “I’ll allow it.”

  “I had hoped to flesh out the affidavit supporting the petition a bit more,” Leslie said.

  “Flesh it out how?” Elise asked.

  “Well, judges in my experience don’t like granting restraining orders, especially ex parte ones ... meaning, orders entered without a hearing first ... without a very detailed factual basis.”

  “So you didn’t think Skylar Sutter had provided enough facts to support her request, did you?” Elise asked.

  “I’m saying I would have liked to flesh that petition out a little more.”

  “As Ms. Sutter’s attorney, you would have had a legal obligation to notify the police if you felt she was in imminent danger, wouldn’t you?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “But you never called the police, isn’t that right?”

  “Not until after Skylar was dead, no,” Leslie said, her regret written plainly on her face.

  “But you stated that you only spoke with the police after they contacted you,” Elise said. “Meaning, you didn’t even see fit to contact them of your own volition.”

  “I provided the information I could when they asked,” she said.

  “So before May 18th, you weren’t concerned that Skylar Sutter was in any imminent danger from Mickey Harvey, were you?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Thank you,” Elise said. “You’ve been very helpful. I have nothing further.”

  I knew Skylar’s restraining order affidavit was weak in that regard too. But it existed. That mattered. I had one more nail to drive into that particular wall.

  “Your Honor,” I said. “The state calls Jody Doehler to the stand.”

  26

  Jody looked terrified as he passed Mickey on his way to the witness stand. He wore a freshly pressed suit with a shiny blue tie. Once seated, he pulled at his starched collar.

  “Mr. Doehler,” I said. “Can you tell me how you were related to the victims in this case?”

  “Um ... not by blood. My grandma is sisters with Georgette Sutter. I call her Grandma George like everybody else. So, I’m not a Sutter exactly, but me and the Sutters grew up like cousins, anyway.”

  “Do you also personally know Mickey Harvey?” I asked.

  “Oh, sure. The Harveys live down the road from Grandma George. Everybody knows ’em. Mickey’s older than me, though. I don’t know if he knows who I am. But I know who he is if I see him around town and stuff. Maybe even to say hi. Except I know he doesn’t like Sutters much and figure he wouldn’t care if I’m from the Mahoney side, not a Sutter. So, I guess I’ve always kept my distance.”

  “And you were acquainted with Skylar Sutter?” I asked.

  “Yeah. I do odd jobs. I’m trying to get certified as an electrician. To go to school for it. In the meantime, I’ve always helped around the Sutter farm. Uncle Chris, uh, that’s Chris Sutter, he had me doing stuff for him since his son Luke works really long hours as a nurse now.”

  “What kind of things did you do for them?” I asked.

  “Mow the lawn. Change his oil. Fixing fences. Cleaning gutters. Just anything he needed help with. He paid me cash ... oh shoot ... can I say that? I pay my taxes and stuff.”

  “It’s fine, Jody,” I said. “Were you aware that Mickey and Skylar were dating?”

  “Oh yeah,” he said. “Everybody knew that. Chris and Jenny were none too happy. They didn’t like when he came around. This one time Chris ran Mickey off. Mickey came up to get Skylar and Chris told him he could just wait in his car at the end of the driveway. Then of course there was that time at the Blue Pony.”

  “What happened there?” I asked.

  “Well, like I told you before when I did this for that big jury. I was waiting in line for the john, this was on April Fool’s Day. I mean that Sunday night. Sky and Mickey were at the bar. He was getting real rough with her. Grabbed her arm. Pulled on her. That kind of thing.”

  “Did you hear what Mickey said?” I asked.

  “Sure. He said she better do what she’s told if she knows what’s good for her.”

  “Do you know what it was Mickey told her to do?” I asked.

  “Told her she wasn’t supposed to look at any guy but him. He said he’d seen her flirting. I didn’t. I don’t know who or what Mickey was talking about. Alls I seen was Skylar sitting there eating a burger with him. They were talking normal at first. Then Mickey just got all crazy. Started up with the manhandling.”

  “What else did you hear?” I asked.

  “Heard him say, you’re mine and nobody else’s. Got that? I’ll kill you if you so much as look at that guy again.”

  “Is that verbatim, Jody? Were those his exact words?” I had his grand jury testimony in front of me.

  “Clear as I can remember,” he said. “Oh, wait. Yeah, he said I’ll put you in the ground before I let you get with another guy. I’ll bury you. Then, like I told you. Sky pulled herself out of his grip and stormed off. Mickey got up to go after her. I was
gonna too. Then I saw Chad go after her and my turn came up in the line. Chad’s the kind of guy who can handle Mickey. He was a wrestler. I didn’t want it to turn into a big thing. So I did my business. When I got done, I didn’t see Mickey or Sky. And that was that.”

  “Thank you, Jody,” I said. “That’s all I have.”

  Elise was right behind me. “Jody,” she said. “First off, did you ever talk to Skylar after this alleged incident at the Blue Pony?”

  “No, ma’am. Didn’t think it was my business. Not until after what happened.”

  “Did you see Skylar alive after this incident?”

  “Well, sure. I told you. I did work for her dad. I see them ... damn ... I used to see them all the time.”

  “Of course,” she said. “Did you talk to Chad Carmichael or Sarah Bosch about what you saw that night?”

  “That night? No, ma’am,” he said. “I don’t think so. They were all gone by the time I came out of the restroom. I didn’t see them again, so I assumed it was all handled.”

  “Did you ever speak to anyone else about what you overheard that night?”

  “No, ma’am,” he said. “I sure wish I had now. I know Chad and Sarah think the same. They were pretty broke up about it.”

  “I see,” she said. “You said you’re not a Sutter by blood. Does that mean you consider yourself one anyway?”

  Jody screwed up his face. “You mean like an honorary Sutter?”

  “Something like that,” she said.

  “Well, I guess maybe that’s a good way to put it. Grandma George and Grandpa Lou have always treated me like one of their own. I’d say I spend more time with them than I do my real grandparents these days. Now, they’re getting on. Grandpa Lou isn’t doing all that great. His mind goes in and out. Grandma George worries about him. So, I do what I can for them. I check in. I drive them to their doctors. Especially now, since none of the rest of them are down there on the property anymore. She needs me. Luke, Nikki, they all have their own lives and live far away. So now I can give back. You know, for all the things Grandma and Grandpa Sutter have done for me over the years. I’m happy to be able to help them now.”

  “Of course,” Elise said. “That’s very kind of you.”

  “It’s not kindness,” he said. “It’s about family. You look out for your family.”

  “Yes,” Elise said. “That makes sense. And so you’d also do anything you could to protect your family from people who’d try to hurt them, right?”

  “Well, sure,” he said.

  “And their enemies are your enemies, right?” she asked.

  “In a way, I guess,” Jody said.

  “You don’t like Mickey Harvey, do you?” she asked.

  “No,” he said. “He’s a thug. Harveys are all thugs. Mickey’s old man doesn’t even apologize for the crap he pulls. You know, Grandpa Lou still likes to walk that creek. If he would have stepped in one of those traps Ed set, he could have lost his leg or maybe died. Ed doesn’t care. Mickey doesn’t care.”

  “And they got away with it,” Elise said, setting her own trap. My blood ran hot. I’d let her. I was the one who’d introduced all the evidence about the Harvey/Sutter family feud. I couldn’t very well object to relevance now. I’d known this might be Elise’s plan of attack.

  “Yeah!” Jody snapped. “They got away with it. And they’ll probably try something just as bad when all this settles down. They’re all trash. For what they did? Well, that’s all I’m gonna say about that.”

  “Thank you,” Elise said. “You’ve said plenty, Jody. I have no more questions.”

  Purple-faced with rage, Jody fumed behind the microphone. I did the only thing I could. I got him the hell out of there and let Judge Denholm adjourn us for the day.

  27

  The next morning, I put Sam’s drug informant, Scotty Jarvis, on the stand. He almost didn’t show. I had Sam put two deputies on his house. They caught him trying to sneak out a window at four in the morning. He came to court disheveled, glassy-eyed, and scared to death.

  “Mr. Jarvis,” I began my direct. “How long have you lived in Waynetown?”

  “All my life,” he said, his eyes darting from the jurors to Mickey Harvey.

  “And what do you do for a living?”

  “Bunch of different things,” he said. “I work at Vining Machine Shop. Most recently.”

  “What do you do there?” I asked.

  “Whatever they need. Lots of custodial stuff is how I started. Now I make sure they get what they need on the line and stuff.”

  “I see,” I said. “Are you acquainted with the defendant, Mickey Harvey?”

  Scotty chewed his cheek. “Yeah. I mean ... yes.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “Mickey and me worked together at the Quickie Lube. That’s the job I had before I got in at Vining. We did oil changes. Then, I left for Vining. I was working on putting a good word in for Mickey.”

  “Mr. Jarvis, is that the only business dealing you had with the defendant?” I asked.

  “Business dealing?” he repeated. I could see sweat start to bead his brow.

  “Yes,” I said. “Did you conduct any other kind of business with Mickey Harvey?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I guess you’d call it business. Mickey ... um ... he used to sell me dope.”

  “What kind of dope?” I asked.

  “Mickey could get anything,” Scotty said. “I, uh, I think I had him hook me up with some oxy first.”

  “OxyContin?” I asked.

  “Yeah. But he could get the hard stuff too. I ... that crap is dangerous nowadays. I don’t do it as much. Er ... I don’t do that now. But there was a time or two where Mickey hooked me up with a speedball.”

  “What’s in a speedball?” I asked.

  “That’s the thing, you can’t be sure anymore. But it’s usually like a mixture of heroin or coke.”

  “How often would you buy drugs from Mickey Harvey?” I asked.

  “Once a week. Yeah. Usually once a week. You know. So I’d have something heading into the weekend.”

  “When did that start?” I asked.

  “You mean when did I start buying dope from Mickey? Um, two years ago. Maybe three.”

  “When was the last time you purchased drugs from Mickey Harvey?” I asked.

  “Well, he’s been in jail for most of the year, right? So, I wanna say it was maybe April of this year. Not long before he killed all those people.”

  “Objection,” Elise said. “The witness is not qualified to offer that kind of opinion or speculation.”

  “Sustained,” Judge Denholm.

  “What did I do?” Scotty said.

  “Mr. Jarvis,” Judge Denholm said. “You are not to speculate on whether the defendant killed anyone unless you personally observed it or he confessed to you.”

  “Oh, sorry,” Scotty said. “I just kind of assumed.”

  “Don’t.” Judge Denholm and I spoke in unison.

  “Scotty,” I said. “Did you personally know any of the victims in this case? Patty Sutter. Mark O'Brien. Chris, Jenny, or Skylar Sutter. Ben Watson. Kevin Sutter?”

  “I knew the Sutters,” he said. “Everybody knows the Sutters. I don’t think I knew the other folks. But I’d say I knew Kevin Sutter the best.”

  “How did you know him?” I asked.

  “Well, I used to go into the Sutter Bait Shop. Did that since I was a kid. Kevin was a couple of years older than me. But he was in there a lot. Worked the counter. We didn’t hang out, but I’d say we were friends. We talked when I’d go in. I was closer with his ex, Lea Shane. I worked for Lea’s dad for a couple of years at his auto parts store. Oh. Yeah. I worked there when Kevin did too. He didn’t work there full time. He had the bait shop until he sold it. But when he’d come in and help out for Lea’s dad. Him and Lea had a kid together. I was only at Shane’s for a couple of months anyway until I got in at Vining. I was working at the Quickie Lube and Shane’s Auto Parts at the same
time until then.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Mr. Jarvis.”

  “Yeah, just Scotty. Mr. Jarvis sounds like my grandpa.”

  “All right, Scotty. How well did Mickey and Kevin Sutter know each other? Can you tell me that?”

  “They were acquainted,” Scotty said.

  I gripped the sides of the lectern. It was like getting blood from a stone with this kid. He’d been a complete chatterbox in Sam’s interviews and mine. Now that I had him on the stand, he seemed disjointed. A pit formed in my stomach. I’d been down this road plenty. I knew what it felt like when a witness was about to go south. I would not let Scotty Jarvis screw me over today.

  “How well were they acquainted?” I asked.

  Scotty met my eyes. I think he could sense my rising anger. I hoped it meant he remembered the power I had over the rest of his day if he didn’t cooperate.

  “Mickey was Kevin’s hook-up too,” he said.

  “What do you mean hook-up, Scotty? I need you to be specific.”

  “Kevin Sutter used to buy drugs off of Mickey too,” he said.

  “How do you know that?” I asked.

  “Well, because Kevin came to me one day and asked me if I could get some oxy for him. He hurt himself at work. Had some boxes fall on him. He told me he had a back injury.”

  “So you’re telling me that you are responsible for connecting Kevin Sutter with Mickey Harvey so that he could also score drugs?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I took Kevin over to see Mickey. Kevin was pretty hot when he realized where we were going.”

  “Pretty hot. How?” I asked.

  “Angry.”

  “Why was he angry?” I asked.

  “Cuz Mickey’s a Harvey. Kevin was a Sutter. Their dads or grandpas or whatever hated each other.”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “What happened? Nothing happened. Kevin wasn’t angry enough to not buy what he needed from Mickey. I knew he wouldn’t be. He was pretty strung out when he came to me. Shaky. Sweaty. In a lot of pain.”

  “When was this?” I asked.

  “Um, the first time I put Mickey and Kevin in touch with each other, Kevin followed me to the car wash on Blaine Street. That’s where Mickey usually liked to meet. Kevin got what he needed, and that was that. It was about a year ago. Just before Christmas.”