False Justice

by Larry A Winters

  “Thanks for calling me,” Jessie said.

  “I thought you’d want to know.”

  Jessie tried not to shudder. “How many people were in the car?”

  “Just the driver. Female. Like I said on the phone, the car is registered to Kelly Lee. We’ll need a few hours to confirm that she was the driver.”

  “A few hours?” Leary said.

  Graham turned to him. “The body isn’t in good shape.”

  The body. Jessie swallowed. She had to struggle to voice the next question. “She died?”

  Graham gazed at the wreck. “It’s pretty bad, Jessie. We’re talking body-parts-separated-from-the-body bad. And everything is severely burned. The ME is going to have to do some work.”

  Leary shook his head. “Jesus.”

  “What happened?” Jessie said. “Was there another car involved? Did the driver just lose control?”

  “I don’t think they’re sure yet.” Graham gestured at a group of men and women studying the wreck. “There weren’t any witnesses—none who’ve come forward, anyway. No cameras on this intersection, either. We’ll have to wait for AID’s findings.”

  Jessie knew that AID stood for Accident Investigation Division, the Police Department agency tasked with investigating crashes in Philadelphia. She watched them work, feeling her skin crawl at the methodical way they examined the horrific scene. Leary made another attempt to put his arm around her shoulders. This time, she let him.

  “Is AID aware of what Kelly told the police?” Jessie said. She struggled to keep her voice neutral, but saw Graham’s expression tighten.

  “I passed along the information.” Her tone was cold.

  “They know she thought she was being threatened?”

  “I just told you I passed along the information.”

  Jessie nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

  The detective shrugged. “I doubt they’ll do anything with it.”

  “What?”

  “I told you how the department feels about Kelly Lee.”

  Jessie wanted to be civil, but she couldn’t contain her anger. “That can’t matter now. A woman is dead. The police need to look into a company called Boffo Products Corporation, and its chief executive, a man named Douglas Shaw. Shaw may have targeted Kelly in order to shut down a lawsuit that would have hurt his company and exposed him to criminal charges. There’s motive here. Suspicious circumstances.”

  Leary looked at Jessie. His eyes narrowed. “Why am I starting to get the feeling I’m not in the loop here?”

  “That’s up to AID,” Graham said.

  Jessie pulled her aside. “Emily, come on. You’re a cop with integrity. I need you to help me here.”

  “Am I a cop with integrity?” Graham’s face suddenly twisted with a look of disgust so visceral it made Jessie take a step back. “That’s not what Kelly Lee claimed in the complaint she filed against me.”

  Jessie felt her mouth hang open. For a second, she had no words. “You never told me.”

  “Not something I’m super proud of.”

  “What happened?”

  “What do you think? Lee and her scumbag client made up some lies about me. The city settled the case. We all signed nondisclosure agreements.”

  Jessie felt an ache in her chest. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”

  “Why?” Graham leaned forward, getting in Jessie’s personal space. “Lawyers like Lee fulfill a vital function, right? Isn’t that what you believe? To stop bad cops like me.”

  “It must have been a misunderstanding. Maybe Kelly was misled—her client lied to her.”

  “She’s the liar. I got off lucky. God knows how many good cops’ careers she ruined. And not just cops. She’s sued doctors, firefighters, even other lawyers. This….” She gestured at the horrific accident scene. “A lot of people would call this karma.”

  “Would you?”

  Graham turned away. Jessie could see her gnaw at her lip. “I don’t believe in that stuff.”

  “I know. You believe in justice. Maybe Kelly was what you say—a liar—but if she was murdered, that’s a heinous crime. We can’t let a killer walk away just because the victim had flaws.”

  Graham shook her head. A rueful smile crossed her face. “Not my call. I told the investigators Lee thought someone was following her. What they do with that information is up to them. My conscience is clean.”

  “Jessie?” Leary said, joining them.

  “I’ll tell you everything later,” she said to him. Then, turning back to Graham, she said, “Kelly was frightened for her life. Now she’s dead. Don’t you think that warrants a real investigation? Shouldn’t the Homicide Division get involved?”

  “This is AID’s case until they find evidence to suspect a homicide.”

  “There must be something you can do.”

  Graham frowned and watched the AID investigators with a melancholy expression. Someone made a joke, and several cops laughed. Graham’s expression was like stone.

  Leary looked at Jessie with concern. “We should probably go,” he said. “Let the accident investigators do their job. Come on. I’ll drive us home.”

  6

  The next morning, Jessie tapped the doorframe of her boss’s office and smiled at him when he looked up from his papers. “Got a minute?”

  Warren Williams let out a sigh. His face creased with the beleaguered expression she’d gotten used to during her years working for him in the DA’s Homicide Unit.

  “Is this a bad time?” she said.

  “No, come on in. I’m just wiped out. I’ve been waking up at 5:00 AM every morning for the past six days.”

  “Why 5:00 AM?” Jessie navigated carefully from his doorway to one of the visitor chairs in front of his desk. It was a short, but perilous, path, since there were documents piled on every available surface, including the floor. Her leg touched the edges of a tower of paper, and her breath caught in her throat, but the precarious stack didn’t spill. She reached the chair with a small sigh of relief.

  Warren didn’t seem to notice. He was rubbing his eyes. “I heard on a podcast that most successful people rise early and meditate before work, so I’m trying it.”

  “You’re meditating?”

  He put his hands down and leaned back in his chair. “Well, no. For now, I’m just drinking coffee and trying to keep my eyes open. I’ll start the meditation after I get used to waking up.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” To her, it sounded like a crazy plan, but she didn’t say that to Warren. She’d come to his office to ask for some time to look into Kelly Lee’s death, not to critique his new morning ritual. “If it works for you, maybe I’ll give it a try. Listen, the reason I’m here.... I need a favor, Warren.”

  Warren rocked back in his chair and his head entered a shaft of sunshine that filtered in through the room’s only window. Instead of brightening his face, the crisp, fall sunlight seemed to accentuate the puffy evidence of fatigue.

  “And what favor might that be?”

  “You heard the Alvarez trial got postponed?”

  Warren nodded.

  “Well,” she went on, “now I have some time on my hands, and I think I have a good use for it. A friend of mine from law school was in a car accident last night. She died.”

  Warren watched her. The look of sympathy she’d expected did not appear. “I’m sorry to hear that.” His voice sounded strangely neutral and flat.

  “The thing is, I’m not sure it was really an accident. Yesterday, she told me she felt threatened, like someone might be following her. I’d like to spend some time looking into it.”

  “Isn’t that the PPD’s job?”

  “Yes, but….” She knew she needed to tread carefully. Throwing around accusations about the police shirking their responsibilities would not play well with Warren. “It never hurts to add a fresh perspective to the investigation, right? I’m a lawyer, so I have some insight into her daily routine. And I knew her. I think I can be helpful.”

&n
bsp; Jessie held her breath as Warren seemed to consider her request. “Does this law school friend’s name happen to be Kelly Lee?”

  Jessie tried to cover her surprise, but probably did a poor job of it. How did Warren always seem to know everything? It was like he had eyes and ears everywhere in the DA’s Office and the Philadelphia Police Department. Everywhere in the city, it sometimes felt like. “I guess you already know that’s her name.”

  He leaned forward. “I do know it. I also know that calling her your ‘friend’ is a bit of a stretch. My understanding is you haven’t really spoken with her in about ten years or so. I also heard that the Accident Investigation Division found no evidence to suggest foul play. The formal report will be issued soon—probably today. There’s not going to be any investigation for you to help with.”

  Jessie felt her face redden. “You’ve been looking into this.”

  “Of course I have. It’s my job to manage this unit, including you.”

  She took a breath. “Well, if AID is not going to investigate, isn’t that all the more reason I should take a look? With my trial delayed, I have time. AID might be right, but why not double-check? It will give me something to do, keep me busy, and I can feel like I’m helping Kelly, since I can’t help her in any other way.”

  The smile that creased Warren’s face was utterly devoid of mirth. “Being your boss brings me plenty of challenges. Keeping you busy isn’t one of them.”

  “Is that a yes or a no?”

  “I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Lee was not a popular figure within Philly law enforcement circles. Any ‘double-checking’ of the AID investigation is not going to be viewed as helpful. You’re going to make enemies. And when you make enemies, my life gets harder. I can find you something to do if you’re really so bored and directionless, believe me. That won’t be a problem.”

  “Warren—”

  “Let me be clear. Do not use the resources of this office to pursue any kind of investigation involving Kelly Lee.”

  7

  Jessie was on her second cup of coffee when Leary entered the coffee shop. She watched him scan the room. When he finally spotted her in the dark corner where she’d chosen a table, he smiled. It was almost enough to make her feel better.

  “Not your usual coffee source,” he said as he took the seat next to her. “Did Alish close his store today or something?” He was referring to the convenience store near the DA’s Office where Jessie religiously purchased her morning coffee.

  “Alish never closes his store.”

  He smiled again. “That I believe.”

  “I picked this café because we need to talk. That’s hard to do in a convenience store—no matter how good the coffee is there.”

  “You do know we both work for the DA’s Office now, right? Finding a place to talk isn’t much of a challenge.”

  “We need to talk privately.”

  Leary looked intrigued. She sipped her coffee and watched him process her words. “This is about Kelly Lee’s accident?” he said.

  “Warren doesn’t want me to get involved.”

  Leary pulled his chair closer to hers and touched her arm. “I’m sorry. I know you feel like you need to do something.”

  “No one else is.”

  Leary made a face. “That’s how it appears.”

  “After all these years, Warren still worries I’ll do something stupid, create political problems for the DA’s Office. He treats me like a rookie.”

  “I don’t think that’s the case. From what I’ve seen, you’re basically his right-hand woman. He trusts you with all the most important murder cases. He defers to your judgment constantly, and seeks it out.”

  “In the courtroom, yeah. But outside the courtroom, it’s a different story. All I want is a chance to make sure Kelly Lee’s accident was really an accident.”

  “Don’t you see Warren’s perspective, though?”

  Jessie put down her cup. “What?”

  “I’m just saying, especially in today’s climate, police misconduct claims are extremely serious.”

  Jessie felt anger rise inside her. She’d expected support from Leary. Maybe even help. He wasn’t a yes-man, blindly loyal to the city. He was a seeker of justice, like she was.

  “That’s not relevant to whether her death should be thoroughly investigated,” she said.

  “No, of course not. But from Warren’s point of view—”

  “And besides that, don’t you think there’s a need for lawyers like Kelly to keep the police honest? You think that all these claims she handled were frivolous? That all she was doing was trying to cash in on the PPD’s bank account?”

  Leary let go of her hand and straightened in his chair. “All I’m saying is that Warren probably has good reasons for not wanting to involve the DA’a office.”

  “I can’t believe you’re taking his side on this.”

  “I’m not saying I take his side. Just that I understand where he’s coming from.”

  “I guess you understand where the AID investigators are coming from, too. And Emily.”

  Leary sighed. “You know I’m not the PPD’s number one fan. And when I was a cop, I saw some activity that would probably be considered misconduct. I would never deny that. But bringing these lawsuits, asking for millions of dollars? What does that accomplish? It just drains money and resources that should be spent fighting crime and making Philadelphia safe.”

  “What it accomplishes is to make sure the police follow the law and the Constitution. Otherwise, we would have a totalitarian police state. It might be safe, but it wouldn’t be a place where you want to live.”

  “That’s law school stuff. This is the real world.”

  The words came like a slap to the face. All she could do was stare at him. “You don’t believe that, Leary.”

  “Warren is just trying to maintain good relations between the DA’s Office and the police department. It’s not personal.” Leary looked away, seeming to avoid her gaze. She sensed there was something he wasn’t saying.

  “What’s this really about?” she said.

  He started to respond, then stopped. He let out a breath. “I’m trying to help you.”

  “Really? It doesn’t feel that way.”

  “You love being a prosecutor. You love the DA’s Office. I don’t want you to do something impulsive and jeopardize all of that for a woman you barely knew.”

  Jessie leaned back in her chair, finally understanding. “You think you’re protecting me from myself.”

  “I just don’t want you to—”

  “Do you have any idea how incredibly condescending that is, Leary?”

  He put his hands up. “I’m not being condescending.”

  “Believe it or not, I’m actually a highly competent, intelligent woman capable of rational thinking.”

  “I know that. I love you for that. I just don’t want you to make a mistake—”

  “You mean you don’t want me to make the same mistake you made?”

  His face fell and he looked down at his hands. Jessie felt a rush of regret. What she’d said had been a low blow. She knew the loss of his career as a homicide detective still caused him great pain. But she couldn’t take the words back. She was so angry, she wasn’t sure she would take them back even if she could.

  “Emily and Warren want nothing to do with this.” She shook her head, feeling her anger give way to frustration and sadness. “I thought I could count on you to be the one person who would support me no matter what. Obviously, I was wrong.”

  “Jessie….”

  She got up from her chair. “I need to get back to the office.”

  8

  Back in the quiet stillness of her office, Jessie closed her eyes and let a wave of emotions sweep through her. She felt anger and sadness, but mostly a strange mixture of responsibility and guilt. Kelly Lee had come to her for help. Now Kelly was dead. Could Jessie have done something to save her?

  Maybe. Maybe not. Agonizing ov
er what had happened wasn’t going to change it.

  Her cell phone buzzed on her desk. She glanced at the screen, expecting to see Leary’s name, but it wasn’t Leary. It was Emily Graham.

  She took a deep breath before answering. “Hey, Emily.”

  “Hey.” There was a coldness, a distance in her friend’s voice that brought an ache to Jessie’s chest.

  Could Jessie say something to mend things? “About yesterday….”

  Graham cut her off. “Unless you’re about to tell me you’re going to walk away from this Kelly Lee thing, just stop talking.”

  Jessie stopped talking.

  “That’s what I thought.” She heard Graham’s sigh through the phone. “I’m calling because I thought you’d want to know, the ME was able to identify the driver in the wreck based on fingerprints recovered from the body.”

  “Kelly?”

  “Yes.”

  There was a silence on the line, and Jessie sensed her friend’s hesitation. “Is there more?” Jessie said.

  “The accident investigation team didn’t find any evidence that the accident was caused intentionally. No tampering with the vehicle, no trace of a bomb or other explosive. All police resources have been pulled from the case. There isn’t going to be any further investigation.”

  Jessie’s grip tightened around her phone. “I see.”

  “I know you were hoping for more.”

  “It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.”

  “I’m just telling you what AID told me.”

  “Kelly reported a threat against her. There’s a company and a person with motive to hurt her. Come on.”

  “Look, Jessie, I tried to explain this to you. There’s no sympathy for Kelly Lee within the department. No one is interested in going the extra mile on this one. That’s just the way it is.”

  “You don’t sound too broken up about it.”

  “I already told you why.”

  “That wasn’t personal, Emily. Representing clients was her job. She’s entitled to the same diligence as any other victim in Philadelphia. What she did for a living, any cases she brought against the police department—or you—none of that is relevant.”