Just Cause

by Susan Page Davis

  “Tell us about the relationship between your son and his wife,” Jackson instructed her.

  “They had their differences. I heard them argue many times,” Renata said calmly. “She nagged at him, trying to get him to move away and give up his position at Hatcher & Brody. She kept him stirred up and discontented. My son was very troubled by it.”

  “How would you describe their marriage?”

  “Laurel Wilson never loved my son.”

  Jim rose. “Objection.”

  The judge nodded. “Sustained.”

  Laurel couldn’t stop the tears from trickling down her cheeks. She bit her top lip, yearning for Dan’s comforting embrace.

  Jim put Renata through a scathing cross-examination, putting in doubt her assertions that Laurel had prepared to leave her husband. When Renata left the stand, Judge Hurst recessed court until the following morning.

  Once the jury had left the room, Laurel got shakily to her feet. Dan entered and came quickly to the defense counsel’s table and put his arms around her.

  “I told you not to do that,” Jim said under his breath.

  “Buzz off,” said Dan.

  Laurel chuckled against his shoulder. She knew a torrent of tears was just a breath away. “Can we leave?”

  Dan squeezed her. “Is there a back way out of here?” he asked Jim.

  “If you’ll let go of her, I’ll show you.”

  *****

  On their way out of the courthouse, they dodged reporters and photographers, but in the parking lot Laurel unexpectedly came face to face with Tina Mason.

  “Tina, I’m glad to see you.”

  Tina faced her without smiling, a crease between her eyebrows. “Larry and I go back a long time with Bob.” She looked hard at Laurel. “Renata Hatcher’s had her own way for too long. You oughtn’t to lose everything like that.”

  Laurel was surprised, and she smiled in gratitude. “Thank you for coming.”

  Tina turned her gaze on Dan, and Laurel felt her face flush.

  “Your lawyer has Larry down as a witness,” Tina said. “I suppose they’ll ask him about the golf game again.”

  “I suppose,” Laurel said.

  Tina’s eyes narrowed. “They’re trying to connect Larry to this mess Wayne Hatcher’s in about that bridge he built in New Hampshire.”

  “I’m sorry.” Laurel swallowed hard, not sure what else to say. How much did Tina know about her husband’s involvement in the bidding fraud?

  “Come, Laurel, you can’t discuss this,” Dan said softly. She turned and walked with him to the car.

  *****

  “Find anything?” Jim asked when the four of them were settled before the fireplace at the cottage. Laurel was grateful for the warmth of the blaze and for Dan’s nearness.

  “Maybe.” Dan took out his notebook. “I think those witnesses will help us.”

  Jim picked up a pen and tapped it on the desktop. “Tell me.”

  “Well, the neighbor on the east side of Bob and Laurel’s house, Mrs. Harris, says she saw Bob arrive home about 11:30 a.m., in a blue sports car. He and the driver went inside. She wasn’t sure how long the guest had stayed, but that jibes with Larry Mason’s story.”

  “I remember her,” Laurel said.

  “What else?” Jim leaned back in his armchair.

  “The second neighbor, Frederick Wells, lives across the street. He said he saw the car in the Hatchers’ driveway when he went outside after lunch, at approximately 1:15 p.m.”

  Jim shook his head. “That’s almost two hours later. Mason didn’t stay that long.”

  “I know, but Mr. Wells won’t back down on it. He’s positive of the time, and he says he told the police about it when they first came around after the murder. He said he doesn’t know what Mrs. Harris saw, but it was definitely Larry Mason’s car that afternoon. Larry visited Bob a lot, and Mr. Wells said he’d met him a few times. The car had a country club parking sticker in the rear window on the passenger side. Wells says he noticed it that day. And he’s a retired navy commander. He’d be a credible witness.”

  Jim stroked his chin. “I admit I discounted that because of Mason’s deposition. He took Bob home, stepped inside for a few minutes, and then left. I figured one of the two neighbors had the time they saw the car wrong.”

  “What if they don’t?” Dan asked. “This could be the ammunition we need to blow the case wide open.”

  “Okay, we’ll have to look into it,” Jim said. “There’s be another day of testimony for the prosecution tomorrow.”

  Jim left, and after supper Dan, Laurel, and Judy sat on the dock eating ice cream cones. The sun dipped below the evergreens, and the plaintive cry of a loon drifted down the lake.

  “Jim says it didn’t go badly,” Judy said, sitting down on the dock with her cherry vanilla scoop. “When we start calling our witnesses, things will look a lot better.”

  “That’s what he told me last time.” Laurel swished her bare feet in the cool water and licked her peppermint cone. Say good-bye to all the small pleasures, she told herself.

  Dan crunched the last of his cone, then bent to rinse his hands in the lake. He wiped them on his shirttail and hitched over, closer to Laurel.

  Judy swatted at a mosquito. “Have you got the bug spray?”

  “I think it’s up in the bathroom,” Laurel said.

  Judy got up and went humming up the path to the cottage.

  Deliberately Laurel ate her cone, one crisp bite at a time. Dan slid his right arm around her, and she burrowed in, trying to get closer to him, yet not looking at him.

  He bent and put a soft kiss just below her left ear lobe.

  Laurel popped the tip of the cone into her mouth and crunched it, then licked her fingers.

  “You want more ice cream?” Dan asked.

  “No.”

  They sat looking out over the lake.

  “The verdict won’t change my feelings for you,” Dan said. “Whatever God brings, we’ll deal with it.”

  She clutched him tighter and sighed.

  Strains of music came from the cottage, and Dan raised his head to listen.

  “That Judy. She asked me yesterday if she could use my violin to practice the Haydn.” He turned to Laurel again and rubbed his face softly against her hair and kissed her temple. “I’ve got to believe God will work this out and you’ll go free.”

  She put her hand up to his cheek. “I want to believe it, too.”

  The music stopped, and a few minutes later, Judy came down the path. Laurel moved away from Dan and felt cold in the breeze off the lake.

  Judy came onto the dock carrying Dan’s phone and the bug spray. “You left this on the table, and it rang, so I answered. Mr. Hight wants to talk to you.” She handed it to Dan.

  “Yeah, Jim?” He sat up straighter. “When?”

  Laurel held her breath.

  “Okay,” Dan said. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

  “What?” Laurel asked as he hung up.

  “Jack Brody’s confessed to fraud, and they’ve arrested Larry Mason as his accomplice.”

  *****

  At 7:30 the next morning, Jim rang the doorbell at the Mason house. Tina opened the door, her eyes bloodshot and her face blotchy.

  “Thank you for seeing us, Mrs. Mason,” Jim said gently. “This is my investigator. May we come in?”

  She stared blankly at him for a moment, then took a weary step back. Jim and Dan followed her into the family room. Dan tried not to stare, but the room demanded attention. The cathedral ceiling soared to the height of the second story, and the entire south wall was glass, overlooking a rushing stream edged by forest. If he’d ever imagined a dream house, it might have looked something like this.

  “I’ve been up all night, Mr. Hight. What is it that’s so urgent?”

  Tina sat down on the cream velvet sofa, and Jim took a chair facing her. Dan went to stand with his back to the fieldstone fireplace.

  “First, let me express my con
dolences. I heard of your husband’s arrest last night. I don’t wish to cause you any further grief, but this is a matter of vital importance.”

  Tina eyed him coldly. “Is Laurel’s trial going forward?”

  “Yes. We have to be in the courtroom at nine, so I won’t keep you long. But you must realize, there are some problems with your husband’s account of the day Bob was murdered.”

  Tina took a deep breath. “I’m still in shock, Mr. Hight. I can’t believe Larry would be involved in this bidding thing, but—” Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks, and she pulled a crumpled tissue from her pocket. “Larry said his lawyer will get him the best deal he can. This has been very difficult.”

  “I’m sure it has.” Jim waited as she wiped her face. Dan stared out the window and wished they hadn’t come. Until he remembered the danger surrounding Laurel.

  “Mrs. Mason, in his deposition your husband testified that he slept most of the afternoon on the day Bob was killed.”

  “Yes. He came home with an awful headache. I gave him some tablets and sent him to bed.”

  “What did you do that afternoon?”

  “Me?” Tina stared at Jim.

  “Larry’s car was back at the Hatchers’ house around 1:15 the day of the murder,” Jim said. “If Larry didn’t drive it there, who did?”

  Tina sat very still, but her upper lip trembled.

  Jim leaned forward. “I have to warn you, Mrs. Mason, I’m having you subpoenaed as a witness. You could be called to testify as early as this afternoon. I should have looked into it more closely before, but I assumed that one of the neighbors made an error in the time he saw the car. But the two witnesses we have in this matter are credible. I think their statements will stand up in court.”

  “What, are you going to accuse Larry of the murder now?” Tina’s voice cracked. “Because he didn’t do it.”

  “No, I don’t think he did.”

  She watched him, her breath shallow and fast.

  “Where were you at 1:15 that afternoon, Mrs. Mason?”

  Dan stepped forward and put his hand on Jim’s shoulder. Jim stood up and Dan sat down beside Tina. He looked at her for a long moment, a great sorrow weighing on his heart. “Mrs. Mason, you were a friend to Laurel. You treated her well when Bob’s family rejected her. You cared about her.”

  “She’s a decent girl.” Tina reached for a fresh tissue.

  “When Laurel was accused of killing Bob, you felt sorry for her.”

  Tina looked down at her hands. “Yes. Her in-laws treated her like dirt, and she didn’t deserve it.”

  “Please.” Dan touched her sleeve. “If Laurel is convicted, she will go to prison for a very long time. And she’s innocent. You know that.”

  Jim moved toward him, but Dan held out one hand, and he stopped.

  “I can’t bear it if she goes to prison,” Dan whispered. “Just the same as you can’t stand it if your husband does. Please don’t sacrifice her life when you know what really happened that day.”

  Tina drew in a ragged breath and glanced toward Jim. “You can’t make me testify against myself or Larry.”

  Jim sat down again. “That’s right. But I can give the information we’ve uncovered to the police and insist they reopen the investigation. In the meantime, your friend might be put in prison for a crime she didn’t commit. She’s already spent time in jail unjustly, and it’s burdened you all this time. Won’t you do the right thing, Mrs. Mason?”

  Chapter 18

  Laurel sat through another day of listening to the prosecution’s witnesses’ testimony against her. Despite a long session in the judge’s chambers, Jim was required to wait until his turn to call witnesses to introduce Tina Mason’s revelation. At least she didn’t have to listen to Larry Mason’s damning testimony again, since he was now in custody.

  Dan put his arm around Laurel as they entered the cottage Tuesday evening. “It’s going to be all right, sweetheart.”

  “Even with Jack Brody’s confession about the bidding fraud, Jim said the judge might insist they finish the trial and let the jury deliberate.”

  “Let’s pray,” Dan said. They bowed their heads, and Dan prayed once more. Laurel held his hand and added her silent petitions.

  “I’ll always remember this time with you,” she whispered when he had finished.

  “You’re not crying are you?” He leaned back so he could see her face, and her eyes were huge.

  “Danny, we could still lose this. If it’s bad news, you’ve got to go back to Ohio and don’t look back. I mean it.” She buried her face in his shoulder.

  “Shh. That’s not going to happen. God is in control.”

  “But you know things don’t always go the way we think they should.”

  “Hush, now.” He stroked her hair. “You’re going free tomorrow.”

  She squeezed him tight.

  “Kiss me, Laurel.”

  Slowly she lifted her face to his. He could almost read her thoughts: this could be the last time.

  He bent his head to meet her, determined to kiss her so thoroughly she would never forget it. She returned his embrace with great tenderness and longing.

  *****

  Dan held Laurel’s hand as they walked down the hallway toward the courtroom Wednesday morning.

  “Chin up,” Jim said when she joined him at the defense counsel table. “I’m optimistic.”

  “May we sit in the family’s row now?” Judy asked.

  “Sure, why not?”

  Dan and Judy settled into chairs behind them, and the jurors filed into their box.

  “All rise,” the bailiff intoned.

  They stood, and Judge Hurst entered briskly from the door behind the desk. When he sat, they all sat.

  Laurel’s stomach roiled. She felt as though her chest was being squeezed by a giant. She took a deep breath. Dear God, get me through this.

  She knew she might not have another chance to swim in the cool, deep lake water or sit on the dock and watch the loons glide by. To lay her head on Dan’s shoulder, or kiss him again in the moonlight. Today could be her last day of freedom. The ache in her chest eased to a heavy, congested feeling. She tried to take longer, deeper breaths and calm herself.

  She glanced toward the prosecutor’s table. From the row behind it, Wayne and Renata Hatcher watched her with stony expressions. She turned away and faced the front of the courtroom.

  At last Jim stood to open his case. Pastor Newman was there, prepared to testify on Laurel’s behalf about her character and her happy marriage, but instead of calling him, Jim said, “The defense calls Tina Mason.”

  Tina advanced slowly toward the witness chair. She wore rumpled slacks and a loose print blouse. Her face was haggard, and she had neglected her makeup that morning. As she sat down, she glanced toward Laurel, her face a blank. The bailiff swore her in.

  “Mrs. Mason,” Jim began, “What did you do the day of the murder?”

  “I went to the grocery store in the morning.”

  “You were at home when your husband returned after the golf game?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what did he tell you?”

  “That he had a headache. I ... got him some Tylenol.”

  “Now, Mrs. Mason, yesterday you spoke to me, and you said that your husband told you that day that Bob Hatcher was going to the police with some information about his uncle’s activities.”

  Tina nodded. “That’s right.”

  Jim turned and paced back toward the table where Laurel sat. “You also told me that Larry said he could get in trouble if Bob turned in his uncle, Jack Brody, for cheating on construction bids for Hatcher & Brody.”

  Tina moistened her lips. “Yes.”

  Jim nodded. “You then told me that you were afraid. You sent your husband to bed, and while he slept, you drove to Bob Hatcher’s home to confront him. Is that true?”

  “Yes.” Tears glistened in Tina’s eyes.

  Empathy for her friend surged th
rough Laurel. She closed her eyes and prayed silently, Dear Lord, help Tina. Give her strength now, and let the truth be told!

  “What did you do that afternoon, while Larry slept?”

  Tina hesitated then drew in a deep breath. “I went to Bob’s house to try to persuade him not to turn in Jack Brody.”

  “Why did you do that?” Jim asked.

  “Because if he did, my husband would also be implicated in the bidding fraud.” Tina hitched in a breath. “Bob knew someone was helping Jack fix the bids, but he didn’t know it was Larry. I begged him not to turn Jack in.”

  Jim walked toward her and placed his hands on the railing before the witness chair. “Now, Mrs. Mason, you are not on trial here, but you need to tell this court the truth. What happened when you pleaded with Bob Hatcher not to reveal this situation?”

  “Bob refused to do what I asked.” Tina buried her face in her hands. After a moment, she looked up and met Jim’s gaze. “I just couldn’t believe it. Jack apparently had talked Larry into helping him get some information from a rival builder. Larry said that if Bob told, he could ... he could go to jail.”

  “And Bob wouldn’t listen to your pleas.”

  “He said he had to do ... what was right.”

  “In the passion of that moment, what did you do?”

  Tina raised her chin. “I took a handgun from the case where Bob kept it, and I turned and fired it at him.”

  Jackson jumped up, but Hurst waved his hand at him.

  “No more questions,” Jim said.

  Laurel stared at Tina, numb to her toes.

  Myron Jackson looked at Tina and sighed. “No questions.”

  Judge Hurst sat with the gavel in his hands, looking at Tina. “Do you have an attorney, Mrs. Mason?”

  “Yes, your honor.”

  “All right, you may step down.”

  Tina stared at Laurel for a moment, tears wet on her face. The courtroom was utterly silent as she walked down the aisle and out the door, her head high, her eyes straight ahead.

  The judge tapped his gavel and turned toward the jury box. “I hereby excuse the members of the jury. Thank you for your service.”

  The jurors stirred and looked at each other in confusion.