From a Single Seed: A Novel

by Teri Ames

  “That’s just part of hockey. It happens all the time,” Claire said.

  “If it was part of the game, he wouldn’t have gotten a penalty,” Craig said.

  “There’s a big difference between taking a swing at a guy wearing a face mask and helmet and taking a swing at your girlfriend,” Claire said.

  Everyone had looked at her blankly, seemingly not sure what to make of the hockey mom. Ironically, she had never thought of herself that way. The mothers of her son’s teammates had sometimes seemed too loud and aggressive, taking the game too seriously. Too mother-bear-on-steroids. Well, if that’s what it took to get people to do the right thing, she would have to dig deep and find her own inner bear-on-steroids.

  Slowly, the jurors started to swing her way. She kept at them until it was nine to three in favor of acquittal. Tony clearly didn’t like the idea of a not guilty verdict. “We can always tell them we couldn’t come to a decision,” he said.

  “The judge said we need to agree,” Claire said. “I think a hung jury is a last resort.”

  “I had a friend who had jury duty and they couldn’t agree,” Kathy said. “The judge made them keep trying for three days. I’m pretty sure that if we don’t agree, they have to do the whole trial over again.”

  “I’m not going to convict,” Claire said. “If we have to stay in this room for two more days, so be it.”

  Tony gave it another try. “I think Keenan Brody is a liar. And a murderer. The prosecutor showed us how many times he lied or misled the cops during the investigation. If he had nothing to hide, why’d he lie?”

  Claire knew the answer. “He’s just a kid. A scared kid. Imagine it was your kid. Does everyone agree that the strongest evidence in the manslaughter charge is the assault?”

  There were quite a few nods.

  Claire had an idea. “I think we’ve been going about this wrong. We keep voting on the manslaughter charge because it’s at the top of the page and that’s the order they gave it to us. Let’s focus on the assault for a while.”

  Tony was shaking his head.

  “How many of you think Shannon told Keenan about Jake?” Claire said.

  Ten jurors raised their hands.

  “Based on what?”

  “The assault,” Craig said.

  “That’s just it. Like Mr. Densmore said, it’s all circular. Did anyone find anything in the texts they gave us proving that she actually told him?” Claire said.

  “I read all the documents pretty thoroughly and no.” Kim said.

  “Does anyone think they proved that he knew beyond a reasonable doubt?” Claire said.

  There was a lot of head shaking. “No,” Craig said.

  “Okay, if we start with the proposition that he didn’t know, there’s no motive. All the witnesses were partying. Isn’t it possible that the argument over the keys got misremembered as an assault?” The response was mostly tired shrugs. “Let’s vote on just the assault. I don’t think they proved it beyond a reasonable doubt.”

  Tony collected and tallied the folded papers. “Eleven to one,” he said. “Look, it’s clear you all want to acquit on the assault. Unlike some people, I’m not willing to be the lone holdout.”

  “Does anyone think that if he didn’t assault her, he might have still killed her?” Claire said.

  “There’s the keys, the hair in the trunk,” Tony said.

  “But no blood,” Craig said. “She had a cut on her face that might’ve left blood. And the hair could have been there for years.”

  “He might have used something to keep the blood from getting in the trunk,” Tony said.

  “And then kept the keys?” Kathy said. “If he was that careful, he would have gotten rid of the keys and wiped down the car.” Claire was glad that the others were making the arguments. She had been uncomfortable doing so much talking.

  “You know, I think that’s what’s been bothering me,” Craig said. “Everybody watches CSI so we all know that if you want to get away with a crime, you have to be careful about trace evidence. The kid did nothing. If he was going to go to the trouble of getting rid of the body, he would have done more to hide it. It’s almost like there’s too much evidence.”

  Tony had made a few more arguments for convicting before throwing up his hands. “You all want to acquit. Let’s just do it and get out of here.”

  BARRY WAS relieved more than anything. He knew it had been a close call. In some ways, he was surprised by the verdict. He had definitely been off his game.

  The trial had taken so much out of him. Maybe it was time to retire. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t afford to retire for a few years yet. Besides, he already had another client that might be innocent. Maybe he should hire an associate, train him or her for a few years and then think about passing the baton. That could work.

  Barry was on his way to Brattleboro. He didn’t know whether his son would see him or not, but he had to try.

  He waited half an hour in the visiting room before Sam appeared.

  “The trial must be over,” Sam said.

  “We won,” Barry said, nodding.

  “I didn’t ask.”

  Barry shrugged and decided to wait him out. It didn’t take long.

  “You always win, don’t you? It must be so hard for you, having a son that’s a loser.”

  “You’re not a loser. You have a disease. It’s not your fault you’re bipolar.”

  “You had me committed.”

  “No, you did that to yourself. By refusing your meds.”

  “You sure made it easy for them. You didn’t even come.”

  “I was in the middle of trial. Someone’s life was in my hands.”

  “Your clients always come first, don’t they? What about my life? Do you have any idea what’s been going on in my life?”

  “Was this some sort of test? Because if it was, I clearly failed.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “I’m sorry I let you down. I hated doing it. But if I had to do it all over again, I would do it the same way. It’s my job.”

  “I know, Dad. It’s always your job.”

  Sam got up and walked out.

  KEENAN HAD gone home with his family after the trial. He could have gone to the dorm and gotten settled in for classes. He was already two weeks behind, but he needed time to regroup, sleep in his familiar bed, be surrounded by people who didn’t doubt him. The morning after the verdict, he went for a walk with his mother.

  “I can’t believe it’s finally over,” Cassie said.

  “I’m not sure it is. I’m sure there are still a lot of people at Masterson who think I killed her. Several of them think they saw me assault her. I may still have to face the judicial board. It’s so screwed up.”

  “You don’t have to go back to Masterson, you know. You can always take a semester off and transfer somewhere else. You could stay home and go to Lyndon State.”

  “I thought of that. But you didn’t raise a quitter, Mom.”

  “Under the circumstances, I, for one, would not consider you a quitter.”

  “I want to play hockey this year. If I transfer now, I’ll have to sit out a year and my skills will get rusty. That’s if I can even find another school with a hockey program as good as Masterson.”

  “I can’t believe what you went through.”

  “Sometimes I can’t either. And then I remember that Shannon is dead, and it all gets real again.”

  “I wonder what really happened to her.”

  “Me, too. I guess we’ll never know.”

  “I feel bad for her parents.”

  “They really hate me.”

  “It’s understandable. Like Barry said, they need to blame someone.”

  “I know. It’s just hard to be the blamee.” They stood and watched as the dogs took off across the field chasing a scent. “I’ve decided to change my major.”

  “Really? To what?”

  “Psychology.”

  “Dr. Lapitas made an
impression on you.”

  “I want to be a researcher. I want to help other people accused of things they didn’t do.”

  “So, why not be a lawyer?”

  “There are plenty of lawyers. But according to Barry, there are only a handful of psychologists willing to testify for defendants about problems with memory and eyewitnesses. Besides, I still don’t understand how this could have happened to me. I need to know more. I need to try to fix the system.”

  “I thought you were thinking about being a writer.”

  “I do like to write, and I already have a lot of credits toward a literature degree. Maybe I’ll take a double major.”

  “Sounds ambitious. I’m proud of you Keenan.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Especially for being there through all of this.”

  “I would have been there even if you had been convicted. Every visiting day.”

  “What a scary thought. How close I came to losing everything.”

  “Keenan?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I would have been there even if you were guilty.”

  Keenan looked at his mother and wondered if she still had her doubts.

  Chapter 68

  Wednesday, October 1, 2014

  OLIVIA STOOD in the doorway of Shannon’s bedroom. She had snooped in the room so many times those first few months when Shannon had gone off to college. She had thumbed through Shannon’s high school yearbook, reading the notes from Shannon’s friends, relishing the photos of her beautiful, smiling daughter at school events, among friends. She had pawed through Shannon’s box of keepsakes, wondering about the significance of movie ticket stubs and other seemingly useless trinkets. She had cherished the skating medals and certificates as if she had earned them herself. Which she had, in a manner of speaking.

  She knew her previous snooping had been a technical violation of Shannon’s privacy, but she had justified it to fill her own emptiness, loneliness. Oddly, now that there was no moral reason to stay out of Shannon’s room, and her emptiness was a yawning cavern, it felt wrong to go in.

  All last summer, when Olivia had been home awaiting the trial, she had kept the door closed and tried not to think about what was behind it. In fact, she’d kept a lot of metaphorical doors closed during that time of limbo––friends, clubs, even her regular yoga class. She just couldn’t pretend to be a normal human being when she didn’t feel like one. She wasn’t sure why she decided to open the bedroom door today or whether she would actually go in.

  Jack came and stood beside her in the doorway. “We should donate Shannon’s clothes to Goodwill. Or something.”

  “You’re in an awfully big hurry to write off your daughter. But you wrote her off months ago, didn’t you?”

  “How can you say that?”

  “You weren’t there! I spent months trying to get justice for Shannon. And you weren’t even there.”

  “It wouldn’t have made a difference to her if I had been there. She was already dead.”

  “You didn’t know that.”

  “Yes, I did. And so did you.”

  Olivia fought the sob, but it escaped. “You know, I might have been able to forgive him if he’d just admitted what he did. He probably didn’t mean to kill her. I know that. But if he’d just told someone, we wouldn’t have spent all those months wondering what happened to her. Hoping.” Olivia looked down at the floor. She was surprised when she felt Jack’s arms around her.

  “Why are you so sure he killed her?”

  Olivia pushed Jack away and clenched her fists. “Didn’t you listen to the evidence? She broke his heart. And he’s a violent, angry young man. Of course he killed her.”

  “What if you’re wrong?” He was using his reasonable clinical tone. She hated when he used that tone on her.

  “What if I’m right, and he does it again?”

  “What if you’re wrong, and he went through hell?”

  “How dare you!” She felt the drop of spit as it left her mouth and saw Jack flinch as it hit his cheek.

  Slowly, Jack wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. “He was found ‘not guilty.’ You can’t change that. Nothing is going to change that. You need to focus on what you can change. And stop blaming me for being realistic. Would you be happier if I had stayed in Vermont and given up my practice? Would you be happier if we’d defaulted on the mortgage and lost our house? Would more loss have canceled out the loss of Shannon? Or just made it worse?” Jack turned and walked away.

  Olivia wondered if he could be less supportive. No wonder so many couples divorced after losing a child.

  Chapter 69

  Saturday, October 11, 2014

  KEENAN WOKE up in his dorm bed tangled in his sheets. In his nightmare, Shannon had been floating down the river, her eyes open underwater, her blond hair spread across her face. He ran along the shore trying to reach her, but he kept slipping on the ice. Shannon got farther and farther away.

  He looked around his single room. It was smaller than the double he’d had to himself last semester, but it was enough.

  It came to him that it was the first day of ice at the rink. Normally, this day gave him a boost of energy, but today he wasn’t even sure he wanted to go. So much of hockey was the camaraderie. But even since his acquittal, it felt as if his teammates were going out of their way to avoid him. Just like everybody else.

  The college judicial board had briefly resumed their witch hunt the week after the trial. Barry had given them transcripts of Dr. Lapitas’ testimony and delivered a persuasive speech, reminding them repeatedly that Keenan had been acquitted. They ultimately decided it was outside their jurisdiction to consider the matter.

  Not quite as good as another not guilty finding, but it meant that his financial aid and place on the hockey team were intact. He was determined to take advantage of those opportunities, even if it meant feeling like a pariah. Besides, he had so much work to do with the extra courses he was taking to add the psychology major. He didn’t have time to socialize even if he’d wanted to, although he found time to have lunch with Aarav a few times a week.

  His parents had let him take the old Subaru back to school. He’d used it to go home every weekend since the trial. That was probably why he wasn’t welcoming the beginning of hockey season. It would be harder to go home. It would be longer between his times of feeling normal. In fact, the next time he would be home would be Thanksgiving.

  He remembered saying goodbye to Shannon a year before as she left to go to New York City with Amy. How would things be different if she had come home with him instead? If she hadn’t slept with Jake, would they have stayed happy together? Would she have run away from him the night she disappeared? He knew it was useless, but he couldn’t help but think about all the things that could have been different that might have kept her alive.

  And he missed her. Despite all the pain she’d caused him, he missed her.

  FRED HOISTED his golf bag onto his shoulder and waited for Barry so they could walk to the eighth hole together. Fred was glad his friend had finally agreed to play.

  “I can’t even beat you at golf these days,” he said, shaking his head.

  “You’re just having a bad day. It happens to the best of us.”

  “You mean bad year.”

  “If you’re talking about the Brody case, the facts weren’t on your side. You can only work with the facts you have.”

  “No, you can only work with the facts that are admissible. He did it, you know.”

  “I really don’t think so.”

  The two men walked in silence for a few minutes.

  “How’s Sam?” Fred said.

  “He’s still at home. I think if he had another place to go, he’d leave. It gives me a little more time to get him to forgive me.”

  “I GOT the final bill from Barry today,” Greg said. He and Cassie were eating dinner alone. Their two younger daughters were at hockey practice.

  “I’m not sure I want to think about money right now
,” Cassie said.

  “We can talk about it later.”

  “The problem isn’t going away anytime soon. How bad is it?”

  “I guess it’s a matter of perspective. We still have our son.”

  “And I’m grateful,” she said and truly meant it. In fact, whatever the bill was, she would have gladly paid even more. “Just say it.”

  “Barry used up the last retainer and we owe another fourteen thousand dollars.”

  Cassie exhaled. “Have you figured out how much this whole thing cost us?”

  “We gave Barry three retainers. I think they were ten thousand, forty thousand and eighty thousand. So, a hundred and forty-four thousand dollars. Plus the ten grand for Dr. Lapitas.”

  “How are we going to pay that back? Kaitlyn starts college next year.”

  “We could sell some of this land.”

  “But it was a wedding present from my dad. It’s been in my family for generations. He’d kill me.”

  “He’s the one who suggested it. Bert Charbonneau needs another hayfield. One of the ones he’s been leasing is getting converted to a strip mall. We could sell him twenty acres and get enough to pay off most of the second mortgage we took out.”

  “I can’t sell the pond. You know how much the kids love to skate there.”

  “I know, but they’re not going to be around for much longer.”

  “I want them to be able to come home to it. Why don’t you see if Bert wants to lease our land as long as we can still use the pond?”

  “That might be enough to cover the interest, but it won’t pay off that loan.”

  “I could get a job.”

  “You have a job.”

  “Another job, on the side.”

  “What would you do?”

  “I don’t know. The bakery had a sign. I could work there part time and still spend the afternoons tending my plants and sending out shipments.”

  “Doc Beaulieu is planning to retire,” Greg said. “I’ll see if I can take over some of his clients.”

  “You already work so hard.”

  “I can work harder for a while.”