Desperate Justice

by Dennis Carstens

  SEVENTY-SEVEN

  Having been subpoenaed by the county attorney, Catherine’s psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffrey Chase, was the first witness of a new day of testimony. Since Catherine herself could not be in court to testify, Dr. Chase was one of the state’s witnesses who would try to do it for her.

  Gondeck did his standard excellent job of slowly, carefully and completely walking Chase through his credentials. A graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine, he had done his residency at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore before accepting a two-year position with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. The doctor certainly had impressive credentials and had testified as an expert witness in both criminal, civil and divorce proceedings many times.

  On a normal day when the doctor spent his time in sessions with patients, he rarely paid much attention to his own appearance. He was not normally sloppy, untidy or messy when it came to how he looked. He just wasn’t very vain about it. Today, however, to make sure he made a good impression on the jury, he had on a two thousand dollar Italian wool suit, expensive loafers and a beautiful, silk hand painted tie. The reason he wanted to make a good impression, which he could never admit, was because he had fallen a little in love with Catherine Prentiss. He had no doubt Gordon was guilty and deserved to pay for it.

  Referring to his notes, several times, he explained to the jury Catherine’s history with him and the progress he believed they were making. He had been seeing her for quite a while and knew for a long time she was keeping something from him. He also testified about Catherine’s drinking problem which, as an experienced therapist, he concluded was the direct result of her situation at home. Finally, she admitted that her husband was, in her words, a monster and she was terrified of him. It was at this point that he knew they were finally getting somewhere and he could help her.

  Dr. Chase went into specific detail from the lengthy notes he had made, notes that had been provided to Marc. He went over for the jury every session in which Catherine talked about her marriage, her husband the abuse and terror he was putting her through.

  He spent several minutes carefully detailing her session on the day she died. Chase went into particular detail about Catherine having told him Gordon had viciously attacked her the day before and almost killed her. This was the abuse incident that arose when he caught her viewing his own pornographic photos and DVD. Marc had tried to keep this out but to no avail.

  “Why didn’t you report this to the authorities, doctor?” Gondeck asked.

  “Because she insisted that I not do so. I realize my legal and ethical obligation, but I believe I have a higher obligation to my patient. Once she came to the decision to get a divorce, I believed she had regained enough control of the situation to get through it, especially after the judge was appointed to the U.S. Senate. She believed he would go to Washington, allow her to stay here and get the divorce.

  “Do I wish I’d done more? Of course. It’s the worst decision I’ve made since becoming a doctor. I’ve had many sleepless nights and I’m sure I’ll have more.”

  “She told you she was going to divorce him?”

  “Oh yes, absolutely. In fact, we spent a lot of time discussing the best way to approach it. We agreed she would have a friend with her as a sort of witness. She believed Gordon would control himself in front of a third party. She told me this the day she was killed.”

  “Your witness,” Gondeck said.

  “Dr. Chase,” Marc began after introducing himself, “let me see if I understand this. You claim you had a patient for months complaining about being abused for months, if not years, and you reported it to no one. Not the police, not the county attorney’s office, no one in any position of authority whatsoever, is that correct?”

  “Yes, but…” he started to answer.

  “There’s no ‘yes, but’ involved here Doctor. You didn’t report it, did you?”

  “No, I did not.”

  “Because your patient told you not to, correct?”

  “Yes, that is correct.”

  “Did you ever see any signs of abuse such as bruising or any other physical marks?” This was a very poorly worded question by Marc and it left the door open for the witness, but he was fairly certain he knew the answer.

  “There were many signs of abuse in her mental and emotional state, yes.”

  Trying to recover, Marc quickly asked, “Isn’t it true she exhibited no physical signs of abuse?”

  “That is true, yes.”

  “Yet, she told you she was being physically abused, didn’t she?”

  “Yes, she did.”

  “May I approach the witness, your Honor?”

  “Go ahead.”

  Marc picked up a copy of the autopsy report, walked up to the witness box, handed it to Dr. Chase and said, “This is a copy of the autopsy of Catherine Prentiss. Have you seen this?”

  “No, I haven’t,” the doctor replied while looking it over.

  “Let me save you some time, doctor. In that report, there is no mention of any abuse at all. No physical signs of any kind. Does that surprise you?”

  “Yes, actually it does.”

  “Would you like to look it over and check it yourself?”

  “Um, no, I’m sure you’ve already done that,” Chase answered as he handed it back.

  Still standing in front of the witness, Marc asked, “Let me see if I have this straight, Doctor. You testified that she claimed, the day before she died to have been attacked and almost killed by her husband yet there are no physical signs of such an attack found in the autopsy. Is that correct?”

  “Yes, it seems so,” Chase answered as he squirmed in his seat.

  Marc returned to his seat and asked, “You testify in divorce cases, is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is it possible Catherine Prentiss, being married to a lawyer who became a judge, would say these things to you to set up a divorce settlement?”

  “Objection!” Gondeck was out of his seat before Marc had finished.

  “Sustained,” Rios replied glaring down at Marc. “The jury will disregard that question. Any more attempts to put the victim on trial will get you in trouble, Mr. Kadella.”

  “I only asked if it was a possibility, your Honor.”

  “Do you have any more questions?”

  “No, your Honor,” Marc replied.

  Judge Rios looked at the clerk and decided to break for lunch.

  The afternoon session began a little after two o’clock. Judge Rios had been interrupted by two lawyers on a different, civil matter, she was assigned. They were squabbling over a discovery issue that they needed the judge to resolve. The good news for both sets of lawyers, there were two on each side present in her chambers, was that each could bill at least a thousand dollars to their respective corporate clients for what was a relatively trivial matter.

  Ava Hammond was brought in, sworn and seated on the witness stand. Ava’s court appearance had been an issue of significant dispute. Since she would not be testifying about what happened at the Prentiss home, she would add very little, if anything to the factual basis of the trial. Marc had wanted her excluded entirely. Gondeck wanted her to corroborate the testimony of Dr. Chase about Catherine’s desire for a divorce. She would also lend credence to the state’s next and final witness, Catherine Prentiss herself through her journal.

  Ava’s direct examination, conducted by Jennifer Moore, was fairly brief and to the point. She testified about her relationship with Catherine and that she was the friend Catherine wanted with her when she told Gordon she wanted a divorce.

  “When were you going to do this?”

  “We had met for drinks the night before Gordon killed her…”

  “Objection!” Marc jumped up and said.

  “Sustained,” Rios said with obvious annoyance. “The jury will disregard. Try again Ms. Moore and don’t embellish your answers,” Rios said to Ava.

  “We had drinks the evening before Catherine died and worked out a plan to
tell Gordon about the divorce. We had planned on doing it the day after she died. Instead, they must have had a fight when she told him without me being there to protect her.”

  “Objection, your Honor, assumes facts not in evidence. We don’t know if she ever did tell Judge Prentiss she wanted a divorce.”

  “Sustained,” Rios ruled.

  After that, Moore and Ava had only a few more minutes of what Ava did and what she was going to do. All the while Ava was testifying, Marc was watching and listening intently. He had asked Prentiss if Catherine had ever brought up the issue of divorce and the judge had emphatically denied it. This, by itself, did not mean it wasn’t true. But while watching Ava testify, a slight buzz was sounding in the back of Marc’s mind. Something wasn’t quite right, but he could not put his finger on it.

  When Jennifer Moore finished with the direct exam she passed the witness to Marc. “At this time, your Honor, I am going to defer my questioning of this witness. However, I reserve the right to call her during the case for the defense.” This last part wasn’t strictly necessary since Ava had been listed on Marc’s witness list as well as the state’s. He could call her as a witness any time.

  At that moment, a court deputy came through the back door and whispered something to Judge Rios. After listening for a moment, she looked at the lawyers and said, “Recess. Let’s take a fifteen minutes recess.” The judge quickly left the bench and hurried back to her chambers.

  Five minutes later the same deputy who had interrupted the proceedings led Marc, Gondeck and Jennifer Moore back to see the judge.

  “Any objections to stopping for today?” Rios asked. “I just got a call from my son’s school. He had an accident in gym class and I should go.”

  “Is he okay?” Jennifer was the first to ask.

  “Yeah, they think he might have a broken wrist but nothing serious. Sounds like it was his own fault.”

  “How old is he?” Marc asked.

  “Thirteen. Unless anyone has a problem, I should go. I’ll see all of you tomorrow and thanks.”

  “Thirteen? Get used to it. He’s entering the age of incredibly stupid things boys do,” Marc said.

  “You mean,” Rios asked, “it gets worse?”

  “Much,” Gondeck and Marc replied in unison.

  SEVENTY-EIGHT

  Madeline Rivers walked through the entryway door of Judge Rios’ courtroom moments after the judge recessed for the day. The packed gallery had started to fill the center aisle to leave as Maddy walked in. The mostly male crowd of reporters and court followers reverently parted to form a space for her to pass through. She walked toward Marc, politely thanking the crowd, and passed through the bar and found Prentiss and Marc speaking to each other.

  “Hello, Judge,” she said to Prentiss as she approached the defense table. Maddy looked at the jury and noticed several heads turned toward her. She made a point of looking directly at each of them while flashing a warm smile.

  “Ms. Rivers,” Prentiss politely replied as the court deputy arrived to escort him back to jail.

  When she was sure Prentiss could not hear her. She whispered in Marc’s ear, “He still makes my skin crawl.”

  “Me too, to tell you the truth.”

  “Why’s everyone leaving?”

  “The judge has a minor emergency. Her son got hurt at school, nothing serious but she had to take off. I’m glad you stopped by, I have a project for you.”

  “Okay, what?”

  “Not here,” he said looking around. “Let’s use the conference room. I’ll tell you then.”

  When they were seated at the table in the small client conference room, Marc took a document from a file in his briefcase and set it on the table. He leaned toward Maddy and quietly whispered, “I have to get a subpoena served on Leo Balkus. I have a DVD that Bruce Dolan and Gordon Prentiss made that could tie Leo Balkus to Catherine’s death. If I can get him on the stand I can show it and use it as a possible motive for Leo or someone on his behalf, as my mystery man in the bedroom that killed Catherine and hit Prentiss.”

  He handed the document to her and waited while she read it over. After she finished she looked at Marc and quietly said, “You want him here first thing Monday morning? Tomorrow’s Friday.”

  “I don’t want to give him any more time than necessary. I want his ass in that hallway, ready to go 9:00 A.M. Monday morning.”

  “You think you’ll start your case then?”

  “Yeah, the prosecution should wrap up tomorrow. I’ll give a short opening statement, hopefully, tomorrow afternoon and then call Leo first thing Monday morning.”

  “You’re going after him on the witness stand?”

  “Can you serve the subpoena?”

  “Sure, I’ll get that done. But I think you need to meet with someone now.”

  “Who?”

  “Vivian Donahue.”

  “What does the Queen of the Corwins have to do with this?” a puzzled Marc asked.

  “Before now, I would have said nothing. Now, I’m not so sure. She’s had Tony checking on Leo. I think we should go see her and Tony now.”

  She retrieved her phone from her purse and speed dialed Carvelli. Seeing who was calling Tony answered on the first ring. She briefly explained to him that the four of them, including Marc, should meet. Tony told her he was on his way to the mansion at that moment and would let Vivian know they were coming.

  Alone on the elevator riding down to the second-floor atrium level, Marc told Maddy about Ava Hammond. He couldn’t explain it, but something wasn’t quite right and he wanted Maddy to take another run at her, which she agreed to do.

  Marc parked next to Maddy, who had parked next to Tony’s car, when they arrived at the Corwin home. As the two of them walked toward the large house, Marc found himself gawking at the immaculately kept grounds and the two men, members of Vivian’s security team, who were intently watching Marc and Maddy.

  As they began to climb the stairs, Marc said, “Why do I feel like I should be going in the back door and not the front.”

  “It’s okay,” Madeline laughed. “You’re with me. Just be sure to stay three paces behind me.”

  Tony came out to greet them when they reached the top of the stairs. He then led them into the library where Vivian greeted Maddy with a warm embrace. Marc received a firm handshake and sincere smile. Even in her sixties, he thought, she was still a damn good looking woman.

  “Welcome to my home, Marc,” she said. “It’s nice to see you again. How is Judge Tennant?”

  “She’s fine, Vivian, and I must say, you have a beautiful home.”

  “Anthony tells me it’s time we talked.”

  Marc looked at Maddy and silently mouthed the word “Anthony” at her to which she put a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. Vivian led them to the two couches where Carvelli had already sat down. Marc and Maddy sat on one and Vivian joined Tony on the opposite sofa, sitting close enough to him to almost touch their knees which both Marc and Maddy noticed.

  “Let me tell all three of you what I learned the past few days.”

  Vivian told them about her trip to Washington and her brief meeting at Homeland Security. She went over her trip to New York and explained that she waited for a couple of days in the hope her friend could come up with more information about the prior life of Leo Balkus.

  They were able to come up with one possibility. Around the same time or shortly before Balkus turned up in Minnesota, a man with serious ties to the Russian Mafia had gone missing. Vivian’s friend was told this man fled under a cloud of serious suspicion and simply disappeared; at least for a few months.

  The man was positively identified in Germany a few months after disappearing. Two days after that, just before his former associates could get to him, he was killed, along with four others, in a boating accident. At least that is what German authorities claimed. Strangely, none of the five bodies was ever recovered. There were a dozen or more witnesses who saw it happen, an explosion of s
ome kind, and all swore no one could have survived.

  Vivian’s friend was also able to discover that this mystery man had serious ties to the Russian government. Apparently, he was very well connected although Vivian’s friend’s sources would not be more specific. The problem was that Leo’s picture had been shown around and this missing person was definitely not Leo.

  “Plastic surgery?” Marc suggested.

  “That is a possibility,” Vivian agreed. “I absolutely believe this man from Russia and Leo Balkus are the same person. Why else would our government protect him?”

  “There could be dozens of reasons,” Tony said.

  “I’m wondering, what might any of this have to do with my trial? Why am I here?”

  “Maddy, tells me you’re going to subpoena Leo,” Tony said. “Vivian and I have talked about it and we’d like to see if she could come up with some fingerprints at the same time.”

  “Do you really believe Gordon Prentiss is innocent?” Vivian asked Marc.

  After thinking it over for a moment, he replied by saying, “You know, Vivian, I’ve been around the block and I’ve been fooled by clients before, as Anthony probably told you. They lie. In fact, they lie all the time. But to answer your question: yes, I do.”

  “And you know for sure he was in this Balkus creature’s pocket?”

  “Yes, he was. But that doesn’t mean he killed his wife.”

  “Then if he didn’t and Leo wanted to make him pay for leaving to go to Washington,” Tony interjected, “killing Catherine and framing Gordon for it isn’t such a crazy theory.”

  “Let me show you something,” Marc said as he stood and walked toward a television with a DVD player that was in a corner of the room. Twenty minutes later, after viewing Prentiss and Dolan, Marc removed the disk from the player.

  “That explains Dolan’s murder,” Tony said. “Where did you get this?”

  “Gondeck. They were going to use it to get Dolan to flip on Leo.”

  “Apparently Leo found out,” Maddy said. “Let’s get his prints.”