The Advocate's Ex Parte (The Advocate Series Book 5)

by Teresa Burrell

  “She seems quite normal. She walks quite well. In fact, she’s very quick, but quiet. She covers a lot of ground so I sometimes need to be careful. I’ll turn around and there she is, right under foot.”

  Emma stood up while holding her book and toddled over to Mrs. Nguyen. She handed her the book and said softly, but very distinctly, “Kit-ty.”

  Mrs. Nguyen opened the book to the page with a kitten. “Yes, kitty. Very good, Emma.” Mrs. Nguyen looked up at Sabre. “The kitten is her favorite. Do you know if they had a cat?”

  “Not that I’m aware of, but she may have.”

  “And there is no father in the picture?” the foster mother asked.

  Sabre shook her head.

  “That’s a shame. Emma deserves two parents. I asked Kim-Ly about the father. She told me she didn’t know his name, that she’d had a one-night stand, but she wasn’t very convincing. I think she does know and doesn’t want to tell for some reason.”

  “Perhaps,” Sabre said. Even if she knew something more, which she didn’t, it wasn’t her place to share it with the foster mother. Kim-Ly told that same story to the social worker when questioned. It was not unusual to see young girls in the system with babies and no knowledge of who had fathered them. She had hoped that Kim-Ly had opened up to Dr. Heller in her psychological evaluation, but since Heller hadn’t submitted the report, she wasn’t certain it had even been written. Neither the report nor the usual tape recording of the session had been found in Dr. Heller’s office. There was no way to tell what, if anything, might be missing without the doctor to verify it. Sabre decided to wait a few more days and then ask the court to order another evaluation on Kim-Ly Tran if there was no change in the doctor’s condition.

  Sabre spent a little more time with Emma and then went to four more home visits. Afterwards, she stopped at the hospital to check on Dr. Carolina Heller, but there had been no change.

  Chapter 13

  The Durham Case

  Child: Matt Durham, Defendant

  Type: Delinquency case

  Charges: Two counts of First Degree Murder

  Victims: Hannah Rawlins & Mason Usher

  Facts: Double homicide. Two teenagers bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat.

  JP left Robin at home with her car secure within the garage. She assured him she wouldn’t go outside the house. Normally, Louie would go with JP on Saturday morning when he went out. They’d stop at Bob’s house and Louie would play with Bob’s dog, Alfie, while Bob and JP drank coffee and visited. But today JP had a full schedule and a late start so he skipped his visit with Bob and left Louie behind to keep Robin company.

  JP walked onto the high school campus and headed toward the gym where the coaches had their offices. The school was quiet except for a few boys with baseball gloves showing up for practice. JP wound his way past the track and across the outdoor basketball courts and into the gym. He encountered a tall, African-American student, with a closely clipped mustache and beard walking out of the building. JP remembered trying to grow anything that resembled facial hair in high school, but to no avail.

  “Could you direct me to Coach Arviso’s office?” JP asked.

  He pointed to his right. “Straight ahead to the end of the hallway, turn left, and it’s the second door on the right.”

  “Thanks,” JP said and walked to the office. The door was open. A short, muscular man in his early fifties sat behind the desk in the tiny office. Files and papers were stacked on the file cabinet, the bookcase, the desk, and one stuffed chair.

  The man looked up when JP approached. “Come on in. You must be the PI.”

  JP held out his hand. “That’s right. JP Torn.”

  “Gilbert Arviso. Have a seat,” the coach said, pointing to the only empty chair in the room. “What can I do for you?”

  “As you know, I’m here about Matt Durham. What can you tell me about him?”

  “He’s a good ball player. Not a star, but consistent. Never missed practice. Always on time. His grades were never an issue. He wasn’t one of the ‘popular’ guys, especially with the girls, but he seemed to get along with everyone for the most part.”

  “Did Matt ever fight or argue with anyone?”

  The coach shook his head. “I’ve thought about that a lot since his arrest. He usually got along well with his teammates. There was one incident when he got in a shoving match with another student, a kid named Darren Flynn, but to tell you the truth I don’t think Matt started it. It didn’t really amount to much, more of a squabble than a fight. It was during a game and the other players stopped it before it was out of hand. Matt came up to bat shortly after that and he took all his aggression out on the ball. It was bottom of the ninth, one out with a runner on second. We could usually count on Matt for a base hit and we expected him to move the runner to third and then Darren would come in as a designated hitter and hit the winning run. But instead, Matt hit a home run and won the game for us.”

  “I suppose that didn’t make Darren too happy.”

  “I expect he was glad they won, but yeah, it meant he didn’t get to hit and be the hero. Darren is a hot head and he demonstrated it that night. He slammed his bat against the fence and he didn’t go out when the teams shook hands after the game.”

  JP turned and glanced toward the open door, distracted by the chatter of teenage boys.

  “Sorry about that. The boys are here for practice.”

  JP stood up and started to close the door. “Do you mind?” he asked.

  “Not at all.”

  JP sat down again. “When did the incident at the game take place?” JP asked.

  “About a month ago.”

  “So, just a few weeks before the murder?”

  “Yeah, a week or two, maybe.”

  JP glanced at his notes. “Matt says his bat disappeared at one of the games. Do you know anything about that?”

  “Not that I recall. Why?” The coach wrinkled his brow. “Does Matt claim the bat used in the murders was stolen?”

  “Yes,” JP said, nodding his head. “He said to ask you, that he came to you and told you it was missing.”

  “I don’t recall him coming to me, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t. But if he did, I’m sure I had him fill out a ‘Missing Equipment’ form.” Coach Arviso reached down and opened a file drawer on his desk. He pulled out a folder, opened it up, and shuffled through the papers. About three forms down, he stopped and removed a completed form with Matt Durham’s name on it. “Here it is.” He handed the form to JP. “We always have the players fill these out. It saves a lot of hassle if something shows up a few months later.”

  JP looked the form over and noted the date. It was approximately one month ago. He pointed out the date to the coach. “Do you happen to know if that was the same game that Matt and Darren had the misunderstanding?”

  “I don’t know.” The coach frowned as if he were thinking. He picked up a schedule off his desk. “Let me see….The game Matt hit the home run in was against Poway. That would’ve been on…yes, that was the same game. He must have filed it the next day. That’s the day after the Poway game. That’s right,” the coach said, as if he were remembering the event. “It was Matt’s last game.”

  “Where can I find this Darren, ah…” JP looked at his notes. “…Flynn?”

  “He should be out there in the hallway.”

  “Do you mind if I take a few minutes of his practice time to talk to him?”

  “No, not at all.” Arviso picked up his clipboard as he stood. “I’ll introduce you.”

  They walked out of the office and the coach raised his voice above the chattering crowd of the twenty or so boys standing around. Most of them leaned against the wall with their bags beside them. Some had just a glove in their hand; others carried bats. The coach looked up and down the hallway. “Where’s Flynn?” he asked.

  A tall, young African-American man came around the corner at the end of the hallway. “Yo, Coach,” he said, as he walked to
ward them. He was big and muscular. JP thought his build would be better put to use on the football field than on a baseball diamond.

  “Darren,” the coach said, as he approached, “this investigator has a few questions for you.” Coach Arviso made a gesture with his head toward his door. “You can use my office.”

  JP reached out his hand and shook the coach’s. “Thank you,” JP said.

  “No problem. Let me know if you need anything else.” The coach left and the players did the same, except for Darren.

  JP entered the office and Darren followed. After closing the door, JP sat down behind the desk. “Have a seat,” JP said, gesturing to the chair he had sat in earlier.

  “You a cop?” Darren spit the word out.

  “No, I’m a private investigator,” JP said.

  “So, I don’t need to talk to you if I don’t want to.” This time he sounded cocky.

  “No, you don’t. But if you don’t, I’ll have to take what I know to the cops and then they will talk to you.” JP watched as Darren’s eyes closed slightly and his face tightened. JP hadn’t meant to anger him and was frustrated at himself for the way the conversation was going. “Look, man, all I want is a few answers. You’re not the one in trouble here.”

  Darren took a breath and said, “What do you want to know?”

  “About a month ago you had an altercation with Matt Durham at a game. Do you remember that?”

  “That murdering fool. I guess I’m not the one in trouble here,” he said, emphasizing the word “guess.” “That boy is crazy, beating those two to death.”

  “So, what happened at the Poway game?”

  “We were in the dugout. Alex was up to bat, Adam was on deck, and Matt was in the hole. He would get all anxious before he came up to bat. I told him to calm down. I told him all he had to do was to get on base. I would do the rest. He looked at me and raised his eyebrow. Then he stepped in front of me and hit me with his shoulder as he went to leave the dugout. I shoved him back. He raised his bat and shook it at me. I dared him to bring it on, but a couple guys stepped between us. Matt went on deck and I stayed in the dugout until he went to bat.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “Nothing. We won the game and that was it.”

  “You didn’t have any further encounters with Matt after that?”

  “No.”

  “Did you see him or talk to him after that?”

  Darren thought for a moment. “I don’t think so. I don’t have any classes with him and we don’t hang with the same people at school. We had one practice after that, but Matt wasn’t there. Not long after that he was arrested.” He shook his head. “That boy’s crazy!”

  “What has he done?”

  Darren looked at him and scowled. “He beat two people to death with a baseball bat. That’s just crazy, man.”

  “I thought maybe there was something else. Did you ever see any other behavior that was ‘crazy,’ as you say?”

  “Isn’t that enough?”

  Chapter 14

  The Durham Case

  Child: Matt Durham, Defendant

  Type: Delinquency case

  Charges: Two counts of First Degree Murder

  Victims: Hannah Rawlins & Mason Usher

  Facts: Double homicide. Two teenagers bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat.

  JP checked his watch. He had just about enough time to walk to the area in front of the school cafeteria where he was scheduled to meet with some students who had witnessed the confrontation between Matt and the victim, Hannah Rawlins. JP had spoken earlier to eight different students who were there that day. He’d determined that three of them hadn’t seen enough to waste any more time questioning them. Of the remaining five students, two were unavailable today, so he had scheduled the others fifteen minutes apart.

  When JP reached the area for the meeting, he checked his watch. He was two minutes late for the first appointment, but no one had shown up yet. He sat down on a picnic table and opened his file. He wondered about Darren Flynn. Could he have taken Matt’s bat that day at the game? It was a stretch to think he stole the bat, killed two people with it, and set Matt up for the fall, all because of a little shoving and a home run that kept him out of the game. But then the whole thing was hard to believe, including Matt’s possible motive for killing them. But maybe Darren’s confrontational behavior was enough for Sabre to use to cast reasonable doubt.

  JP hated to see criminals walk, especially for violent crimes. He enjoyed investigating and he was good at it, but it had been much easier when he was a cop. Back then he seldom came to know the perpetrators as people. They were just criminals, scumbags. He would investigate, arrests would be made, and offenders were prosecuted. But this job didn’t allow that. He not only had to gather the facts, but also uncover a more humane side of the clients so their attorneys could try to present them in a more favorable light. He decided he had grown from the experience. It made him more sensitive to other people’s circumstances. They often made mistakes that they regretted and sometimes they deserved a second chance. Heck, he had made plenty himself. But JP was convinced Durham hadn’t made a “mistake.” He was evil. JP cringed when he thought about the look in Durham’s eyes when he viewed the photograph of the dead Hannah. Then JP shook it off. As Sabre would say, his job was to find out what happened, good or bad, and provide her with the facts. He was to be a “truth-seeker,” as she called it, and that meant both the good and the bad. It was her job to represent the client. She often told him, “I don’t have to like them; I just have to represent them.” Unlike Sabre, JP had trouble separating the two.

  “Mr. Torn?” a young female voice said.

  JP looked up from his file. “Yes, you must be Lisa.”

  The thin girl in the green Victoria Secret sweat pants and two layered T-shirts nodded. Her hair was also layered, blonde on top and brown underneath.

  “Have a seat.”

  She sat down and placed a large, leather Juicy Couture purse on the bench next to her, keeping her hand on her purse as if she had something valuable in it.

  “Lisa, you seem a bit uncomfortable, but you don’t have to be afraid. I just want to ask you a few questions.”

  She nodded.

  “You know Matt Durham, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you knew Hannah Rawlins and Mason Usher?”

  “Yes. Hannah was one of my best friends.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” JP said. He hated this part. He never knew what to say. It was much easier questioning the scumbags, JP thought. “Is that how you know Matt? Because of Hannah?”

  “The other way around. Hannah knew Matt because of me. I wish I had never met him.” She looked down.

  “You introduced them?”

  “Not really. He was in my Spanish class. It was just before lunch period and Hannah would meet me there and we’d go to lunch together. Matt tried to become friends with me so he could hang around Hannah. They went out a few times, but she said he, like, made her uncomfortable.” She ran her hand across her purse, almost petting it.

  “Uncomfortable?” JP asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  “How so?”

  “I don’t know. He just…like, wanted to be with her all the time. And he, like, told her he loved her on their second date. Stuff like that.”

  “Was she afraid of him?”

  Lisa shook her head. “No, not really afraid. She just didn’t like him that much, but he kept calling her anyway. She only went out with him because she wasn’t into anyone else right then.”

  “Do you know anything about a wristband that either of them may have had?”

  “Yeah. It was Hannah’s. It was blue and it said, ‘Love and Stuff’ on it.”

  “And Hannah gave it to Matt?”

  “She did, but only because he kept asking her for it. She finally just gave it to him to get him to stop asking.”

  “When was that?”

  “I don�
��t know, like the first time they hooked up, I think. I’m not sure, but they didn’t go out that long.” She paused, “Like, maybe a month.”

  “And then Hannah called it off?”

  Lisa nodded her head. “She started, like, avoiding him at first. We started meeting for lunch in the cafeteria because she didn’t want to come by my class. But he kept calling her and texting her. After a couple of days she came by my class and she told him she didn’t want to hang with him anymore.”

  “Were you with her?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Do you remember what she said to him?”

  “She said, ‘You’re a nice guy, but we’re kinda over.’ It was hard for her. She was nicer than I would’ve been.”

  “How did he take it?”

  “He looked really sad at first and, like, confused. Then he asked to see her that night. She said no, and then his face turned really red and he looked angry. His free hand was in a fist and he was kind of shaking.” Lisa stopped petting her purse and made a fist with her own hand demonstrating what he did. “But then he walked off really fast.”

  “Did his reaction scare Hannah?”

  “No, not really. She felt bad for him. ‘Nobody likes to get dumped,’ she said.”

  “How long was it until the incident in the cafeteria?”

  “Like, the next day.”

  “And you were there, right?”

  “We were sitting across from each other when Matt walked up with his tray. He sat down next to Hannah before she even noticed he was there. I don’t think he even saw me. He kept asking her to meet up with him that night, ‘just to talk,’ he said. She kept telling him no, but he, like, wouldn’t let up. She finally told him she was with someone else. That’s when he took the wristband off and he said, ‘I suppose you want this back?’ Hannah said, ‘No, you can keep it.’ She told me later that she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t really care that much about the wristband. She had others and she didn’t want a fuss over it. Hannah looked at me and then she stood up. Matt tossed the wristband onto her tray.”