Truth and Consequences

by V. J. Chambers

  After lunch, she called everyone into the conference room so that they could go over the options for how to structure the presentation to the Conviction Correction Panel. She was halfway into her first idea when Powell showed up.

  Since Amos was in the conference room, Powell simply walked in. There was no one to stop him.

  In mid-sentence, Elke looked up and there he was in the doorway to the conference room. Her heart stopped. And for some reason, it felt like she was back in that bathroom again, like she was just as trapped as she had been before, and like her life was in danger again. She couldn’t breathe.

  “Hi there,” said Powell, giving her a sardonic grin.

  Amos stood up. “Hey, you can’t be back here.”

  Powell laughed. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not staying. I just wanted to come back here and congratulate you, Lawrence.”

  Congratulate her? What?

  “You used my own idea against me, and masterfully too.” Powell leaned against the door frame. “I mean, how did you think that up? Making yourself look like some innocent, terrorized woman in a cabin in the woods? And then turning the tables and offering to testify against Russell? Exactly what I wanted from you, so how can I complain?”

  She swallowed. “Listen, Powell, whatever you think about me—”

  “I underestimated you,” said Powell. “My superiors are telling me to back off on you. They say I don’t have any evidence.” He pointed at her. “You’re good. I wonder if your husband was even guilty or if he wasn’t just a patsy to get the heat taken off you in the first place.”

  Amos stalked over to Powell, a look of disgust on his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you need to leave.”

  “Sure,” said Powell. “I’ll get out of your hair.” He mock-saluted Elke. “This match to you, Lawrence. I concede defeat.” And then he walked out of the office.

  Elke swayed on her feet. She had to grab onto a chair to sit down. She felt as if she’d just run a marathon.

  Amos and Frankie both gaped at her.

  “What the hell?” said Frankie.

  Elke rubbed her forehead. “It’s a long story.” But she told them. Not everything, of course. She left out the parts about Patrick, mirroring the story she’d told the police. She didn’t feel bad about the deception, though. The truth was that Powell was wrong about her. She would never sell drugs. She wasn’t the kind of person who would prey on other’s weaknesses for financial gain. Elke wanted to help people, to protect people. That was who she was.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  “Allison Ross was young,” Elke said, looking out over the members of the Conviction Correction Panel, who were seated at three rectangular tables that had been set up in a horseshoe pattern in a small room in the courthouse. “She was only sixteen years old. She was a happy girl. She got good grades in school. She was a cheerleader. She had a boyfriend. When she left school that afternoon, she would have had no idea what was in store for her.”

  Elke paused. She wanted to paint as sharp a picture as she could, and she took a moment to take a breath. “Allison and Curtis often spent time together after school, but not until after her cheerleading practice, which she usually had every day. That day, however, she didn’t have practice. It would have typically been a chance for the couple to spend even more time together, but Curtis was actually the busy one that afternoon. He was running lines for the tryouts of the school play with Mary Johnson, and he wasn’t around. So, Allison went to her car instead. And that was where she found her sister Holly waiting for her.

  “This wouldn’t have surprised Allison, necessarily. Holly usually took the bus home because she didn’t like waiting around while Allison went to cheerleading. But without cheerleading that afternoon, it made sense that Holly would want a ride home. Allison probably didn’t have much of an inkling that her relationship with her sister was anything other than normal. Sure, they fought a lot, but what sisters didn’t? Sure, Holly seemed selfish and vindictive to her, but she was immature. If Allison remembered the behavioral issues that Holly had in the past—killing animals, being labeled with anti-social personality disorder—she probably assumed, as everyone else did, that Holly had grown out of those issues.”

  Elke made eye contact with one member of the panel, then another. She went around the room. “Holly hadn’t grown out of anything.”

  Elke paused again. “In a case like Holly’s, we still don’t know what causes her violent behavior, but it does seem as if it’s a mixture of genetic predisposition and a lack of developmental care at a young age. It’s quite possible that Holly couldn’t help herself. But she was cunning enough to know that the urges that welled up inside her must be hidden from the outside world, and so she had created a carefully constructed mask, appearing to be a nice, normal girl. No one could have predicted what Holly was about to do. And perhaps no one really knows why she did it, not even Holly herself.

  “But it’s likely that it was caused by some emotion that we have all felt. Jealousy, loneliness, inadequacy. Holly didn’t want Allison to take any more attention from her. Holly knew that if her sister was dead, she would receive a lot of sympathy. She felt feelings that we all feel, but she responded to them in a vastly different way. A normal person might fantasize about killing someone close to them, but something holds us all back from doing such things. Something keeps us in check. In Holly’s case, she simply acted.”

  Elke bowed her head. “I don’t want to talk about the horrors that were visited on Allison Ross in that car that afternoon. I can’t imagine how terrifying it was for her, how painful. We can only be comforted by the fact that she was dead when most of the stab wounds were inflicted on her body. She was stabbed twenty-three times, and twenty of those strokes were inflicted on her face. Holly was so angry that she wanted to erase her sister from the universe. She destroyed her facial features, mangling her completely.”

  Elke raised her gaze again. “And during all this time, Allison’s boyfriend Curtis was across campus, practicing lines for a play. When he was finished, he went home, because he expected that Allison was home too. Curtis and Allison had a typical teenage relationship. It was new, and they were wrapped up in the delight of young love in the way that only adolescents can be. But one thing is very important to note. Curtis would never hurt Allison. When he found out what had happened to her, he was devastated and destroyed. It was too much emotion for a young man to understand or contain. After all, we’re not meant to deal with tragedy at that age, when we all think we’re invincible.

  “Curtis found out about Allison’s death when the police came to his home later that evening. From the start, he was a person of interest. He barely had time to try to grieve before he had to attempt to defend himself. It wasn’t easy when others lied about him for their own reasons. Allison’s best friend Noel wanted to cover up her own secrets, and said that Allison had told her she was frightened of Curtis. But Allison never said that, and Noel now admits she made it up.

  “Holly Ross basked in the attention she was getting in the wake of Allison’s death. She claimed that Curtis had molested her, and she accomplished two gratifying goals. At once, she made herself even more sympathetic and she also distanced herself further from being a suspect. But she, too, was lying. Curtis had nothing to do with Holly.”

  Elke raised her chin. “Curtis was at the beginning of his life. He had everything ahead of him and almost nothing behind him. He’d never driven on the interstate. He’d never been to a high school prom. He hadn’t even asked Allison if she wanted to go yet. He’d never rented an apartment or signed up for a credit card or gone grocery shopping for himself. He was so very, very young. And Curtis, now a young adult, has still done none of those things. He has spent the last five years of his life in a prison cell, and he’s had to live not only with the knowledge and grief that the first girl he ever loved is dead, but that he is being held responsible for her death.

  “The outrage of this situation is that Curtis i
s innocent. He’s done nothing wrong, but his life has been ripped away from him. He doesn’t deserve to spend one more minute locked away. He needs to be allowed to have a chance to live, to experience all the things that life offers him.” She nodded at the panel. “Thank you very much. The CRU rests.”

  * * *

  Gloria Fisher was crying. She was sobbing huge tears while she mopped at her face with a ragged tissue, which was black with her mascara. That was running all over her face. She kept hugging Curtis, who looked dazed and offered no resistance. “Thank you,” Gloria blubbered. “Thank you so much.”

  “Of course,” said Elke, smiling. “That’s our job.” She, Iain, Amos, and Frankie were outside in the courthouse hallway after the panel hearing.

  Gloria let go of Curtis. “No, I mean it. You gave me back my son. I don’t know how to thank you.” She came for Elke.

  Elke lifted her hand to shake with Gloria, but Gloria knocked the hand aside and gave Elke a huge bear hug. Stunned, Elke let out a grunt and then awkwardly patted Gloria on the back. “It really is our job.”

  Gloria released her, thankfully.

  Elke sucked in a breath, smoothing her suit jacket.

  Gloria went on to hug Frankie, who was receptive, hugging her back warmly.

  Iain, however, looked alarmed.

  Elke had to smirk.

  Sure enough, the minute Gloria was done with Frankie, she attacked Iain, who stood there stiffly, allowing it, a look of blind panic on his face.

  Elke turned to Curtis, but he was looking down the hall where Lisa and Jeff Ross were coming down the stairs. They looked haggard and stooped, as if they carried the world on their shoulders. Elke felt awful. She wished it hadn’t come out the way that it had. She wished that Allison’s parents hadn’t been stripped of everything. Holly had hurt them so much, and she likely had no notion of what she’d done. People like her lacked empathy. Elke shook her head.

  Curtis turned back to his mother and Elke. He still looked dazed. “I always liked Mrs. Ross,” he said. “But it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for me to go and tell her how sorry I am, would it?”

  “I don’t think so,” said Elke. “You think about you now.” She cocked her head. “How are you, by the way?”

  Curtis blinked. “I’m, um…” He took a deep breath. “This is—this is good. Thank you for doing this. I guess it just doesn’t really feel real yet.”

  Elke smiled. “That seems to be a typical response amongst the exonerated.”

  He gave her a small smile back.

  She nodded her head at the front door. “Once you go out there, you’re going to be mobbed by the press. Just want to prepare you.”

  “Do I have to talk to them?”

  “No, not if you don’t want to,” said Elke. “But I think if you tell them that you’re happy and overwhelmed, that will go over just fine.”

  Curtis took another deep breath and nodded. His lips moved as if he was repeating what she’d just said to him under his breath to try to remember it.

  Suddenly, Gloria was hugging her again.

  Elke grunted again.

  Just as abruptly, Gloria let go of her and hugged Curtis again. She kissed his forehead over and over again, “Oh, my baby. My sweet little boy. I’m so glad to have you back.”

  And in spite of herself, Elke felt moved. By Gloria Fisher.

  Frankie touched Elke’s shoulder. “Did you hear?”

  “What?” said Elke.

  “They issued the warrant for Holly’s arrest,” said Frankie.

  “Oh, well, it’s about time,” said Elke. The lab results had come back days ago confirming that the knife found in Frankie’s possession was the one used to kill Allison. They’d been waiting for the warrant to come through.

  “When they went to get her, she threw a big fit, claiming that she was pregnant and that they were endangering her unborn child’s life with undue stress.”

  Elke raised her eyebrows. “Did they use force?”

  “Not at all,” said Frankie. “She did more damage to herself screaming and throwing herself around.”

  “Well, she’s probably not pregnant, anyway. Just making it up.”

  “I kind of hope she is,” said Frankie, looking over Elke’s shoulder at Lisa and Jeff as they quietly made their way out the back door.

  “What? Why? There’s nothing good about that situation.”

  “Well, Holly’s going to be convicted,” said Frankie, “so she won’t be able to keep the child. But I think that might be one bright spot for Lisa, you know? A grandchild?”

  Elke considered. “You’re right,” she said. “Let’s hope she’s not lying.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Frankie gave her son Thad a nudge. “You’re holding up the line.” She and Thad were at a Chinese buffet restaurant in town. Thad was boggled by all of the options.

  “I don’t know what I want,” said Thad. “I want to try everything.”

  Frankie laughed. “So, do it.”

  “I can? I can put anything I want on my plate?”

  She laughed again. “Yes.” She and Rufus weren’t big on buffet restaurants since they both liked to take home leftovers. She could see now, though, that they needed to take Thad to some buffets more often. He liked them a lot.

  The choice of restaurant had been made by Amos, who wanted everyone to get together for a meal. He’d insisted that they all bring their significant others and children, even though Frankie was the only one with a child.

  Thad was now covering his plate with everything that he could possibly see. He looked up at his mother. “I’m not going to have enough room on my plate.”

  “Well, after you eat that, you can come back,” she said.

  His eyes widened. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “This is the greatest place ever, Mom.”

  She laughed again.

  Soon, she and Thad were back at the table. Iain was already seated, eating some shrimp. Thad sat next to him. He’d been very excited to see Iain again, and Iain had graciously acquiesced to the idea of Thad sitting by him.

  A few moments later, Elke, Amos, and Amos’s boyfriend Carlos were all seated as well.

  “Isn’t this nice?” said Amos, grinning at them. “All of us out on the town together instead of in the stuffy office?”

  “It is,” said Elke, taking out her fork. “Great idea, Amos.”

  Amos beamed. Then he noticed the empty chair next to Frankie. “Where’s your husband?”

  “Oh, he’s around,” said Frankie, laughing. “He might be waiting in line for the prime rib.”

  “How is prime rib even Chinese?” said Elke. “I don’t get why they have that at places like this.”

  “Come on,” said Carlos. “You gotta have a carving station.”

  “What’s a carving station?” said Thad, eyes wide.

  Frankie laughed. “If you have any room after you eat all that, I’m sure your father will show you.”

  At that moment, Rufus appeared, plate heaped with meat. He sat down, smiling at Frankie.

  She smiled back.

  “And what about your girlfriend, Iain?” said Amos. “Couldn’t she make it?”

  “Oh, um, we actually aren’t together anymore,” said Iain into his plate.

  “Oh, no,” said Frankie. “That’s too bad.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry,” said Elke.

  Iain shrugged. “Probably for the best. She and I didn’t have a lot in common.”

  “Well, she did seem…” Frankie trailed off. “I mean, I guess I pictured you with a different sort of girl.” And then she felt as if she’d put her foot in her mouth, so she shoveled rice in there instead.

  Iain ate some more shrimp.

  “Anyway, it’s just nice to get together outside of work,” said Amos. “I think we should do this more often. I mean, here we are, the best Conviction Review Unit in Haven Hills.”

  “That’s not saying much, considering we’re the onl
y Conviction Review Unit,” said Elke.

  “If there were others, we would trounce them,” said Amos. “Don’t you think so, Carlos? Aren’t we awesome?”

  Carlos grinned. “Well, in the interest of journalistic integrity? Yes, you’re awesome.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “We should have a toast,” said Amos. “I know we don’t have wine, but toasts with Pepsi products are equally as effective.”

  Everyone laughed again.

  Amos raised his soda. “To the CRU,” he said. “No matter what, we will be here, evaluating cases and freeing the innocent.”

  They all raised their glasses as well. “To the CRU,” they echoed.

  And then they drank.

  * * *

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