Presumption of Guilt

by Marti Green

  “I was afraid you’d forgotten about me,” Molly said, a shy smile on her face.

  “I was in a car accident and laid up for a bit. But I’m back at work now.”

  “And you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine now.” Dani took out her notepad and pen. “When I was here last, we started to talk about the Hudson County jail your dad built.”

  “I remember. But I was just a teenager then. I didn’t pay too much attention to what my father did. As long as he stayed out of my business, I was happy.”

  “There were a lot of articles in the newspaper about the cost of the jail. Do you recall that?”

  Molly shrugged. “I only read the paper when one of my teachers assigned it.”

  There was nowhere to go with this line of questioning. If Joe Singer had been skimming money from the jail contract, Molly didn’t know anything about it. She’d change gears.

  “Molly, I hope you don’t mind if I ask you some personal questions. It’ll help me get to understand you better, especially since your memory of that night is blank.”

  “Sure, ask me anything.”

  “Tell me about your daughter.”

  Molly’s body seemed to deflate in her chair. She swallowed and looked down at the floor. “She was such a beautiful baby,” she said at last, in little more than a whisper. “She was with me her first year. I shouldn’t have been allowed in the nursery program here. Usually only mothers convicted of nonviolent crimes are accepted. But I think the warden felt sorry for me because I was so young.”

  Dani knew that the nursery program at this prison was the oldest in the nation and the model for other prisons throughout the country. Mothers with their babies were housed in a separate section of the prison.

  “When they took her away from me, I wanted to die,” Molly continued. “I couldn’t bear being parted from her.”

  “Do you still see her?”

  “For a few years, Finn brought her every Saturday. There’s a special visiting room here stocked with books and games. Sophie would sit on my lap and I’d read to her. At the end of our visit, when she had to leave, she’d cry so hard.” She took a deep breath and went on. “After Finn married Kim, they convinced me it would be better for Sophie if she stopped visiting me, that it was traumatic for her to be wrenched from me each week. I never saw her after that.” Tears began to roll down Molly’s cheeks. “I still get blue every Saturday. I’ll never stop missing her.”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you to give her up.”

  Molly wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. “If it’s been better for Sophie, then that’s all that matters.”

  “Has Finn written you about Sophie’s progress? Sent you pictures, maybe?”

  “No. He thought it would be better to cut off all contact.”

  This was such a bleak statement that it took Dani a moment to figure out how to proceed.

  “I was surprised that Finn testified against you at your trial,” she said at last.

  “He didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”

  “Still,” Dani said, “he was your boyfriend. No one but him would know what you told him. If he said nothing, no one would be the wiser.”

  “He felt tremendous guilt about testifying. He told me his father pressured him and he relented. I forgave him a long time ago.”

  Dani made a mental note to schedule her interview with Finn soon. Something didn’t seem right.

  “Do you mind if we talk about your sister?”

  Molly stiffened. “There’s nothing to talk about. I haven’t seen or spoken to her since I came here.”

  “She’d like very much to visit you.”

  Molly stared stonily at Dani. Her body language made it clear that her sister was unwelcome.

  “If we’re able to uncover new evidence that would justify a retrial, it’s helpful to have family members in the courtroom,” Dani said. “It humanizes the defendant.”

  “I don’t want her help now. It’s too late.”

  Dani knew how hard it could be to forgive. She’d seen over and over petty annoyances tear families apart. Once a barrier was built, the task of dismantling it seemed insurmountable. She also knew the importance of family, especially when, like Molly, defendants had little else.

  “Your sister was barely out of her teens herself when your parents were murdered. She didn’t have the judgment that comes with age and experience. She loved your parents very much, just as you did. And the hurt she felt from their loss left her vulnerable to the police’s certainty that you were guilty.”

  Molly folded her arms across her chest and continued to say nothing.

  “You have a niece and nephew now.”

  “I know. My aunt told me. And she has a nice, cushy life with a rich husband.”

  “She loves you.”

  “Hah!”

  “Just think about letting her into your life again, okay?”

  Molly shrugged and said nothing more.

  “Let’s go back to your father’s business. You told your trial lawyer you’d heard him arguing with his partner, Quince Michaels. Do you remember what they tended to fight about?”

  Molly was silent for a minute, rubbing her wrists where the shackles had been. “I’m sorry. It was so long ago.”

  “Did they ever fight about the jail?”

  “The jail?” Molly shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. I just don’t remember. They’d get loud, though. Sometimes it would scare me.” She shook her head. “In those last days, there just seemed to be so much yelling. Me and my mom, about Finn, and my dad and Mr. Michaels, about whatever they were fighting about. They’d be in my dad’s office, going at each other. Sometimes it felt like the world was ending.”

  And then it did, Dani thought.

  CHAPTER

  19

  It took twenty minutes for Dani to make her way through the crowd of colleagues wishing her well on her return to work. Once she reached her office, she found a stack of messages on her chair and a dozen folders in her in-box, each containing requests from inmates seeking HIPP’s help. She would get to those later. First, she needed to meet with Tommy and Melanie. They both entered Dani’s office a few minutes after she’d gotten settled.

  “Where are we on Molly Singer’s case?” Dani asked.

  “We’ve hired a forensic accountant,” Tommy said. “I gave him the report from the state and he’s talked to them about getting all the underlying documents. Singer’s company was paid on a cost-plus-fifteen-percent basis.”

  “What kind of documents?”

  “As part of the audit, the state got copies of every invoice from subcontractors, as well as records of all payments for materials and labor they provided themselves. The accountant will look for any irregularities in all of that.”

  “Does he think the state will balk at turning them over?”

  Tommy shook his head. “If there was fraud, they’ll want to know about it.”

  Dani shifted in her seat. Although she’d felt well enough to return to work, the healing ribs still were uncomfortable. “Anything further with Michaels?”

  “Yeah. I found his first wife. Her name is Ellen Michaels. They were divorced eleven years ago and she hasn’t remarried. She’s still living in Andersonville. I’m driving up there tomorrow to meet with her.”

  “Great.” Dani turned to Melanie. “And on the legal front?”

  “I’ve gone through the trial transcript and appeals. There were a number of questionable rulings by the trial judge, all against Molly, but her attorney raised them all at the Appellate Division and lost.”

  Dani leaned back in her chair. She had the best team in the office, and they worked well together. But maybe Bruce was right. Maybe they’d taken on an impossible task. It was too early to know. Maybe the for
ensic accountant would find something the state had missed. Maybe Ellen Michaels knew what her husband was up to. Maybe a miracle would happen.

  “Molly told me something this morning that might help,” she said. “She remembers her father quarreling with Michaels. Evidently they went at it pretty regularly, but it really heated up shortly before his death.” Dani leaned toward Tommy. “We need you to work your magic. This case will turn on what you can uncover.”

  “I’ll see what I can do, although right now my bag of magic tricks seems pretty empty.”

  The meeting over, Dani turned to the work on her desk. The inmate requests for help didn’t take long to go through. Each presented a clear reason not to proceed. After she returned the phone calls that had come in during her absence, she strolled over to Bruce’s office

  Bruce looked her over when she entered, and the downturn of his mouth told Dani he was still worried about her. “How are you feeling?” he asked. “You shouldn’t do too much your first day back. Make it a short day today.”

  “I probably will. I’m still tiring easily.”

  Bruce cleared his throat. “You know, everyone will understand if you want to step down from the Singer case.”

  “You must have been talking to Doug.”

  Bruce shook his head. “We’ve never had any attempts on our staff before. It’s disturbing to think one of us could be at risk. Your safety, and everyone else’s, is more important to me than clearing an innocent inmate.”

  “Would you back down if it’d happened to you?”

  “I’m a single male with no children. If something happened to me, I wouldn’t be leaving anyone behind. Jonah is dependent on you.”

  Dani leaned back in the chair and began to twirl the ends of her hair. She didn’t consider herself to be a brave woman. So many things frightened her—flying on an airplane, hiking narrow trails high on a mountain, getting lost with no means to contact anyone, dying before Jonah’s future was settled. “I do worry about Jonah. But I can’t run away because I’m afraid. It would just invite this kind of attack to happen again. No, I’m committed to Molly’s case. And all our cases.”

  They chatted some more before Dani made her way back to her office and took up her file for Molly Singer again. The last thing she picked out of it was the report of the jail audit by the State of New York. The most recent letter Donna had received said a group of people had skimmed money from the project, and named Joe Singer and Quince Michaels as two of them. Who were the others?

  Frank Reynolds certainly was in a position to do so. He oversaw the bills that were submitted for it. But Paul Scoby, the Hudson County Democratic committee chairman, said the ranking Democrat on the committee had to sign off on them as well. And she was dead.

  A car accident.

  Dani knew that, given recent events—she could still see that murderous black SUV in her rearview mirror, feel it slamming into the back of her, feel the awful loss of control as it drove her off that road—it would be some time before any car accident didn’t sound sinister to her. But still: what if Mary Jane Olivetti, too, had been in on the scam? Were she and the Singers all murdered for the same reason—to keep them quiet? Or was her accident just an accident—an unfortunate occurrence that had nothing to do with the Singers’ murders?

  CHAPTER

  20

  “Did any of you kill Joe and Sarah?” The elder man fixed his stare on the face of each of the three men assembled with him in the Manhattan hotel room, a mid-priced property he’d chosen for its anonymity. The men, each in turn, shook their heads.

  “Understand me clearly. I’m not just asking if you personally killed them. I’m asking if you are responsible for their murders; if you hired someone to do the job.”

  Again, the three men shook their heads and murmured, “No.”

  The elder man sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. He was many things, but not a murderer. Still, if one of the men in the room had overstepped the boundaries, whether out of fear or greed, he knew he would do whatever was in his power to protect him. Were they lying to him? He thought it possible. Which one, though? None of them seemed like he had the backbone for it. A young woman had been convicted of the crime, and they had all breathed a sigh of relief. Whether or not she was guilty had no relevance to them. It only mattered that, with her conviction, their secret remained safe. Now they were once again in jeopardy of exposure. He got up from his chair, went to the dresser, and poured himself a drink from the bottle of scotch room service had delivered earlier.

  “Would any of you gentlemen care for another?” he asked.

  They shook their heads glumly.

  The elder man took his seat again. He took a sip of the scotch, then said, “It doesn’t matter to me if one of you handled the matter in the most extreme way. It’s not what I would have done, but we can’t look back. I need to know the truth in order to ensure our safety going forward. The way in which I handle it will depend on whether the girl is guilty or innocent. Do you all understand?”

  The men nodded, then one said, “It’s going to come out anyway.”

  Unable to keep his anger in check, he barked at them, “Do you doubt my ability to control things? If so, you’re a liability and no one in this room should trust you.”

  The men all spoke their reassurances, and the elder man’s body relaxed.

  “Fine. Then this is what we’re going to do. You’re all to leave this room, except you,” he said, pointing to one of the men. “I will speak to you each one by one. If you’ve been embarrassed to tell me the truth in front of the others, you can tell me when we’re alone. I won’t judge you. As I said, I need the truth to know how to fix things.”

  The men nodded, then two left the room while one stayed seated. After a few minutes, that man exited the room and another went in, and then, finally, the last. When the elder man had spoken to each of them, he understood what he needed to do.

  CHAPTER

  21

  Ellen Michaels’s home, although stately, didn’t come close to matching the extravagance of her ex-husband’s Miami Beach palace. Tommy drove up the long, tree-lined drive to a colonial-style two-story home with manicured lawns and a wraparound front porch. Two red rocking chairs on the porch matched the red front door. He rang the bell, and after a few moments the door was opened by a smartly dressed woman. Her chin-length chestnut-brown hair was silky straight, and large gold earrings hung from her ears. Tommy estimated that she was in her mid-fifties, still attractive, and her well-toned arms and slim body suggested she spent time in a gym.

  “Thanks for meeting with me, Mrs. Michaels.”

  “Please, call me Ellen.”

  Her voice was gentle, her smile was warm, and Tommy felt immediately at ease with her. He followed her into the living room, which was furnished with a deeply cushioned beige-leather sofa and two club chairs upholstered in a brocade fabric. A richly colored oriental rug covered the wide-planked wood floor, and a large stone fireplace took up most of one wall.

  “So, how can I help you with Molly’s case?” she asked when they were settled.

  “Do you mind if I ask you some personal questions first?”

  “It depends on the questions.”

  “When did you and Mr. Michaels divorce?”

  Ellen was quiet for a moment. She brushed back her hair, then fluffed a sofa pillow. When she spoke, her voice was shaky. “How can that possibly help you with Molly’s appeal?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m following a gut feeling. But if I’m right, it may.”

  Ellen sighed. “Our divorce was finalized eleven years ago.”

  “Would you mind telling me the reasons for the divorce?”

  “I’m afraid I do mind.”

  Tommy put down his pencil and looked directly at Ellen. “I know this seems off base to you, but it really may help Molly.”

&
nbsp; “But how? Whatever our differences, Quince adored Molly. And Joe was like a brother to him.”

  Tommy hesitated. He knew his next question was a leap, but he decided to take a chance. “Did the divorce have anything to do with the construction of the Hudson County jail?”

  Ellen blanched. “I—I can’t talk about that.”

  She knows. She’s afraid. “We know that your husband and Joe Singer skimmed money from the jail. We know others were involved as well.” Tommy paused, then continued softly. “It’s possible that the Singers were murdered because of it.”

  Tears began to roll down Ellen’s cheeks. She got up from her seat and went into the kitchen, where she retrieved a box of tissues. When she returned to the living room, her body seemed deflated.

  “How did you find out?”

  That was it. The confirmation Tommy had hoped for. Until now, all they had were the anonymous letters—worth squat as evidence. “We have a source. I can’t tell you who. Charges are going to be brought against your husband. Yourself, too, probably, unless you cooperate.”

  Now the tears flowed freely. Tommy waited for them to subside before he said, “Tell me what you know about it.”

  Ellen stuffed the wet tissue in her pocket and patted down the skirt of her dress before placing her hands in her lap and lacing her fingers together. When she looked up at Tommy, her face seemed filled with sadness. “I knew something was going on, but he didn’t talk to me about it. The Hudson Valley Dispatch ran daily stories about the cost overruns. It wasn’t like Quince and Joe. They were good at pricing jobs. Whenever I questioned Quince about it he said it couldn’t be helped.”

  “So when did you learn they were skimming?”

  “Quince was off playing golf one Sunday and I couldn’t stand it anymore. My parents were coming to visit, and his office was a disaster area. I knew he wouldn’t want me to, but I straightened it up anyway. Papers were strewn over his desk, and when I started to put them into one pile, I saw an envelope from a bank in Belize. It had his name over the name of a company I didn’t recognize. I opened it up and saw a statement for an account with fourteen million dollars in it. I was shocked. As soon as he came home, I questioned him about it.”