by Marti Green
“It must be, though.”
“Come back to me with more. Then maybe I can do something. In the meantime, our office will start an action to recover the money that Michaels stole from Hudson County.”
“Can you hold off on that a bit?” Dani asked. “I don’t want the others to know yet that your office is involved.”
Josh leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “I suppose I can freeze Michaels’s Belize account so nothing’s taken out. I’ll have to start something soon, but maybe I can hold off a month or two.”
“Thanks, Josh.”
They said their good-byes, then walked back to the office glummer than they’d been when they’d started out. When they arrived back at HIPP, they all settled once again in Dani’s office.
“Suggestions, anyone?” Dani asked.
Tommy chewed on a nail, Melanie twiddled her thumbs, and neither spoke up with any ideas. Finally, Tommy said, “We know that Scoby blackmailed Mary Jane Olivetti. What if we confront him, pretend that we have proof he was on the receiving end of the money. He doesn’t know we have squat.”
“If we do that, he’ll probably alert the fifth conspirator.”
“Not if he’s smart. Michaels got himself killed by doing that.”
“Okay,” Dani said. “Why don’t you pay him a visit? Shake him up a bit.”
Tommy nodded. He loved playing the bad cop, especially with no good cop to cramp his style.
CHAPTER
36
This time, Tommy didn’t call ahead for an appointment. He drove up the New York State Thruway to Andersonville and, once off the exit, headed straight for Riverside Hardware. He pulled into the parking lot and walked into the store.
A pretty cashier, no more than eighteen, Tommy figured, was behind the register. She smiled at Tommy as he walked in. “Welcome to Riverside.”
Tommy gave her a half wave of his hand, then casually ambled around the aisles, looking for Paul Scoby. When he didn’t see him, he went back to the front.
“Boss in?”
“He’s in the back. Can I help you?”
“Nah. Got to speak to him.” Tommy headed to the back office as the cashier called after him. “Hey, you can’t go back there.” Tommy kept walking, knocked once on the office door, then opened it and strode inside.
Scoby looked up from his desk and Tommy saw his back stiffen.
“What are you doing here?”
Tommy settled himself into a chair across from him. “Got a few more questions.”
Scoby fidgeted and cleared his throat. “Look. You’ve wasted your time. I told you everything I know about the Hudson County jail. Which is nothing.”
Tommy just sat there, looked directly at Scoby, and smiled.
“Really, I’m busy here. Please leave.”
Again, Tommy said nothing, just smiled.
Scoby rubbed the back of his neck and looked toward the door, as though waiting for an invisible savior to rescue him. When no one appeared, he looked back at Tommy and asked, “What are you grinning at?”
“You.”
“You’re nuts.”
Finally, Tommy spoke. “I’m smiling, just thinking about the squirming you’re gonna do.”
“Look, I’ve told you. I’m busy and I don’t know anything.”
“Sure you do.”
Scoby scowled at Tommy and started to rise from his seat. “Either you leave now or I’ll call the police.”
“Sit down, Scoby.” Tommy’s voice had changed from light to dark. “I don’t think you want to call the cops, unless it’s to confess to your blackmail of Mary Jane Olivetti.”
Scoby sank back into his chair. “Wha—what are you talking about?” Just like that, his face had turned a bright shade of red.
Tommy grinned again. “There you go. I knew you’d be squirming.” Just as quickly, his smile disappeared. “Now, let’s get serious. I’ll tell you what I know, and then you have a choice. You can tell me what you know, or I go to the police. Let me correct that, since for all I know the police here are just as corrupt as you: either come clean, or I go to the feds.”
Beads of sweat had appeared on Scoby’s forehead. “What do you think you know?”
“I know that you threatened to expose Mary Jane’s mentor if she didn’t approve the jail invoices. I know that when Molly was on trial, Mary Jane told you she was going to confess to the police. And I know that on her way over there, she died in a car accident. So, fact—you’re a blackmailer. Supposition—you personally pocketed millions from the jail. Question mark—you murdered Mary Jane, and maybe also Joe and Sarah Singer and Quince Michaels.”
Scoby’s red face had now drained of all color. “I swear; I had nothing to do with those deaths.”
“But you did steal millions from the county.”
Scoby sat silently.
“Look, Scoby, I told you, either you talk to me or you talk to the feds. I think I’m your better option.”
Suddenly, the door to the office opened, and the cashier stepped inside. “Dad, there are a lot of customers in the store. You need to come help.”
“I’ll be out soon, honey. Do the best you can.”
Suddenly, the pleasure Tommy had been feeling in bringing down this man dissipated. He was a crook, maybe a murderer, too, but he was also a father. When he went to jail, and Tommy was certain he would, the impact wouldn’t just be on him. He’d leave a daughter, maybe other children, maybe a wife, behind. They’d be exposed to the vitriol of the community, tarred by their father’s or husband’s misdeeds.
“I can’t talk to you,” Scoby said, his voice subdued. “You know what happened to Joe and Quince. Maybe even Mary Jane, I don’t know. I honestly thought Molly had murdered her parents, and Mary Jane just had an accident. Until Quince died. And then Mary Jane’s death no longer seemed like an awful lucky break.”
“The feds can protect you.”
“How? By putting my whole family in witness protection? Cutting us off from everyone we know? I’ve lived here my whole life. I know half the people in town. I’m too old to start over. I care too much about my family to do that to them.”
“Then talk to me. No one has to know who I got my information from.”
“I can’t.”
“You don’t have a choice. Let’s just talk about you. How much did you skim from the jail monies?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Tommy threw up his hands. “You’re not leaving me any choice. I’m going to go to the feds, and then everyone will know about it. Is that what you want?”
Scoby’s head hung low and he wrung his hands. The guy was practically swimming in his seat.
“Let’s try it again. How much money did you get?”
Scoby didn’t move.
“I’m not bluffing you. It’s me or the feds.”
Scoby looked up. “Do you think I’m a fool? Talking to you is the same as talking to the feds. You’ll go right to them.”
“Then let’s talk about the others.”
“I don’t have anything to say.”
“Listen. If you give us the others, you know they’ll go easier on you.”
“I won’t. It doesn’t matter what you do or say, I won’t give you anyone else.”
“Look. I’m going to name some people. You don’t have to say they’re involved. But if they’re not, just shake your head.”
Scoby sat back in his chair and waited silently.
“Frank Reynolds.”
Scoby sat unmoving.
“Eric Murdoch.” Dani didn’t think the prosecuting attorney was involved, but Tommy needed to throw in a name to make sure Scoby would react. He did, by shaking his head.
“Judge Bryson.”
Scoby’s head remained still.
“H
oly cow! Bryson’s really involved?” Dani said when Tommy returned to the office. “I thought I was crazy to even think it.”
“Yeah, it’s plenty crazy. So what do you do with that information?” Tommy asked. “Go to the Appellate Division? The feds?”
It was a good question, one Dani didn’t have an answer to. Scoby had made it clear that he wouldn’t go on record naming his coconspirators. According to Tommy, it didn’t seem likely Scoby was the killer. “Too scared,” Tommy had said. So it had to be Frank Reynolds or Judge Bryson, Dani thought. Unless there was a third person. Could there be?
From Tommy’s description of Reynolds, he didn’t seem the cold-blooded-killer type, although Dani knew from experience looks were often deceiving. Bryson was different. Maybe the revelation of his involvement had cast a dark retroactive shadow over her memories of him during the hearing, but now she was convinced there was something menacing in his eyes. Yes, she could imagine him ordering the death of someone.
She had nothing to bring to the Appellate Division, where Molly’s appeal was now pending. She could share the information with Josh Cosgrove, but without Scoby’s corroboration, she doubted he would move on it. It wasn’t good for one’s career to investigate a sitting judge without a rock-solid basis to do so.
Dani looked up at Tommy. “I don’t think we do anything with it for now. Let’s hope we win the appeal, and Molly gets a new trial. Then maybe I’ll move to have it assigned to a different judge. I’ll come up with some reason to claim he has a bias.”
“And if we lose?”
“Then we go back to Scoby and tighten the screws.”
CHAPTER
37
Finn was helping Sophie with her math homework when she asked, “Why didn’t the judge let Molly have a new trial?”
How did he answer his daughter when he knew the truth? And when that truth would devastate Sophie? How did he tell her that her own grandfather could ensure a new trial for Molly by coming forward, but in doing so would ensure his own incarceration? Or risk his own death?
Since her visit to the prison, Sophie had asked Finn many questions about Molly. She always called her Molly, never Mom or my mother. When he married Kim, he thought it would be best for Sophie to forget about Molly, for Kim to become her mother. And for a while, Kim did try to bond with Sophie, although if he was honest, it was never more than a halfhearted attempt. After Graham was born, Kim pushed Sophie to the side, never more to her than an annoying obligation. And so Sophie was left with a mother in the house who didn’t care about her and a stranger in prison who was lost to her. And it was Finn’s fault for letting that happen.
“I guess he didn’t think the evidence was strong enough,” Finn answered.
“But the newspaper said that her father and his partner stole money. They said he might have been killed to keep him quiet. Doesn’t that mean Molly didn’t kill her parents?”
“It isn’t as simple as that.”
“Why not? If I were on the jury, I wouldn’t think Molly was guilty.”
Finn leaned over and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “I wouldn’t either. But we don’t really understand the ins and outs of the law. And the judge does.”
“The paper said it was being appealed.”
“That’s right.”
“Maybe the new judge will give her another trial.”
“I hope, so, Sophie. I really do.”
Sophie finished her homework, and Finn left to find Kim. On his way, he stopped by Graham’s bedroom. He was already asleep, and Finn straightened the blanket over him, kissed his cheek, then walked downstairs to the living room. Kim was in front of the television, absorbed in some reality show that he couldn’t bear watching himself.
He sat down next to her and said, “How about turning off the TV?”
She pressed “Pause” on the DVR remote and turned to him. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. I just thought it would be nice to spend some time talking, instead of watching a show.”
“But this is my favorite.”
He didn’t understand how it could be her favorite when it seemed identical to every other show she watched. “It’s on DVR. You can watch it anytime.”
“You don’t appreciate how busy I am every day. This is the only time I get to relax and watch some shows.”
Finn suppressed a smirk. She was busy all day at the gym and mall, with a few spa treatments thrown in every week. A woman from town came in three times a week to clean the house, and the meals Kim threw together at night required as little effort as possible. But he didn’t want to start a fight. They’d done enough of that lately.
“Come on. Just one night, let’s turn the TV off.”
Kim made a show of raising the remote and, with a flourish, turning off the TV. “So, what’s so important to talk about?”
“It’s nothing special. Do you want a glass of wine?”
Kim gave him a grudging nod, and Finn went off to the kitchen, grabbed a corkscrew, and opened a bottle of cabernet. He brought two glasses into the living room and placed one down in front of her.
“Sophie’s having a hard time over Molly.”
“Well, of course. Her mother’s a murderer.”
Hold your temper. Hold your temper. “I don’t think she is. But even if it were true, we still need to be sensitive to Sophie.”
“You need to be sensitive to her. She’s your daughter, not mine.”
Hold your temper. Hold your temper.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I don’t, huh? Well, she doesn’t treat me with any respect at all. You spoil her, so of course she’s nice to you.”
“I don’t spoil her. I just show her I love her.”
“Well, I hope Molly does get out of jail. Then she can take care of her.”
At that, Finn’s attempt to remain calm failed him. “Do you ever think about anyone but yourself? God, you’re the most self-centered creature that ever walked this earth. How could I possibly have thought you’d make a good mother? Or even a decent mother. I must have been out of my mind.”
“Stop shouting. You’re going to wake Graham.”
“Just Graham? You’re not concerned about how Sophie will react to my shouting? Let me tell you something, you may think you’re a good mother with Graham, but you’re suffocating him to death.”
“Shut up,” Kim said as tears started to roll down her cheeks.
It was her favorite gambit—begin crying whenever they fought. It ensured that the argument would end without their reaching the issues that prompted the fight. Finn picked up his glass of wine and walked out of the living room, stopping as he reached the foot of the stairs. “Go watch your TV show,” he said, then retreated to his study.
This time, Molly walked toward the visitors’ room with steps as quick as she could make with shackled ankles. Despite the metal cuffs, she felt as though a cushion of air were below her body, carrying her to her daughter. The guard didn’t need to push her into the room. She gladly entered, and, when she spotted Sophie, rushed over to the chair opposite her.
With a big grin, she said, “I’m so happy you came back.”
Sophie bit down on her lip and shifted in the chair. “Yeah, well, I heard about the hearing. I wanted to tell you I was sorry.”
Molly’s smile dimmed, but just a bit. “Yes, it was disappointing. But it’s been appealed. There’s a chance I’ll still get a new trial.”
“I really want you to. I hope you get out.”
Molly’s heart soared. Her daughter wanted her.
For so many years, she’d tried to block out thoughts of her, mostly unsuccessfully. She’d imagined her as a toddler, running around the playground with her friends, her blonde hair blowing around her face. She’d pictured her entering school, beginning to read, reveling in the joy of learning. She conjured up visi
ons of her surrounded by loving parents and an adoring brother, ensconced in a cocoon of warmth. In Molly’s mind, she saw her daughter on the brink of adolescence, confident and cheerful, ready to embark on the next step toward adulthood. Now she saw a child, still a child, uncertain, tentative, enshrouded with a cloak of sadness.
“Is there a room here with toys?” Sophie asked.
“There is. For mothers who gave birth here in prison. They play with their children in that room. After I had to give you up, you would visit me there.”
“I remember it.”
“Are you sure? You were so young then.”
“I don’t remember a lot. Just snapshots, like a picture that’s frozen, with no movement. But I see myself sitting on your lap, with you reading me a book, in that room. And another picture of you helping me with a puzzle.”
Molly smiled, amazed at her memory, all of it so true. “When I get out—and I know I will, I really believe it now—I hope you’ll visit me.”
“I, um, I was thinking. Maybe when you get out, I can spend weekends with you.”
A feeling of weightlessness breezed through Molly. “Of course, you can stay with me as much as you want.” Then gravity reclaimed her. She had no right to Sophie. She’d allowed Kim to adopt her. “Of course, your father and Kim will have to agree to it.”
Sophie scowled. “That’s just it. Kim doesn’t want me around. It’s bearable on school days, but on weekends I’m just in her way. She only wants to spend time with Graham.”
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry.”
“I mean, Dad loves me and I love him. And I love Graham, too. It’s not his fault. Dad always tells me family is more important than anything else, and I suppose that’s true, but you’re my family, too, aren’t you?”
“Yes. No matter where I am, I’m your family, and I love you dearly.”
Sophie’s chin dropped down and she brushed her hair away from her face. She took a deep breath, then lifted her head up, and slowly a smile crept across her face.
CHAPTER
38
They only had to wait three weeks for oral argument on The People of the State of New York v. Molly Singer. Dani, Melanie, and Tommy drove up to Albany the evening before. Their case was scheduled for 9:30 a.m., too early for them to leave the same morning, especially given the vagaries of New York traffic. Although it was the capital of New York State, the city had been in decline for many years. The elegant Empire State Plaza, which housed the court, along with most other New York State government offices, stood in stark contrast to their fading surroundings.