“Of course I’m on your side, darling child. You are my only child, the most precious thing in my life. No matter what crime you might commit, I will always be on your side.”
*****
Chapter 20 Delia’s Team
Virtue shall be bound into the hair of thy forelock. I have given thee the power of flight without wings. – The Koran
*****
They heard nothing about any charges until the end of June. Then both Sierra and River received certified letters with a date to appear at the courthouse for an arraignment; Sierra’s letter addressed to her mother.
“What do we do?” River asked Tess, showing her the letter. “It says they will appoint a public defender if I need one. Do I need one? I mean, I do have a lawyer, the one who handles João’s trust fund for me.”
“Absolutely you need a lawyer; but not that kind. Jerry has already recommended a defense attorney, and I will call him.”
“Tess, I can’t afford that and I don’t think Sierra can either.”
“Don’t worry about what it costs. You at least need to meet with him to get an idea how serious this is. I can cover the cost and we’ll see about maybe deducting a small amount from your salary and you can reimburse me over time.”
“Deduct what it costs for Sierra as well,” River insisted.
Two days later, River and Sierra had appointments to meet with a criminal defense attorney, John Fields. He would meet with River first, then Sierra, and then the two of them together.
*****
Something is very wrong, Delia thought to herself after her lesson, and as she led Fala back to her paddock. For the past several lessons, River had been withdrawn and down-spirited. She couldn’t complain about the instruction she received, for he continued to coach her attentively and patiently, and she still found each lesson exhilarating. But she hated to see him so sad. Is it the loss of his horse? She had heard the talk among the other students and boarders that Corazón had been stolen from his new owners, and that River and Sierra were under suspicion. No one seemed to really know what had happened.
The boy Todd had his lesson right after hers, and Delia usually stopped to say hello to Gwen Marshall and chat for a few minutes before she went home. Today, she asked Gwen if she knew what was going on.
“River has never been one to confide much, but he did tell me the people who bought his horse have accused him and Sierra of the theft. He has received a summons for an arraignment coming up some time soon, I believe,” Gwen explained.
They chatted a few more minutes and then Delia went to find Tess.
“I am a lawyer,” Delia said when Tess didn’t seem to want to talk about the situation. “I actually specialize in property claims, and I might be able to help.”
“I had no idea,” Tess said, looking at her former student in surprise. (Delia wasn’t surprised because Tess really had no interest in her clients beyond their business relationships.) “Do you defend criminal cases? I already have them set up to meet with a defense attorney recommended by my own lawyer, a John Fields.”
“Most of my cases have been civil suits, but there have been criminal elements I’ve had to deal with. I know John Fields by reputation and I believe he is well qualified. Look, I am very fond of both River and Sierra, and those kids are not criminals. I still would like to help in any way that I can, and I would waive my usual fees. Sometimes just having an outsider review the case or the evidence can be helpful.”
“Thank you, Del; that is very generous. I’m sure they would appreciate your help.”
“It will be up to River and Sierra of course, if they want to divulge their story to me, so I will talk to them. But I wanted to talk to you first.”
*****
Driving home after meeting with Sierra and River, Delia contemplated all the details the two kids had willingly related to her of Cory’s rescue (as they referred to the theft). She smiled to herself in amusement, thinking of River and Sierra as horse thieves. Not the smartest or best solution. But she was in complete sympathy with their concern over the horse.
And she agreed with them. “Definitely big holes in that story,” she spoke out loud into the interior of her car. One thing Delia had learned in her work; most people took what they were told at face value. Handed a legal appearing document, most accepted it as law. “We are a gullible species.” John Fields is better qualified than me to take on their defense, but I can concentrate on investigating this Cormack woman’s claim.
Much of the success of her career, Delia attributed to the fact she took nothing at face value. She investigated the most honest looking client’s story for validation; no matter how iron clad their story or paper work seemed on first impression. It had been amazing what she found out; sometimes equally as startling to her client, and other times, catching them in a lie. How many ‘lost deeds’, or fake property line surveys she had uncovered…well, she had lost count.
Turning on her sound system, she quickly scrolled through her iPod control on her steering column until she came to her classical music mix; her music to ‘think’ by. She increased the volume as she steered onto the freeway to head home. As the sounds of Vivaldi surrounded her, her brain went into gear.
Point number one: Beverly Cormack claimed that Corazón was a horse stolen from her about six years ago. Point two: a DNA test proved he was the offspring of a breeding between a stallion and mare that she had owned. Point three: she refused to sell him back to Tess, claiming she had a previous contract with a client who was paying eighty-thousand dollars for him, and refused Tess’s offer of ninety thousand. Point four: Tess states that although Corazón has talent and might eventually be worth such a large sum, on the current market he would not bring near that amount of money. Point five: River and Sierra admit to stealing Corazón from a horse show. Point six: River and Sierra are facing an arraignment and possible arrest for stealing the horse. River would not disclose where he had taken him; not even to Tess. Point seven: Sierra denies knowing where the horse is, but Delia suspects she knows. Point eight: those two kids are not criminals and they need a good lawyer.
Pausing her music, she spoke into her hands-free phone to connect with her secretary.
“Hi, Del,” Eric, her secretary answered.
“Hi, Eric. Got a pen handy?”
“Of course.”
“Take down this list and give it to Liv; ask her to divide it up among the team, and then add a slot for our weekly meeting.”
“I’m ready.”
“Oh, first off, contact the office of a Jerry McPherson and ask for copies of everything to do with a Teresa Holmes and a horse named Corazón. They should have already received permission from Holmes to share the file.”
“Jerry McPherson, got it.”
“Good, here’s the list. It starts with John Fields, next Jerry McPherson, Beverly Cormack, Patrick Cooper, Denise Sindoski, Tom Gunnerson, all members of the Clark family (she gave him the names of the parents and two children), Sierra Landsing, River Girard, Teresa Holmes, and equine DNA testing.”
“Got it.”
“Key words are Pegasus Equestrian Center, and a horse named either Corazón or Diablo. She paused while Eric finished writing. “Can you read it back to me?”
Eric read off the list he had just written and as Delia had expected, had not missed an item.
“Great, any messages I need to know about before I come in tomorrow?”
“No, nothing that can’t wait.”
“Good, see you tomorrow.” She disconnected and restarted her music.
Years ago, Delia had hired a law student to help her research background information, and since that time, now had a full-time researcher, Olivia Grant, in her employ, and several law students who worked part-time as part of her research team. She had long ago realized the best way to start an investigation was to give Olivia a list, but nothing more as far as what she was interested in or looking for, so as not to bias the researchers, asking them to follow any lead they
found interesting. She also gave them a list of key words, so that if any of the words popped up in their investigation, to give it special attention. It never ceased to amaze her what they uncovered, that she would never have suspected, or that if she had given them preliminary instructions, they might have missed. She now expected Olivia to divide the list among the team. Without pre-conceived ideas as to what was the actual problem or who might be a plaintiff or defendant; the team often turned up interesting angles or connections that otherwise might have been missed.
When they all met next week and shared the gathered information, she would expect the team to offer theories of what was the actual problem and which side they were representing. Then she would brief them on the actual case and the client.
*****
With the usual scuffling of chairs, pouring and fixing coffee, opening of laptops, and polite greetings, Delia’s meeting with the five members of her research team began; Olivia as the lead, Susan, John, Manny, and Phil.
“I’ll start with the three lawyers,” Olivia said. “First, Jerry McPherson. Everyone logged on to the shared drive?” She looked around and as all heads nodded, she continued, “It’s in a file labeled attys.” She read from her laptop as the others scanned along, the biographical information she had found – date of birth, where he graduated from law school, what year he passed the bar, and his professional experience. “He is primarily a finance lawyer; handles a few big firms. I’ve listed some of the bigger companies in the file. His cases all seem to be straightforward; nothing controversial, and certainly no public record of anything questionable. Off the record, I found nothing controversial tied to him, not even office scandals.”
Delia nodded her head, listening.
“Next, John Fields; he is a criminal defense lawyer.” Olivia read off another detailed bio. “He’s been in practice twelve years, and established his reputation with the Kirkland case; a summary of that case is attached.” She gave the others a few minutes to quickly review the case.
“Impressive,” Delia acknowledged.
“Again, I didn’t uncover anything unscrupulous associated with his practice on or off the public record. He has a reputation for accepting clients he believes innocent, or if guilty, the circumstances of their crime justify a good defense. The word is he demands honesty and full disclosure from his clients or he drops the case.” Olivia paused, took a sip of her coffee and continued, “The third lawyer, however, this Patrick Cooper, is in a whole different league. Even his bio raised a few questions. Seems he had a few difficulties getting through law school and took him three tries to pass the bar.” She read off the rest of his bio; more extensive than the first two lawyers, with Cooper working for several firms before his current position, and most recently working for a firm that specialized in accident claims. “The unofficial opinion is unanimously, ‘wouldn’t trust him’.” Olivia snorted a short laugh. “This Cooper is the reason lawyers get a bad rep.”
The others chuckled in agreement as they read along the information Olivia had gathered and posted on the shared drive.
“Definitely a sleeze,” Susan, a second-year law student, murmured.
“Thank you,” Delia said after the laughter subsided. “Any questions regarding these attorneys?” When no one asked anything further, Delia turned to the next item on the agenda. “Beverly Cormack; I believe that was your assignment, John?”
“Yes,” John spoke up, a young man with a shaved head and sporting a trim, triangular-shaped beard. Delia knew he was a brilliant student in his last year of law school. John cleared his throat and tapped a few keys on his laptop. “You’ll find the file under BC,” he informed the others. He waited a few moments for the group to find the file on the shared drive and click it open. “You can read her bio, but I’ll summarize the key points. She married John Cormack, of the Cormack Industrial family. It wasn’t too difficult to find a connection prior to the marriage. Beverly’s father was one of the top executives in the firm. The marriage lasted ten years and ended in a highly-contested divorce that took close to three years to settle. During the marriage years, Beverly had started her own business of breeding sport horses that ran consistently in the red. After the divorce, she filed bankruptcy, and it seems she currently lives off of her divorce settlement income which consists of interest from some investments and alimony. I’d have to say she lives a bit beyond her means, and already has a large debt, accumulated just two years after the bankruptcy. She lives in Massachusetts, outside of Boston, and has a very expensive home with horse facilities that I’d venture to say she cannot afford. It seems the lending institution was about to begin foreclosure, but she managed to make a substantial payment about ten months ago, of fifty thousand dollars which has her up to date with her payments. I couldn’t find the source of the money. I did discover she spends her alimony and investment checks as quickly as they come in, and has no savings.” John looked up and around the table. “I think those are the relevant facts. Oh, except she has a son, but the father has custody. She gets visitation one weekend a month and it has to be supervised.”
A few murmurs of ‘interesting’, and ‘nice lady’, muttered sarcastically, were heard as the others perused the file.
“As you can see by the picture I’ve attached, she is an attractive lady, and apparently one of the big issues in the divorce suit was her infidelity.”
“What happened to the horses in her business?” Delia asked.
“They were sold when she filed bankruptcy. She has since acquired a few more horses that she keeps on her property, trying to re-establish her breeding business.”
“Hmm,” Delia muttered as she found the paragraph in John’s report. “Did she ever report a stolen horse?”
“Not that I found on record.”
“That’s interesting,” Delia said to herself. “Good, who’s next?”
“That’s me,” said Manny, a freckle-faced, red-haired first year law student that Delia still had a hard time believing was old enough to be out of high school. But he maintained excellent grades and worked enthusiastically part-time for her. “The file is labeled Denise.” When the sound of keyboard tapping subsided as the others found the file, he proceeded with his summary. “The bio for Denise Sindoski is unremarkable; thirty-two, single, and working as an associate for the Green Valley Veterinary Clinic, which is a large animal practice. She’s been with them ever since she finished her veterinary training. She alternates her time between the clinic, where they have some boarded animals, and making farm calls - mostly horses, but she also tends to cattle and llamas. She was quite willing to talk to me and let me look at her records; didn’t ask for anything beyond my credentials. Interestingly, she remembered Beverly Cormack because it was a somewhat controversial situation – her words. Cormack had called the clinic requesting a vet to take a DNA sample. That was unusual, because most people collect their own, but when the woman picked her up to take her to the farm, um, a boarding and training stable called Pegasus Equestrian Center, she had a lawyer with her and apparently they had a court order to obtain the DNA sample. She collected the sample, sent it off, and sent a copy of the report when it came in to Beverly’s lawyer. She has not heard from her since. Oh, she also mentioned that Beverly insisted on a blood sample for the DNA testing, rather than hair samples from the mane or tail, which is the most common way to send in samples.”
The others spent a few minutes looking over the file before Manny added, “Denise also told me that Beverly picked her up at the clinic, even though Denise offered to meet her at the stable. After she had collected the sample and they left, Beverly insisted on stopping at a restaurant to treat her and the lawyer to lunch. Denise told me this is not the usual treatment from a client, and it seemed strange to her because Beverly didn’t particularly enjoy the company…it was a very uncomfortable lunch.”
“Good work,” Delia commented. “Any thoughts?” She looked around the table, noting frowns of scrutiny as the others reviewed the file.
“Picking up the client and then taking her to lunch may be significant, but I don’t really know at this point,” Olivia said.
“I agree,” John echoed. “Also, why did Cormack insist on a blood sample?”
“We’ll certainly keep those points in mind. Okay, next?”
“I’ve got Tom Gunnerson,” Susan spoke up and emitted a short laugh as she directed the others to the file she had named Horse Trader. “If Patrick Cooper is the type of lawyer who gives us a bad name, well, Gunnerson is the kind of guy who gives horse trading a bad rep,” Susan began. “He’s been buying and selling horses locally for about the past four years; from auctions or from an agent named George Kiles, who would bring him horses from out-of-state. All seem to be under one thousand dollars in value; most he bought for fifty to two hundred dollars and sold between five and eight hundred dollars. I was able to get this information because his records were taken when someone made an anonymous call to the local humane society and they found several horses on his place in deplorable condition, closing him down. The horses were taken away and he was issued a summons but never appeared. It is assumed he has skipped the state. You’ll note there have been several suits against him for selling horses making false declarations about their soundness or behavior; all were settled out of court; usually with him refunding the money and taking the horse back. Also, note there is a record of the sale of an unnamed black gelding to a Teresa Holmes of Pegasus Equestrian Center, for the amount of two-hundred and fifty dollars, the date of sale about two and a half years ago.”
“Where is Gunnerson now?” John asked.
“I lost his trail in Idaho, the only forwarding address he left, and that was unofficially given to a neighbor.”
“Were there any records of who he bought that black gelding from?” Delia asked.
For The Love of Horses (Pegasus Equestrian Center) Page 32