Secrets and Lies

by Rachel Sinclair

  And who?

  “Thank you very much, for calling me Dr. Prorock. I appreciate your keeping me in the loop with this.”

  “You’re welcome. If you don’t need anything else, I’ll be getting back to my work. But please call me if you do have any other questions. At any rate, I’m sure that I’ll see you at the trial.”

  “I’m sure you will.” I hung up the phone, and I immediately started doing my research on Secobarbital. The research showed that it was a barbiturate that typically used to help people die in assisted suicide. But unless the medical examiner was looking for it, she probably wouldn’t have found it in this case, because of the condition of Ava’s body.

  I just didn’t know if this new piece of information helped my case or hurt it.

  It was then that I remembered another piece of information. David’s father was a chemist. He worked for the government. Was that piece of information important? Why would David want to kill his own girlfriend? Maybe because he wanted to be with her sister?

  I shook my head. It was something else. Some other reason why David or somebody around him would want to murder Ava.

  I picked up the phone and called that medical examiner back. “Can you do me a favor?” I asked Dr. Prorock.

  “Of course. What do you need?”

  “Could you please do another round of testing on Ava’s dental records? And, while you’re at it, can you also send me a copy of the fingerprints? I have a hunch. I don’t quite know why I have this hunch, but I do. Could you do those things for me?”

  “I’ll do those things today.”

  “Thank you.”

  As I banged my pen on the desk, I thought about what I was considering in my mind. It was a long shot, to be sure. But something told me that I might, for the first time, be on the right track.

  I guessed that I would find out in a matter of hours.

  Chapter 19

  In the meantime, I decided to go ahead and call Silas into speak with me. I might as well. Gretchen was home with the kids, and I was determined that I was going to make a break in this case. There was a kernel in my brain, a kernel about what had really happened, and finding out if the person who died in that dungeon was actually Ava Porter, or, as I was starting to suspect, Emma Jackson, it was a first step towards trying to figure out what had really happened.

  Silas appeared in my office within the hour. “You wanted to see me?”

  I tried to ignore the chill that was going up and down my spine when I looked at this man. I knew that the reason why he gave me the creeps was because of what I found out about him being a narcissist. Somebody who quite possibly killed his own mother at the age of five. I was going to try to put all of that aside and ask him what I needed to ask him.

  “I wanted to ask you about your wife. Now, you told me earlier that you had been away in Europe for six months before the incident happened. When you saw Ava for the first time after you got back, did anything strike you about the way that she looked?” I thought about the woman that was in my office. The fit woman with the muscular body, killer abs and runner’s legs. The woman with the ramrod straight posture, and absolutely no sign of jaundice.

  “I’m not sure what you’re asking me?”

  “Did she look the same as when you left for Europe? Was there anything different about the way that she looked when you came home from Europe?”

  “Yes. As a matter fact, she did look like she lost a lot of weight. That’s why I thought that she was sick. That and the fact that she died suddenly while we were intimate. But yes, I was concerned that she was having health problems.”

  “Besides the fact that she looked like she had lost weight, was there anything else that concerned you about the way that she looked?” I was trying to see if he noticed that she was jaundiced.

  “I did notice that her skin was a different color. I don’t know, she just didn’t look as healthy as she did. I asked her several times if she was seeing a doctor for any issues, and she insisted that she was not. She told me that she was fine and healthy. I believed her. I mean, she looked like she lost weight and she wasn’t looking quite as healthy as she did, but if she told me that she wasn’t having health problems, I had no reason not to believe her.”

  I bit my lower lip. I was going to have to possibly make a motion to the judge to order Emma to give me a copy of her fingerprints. However, I hoped that the medical examiner would call me with the results of the second round of dental records testing. While I knew that identical twins sometimes had very similar dental records, they were not always definitively identical. They usually had slight variations from one another. Identical twins also had different fingerprints. However, they also shared the exact same DNA. The dental records might be the definitive way to tell if the person who was killed in that room was Ava or Emma.

  If it was Emma, why was she murdered? Why would she have traded places with her sister? That didn’t make sense to me. I was going to have to really think on that one.

  “Is it possible that your wife was jaundiced?”

  “I suppose it’s possible. Her skin wasn’t that yellow though. It was just… a different color. But, she explained to me that she had gone to the self tanning booth, and that was a reason why she was slightly more golden than the last time I had seen her. I had no reason not to believe that. I had no reason to question her. What’s with all these questions?”

  “Is it possible that the person who was in your dungeon at the time of death, was not Ava, but Emma?”

  He looked dumb-founded. He furrowed his brow and then looked down at the desk, putting his hand underneath his chin. He looked up at me. “I guess so,” he said unsurely. “I’m very sorry for my reaction, but I’m still getting used to the fact that my wife had an identical twin that she never told me about. That’s still very odd to me.”

  I thought about my visit to the Jacksons. They clearly told me that Emma and David grew up together, and that the two of them were good friends before Ava’s death. That would imply that Emma lived in town. Yet, if that were true, and Emma did live in town, that didn’t make any sense to me. If she lived in town, surely Silas would have known her somehow. How hard would it be to keep an identical twin under wraps? That is if the identical twin lived in town.

  “Just a second.” I got out her medical records file. I needed to look closer on where the records originated from. I didn’t pay much attention to that detail before - I had just glanced at the diagnosis and the doctors’ notes and so forth. It was then that I saw it – Emma was being treated at The Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota. Not that that told me anything – it certainly didn’t tell me whether or not Emma had lived in town at the time that Silas and Ava were married. After all, the Mayo Clinic was world renowned. It was possible that she would be going to the Mayo Clinic no matter where she lived. Yet, it also did not definitively answer for me that Emma was local, either.

  And if Emma did not live in town, and was estranged from her sister, it would follow that it was doubtful that Emma and David were friends for years. It would follow that David, and the Jacksons, were lying about all of it.

  Why would they do that?

  “Ava had an identical twin sister named Emma. Emma was being treated at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, for she was dying of pancreatic cancer. In fact, according to her medical records, she had only a few months to live, and she was diagnosed three months ago. That would mean that by the time you got back from Europe, assuming that somehow, someway, Emma took Ava’s place, she would have been very, very sick. As you say, your wife had lost a lot of weight, and her skin color looked different. She conveniently went in for a spray tan the day that you came back. I would imagine that the reason why she did that was because she wanted to cover up the fact her skin was yellow. That would be my guess.”

  Silas was looking at me with a bit of a dumbfounded look. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m trying to process all this information. Are you telling me that my wife’s identical twin sist
er, an identical sister that I never knew about, was the one who was in my house when I came home from Europe? That the identical twin was the one who I was intimate with? That the identical twin was the one who died in that dungeon?” He shook his head. “But why? And who would’ve killed her?”

  I tapped my finger on the desk. “I’m not real clear about any of it. But I can tell you one thing – if my theory is true, I’m gonna get to the bottom of what happened. I have a feeling that when everything is said and done, I’ll be hanging quite a few people out to dry. Now, I don’t really see the motivation for any of this, although I do have my suspicions. The only thing is, I hope that I can prove it in a court of law. It’s going to be a lot of trouble trying to get the person who’s posing as Emma to give me her fingerprints. In fact, she probably won’t. I can make a motion onto the court to ask her to do so, but if the judge says no, it could be very difficult to prove who was who. That is unless the doctor can identify the dental records and can tell me definitively if the person who was burned in that house was Emma, despite her dental records.”

  I wasn’t even sure if the dental records would definitively prove who was who. They were identical twins, after all. Identical twins often had different dental records, but it was also possible that the dental records were similar enough that the doctor would not be able to make a definitive judgment about it. If that was the case, I was going to have a hard time trying to prove what it was that I had to prove. I could prove it by circumstantial evidence – the fact that the person who was posing as Emma would be coming into court, healthy and hearty. However, there was no way that I could use her medical records against her, so how would I be able to show the jury that Emma was supposed to be extremely sick? I would have to legitimately have possessed Emma’s medical records, but there was no way that I could legally subpoena them because she wasn’t a party to the case. And there was a problem with the fact that I was going to have to show a judge why it would be that I would need those records. My theory was so far-fetched, I just didn’t know if I could get a judge to sign off on me legally subpoenaing the medical records, and legally asking “Emma” to give me her fingerprints.

  I was just going to have to try. Hopefully the dental records were going to be sufficient, but if they weren’t, I was going to be facing an uphill battle.

  An uphill battle, but it wasn’t impossible. Nothing was impossible. And I faced longer odds before.

  “I’m waiting on results of the dental record test. I’m assuming that both Ava and Emma have seen dentists during their lifetime, so hopefully that will give me the answer that I’m looking for.”

  Hopefully. Without it, I was going to be pushing a boulder uphill.

  Chapter 20

  I got the results back from the medical examiner, and I realized that my hunch was right. The person who died in that dungeon was not, in fact, Ava Porter. Now it was just a matter of proving who she really was. Unfortunately, Ava, or at least a woman I assumed to be Ava, was not making things easy. I had filed a motion with the judge, because I needed to get information from her. I needed to get a copy of her dental records, or fingerprints. Either one. I knew that I could always ask Anna to get a copy of Ava’s dental records, however, I needed to do something aboveboard this time. Otherwise, there was no way that I would be able to ever get the records into court.

  Judge Pruitt was the judge who was assigned to this case. He was a no-nonsense judge. Ally Hughes was on the other side of the case. I was happy to see that, because Ally and I were in a good place, as far as our relationship went. We didn’t see each other a lot, because both of us were immersed in this case, but we certainly were getting along well.

  I got into the courtroom and waited for Harper to appear. I saw that Ava herself, or the woman that I assumed to be Ava, was already sitting in the gallery. She was there with her parents, and she looked good and healthy, just like the day when she came into my office. I didn’t have any sympathy for her. Did she really think that this kind of thing was going to work?

  Of course, I didn’t quite know what it would take to prove to to the court that Emma was actually Ava. If I could just prove that, I would certainly be on the road to formally proving my theory. It was shaping up to be a good theory that I could bring into the court, and hopefully convince a jury.

  Judge Pruitt took the bench. “Counselor,” he said to me. “I understand you have a motion on file to examine the dental records and fingerprints of a party who is not even a part of this case. Is that true?”

  I approached the bench, and so did Ally. “Yes, as is indicated in my motion, the medical examiner has determined that the person who was killed in my client’s home was not in fact Ava Porter. She does have an identical twin, her name is Emma, and the person who has been pretending to be Emma, is in this courtroom right now.” I motioned over to Ava, who was sitting in the gallery with a pissed-off look on her face. “I submit to you that the person who is in this gallery is the alleged victim, Ava Porter. However, I need to prove it.”

  Judge Pruitt looked over at Ally. “What say you, Ms. Hughes? What is your response to Mr. Harrington’s motion?”

  “As I indicated in my response to Mr. Harrington’s motion, I have spoken with Emma Jackson, and she has indicated to me that she was not going to be willing to release her dental records, nor is she willing to give fingerprints. She indicates that this is an invasion of her privacy, and frankly I agree. Emma Jackson is not a party to this case. She is a grieving sister. Now, I understand that the person who was in Mr. Porter’s home at the time was not in fact Ava Porter, at least the medical examiner, upon closer inspection, has indicated that the dental records do not match that of Ava Porter, but I submit that perhaps the medical examiner is incorrect about this. I have a copy of Mrs. Porter’s dental records, and a copy of the dental records of the victim in this case, and I’ve had an expert examine both of these records, and this expert can see very little difference between the two of them. He said that there is a slight difference in one of the teeth, but that the dental records of Ava Porter are quite old. She apparently has not seen a dentist in the past 10 years. Therefore, my expert cannot definitively say that the dental records of the victim in this case do not match that of Mrs. Porter. There are differences between the dental records, but they’re so slight that they could be caused by the fact that one dental record is 10 years old, the one that was obtained from Mrs. Porter’s dentist, and one was taken just now, the dental records of the victim. There is bound to be changes anyways, and my expert agrees with this.”

  “With all due respect, your honor, while Ms. Hughes is correct in that the changes between the two dental records are slight, I think it is incumbent on this court to make sure that the person who died in that house was, in fact, Ava Porter. As you can see, Ava has an identical twin, so it’s entirely possible that the person who died in that house was Emma Jackson, not Ava Porter.”

  Judge Pruitt stared at me with a questioning look in his eyes. “Mr. Harrington, did your client, Mr. Porter, identify the person who died in the house as his wife?”

  “Yes he did. I mean, he would have no reason to think otherwise. He was not even aware that his wife had an identical twin. So, of course, he identified her as being Ms. Ava Porter. But that didn’t mean that the person who died in the house was not actually her identical twin. And, frankly, I find it to be suspicious that the person who is known as Emma Jackson would be opposing this motion. If she had nothing to hide, then she should freely want to give her dental records and her fingerprints.”

  Judge Pruitt looked over at Ally. “Ms. Hughes, why is it that Ms. Jackson is refusing to give her fingerprints? That would be definitive as to whether or not the person who died in the house was Ava Porter, or her identical twin. The dental records would also be helpful, however, because they were identical twins, and apparently Ms. Ava Porter did not see a dentist on a regular basis, they might not even be sufficient to identify the body with 100% accuracy. But the fing
erprints would. Why would you not want to supply Ms. Jackson’s fingerprints to the court?”

  “With all due respect, Ms. Jackson believes that giving her fingerprints is an invasion of her privacy. And I agree with this. She feels that having her fingerprints on file would be akin to a big brother action. She simply does not want to give her fingerprints, and I submit to the court that she should not be forced to. She is not a party to this court, she is not a party to this criminal action, so she is irrelevant to the case.”

  Judge Pruitt looked at both my motion and the response to it. Then he tapped his fingers lightly against one another. “With all due respect, Mr. Harrington, I find your argument hard to believe. You’re telling me that your client had no clue that his wife had an identical twin? You’re telling me that your client would be intimate with someone, and not realize that the person who he was with wasn’t his wife, but somebody else? The fact of the matter is, he identified her to the medical examiner. He told the medical examiner that the person who died was, in fact, his wife. He made a definitive identification, so the court will just have to go with that. If you can come up with any kind of evidence to the contrary, then I’ll be happy to hear it. However, on this motion, I’m going to have to overrule it.” He banged his gavel.

  I wasn’t ready to give up. “With all due respect, Your Honor, how am I supposed to get any kind of evidence about my theory unless you allow Emma Jackson to give her fingerprints? It seems like you’re putting me into a Catch-22, where you’re not going to allow Emma Jackson to give her fingerprints, because I don’t have evidence that Ms. Jackson is actually Mrs. Porter. But I can’t get that evidence unless you allow this motion.”

  “I’m sorry. But Ms. Jackson’s right to privacy trumps your rather flimsy theory,” Judge Pruitt said. “Ms. Hughes is actually correct. Ms. Jackson is not a party to this case, and, as such, she has a right to privacy that cannot be violated.”