Love and Mystery Box Set

Chapter 9-2

Rows of concrete block buildings faced me as I walked towards the electronic gates. Video cameras perched on top of the razor-wired fence. From experience, I knew one deputy monitored from a control booth.

On a Friday night, not many visitors went to the jail. Only single men. Divorced, like me. And lonely.

I had an hour before attorney-client visitation was over, and I didn’t care who watched. As the first set of gates opened, I walked onto the concrete pad, turned, and watched as the metal portal enclosed me. I heard the clink, confirming the gate was locked. A second passed, and the next gate opened. I repeated this step one more time. When I passed the third set of electronic doors, I’d finally arrived in the main lobby of the jail.

I showed my Bar card to the visitation deputy who sat behind plate glass with a small circular metal speaker to talk. There was a little pass-through window underneath the speaker where I handed her the sheet of paper, listing Frank Peoples’ book-in number and unit. After she punched Frank’s information on her computer to make sure I had the right dorm room, I heard her call on the intercom for Frank. She buzzed me into the attorney booth waiting area where I caught the familiar smell of cleaning solution. As I waited, seated on the plastic chair, I got out the state’s evidence to go over with Frank.

Minutes later, I heard feet shuffle. Frank wore the required orange jumpsuit. He looked the same since his last bond hearing but his hair was shorter, almost a buzz cut now. He picked up the phone and at that point I noticed he had bags underneath his eyes for lack of sleep, and worry lines etched the corners.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Frank’s tone cheerful, despite his appearance.

“Good, I brought your discovery so we could go over it.” I pushed a transcript to him underneath the plate glass pass-through. For several minutes, he sat reading. His smile faded as he pored over the pages. I knew reading the words were a shock to him. Most clients never realize what they have admitted until they actually hear the tape, or in most cases, read their actual statements.

After Frank raised his head and pushed back the transcript, he made a slight grunt. I got right into the issues. “We can’t suppress your statements. We’re going have to live with the fact that you talked to the police voluntarily.”

“I don’t see how it hurts me,” he blurted.

I paused. I wanted to be diplomatic but he deserved to be told the truth. “Well for one, you admit to being with Hannah. Two, you admit to beating her with the mug and then leaving her there, wounded. The prosecution is going to say you had motive, opportunity, and all the factors point to you.”

“But, I didn’t kill her, Jake!”

“Listen, folks have been convicted for murder with less evidence than what they’ve got here. Hannah was strangled and that’s how she died. Even though there’s no admission that you choked her, the prosecutor is going to tell the jury you’re lying or covering up that part.”

I paused, watching Frank. He sat there quietly, impassive. I continued, “If I were the prosecutor, I would stress that she died with her own thong tied around her neck. You were with her. You were the only one who was angry enough to visit her and beat her with the mug. The thong—well, that’s the action of an angry man. Someone who had s****l issues with Hannah. They’re going to twist your words from your conversations with the police.”

Waving the transcript, I said, “All of this—these statements—just helped convict you.”

Frank’s neck flushed, and he fidgeted in his seat. I realized I just lit into my client.

I asked, “Can you think of anyone who had a reason to kill her?”

He shook his head.

“You said she was on something when you saw her at the house. Who’s her supplier? Who’s her dealer?”

“I don’t know, Jake,” he mumbled, not looking at me. I saw that his neck was still red.

“This is not the time to be holding back on me.” I inhaled deeply, trying to give me time to think. “What about her family? Do you know who we can talk to see if there is a friend or family member that had some grudge?”

“All I know is that they lived up in southern Ohio. She said her family used to be Amish or something like that.”

“Really not a lot of information on her, huh?”

He shook his head again.

I sat there, looking at what so far the state had provided me as discovery. “We’re still waiting on DNA reports to come back. The rest of what we have are pictures of the crime scene.”

“I don’t want to see them!” Frank interrupted, pushing away from booth. “I don’t want to see Hannah as they found her.”

What’s this about? Is he still mad about me waving the transcript? Or is there something else to this?

A deputy showed up behind Jake, looking at him, and then me. “Everything all right here?”

“Yup, everything’s alright.” The officer looked at me again to make sure it was okay for him to leave. I nodded. After he left, I exhaled sharply, “All right. I’ll give you a pass for now. But, eventually you are going to see these. The prosecutor will want to blow some of these up for the jury and have them in the courtroom. To get them mad at the killer.”

“You mean, get them mad, so they can convict me, right? Can’t we keep the photos out?”

“I’ll try to do that. But all judges allow some photos in.”

I looked through the remaining documents. Since we were still in the beginning stages of this case, there wasn’t much to go over. I heard Frank mumble something.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“Hey, is your ex-wife still going to be the prosecutor? Think you could talk her into dropping the charges?”

I stifled a laugh. Elena was many things, but she wasn’t a pushover. “If I went to her about dropping the charges considering your taped statements, she would laugh at me. Ethically, I can’t ask her to drop the murder charges because she’s my ex-wife.”

He hung his head. To give him hope, I added, “You know Elena is a straight shooter. She’s not going to pull any bullshit at trial. She won’t be hiding stuff either. If there’s any evidence that creates reasonable doubt—I won’t have a problem talking to her.”

“Okay, as long as there are no pleas, Jake. I’m not copping to a plea. I’m not guilty.”

“Well, I certainly understand what you’re telling me but I have to let you know of any offers she makes.”

“Sure tell me any and all offers, but I ain’t copping to any charge.”

I sat there, putting the papers away. I had a few minutes left before the detention officer returned since visitation was pretty close to being over.

“Thanks for coming out to see me.”

“We’ll work through this together.” I paused. “I’ll be sending you and your sister an updated itemized bill. I’ll take my fees for the additional work so far, and take some of the costs from the retainer.”

“All right, Jake. You need to make sure that the state drops the charges. Anything else I should worry about?”

“Nothing for you to worry about, Frank. I’ve got it under control.”

I’ll do the worrying here since this case is a slam-dunk for Elena.