The Victim's Wife Read online

  “Generally speaking, when you ask where somebody was, you usually give them a range of time, is that accurate?”

  Thompson hesitated and then nodded. “We asked where she was from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Perhaps that was part of the confusion.”

  I hid a smile. Detective Thompson was one of the good guys. He didn’t try to take advantage of a misstatement, and when he was wrong about something, he readily admitted it and didn’t try to cover up his mistake.

  We had worked well together when I had been at the prosecutor’s office.

  I shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll get it all sorted out. I just want you to take note that she has authorized me to inform you that I was not with her during the time of the murder.”

  Detective Thompson sat back. “Does she have another alibi?”

  “I don’t know. I actually didn’t ask her about it. We were more concerned about setting the record straight on this issue first. We will deal with the rest later.”

  Detective Thompson nodded and gave me a piercing look. “Are you gonna represent her and Mason on the same charges?”

  “You know better than to ask that,” I said with a smile. “Even if we had a game plan at this point, my clients wouldn’t want me to disclose it to you.”

  “Fair enough.” Detective Thompson said. “Was that all you had?”

  “Yep.”

  “Some friendly advice,” he leaned toward me and whispered. “I know you’re a good man. I know you’re trying to accomplish your idea of justice.”

  My idea of justice?

  As far as I was concerned, there was only one idea of justice, and all of us were just trying to measure up.

  “There are some around here who are gunning for you,” he continued in a quiet voice. “Not going to say who, but you’ve developed a few enemies over the years. You may want to be careful in how you proceed from here on out.”

  “On this case or just in general?”

  “I will let you speculate on that,” Detective Thompson gave me a nod and moved to go. He stopped before he got to the door and turned back. “I believe that makes us even now, Mr. Turner.”

  There was something in his voice that told me I shouldn’t expect any more favors from him any time soon. That was okay for now. It was easy enough to earn favors later. I was just happy that Detective Thompson had been so willing to work with me.

  I nodded. “I would say we are.”

  I stared at Detective Thompson’s back as he walked out of the interrogation room. It had been so long since I had helped him out that I was surprised he still remembered it.

  He wouldn’t still be employed here if it wasn’t for me.

  Perhaps I had not done the man a favor after all.

  “At least all the cops here aren’t totally bad,” I muttered under my breath as I left the interrogation room for the benefit of anybody who might have been eavesdropping on our conversation.

  It wasn’t likely, but there was a chance.

  I wanted to mess with them if they were.

  34

  When I got to my car, my first instinct was to call Mason, but I decided against it. This needed to be a face-to-face conversation. When I checked my phone, I saw that I had missed a couple of phone calls from Ellie, but I didn’t want to be distracted by any other cases at the moment, so I didn’t check my messages or call her back. She would send me a text message if something was urgent. I had no text messages, so I was in the clear. If something was important, she would have let me know. As I drove to Mason’s home after leaving the police station, I couldn’t help but marvel at the turn of events in this case.

  If Penny and Mason hadn’t committed the murders—and I needed to be open to the possibility that both were guilty of the crimes with which they were charged—somebody might be gunning for them. The fact that Penny was now being dragged in after the fact made me curious to see what evidence they had gathered on her.

  Mason’s wife Justine answered the door. She seemed happy to see me and ushered me in before I’d even said a word.

  “I will tell Mason you’re here,” she said, running up the stairs two at a time before I had a chance to ask how she was doing.

  While I waited for Mason to come down, I looked around the room to see if anything had changed since the last time I had been here, half expecting pictures of his older daughters to be taken down. Despite my expectations, photos of both still hung on the wall, so either it had not affected him that Rafael had come to talk with me, or he didn’t know.

  I’m betting on doesn’t know, I thought, wondering if I dared even bring that up today. At some point, Mason and I would need to have a conversation about that day, but my gut told me today was not the time. Not when he was about to be charged with conspiracy and have an ex-girlfriend added to the charges as well.

  I had given it considerable thought on the drive over, and despite Penny’s pleas, I didn’t think that it was wise for me to represent both Penny and Mason at the same time. My intention was to convince him not to sign a waiver, so she would have to find a different attorney to represent her.

  Chances were good that at some point, I might need to paint Penny as the real instigator behind the crime to angle for a better plea bargain. It might even be possible that Mason would have to testify against Penny. If it came down to that, I could not represent both.

  No, the more I thought about it, the more impossible it seemed that this was in any way, shape, or form a good idea.

  I also knew my limits. I knew that I was not likely to give them both unbiased representation. I would probably favor one over the other, if not consciously, then subconsciously.

  Right now, my thoughts were all on Mason, but what if that changed when I signed Penny and I was more concerned about her welfare than his?

  Mason came down the stairs almost at a run. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said before he even arrived at the landing. He jumped down the last couple of stairs, thrusting his hand out for me to shake. “I tried calling earlier and left a message with your secretary. I expected you to call, not stop by.”

  “That’s not why I am here, there’s been a development in your case, and we need to talk.”

  He motioned towards his study. “Should we go in there?” He glanced back up the stairs. There was something there that told me he didn’t want his wife to overhear our conversation.

  Judging by how excited she had been that I had come to the door, she didn’t know that there was a chance Mason was having an affair with Penny.

  “That is for the best,” I said, refraining from glancing up the stairs as well as I followed him in and pulled the door shut behind me. As I did, the last thing I saw was a picture of Mason and his two younger kids with Justine.

  35

  Mason gave me a big smile once he was sitting behind his desk.

  “I’m glad you convinced me not to give that confession,” he said. “I have found a new life here at home. I had never realized just how much work was keeping me from focusing on my children.”

  I thought about the picture of his family out in the hall and my suspicions he was having an affair with Penny. I could not shake the feeling that this man’s life was about to be turned upside down again in more than one way.

  “Regardless of what other outcomes might come from this case, giving a confession would not have been your best course of action.”

  “I see that now. For some reason, I had a hard time seeing it then. The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that I was not myself that day and that there was a reason why. I was manipulated. Max was manipulated. The situation was intentionally overblown. I’m sure of it now.” He gave me a long considering look. “I understand you’re looking at Vivian for this.”

  I didn’t answer right away. The only way he could have known was if he had talked with Penny because I had gone out of my way not to express my suspicion that Vivian had manipulated him. I had also not wanted to give him false hope, but it turned out my efforts
were vain because Penny had been giving it to him all this time.

  “It is reasonable to look at her as well as any of your other partners as possible suspects.”

  This was not the answer Mason had expected. “Don’t you have evidence proving Vivian did this?”

  I shook my head. “If I did, I would’ve told you. Where did you get this idea that I thought Vivian did this?”

  “Well,” Mason leaned back and then gave me a piercing look. “From Penny, I suppose.” It looked to him like it was difficult to make that admission, even though I already knew they were talking on the phone at the time of her arrest. Either he did not think she had told me, or he wanted to be circumspect in case his wife overheard our conversation.

  “What else did she tell you?”

  “Obviously, I’ve been misinformed on some things. How about you give me an update on the case.”

  Our conversation seemed to be having a deflating effect on him. While I appreciated his positive attitude—he was going to need it—I just hoped he could hold onto it because it might be a long time before this case was fully resolved.

  “Penny—”

  I stopped short. I had started to say that Penny had informed me they had been talking on the phone at the time of her arrest, but that was confidential information. Even though it was something he knew, it was not my place to disclose that I knew.

  Conflicts already.

  “Penny has been arrested if you haven’t already heard.”

  “I know. I heard the whole thing happen.”

  “She has requested I represent her in this matter. For some reason, she seemed to think that you would be okay with the dual representation even though I have advised her against it.”

  “I think it’s for the best that you represent us both,” Mason said quickly.

  I waited until Mason was looking at me. I then held his eye to make sure he understood how serious I was. “I would recommend against that course of action. There is a strong possibility that at some point in this case we’re gonna have to point the finger at Penny, particularly if they have found enough evidence to charge her with Max’s murder as well Frank’s. If we have to do that, she’s gonna point a finger right back at you. I don’t think that I have to tell you—”

  “It’s you who doesn’t understand the situation,” Mason said. “Penny and I are very good friends. Our interests are aligned on this matter.”

  Very good friends?

  I frowned.

  Just how good of friends?

  “Let’s walk through a scenario, shall we? Let’s say that we find evidence down the road that Penny poisoned Max.” I stared at Mason. “We cannot point the finger at her. Are you ready to go down with the ship just because she was a former flame?”

  Mason’s smile disappeared. “How do you know about that?”

  “If I know, how long before the prosecution knows? How long before the newspapers know? How long before the whole world knows about it?”

  “That was before I met Justine,” Mason sputtered, making me think that there was something still going on between the two of them.

  “I shouldn’t have to tell you that it’s not going to look good for me to be representing both of you when you guys have a prior relationship.”

  I emphasized the word prior, watching closely to see if he had any visible reaction.

  Unfortunately, he did not.

  “I understand that, but I just feel like it’s best if you represent both of us. I think that if you can get in front of a jury, you’re going to get us off.”

  “There’s a good chance you go to jail for this, regardless of anything I do.” I let the words hang while holding Mason’s eyes.

  “You have a great record though, you’ve got a lot of people off.”

  “My record means nothing when taken out of context. I indeed have a better than average track record. What that record doesn’t show are all the people who I’ve plead out because the facts were against them. It’s not about your attorney, at least not solely about your attorney. It’s more about the facts and what you can prove. If I represent both of you, I’m gonna be tying one hand behind my back, and there are gonna be some punches I’m going to have to pull that might work out in your favor. This is not a good course of action.”

  I let those words settle before continuing. “My numbers are further skewed because I don’t usually take a case to court unless I think I might win. If the facts are not on our side, I usually prevail upon my clients to take a plea bargain well before that, not only to save them money but to save them time in prison. I can see the writing on the wall even if they cannot.”

  Mason started. “And are you seeing the writing on the wall here?”

  “Not right now, not yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s not gonna come. When that time does come, you want me to be fully focused on your case, not trying to juggle Penny’s as well, wondering if something I do might affect her case too.”

  “Until then, I still want you to represent both Penny and myself.”

  “If for some reason you or Penny need independent counsel at any point during this matter, I will have to step away from both of you, thus, in turn, requiring that each of you hire new counsel because at that point I will know too much about both of your cases to represent only one of you. That’s gonna be a problem. You know that, right?”

  “I understand, I understand. I’m sure Penny does too. We will sign whatever paperwork you want us to sign. I’ll even double your fees. I want you to represent us both.”

  This conversation was not going anywhere near like I had expected. I had just assumed that Mason would readily see my point of view and would agree that Penny needed separate representation. I had not expected it to be an uphill battle.

  Maybe it’s time just to jettison this case altogether, I thought. Get rid of both.

  As much as I wanted to say those words to Mason, I leaned back in my chair and thought about it. “Just to be very clear, it’s gonna cost you far more in legal fees in the long run if I have to step off halfway through this case. Your other attorneys will want to come in with their investigators and run their own investigation. It’ll take them hours just to read through my notes and my own research.”

  “Okay, we get it.”

  We.

  I had danced around the issue long enough. It was time now to face it. I studied Mason for a long moment. I was starting to get the feeling that this was somehow a setup. Perhaps they wanted to sue me for malpractice afterward, or maybe they both realized they didn’t have a case, and they were intentionally setting things up so they could claim ineffective assistance from counsel on appeal.

  If that was their game, the paperwork that I would put in place might mitigate some of that.

  No, there has to be something more here that I just am not seeing.

  I could no longer ignore the elephant.

  “Are you currently having an affair with Penny?” I asked without hesitation.

  Mason stumbled. “No, of course not.”

  That was all the answer I needed.

  I gave him a hard look. “How long?”

  Mason stood. “Let’s go for a walk.”

  36

  At Mason’s suggestion, we ended up going for a drive instead. He did not say as much, but he must have decided the contents of our discussion were such that he did not want to risk being overheard by any of his neighbors.

  I insisted Mason drive, claiming that I wanted the ability to take notes if I needed, but mainly because I wanted to observe his expressions as we spoke.

  We drove in silence for several minutes before I finally broke the ice.

  “How long?” I asked again.

  Mason shook his head. “That’s the wrong question. The question should be: How long since it was broken off?”

  Mason didn’t say anything after that, apparently lost in his thoughts.

  “And?” I finally prompted.

  “It has been almost a year and a half no
w.”

  “Does Justine know?”

  Mason nodded. “To her credit, she stuck with me through it. It was a mistake. I acted in a moment of weakness. Justine and I were on a break, but we got things resolved.” Mason gave me a long glance. “Justine and I are in a perfect place now. Our children don’t know about the affair, and my children don’t know either. We would like to keep it that way if possible.”

  “If you are no longer involved with her, why are you guys talking on the phone?”

  “I have not been calling her. She has been calling me.”

  “Does she want to get back together?”

  “Yes. She has expressed this desire many times.” He gave me another long glance. “I have no intention of letting it happen. Justine and I have worked through a lot, and we’re not going to let anything disrupt us now.”

  I nodded, glad that some things were making more sense.

  “When did Penny start calling you?”

  “Right after Max died.”

  I thought the timing was suspicious, but if Mason shared my concerns, it did not show on his face.

  “Does Justine know that Penny has been calling you?”

  “Yes. I have told her everything. She has even listened in on some of the calls.” Mason paused. “Penny doesn’t know about that. I would like to keep it that way. Please consider that confidential information. Please consider all of this confidential information. I have not held anything back from Justine, and I’m not going to start.”

  Then why on earth do you want me to represent both of you?

  “Based on this new information, I would still strongly recommend that Penny seek separate representation. I want to understand why it is that you are adamant that I represent both of you.”

  “It has nothing to do with my former relationship with Penny if that’s what you’re thinking. It has everything to do with my future.” Mason took in a long breath, glanced over at me, and then let it out slowly. “I recognize that it is a risk, particularly because it is going to look odd to others. They might even figure out about the affair.” Mason hesitated. “But Justine and I have talked it over, and that is a risk we are both willing to take.”