The Victim's Wife Read online

“Do you know why they didn’t want you to meet with me?”

  “Probably because of what I’m going to tell you.”

  I nodded. “What made you change your mind?”

  She looked at me. “I take it you didn’t know that I was fired?”

  I shook my head, waiting for her to continue, but she broke off eye contact and mumbled something I couldn’t make out. “It seems you have something you want to say, but you just don’t know how to come out with it.” I leaned forward and gave her a reassuring smile. “If you have something that can help my case, I ask you to share.”

  She took a deep breath. “I was in the office the night Mason killed Max.”

  I gave her a curious look. Her presence had not been noted in any of the police reports.

  “You were there when it happened?” I asked, not bothering to hide the skepticism in my voice.

  “I left right before.”

  “Okay,” I said, expecting her to go on. When she didn’t, I prompted her. “Did you see anything interesting?”

  “Ronald and Vivian were both there too, meeting in her office with the door closed. Mason had been there earlier, but he had left. Max was in his office as well. I don’t know where Frank was, but he might’ve been gone by that point.”

  “Vivian and Ronald were together?” I asked. His presence had never been reported, but perhaps he had left before Max and Mason had gotten into it. “That’s to be expected, considering the nature of their relationship.”

  Karen blinked. “You know about that?”

  I nodded. “Vivian actually told me herself.” After I confronted her. “What did you see that night?”

  “I knew tensions were high. I was actually in the partner meeting, taking notes. It was my turn, the other receptionists and I are on a rotation. I saw the whole exchange happen between Mason and Max.” She took a deep breath. “I also overheard Vivian tell Max that the partners had changed their mind.”

  I gave her a piercing look. “You were there?”

  This was a key piece of information I had been looking for all along. Mason had claimed this, but I had never been able to prove it. I had wondered if it had all been a hallucination induced by the drugs.

  “Vivian didn’t know I was there. I had just been walking by, coming back from the bathroom. I heard her talking with Max. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard her mention that they had changed their mind on the venture capital. I froze and put my back to the wall to listen.”

  Karen had a sharp intake of breath, it seemed like she felt better having told somebody else, but that gave way to a new look of terror.

  “Vivian had been adamant just an hour before about the exact opposite. I was surprised she had made a sudden reversal.” Karen shook her head. “She argued for it vehemently during the partner meeting.”

  “I see.” I stared at her. “What did you make of all this?”

  “Max was furious,” she said as if she had not heard my question, “he yelled at Vivian. I heard something thump as if Max had slammed his fist into his desk or something like that.”

  “Did you think any of this was strange?” I asked.

  “In the partner meeting, they had formally announced to Mason that they were going to take the venture capital. I even knew about it beforehand; apparently, the only person in the room who didn’t was Mason. It completely caught him off guard. And then Vivian comes like a snake and tells Max that they’ve changed their minds. She told Max that Mason had brought them around on it.”

  I leaned forward. “I want to make sure I understand you correctly. Vivian told Max that Mason had convinced all of them not to take the venture capital.” I shook my head. “Is this correct?”

  “You heard me correctly,” Karen said. “Max went ballistic. You should’ve been there. The man was angrier than I’d ever seen him in my life.”

  “This changes a lot about what we know happened that night.”

  “I know. I am sorry that I’m only now coming forward.”

  “Was that everything?” I asked.

  “There’s more.” Karen leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. “I was afraid when I heard this because I could tell that Vivian was up to something. You see, I’ve had experience with her now for over four years, and I know how she can be. I know what she does and how she operates. There is no doubt in my mind that she was manipulating events to have them work out in a way she found favorable.”

  “Did Vivian see you?”

  “I don’t think so and I didn’t wait around. I went back to my desk a different way.”

  “What did you do after that?”

  “I grabbed my bag and I was out of there. I took the stairs, not wanting to risk waiting for the elevator. I think I got out before anybody saw me.”

  “That was the smart thing to do, considering what happened next.”

  “Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t come forward before.”

  I had to get her testimony into court.

  “Did Vivian or Ronald discover you were there?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe they checked the security footage and saw me walking down the hall. I don’t know. But that’s not all.”

  “There’s more?”

  “I ran into Mason on the way out. He was angry too, I just gave him a small smile and tried to slip on by, but as I passed him, he stopped me in the entryway and said, “‘Can you believe they’re doing this to me? I’m the founder.’

  “I don’t remember what I said. I tried to say something empathetic and fled as quick as I could.”

  “You can prove Vivian lied to Max.”

  “Yes, I can.”

  “Are you prepared to testify to this in court?”

  Karen hesitated. “Can you guarantee that both Ronald and Vivian are going to jail for a long time?”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Well then, I’ll see what I can do.” She stood to leave.

  “Do you know anything about what happened to Frank?”

  “I recommend you take these things one at a time. You’re not going to get anything done if you don’t.” She left before I had a chance to ask what she meant.

  54

  My next item of business was to call Mason back. I got his voicemail and left a message. Ellie had made it sound like an urgent problem, so I expected he would call me back as soon as he got it.

  After that, I put a blank notepad on my desk and tapped my pen, trying to decide how best to handle the new information from Karen.

  Even though I was elated, I could not base the rest of my trial strategy solely on her testimony. There was a chance Karen could be lying. Or she might turn out to be a bad witness.

  I had to make sure that I crossed every bridge and thoroughly explored it.

  Which brought my thoughts to Vern Goodman.

  What can I do about him?

  The man was far more biased against Mason than he had let on.

  He had lied about something on his questionnaire. I was certain of it. I pulled it up and reviewed it again. There would’ve been a red flag if he had told us the truth about his background.

  I dialed Winston’s number. He answered on the first ring.

  “How was court today?” Winston asked.

  “Things are going well enough,” I said, “I have several things I want you to investigate for me, though.”

  I let out a sigh. Where to begin?

  “Vern Goodman is biased towards Mason,” I said. “I want you to learn why.”

  As Mason had refused to hire a jury consultant, I had instructed Winston to do initial research on all the jurors anyway, so he would have a file to start with.

  We had run background checks, but no red flags had come back.

  We had missed something.

  I told Winston about how Vern had glowered at my client and seemed to dislike him even though the two had never met.

  “Got it,” Winston said, “what next?”

  “There’s a receptionist who works at Meri
dian Solutions.” I coughed. “Karen Barr. Actually, she no longer works there. I don’t know why. That’s not the only question I want you to answer. I want you to see if you can figure out anything else that would make her have an ax to grind against her former boss, Vivian Fuger. Check her social media profiles, everything you can find. I want to know everything about her. She’s going to be my star witness, and she just came out of nowhere. I want to make sure that if I put her on the stand, I’m not gonna regret it.”

  “Anything else?”

  “That’s it for now. Let me know if anything comes up. Hopefully, everything is good with the receptionist.”

  “Oh, on that investigation with Vivian,” he said. “I have a lead, but nothing solid.”

  “Keep me updated,” I said before disconnecting. Winston was tracking down a wild theory that I had no evidence for. I didn’t expect it to go anywhere.

  After that, I got up and paced. I still had almost an hour before my meeting with Barbara.

  And how am I going to handle that?

  I didn’t know what to do about our relationship. All I knew was I had to tell Barbara the truth about that night. I didn’t want her to blame herself for the way she had acted. She had not been in her right mind.

  She deserved to know that so she could stop regretting that night.

  I owed her that if I owed her nothing else.

  I sat down, pulled up Mason’s case file on my computer, and started going page by page to make sure that I had not missed anything. I wanted evidence to back up Karen’s story.

  I looked at my watch forty-five minutes later, rubbing my eyes as I yawned. I powered down my computer and put everything away, hoping I hadn’t made a mistake by focusing on my work instead of coming up with a battle plan for dinner.

  I made it to the diner Barbara had chosen one minute before our appointed meeting time.

  Barbara was already waiting for me as soon as I walked in. She stood when she saw me.

  “How are you doing?” I asked, resisting the urge to greet her with a hug. She had made the same move as well but had held back too.

  Instincts. Habit.

  Even though she had also pulled back, she had noticed that I had not moved to get closer. This appeared to bother her, but she shook her head and forced a smile to her face.

  “I’m doing okay,” she said, “things have been difficult. I’m sure you can imagine. You?”

  “Busy,” I said with a wan smile. “Just as busy as usual. I’m right in the middle of a trial.”

  The host called Barbara’s name and we followed her back to our table.

  Barbara went first, allowing me a moment to gather my thoughts. It felt good to be with her. I was glad I had reached out and suggested a meeting. Once we were settled, I looked at Barbara.

  “I’m sorry I never got back to you until tonight,” I started to say.

  “Nothing to worry about,” she said, “I told you to take as much time as you wanted.”

  There was a brief look of anticipation on her face, but she pushed it away, almost as if she was refusing to get hopeful.

  I felt drawn to her.

  “There’s something I need to tell you about that night,” I said, “the night we broke up.”

  “Oh?”

  “It turns out somebody laced those Snickers bars I had in my car with a drug that makes you angry.”

  Comprehension dawned on Barbara’s face as if I had just answered a question she had been wondering about.

  “Are you sure?”

  Her voice was quiet.

  “Positive. Everything you said after eating that Snickers bar was something you probably wouldn’t have said or done if you hadn’t eaten the candy. It makes you release your inhibitions. It frees you from anything that might otherwise hold you back. It makes you more susceptible to anger and irritation. In short, you were not yourself that night.”

  “Why on earth did you have something like that in your car?” She glared at me as if this were all my fault. “Were you trying to poison me?”

  I thought at first she was joking, but the look on her face told me otherwise.

  I should have been more careful about how I disclosed this. The way I had done it left her with unanswered questions.

  I shook my head. “Nothing of the sort, I can assure you.” It was an effort to keep my voice civil because I didn’t like the accusation.

  Does she really think so little of me?

  Perhaps this meeting was a mistake. Perhaps telling her the truth was the wrong call.

  No, I had to tell her.

  It was her decision about what she did with it now.

  I took in a deep breath. “I had the candy bars for a case I was working. It turns out my client was drugged the night he committed murder.”

  Barbara studied me. “That’s really why you had them?”

  “If I would’ve even suspected that there was something wrong with the candy bars, I would never have given you one.” I ran my hands through my hair. “I actually ate one of them several weeks before that and had a similar response. Ellie was out that day, so a temp was filling in for her. I nearly bit her head off when I returned to the office.”

  “Where does this leave us?” Barbara asked. I could see hope forming on her face, and despite it all, I knew now exactly what I wanted now.

  “I don’t blame you for anything you said or did that night, even before learning about this. I was being a stinker. I realize that now, I’m sorry. You deserved better. You deserve better.”

  “I was pushing you too hard. I was frustrated. We had talked about marriage as if it were a possibility, and then the topic didn’t come up again. Days went by. Then it was weeks. Then it was months. I was starting to wonder if there was any chance of a potential long-term relationship. It was starting to weigh down my mind. I didn’t want to end up like some silly girl who was stuck in a relationship for years, only to find out the guy had been toying with her all along.”

  I felt a rush of emotion. There was much I wanted to say. Much I wanted to do. I was full of regret. I was full of love.

  I was certain now.

  “I’m ready to commit,” I said, reaching my hands across the table and encircling mine around hers.”

  “I—” She hesitated and looked up at me, an uncertain expression crossing her face. “I don’t know, Mitch.” She looked down again. “I suppose I came to this meeting, hoping to hear those exact words. And now that I have, I have to think about it.” She shook her head and made eye contact. “I’ve been blaming myself for our break up. I’ve been blaming myself for everything that happened that night. Now I learn that not only was I not to blame, you’ve been sitting on this information.” She gave me a penetrating stare. “How long have you known?”

  I froze and then opened my mouth to answer the question, but she put a hand up.

  “Never mind, I don’t want to know. It’s obvious you’ve known for days, and you’re just barely now getting to me.” She leaned forward. “Do you realize how hard on myself I’ve been? I’ve been raking myself over the coals because of this, because of you! If you would’ve told me right away, that would’ve been one thing. But this... You are married to your job, Mitch Turner. That’s what matters to you. Not me.”

  “I’m sorry, you’re right, I should have called you sooner. I was just trying to figure—”

  “You could have at least sent me a text message or something. How hard would it have been to say the candy bars in your car were spiked and that I wasn’t myself that night?” She slammed a hand down on the table. “That would’ve been such a relief. I just, I have no frame of reference for this.”

  “You’re right. I should’ve done something like that. I don’t know why I didn’t.”

  “I’ll tell you why. You don’t care about me.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “I am starting to think we are better apart.”

  I released her hands and leaned back in my seat. “Are you sure?”


  She shook her head. “I’m not sure about anything. I just know I need time.”

  I nodded. “Take all the time you want.” I was surprised at how crestfallen I felt, considering how reluctant I had been to commit to her in the first place.

  What was I thinking? I thought to myself as I put my hands in my lap, balling them into fists.

  What was I thinking?

  55

  The next morning came early. I was up by 4:00 AM, unable to sleep because of my conversation with Barbara the night before.

  I had been almost ambivalent about my relationship with her until I had seen her again at the restaurant. Seeing her had helped clarify something for me that I had known but had not been willing to admit to myself.

  But the realization had come too late.

  Barbara, Karen, Mason, Max, Penny, and Vivian had all haunted my dreams.

  As I woke up and the cobwebs of sleep disappeared, I tried to build an attitude that would let me get through the day. After I splashed water on my face, ate some breakfast, and then got ready, I was feeling a little bit better about things as I drove into work.

  I still had a few hours before court.

  I usually went into the office early during a trial, but I couldn’t remember the last time I’d come in so early. When I drove up to my office at five in the morning, I was surprised to see a car that I did not recognize parked out front.

  I groaned as I pulled in beside it and saw Penny asleep behind the wheel.

  “What is she doing here?” I muttered as I got out as quietly as I could, hoping not to wake her so I could slip inside unnoticed.

  As soon as I stepped out, Penny did too, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

  “Can I talk to you, Mitch?” Penny asked, shutting the door and locking the car behind her.

  “I don’t know if that is a good idea,” I said to Penny. “I’m not your attorney. I have made that clear. You really should talk to your lawyer about the case, not me. My representation of Mason taints anything I say to you.”

  “That’s not what I’m here for. It’s something else.”

  “What is it?”

  She glanced toward the office. “Can we talk inside?”