Edward's Dilemma (10 page)

“Well, what do you think, Robert?  Do we have a case, or not?”

“Yes, and no,” Robert replied.  “The case is a little shaky right now, but that’s to be expected.  I’m definitely
gonna need more time.  Also, unless I can iron out a few things, we might have some problems.”

“Iron out what, exactly?  I know you’ve had some questions about the witnesses.  Have you run into anything else?”  Arthur leaned forward a little in his chair, both elbows resting firmly
on his solid-oak desk.  His arms were positioned like two sides of a triangle, coming together at a point, with his chin at the apex.  His face wore a worried expression.

“Well, that’s just it – the witnesses.  I’m not sure how reliable they’re
gonna be on the witness stand.”

“Why’s that?  Have you spoken with them?”

“Yes, I have, as a matter of fact.  Two of them – it was on the street, not too far from here.  I’d kinda like to speak to them again in a more formal setting – maybe even get them to undergo a polygraph.”

“
Okkk...”  Arthur responded with some hesitancy.  He wasn’t sure where Robert was going with his answer, so he waited for him to provide some clarification.  Arthur didn’t have to wait long for Robert to speak.

“Oh, and one more thing – did I mention that they’re street-walkers?”  A faint smile creased Robert’s face as soon at he uttered the words.  He appeared to be on the verge of laughter.

“What?  Street-walkers?  You mean they’re prostitutes?”

“Yes, prostitutes! 
Hookers.  You know, ‘Ladies of the Night.’”

“
Arrhhh.  Are you kidd’n me?”

“No, I’m not kidding,” Robert replied.  “The other problem, of course – the one we’ve talked about before – is that their stories conflict with the story of the third witness.  You remember, the lady who said the other two witnesses – our prostitutes – might have been instigators in the incident?”

“Yeah, I remember her.”

“Well, this third witness – she actually did agree to a polygraph.  Turns out, she wasn’t lying.”  Robert thought about this statement for a moment before elaborating.  “At least, she wasn’t lying about HER perception of what happened.  You know how witnesses are; they’re notoriously unreliable.”

“Yeah – ain’t that the truth.  Ok, so what else do you got?”  Arthur was getting anxious for some concrete evidence.

“Well, let me tell you what I found out six or seven days ago.” 
Robert cleared his throat, shifted around a bit in his chair, and then proceeded to tell his story.

“Do you remember me mentioning a guy named Jason Lewis – the last time we met here in your office?”

“Yes,” Arthur replied.

“Well, he was the roommate of the victim.  He and the victim had been living together for about a year and a half in an old beat up single-wide, out near SR 55.  It’s located in the woods, a bit, at the end of a gravel road.  Anyway, I wanted to do a background check on Jason since he’s been in and out of jail numerous times.”

“Ok...”

“It turns out that our friend, Jason, has a connection to one of the defendants.  Several years ago, he robbed a house not too far from here.  He didn’t really get away with much because the robbery was interrupted by the homeowner.  At the time, we weren’t able to catch him – even though we brought in the K-9s – and since none of the leads panned out, the investigation was dropped.  Several months later we got an anonymous tip, and we were able to bag him.  Unfortunately, Jason didn’t spend a lot of time in jail, and he was back out on the streets fairly quickly.  Anyway, there’s a point to me telling you all this.  Do you
wanna know whose house it was that he broke into?”

“Are you serious?  Yes, I want to know!”  Arthur was all ears at this point.

“Edward – Edward Bryant’s, the defendant who said he’d gone to Lucky’s to celebrate his 21
st
birthday.”

Arthur was dumbstruck for a moment before he finally spoke.  The gears were turning like crazy in his brain.  From the pitch of his voice, it was clear that he considered this new information to be extremely significant.

“Wow!  This is big, Robert.  This is really big.  It clearly opens up all sorts of possibilities.  All along we’ve been thinking that the little brawl at Lucky’s was a random act, when we should have been looking deeper.  What if this is the motive for the crime?  What if Edward and his buddies were trying to even the score with Jason?  What if Joey Jones just got in the way, and he ended up paying for it with his life?”

“I thought you’d be impressed with that bit of info,” Robert responded.

“I’m more than impressed.  This is exactly what we needed to move the case forward.  Based on what we have so far – forensic evidence, and now motive – I think we have the makings of a case.  It’s still a little shaky, and we’ll definitely have to look into everything a lot deeper.  But, at least, now we have somewhere to start.”

There was a pause in the conversation as Arthur jotted down a few notes.  When he was done writing, Robert interjected with additional information.

“By the way, after learning this stuff about Jason, I drove out to his place to pay him a visit.  I wanted to get a sense of who we’re dealing with, and what to expect from him.  I took Fred along with me just to be safe.”  Robert hesitated to go on since Arthur was still looking down at his paper.  When he looked up a second later, Robert continued.

“Jason wasn’t there at the time – at least I didn’t think so, at first.  When we rolled up in front of his trailer, everything looked pretty quiet.  The place is an absolute dump, though, and there was crap everywhere.  On the front porch, there was a big old dog, but he was
sleep’n like a log and didn’t seem to care about us.  Anyway, when we knocked on the door there was no answer.  So, we knocked again – this time a little harder.  Still nothing...”

By now, Arthur’s attention to what was being said was fully restored.  “Go on,” he said.

“So here we are, standing there on the front porch, waiting for someone to answer.  When no one came to the door after still another knock, we kind of figured it was a safe bet that no one was there.  Just then, as we were getting ready to leave, there was a movement at one of the windows.  One of the blinds moved, like there was someone peering out between the louvers.  That’s when Fred said to me, ‘Robert, I don’t have a good feel’n about this.  I kinda think we should leave.’  Well, you know Fred.  The dude was a Green Beret in Vietnam, so when he says he’s feeling uncomfortable about something, you’d better listen.”

“So what did you do?” Arthur asked.

“We left, obviously.  But as we were doing so, we made sure to take a good hard look at the property.”

“Did you see anything significant?”

“Well, here’s my impression of what we saw:  I think our friend Jason is using his property for some nefarious purposes.  Off to the side, behind his trailer, there’s an old beat up garage.  Based on the car parts and stuff lying around in the area, he’s probably got a little chop shop where he disassembles stolen cars.  That’s my guess, anyway.  One thing’s for sure though, I don’t think Jason is earning a living on the up and up.  Personally, I think the victim got what was coming to him.  You know the saying, ‘He who lives by the sword, will also die by the sword.’  Well, sooner or later, if you’re a criminal who’s involved in a life of crime, it’s gonna come back and bite you.”

“So, you think the defendants might be getting a bum wrap?”

“No, not at all – I just think this case might take a few unexpected turns by the time it’s all said and done.  If anything, I think it might be a good idea if we didn’t paint the defendants as ‘thugs’ when the media comes around asking questions.  If we do, we might end up with egg on our faces.”

“I agree.  You’ve got a good point, Robert.”  Arthur paused – then redirected the conversation back to discussing evidence.  “So what else have you found out?  Have you had any luck getting video surveillance footage from stores and businesses?”

“I’ll have to get back to you on that.  There are several cameras in the area which might offer a view of Lucky’s – if we’re lucky.  Ha, ha.”  Robert couldn’t help but laugh at his own lame attempt at humor.  When he noticed that his joke had elicited nothing more than a grin from Arthur, Robert continued.   “As you know, though, it’s a bit of a hassle going through all the footage.  Right now I’m concentrating on those businesses in the immediate vicinity of Lucky’s.  After that, I’ll try to expand out a bit and see if there’s anything else that might be helpful in the investigation.  By the way, the video footage inside Lucky’s wasn’t that great.  One camera was focused on the bar area, and the other on the cash register.”  Robert continued to speak, but trailed off when he heard someone knock on the door.

“Come in!” Arthur yelled out when it became apparent after several knocks that the person wasn’t going to go away.

Through the door, a young woman entered.  Even though she was Arthur’s secretary, she seemed a little nervous and overly apologetic for interrupting the meeting.  Arthur waved his hand as if to indicate “no problem,” and then set her further at ease by asking what it was she wanted.  Remembering why she was there, she held up a folder.  Arthur took the folder, thanked her, and told her to “keep up the good work” as she headed back out through the office door.

Arthur quickly glanced at the folder, before telling Robert he’d have to continue their conversation at a later time.  Robert wasn’t at all offended, but was actually a little relieved.  He didn’t have much more to talk about, anyway, and his hope of reading the sports section of his paper had been miraculously revived the moment Arthur’s secretary had entered the office.

Robert gathered up his stuff to leave, and Arthur concluded the meeting in a formal way.

“Thanks for coming by, Robert.  Sorry, about the interruption.  Like you, I’ve got a full plate right now.  In any event, I think we’re
gonna go ahead and up the charges against the defendants.  They’re already in jail, so we’ve got some time.  If you find out anything, though, let me know immediately.”  Arthur paused, and then continued.  “Oh, there’s one more thing.  Try to do a polygraph on the three suspects, and the other witnesses as soon as you get a chance – that is, if their attorneys agree to it.”

“Will do,” Robert replied.  Over his shoulder, and with his back towards Arthur, he offered a final “backwards” wave as he was leaving the office.  And then he was gone.  On his face, a grin made a furtive appearance.

Stuart Co. Jail, Tank 3North B

16 September, 7:11 PM

NO MATTER how hard he tried,
Edward couldn’t get comfortable on his bed.  The foam mattress was too thin, didn’t conform to his body, and made noise whenever he moved.  He also didn’t have a pillow, or even clothes, because he was again on suicide watch.  The only thing he had to provide warmth and comfort was a jade-green suicide smock and a suicide blanket.  But the smock was itchy and cumbersome. 

Edward heard voices, and glanced at the window.  The face of a CO appeared – somewhat contorted he thought – yelling at him to wake up.  And then another face appeared, briefly, but less contorted.  Edward rolled over onto his right side, facing towards the wall.  He tried to ignore the faces.  A few seconds later, the jangle of keys could be heard through the thick steel door as the CO unlocked Edward’s private dungeon.  At least, that’s how Edward described his cell.  When the door opened, Edward turned and looked over his left shoulder at the visitors.  He didn’t really care who they were, but he needed to know why they were invading his space.

“Hello, Edward.  It’s me, Sean.  I’m a MHP, and I wanted to see how you’re doing.  Do you remember me?   I met you before, several weeks ago, I guess.”  There was no immediate response, so Sean paused a bit before he spoke again.  “Edward?  Are you ok?” Sean asked.  His voice, this time, was meeker and more compassionate.

“Go away.  I don’t need your help,” Edward replied.  He turned his head away from Sean and the CO, leaving them looking at his back.

For a few seconds, Sean didn’t know what to do.

The CO chimed in: “Edward, turn over and look at this gentleman.  He’s trying to help you.  We’re all trying to help you.”

More silence – until, finally, Edward rolled over and looked at Sean.  Edward’s words were bitter and filled with anger.  “Why are you keeping me in here, like some kind of animal?  You’re violating my constitutional rights!  This has got to be against some kind of law!”  His voice was growing louder and louder.  “You’re always harassing me!  Everybody’s harassing me!  LEAVE ME ALONE!  LEAVE – ME – ALONE!”

Once again the CO intervened; this time to diffuse Edward’s rapidly escalating behavior.  “Edward, take it easy!” he said.  “You don’t need to raise your voice.  Besides, Sean here didn’t put you in this cell.  He’s only trying to help you.”

Fairly quickly, the CO’s entreaty appeared to be paying dividends, and Edward seemed to calm down.  Suddenly, however, before either the CO or Sean could say anything more, there was a loud jarring noise.

“SLAM!”

Both Edward and Sean were jolted by the sound of a crashing door.  The CO, who hadn’t flinched even a tiny bit, right-away smiled at their overt reactions.  He was just about to make a snarky comment, and memorialize the moment, when out of th
e blue a funny thing happened: Strangely, Edward began mumbling to himself and scratching his left cheek with his left hand.  Seconds later, his left leg came alive and he began kicking back and forth, much like a dog that is tormented by a flea.  When this happened, the CO looked first at Edward and then at Sean, and then back at Edward.  Sean’s eyes remained fixated on Edward.  Though the words Edward spoke were uttered quietly, they were nevertheless discernible.  They were also disturbing.  Sean scribbled notes as fast as he could, while Edward mumbled to himself.

“Why did you do it, Edward?  You’re guilty!  Guilty!  You’re a guilty sinner!  It was your fault, you guilty b*****d.  What was that?  Sinner!  You’re a sinner!”   Edward continued to scratch and kick, but now he was scratching so hard his cheek was turning bright red.  Sean was stupefied, and stared at Edward in utter fascination.  He’d never seen anything like this before in his lifetime, and he wanted to remember every detail.

Edward’s words eventually trailed off.  “I know what you did.  I – know – what – you – did.  Should I tell them?  Should I tell them?  Yes!  Tell them, Edward!  Tell them!  It’s ok.  It’s ok.  Just sleep, Edward. 
Sleeeep – Sleeep – Sleep.”  The scratching slowed, and the leg-kicking stopped.  By now, Edward was fast asleep and snoring loudly.

Both the CO and Sean were speechless.  For a good ten seconds they stared at each other in disbelief.  The CO was particularly astoun
ded, and was the first to speak.

“HOLY F’ING COW!
  WHAT THE LIV’N BAJEEBERS JUST HAPPENED?  I have never, EVER, seen anything like that before!  SEAN, WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED!?”

Sean finished his notes before he said anything to the CO.  On the top of his notepad he scrawled, “Edward’s Dilemma.”  When he spoke, his voice wavered and trembled; there also seemed to be a hint of fear.  “I don’t – know what that was.  I’ve – never seen anything like it, myself.  Holy smokes, though.  WOW!  Can you try to keep this somewhat quiet?  I don’t want half the jail knowing about this before I even write up my report.  OK?”  The CO nodded his head, but that was all he could do.  The two of them left Edward sleeping and slowly backed-out of his cell.  Quietly, the CO closed the door.

County/City Building, Stuart Co.

17 September, 9:48 AM

ROBERT MATSON was in his usual hurry.  Before leaving the scene of a vehicle-prowl, on the opposite side of town, he’d called Arthur to say he was going to stop in for a few minutes; if it was alright with Arthur.  Although he didn’t want to spend a lot of time rehashing old information, he did want to give Arthur an update about the “Lucky Boys” case.  It had been only a few days since they had last met, and during the interval he had uncovered a few items which he thought were highly significant.  But he had also grown concerned.

When Robert arrived, Arthur greeted him with a warm welcome.  “Hello, Robert,” he said.  “Come on in and have a seat.  I don’t want to be accused of abusing my chief investigator.”  Arthur grinned, reached out his hand in greeting, and then asked, “What have you got for me?”

The two men shared a brief handshake, and Robert took his usual seat in the puffy chair.  He had already decided, while on the way to Arthur’s office, not to address his concerns right off the bat.  His words were thoughtful and measured.

“Well, I wanted to fill you in on two items.  First, I’ve been going through the surveillance videos and I’ve been able to narrow them down to just two.  One of them comes from Turnbuckle Lanes, a nearby bowling alley, and the other comes from a Savings and Loan.  Both videos are a little grainy and not the best quality, plus they were taken at night and in the rain.  Anyway, I’ve got a guy going over the tapes to see if he can enhance the images a bit so we can make some sense of them.  The other item has to do with the lie-detector tests.  Both of the prostitutes categorically refused to cooperate.  The third witness, as you know, already took a polygraph.  She seemed to indicate that the suspects might not be entirely to blame for the altercation at
Lucky’s.  And then, just yesterday, we did a polygraph on Josh Tyler...”  Robert’s voice trailed off a bit, and Arthur took the bait.

“Ok.  So what did he find out?  There’s
gotta be something here, Robert, because everything you’ve told me so far could have been said over the phone.”  Arthur was half-joking, and he was smiling, but there was a hint of irritation in his voice.

Robert decided to proceed cautiously.  He was now delving into the area of his concerns, and he wasn’t sure how well Arthur would handle what he was about to say.  “Well, it appears that
Josh was telling the truth about a lot of what happened.  Granted, there was a little deception noted on several occasions during the poly, but nothing significant.  As far as the case is concerned, his answers appeared to be pretty straightforward.”  Robert again waited for Arthur to say something, and a second or two later he obliged.

“So what are you telling me, Robert?  Are you saying you’re having doubts about this case?  Do you think we’ve acted a little too rashly, here?  I’ve already gone ahead and notified the media that we’re going to charge the Lucky Boys.”

Robert shook his head up and down, slowly, before answering.  “I’m starting to wonder.  Things just don’t feel right, and there appears to be something going on a little below the surface that doesn’t pass the smell test.  And I’m not only talking about the polygraphs.  I’ve also been hearing rumors – jail house stuff – that our friend Jason Lewis might be a lot more involved in this case than we originally thought.”

By now, Arthur was rubbing his face with both hands.  When his mouth emerged from behind them, his words were acerbic.  “Oh, gosh darn-it.  Why do we always find these things out after the fact?  I get sick and tired of it sometimes.  You know, if it wasn’t for the damn media, we wouldn’t be in this mess.  Everybody wants justice, but very few realize that the administration of justice is a dirty, messy affair.  To them, everything is so black and white, and they totally ignore the gray areas.  But then again, maybe that’s the whole problem – everything is black and white.”

Robert was a little confused by Arthur’s last statement, so he pressed for clarification.  “I’m not sure I follow you.”

“Come on, Robert.  You know, as well as I do, that many people in the media who claim to be racially color-blind thrive on turning a legal case into a battle between blacks and whites.  When there is racism, the media does all it can to stoke the fire.  And then, when there isn’t any racism, they do everything they can to create a sense of social injustice and arouse the sympathies of the masses.  It makes for good business, I guess, because everybody is drawn to watch their channel – like moths to a flame.”  Arthur again rubbed his face a few times, and then continued his diatribe.

“The problem for this case, Robert, is that the victim is black and the suspects are white.  If it was the other way around, it wouldn’t make a whole lot of difference.”  Arthur thought about this statement for a moment, and then elaborated.  “Well, maybe it would.  This is a predominantly
white community, and the media just loves the tension this case generates because three home-town white boys are accused of a serious crime against a black guy.  If the perpetrators were black, they’d already be convicted and sitting in a state penitentiary.”

Robert hardly spoke a word as Arthur lamented to him.  Every once in a while he’d say “yeah” or “uh-huh,” but that was it.

“And here’s another problem, Robert: As you know, I’m hoping to someday run for State Attorney General.  If I were to dismiss this case right now, and let the suspects go free, I’d have the media all over my a**.  In a heartbeat, it would be bye-bye to my career.  Ugh!  I hate this!  Why does life have to be so complicated?  Sometimes I wish I had your job, Robert.  No politics, just straightforward forensics and evidence.”

Robert laughed.  “My job’s got its problems, too.  And besides, I think I’d rather have your paycheck.”  With that, the tension was broken.

Arthur apologized for his bitterness and his little speech, and Robert told him not to worry.  As the meeting wrapped up, Arthur gave one last word of guidance to Robert: “One way or another, Robert, somebody has got to go to jail for murdering Joey Jones.   If it isn’t the Lucky Boys, we’d better find us a suspect pretty darn fast.”  He paused, looked away from Robert, reconnected with him, and then continued.  “Here’s what I want you to do: Keep digging-up everything you can on our three suspects, but also begin looking at Jason Lewis a lot more closely.  And by all means, be quick about it.”  With that, the meeting formally ended.

Robert nodded, and then clawed his way out of the puffy chair. 
During the last year or so
, he thought,
it was getting more and more difficult to get out of that darn chair
.  He headed for the door.  Ten minutes later he was back in his car, fighting traffic, and cursing under his breath.

Stuart County

17 September, 10:25 AM

SEVERAL MILES away from Arthur’s office, Jason Lewis was travelling to one his jobs.  It was a fine day, sunny and warm, and he rode his little bicycle with childish enthusiasm and gusto.  Although the traffic was heavier than usual, and he wasn’t wearing a helmet, Jason wasn’t overly concerned.  He had had a few minor accidents before, but he’d never been hurt.  On one occasion, after threatening the unfortunate driver with a lawsuit, he’d walked away with two hundred dollars cash.  On another occasion, he’d managed to extort five hundred.  He laughed at the recollection, and in his mind he applauded his genius.

As he approached a cross street, Jason noticed that the light was about to turn green.  His thoughts of greatness were suddenly interrupted as he calculated his next move. 
This is no good
, he thought,
I don’t have no time to be wait’n at a f***’n crosswalk.
  With a sudden burst of energy, he pressed down hard on the pedals and sped forward in a blur.  His legs worked furiously; with each press of the pedals the bicycle rocked back and forth, and continued to gain speed.  Several seconds later, upon reaching the street, the bicycle leaped into the air as it crossed over the curb.

CLOSE-BY to where he landed, the drivers in the oncoming vehicles hadn’t even seen Jason coming.  One lady, in a black SUV, slammed on her brakes at the last possible second, narrowly avoiding a full head-on collision.  The coffee cup she’d been holding went flying against the dashboard, while outside her car the sound of squealing tires filled the air.  Another driver, seeing what had just happened, honked his horn wildly and yelled out the window at Jason as he careened towards the opposite side of the street.  Meanwhile, the drivers of other cars further back were also stomping their own brakes, and coming to abrupt stops.