Redress of Grievances (12 page)

"Good
morning, Ms. Markham," Eleanor's voice came back.

"Good
morning, Eleanor," Harriett smiled. "Who's up first?"

"Mr.
Taggart. Says he has to get to work."

"Then
trot him in, and see if you can round up some coffee, please."

"Right
away," Eleanor said.

A
moment later, the conference room door opened and Frank Taggart walked toward
Harriett. Extending her hand, she introduced herself and offered him a seat.
Frank ran a hand through his thinning hair and adjusted his wire-rimmed
glasses.

"I'm
just going to be asking you a few preliminary questions this morning, Mr.
Taggart," Harriett began.

"You're
sizing us up to see whether you're gonna take the case or not, aren't
you?"

"In
a way. I don't know very much about your wife, and the more I know, the more
I'll be able to help her later on."

"You're
gonna take the case then?"

"I'm
inclined to."

"Even
if she's guilty?"

"Most
of my clients are, Mr. Taggart. But if I don't think I can help her, or if
there is a conflict between Sharon and me, then I'm not the right attorney for
her."

"Okay.
Ask away."

Eleanor
came through the back door of the conference room and set a carafe of coffee
and several cups on the table.

"Thank
you, Eleanor," Harriett smiled.

"There's
cream and sugar on the credenza," Eleanor said as she left the room.

"How
long have you and Sharon been married, Mr. Taggart?"

"Eight
years."

"How
did you meet?"

"When
I repaired her car. I'm a mechanic."

"How
would you characterize your marriage?"

Frank
looked at her.

"Is
it a good marriage?" Harriett clarified.

"It's
had its moments, but it's not exactly like you'd see in some romantic movie
where everyone lives happily ever after."

"Has
your marriage changed over the last eight years?"

"We
got two kids, so yeah, it's changed."

"Sharon's
very concerned about her children, Mr. Taggart. You might want to consider
letting them see her."

"I'm
not taking them down there and letting them see their mother in jail. No
way."

"I
can arrange for her to see them in another part of the building if you'd
like."

"I'll
think about it."

"Sharon
said the Browning the police confiscated belongs to you. Is that correct?"

"Yeah,
it was a Christmas present a couple of years ago."

"From
Sharon."

"Yeah."

"Has
she ever fired it?"

"I
took her out a couple of times. She doesn't like to hunt, so I took her to a
firing range."

"Is
she a good shot?"

"A
regular Annie Oakley."

"Can
she hit moving as well as stationary targets?"

"You
shoot?"

"Afraid
not."

"Well,
they got these little round things about the size of a half dollar and painted
orange. They swing them back and forth at different speeds and out of
synch."

"And
she could hit those?"

"Didn't
miss a one."

"About
how far was she from these moving targets?"

"Oh,
forty or fifty yards. Maybe a little more."

"Were
you impressed with her shooting ability?"

"I
guess so. Didn't think much of it."

"Sharon
told me she was at home with you on January eighteenth when the last shooting
took place. Can you verify that?"

"Yeah,
we were home. We all ate dinner, watched a little TV. Sharon usually gets the
kids in the sack around eight or eight-thirty."

"Then
what?"

Frank
smiled and shrugged, "Then I tried to hustle her into bed. You know, enjoy
a little rec time."

"So
you and Sharon made love that evening," Harriett said.

"I
said I tried, but she said she was too tired. One thing led to another, and we
had a spat about it. I finally gave up and went to bed alone."

"When
did Sharon come to bed?"

"Couldn't
tell you. She was there when I woke up the next morning."

"Does
she stay up late by herself often?"

"All
the time. She reads, works on the computer. Does just about anything she can to
avoid going to bed with me."

"Do
you think she's avoiding being physically intimate with you?"

"Sharon's
what you'd call frigid. Been that way since Laurel was born. I thought she'd
get over it, but so far she hasn't."

"Are
you involved with any other women outside of your home, Mr. Taggart?"

"You
want to know if I'm cheating on my wife?"

"Yes."

"I've
done a little dippin' over the last couple of years. In fact, it was Sharon who
recommended it. She told me once when we had a fight that if I wasn't getting
what I needed from her, maybe I should look around and find someone else. She
just didn't want to know about it if I did."

"So
you took her suggestion."

"Yeah.
But I never told Sharon about it."

"Do
you think she knew anyway?"

"I
don't think so, but I doubt she'd care. She's changed, especially recently.
Distant. Argumentative. That kind of thing."

"I
see," Harriett said, making a notation on her pad.

"I
mean once we were horsing around and I grabbed her from behind, just playing
around. At first she was laughing. Then I wouldn't let her go when she wanted
me to. The woman went berserk. Fought like a tiger and nearly crushed my instep
by stomping on it with the heel of her shoe."

"Did
you ask her about that?"

"She
just said she couldn't stand being grabbed from behind and not being able to get
away. Claustrophobia or something, I guess."

"Did
she ever behave that way again?"

"Nope.
And I never grabbed her and held her like that again, either. Sometimes, I'd
try to walk up behind her and get a little grab, you know. She hated it."

"You
continued to do it knowing she didn't like it?"

"She's
my wife. I've got a right to do some grabbing if I want."

"Do
you regard your wife as property?"

"A
wife should be willing to have sex with her husband, don't you think?"

"If
she wants it, I suppose so."

"You
one of them feminist bra burners, Ms. Markham?"

"No,"
she smiled. "Were there any other times when your wife acted differently
or erratically?"

"Can't
think of nothing right now."

Harriett
stood up and extended her hand to Taggart again. "If you think of anything
else you think I should know, please feel free to contact me through the
offices here, Mr. Taggart."

As
Taggart left, Harriett jotted down a few quick notes before pressing the
intercom button and asking for the next relative, Sharon Taggart's mother,
Clarissa Parker Collins.

Clarissa
Collins was a walking advertisement for good breeding and the social graces.
She was impeccably dressed as she entered the conference room, standing tall
and erect, her posture straight enough to balance a book on her head.

"Mrs.
Collins," Harriett said as she greeted the woman who appeared to be in her
mid-sixties, "Harriett Markham. I've been asked by Winston and Dunne to
consider taking your daughter's case."

"Of
course. But if you don't think you'll take it, I don't know why I should be
talking to you."

"Right
now, I'm trying to get a clearer picture of Sharon as a person, and even though
I haven't officially notified the court that I will be her counsel, anything
you tell me will still remain confidential," Harriett explained.

Clarissa
Collins brushed off the seat of a chair with a handkerchief and perched herself
on the edge of the chair, crossing her thin legs at the ankles.

"I
don't know how I can assist you, Ms. Markham. I wasn't with Sharon on the night
in question."

"What
kind of person would you say Sharon is, Mrs. Collins?"

"She's
a nice enough girl, has always been very obedient."

"Never
rebellious, even as a teenager?"

"No,
never."

"Never
got mad or lost control of herself?"

"Once.
She was angry with me, as usual."

"Why
do you say as usual?"

"I
think Sharon resented me for encouraging her to be more social. She didn't
enjoy going out that much. It made her an excellent student, but she lacked the
social graces one can only acquire through interacting with others."

"She
didn't date much then?"

"I
can't remember more than once or twice, and they were both younger than she.
Hardly what I had expected."

"How
did you feel when she got married?"

Clarissa
leaned forward slightly and glanced around to make sure no one else was in the
room.

"I
had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was relieved when she got married. On
the other hand, I wasn't particularly pleased with her choice. Frank doesn't
really fit in."

"Why
were you relieved?"

"It
may sound foolish, Ms. Markham, but when a woman remains single as long as
Sharon did and never goes out with men, people begin to talk, you know."

"You
thought Sharon was a lesbian?"

"It
crossed my mind, but thank God I was wrong. Are you married, Ms. Markham?"
Clarissa asked.

"No,"
Harriett smiled.

Clarissa
leaned away from her slightly. "I see."

"Probably
not," Harriett muttered under her breath. "Is there anything in
particular you dislike about Sharon's husband?"

"He's
not very bright, although he thinks he is. Sharon is exceptionally intelligent,
has a very high IQ, and I have never understood why she chose to throw it all
away on a man like Frank Taggart."

"Perhaps
it was a physical attraction."

"I
suppose it must have been something."

"You
mentioned that Sharon got mad and lost control once as a teenager."

"Yes,
we argued, which was unlike Sharon. She never talked back to adults. I made
sure of that. But she became extremely angry. When she turned to leave the
room, she lashed out with her fist. Actually made a hole in the wall."

"Really?"

"And
broke her hand in the process. I told her that violence like that always hurts
the person who is angry."

"You
think it's better to suppress your anger?"

"Absolutely.
Once you calm down and think about what made you angry to begin with, it's
never as bad as you thought it was."

"I'm
surprised you haven't developed an ulcer, Mrs. Collins. Venting anger is a very
natural thing and considered to be quite healthy."

"Unless
you take that anger out on members of your own family. I taught both my
children that it's wrong to use violence against members of your own family, no
matter how much they aggravate you. As a result, I'm confident that neither of
them would ever abuse their children nor tolerate it from a spouse."

"What
were you arguing about?"

Clarissa
wrinkled her nose and shrugged. "I really cannot recall, but I'm sure it
was something trivial. One of those teenage things."

"She
misses her children very much."

"Sharon
is a good mother. There have been times when I thought she might have reacted
differently to their behavior, but they are clean and well cared for."

"I
appreciate you coming in to talk to me, Mrs. Collins. If you ever need to
contact me, please contact Doug or Alex, and they will relay a message to
me."

"When
will we know your decision?"

"By
the end of the day."

As
Clarissa left the room, Harriett made more notes and poured herself a cup of
coffee. Carrying her cup, she left the conference room via the back door. She
needed to move around, and the conference room seemed to be getting smaller and
smaller the longer she remained in it. Halfway down the hall, Alex stepped out
of her office and handed a memo to her secretary.

"How's
it going in there?" she asked when she saw Harriett.

"Okay.
I think there's only the father and brother left. Hopefully, that won't take
long. I'd like to see Sharon interact with her parents and husband
sometime."

"Does
that mean you're going to take her case?"