Supreme Justice (24 page)

2012

A month and a half after the shootout at the Court, the
China Sea
was off the front page and Dana Cutler’s life was back to normal. One of the jobs that Dana’s work on the
Woodruff
investigation had disrupted involved the defense of an investment banker who had been indicted in a white-collar fraud case. Dana had spent the day in the defense attorney’s office briefing him on her investigation and advising him on the witnesses and documents that had to be subpoenaed for trial. The meeting had broken up late, and Dana was so tired that she’d worried about having an accident driving home. A sound bite on the news about the hunt for Thomas Bergstrom woke her up.

An hour after Dana had given Keith Evans the video of Bergstrom murdering Dennis Masterson and his driver, the FBI had raided Bergstrom’s house. They were too late. Bergstrom’s wife and children were there, but Bergstrom had disappeared into the ether. So far, the radio announcer said, the international manhunt had not turned up a single clue to The Swede’s whereabouts.

Bergstrom’s disappearance was one of the few setbacks in the investigation into the violence at the Supreme Court and the mystery surrounding the
China Sea
. Cheryl Fortier—the woman who had impersonated Harriet Lezak—was talking as fast as she could in hopes of staying off death row. In addition to clearing up the roles of Millard Price and Dennis Masterson in the sordid affair, Fortier had told the FBI that Dave Fletcher, the night watchman, had been killed soon after Oswald and Swanson left the dock, and his body had been dumped at sea.

Jake was sound asleep when Dana tiptoed into their bedroom. She dropped her clothes where she took them off and went into the bathroom to wash up. Dana had stopped thinking about Bergstrom and the
China Sea
by the time she arrived home. While she flossed, her thoughts turned to her boring day and the stacks of subpoenas with numbers and names and addresses she had helped write. Suddenly mental tumblers clicked into place in the recesses of her brain, and she grew cold.

As soon as she finished in the bathroom, Dana fixed herself a cup of strong coffee. Then she went to her home office and worked out the logical inferences of her brainstorm. Dana booted up her computer and checked her notes from her visit to Portland. The name she wanted was buried in them. Dana checked the time. Washington, D.C., was three hours ahead of Oregon, so there was a chance she could catch the person she needed to talk to before she went to sleep. Dana dialed information and breathed a sigh of relief when the operator told her that LuAnn Cody’s number was listed.

“Ms. Cody, my name is Dana Cutler, and I’m calling from Washington, D.C.,” Dana said as soon as they were connected.

“D.C.?”

Dana could hear the confusion in her voice.

“I’m a reporter, and my editor wanted me to fact-check a story we’re going to run in the paper that involves the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office.”

“I don’t understand. What kind of story? I’m a secretary. Shouldn’t you be talking to one of the attorneys?”

“No. I had a very nice meeting with Monte Pike when I was in Portland a while back. Your name was mentioned, and I wrote it in my notes, but I’ve misplaced them. So I wrote the paragraph from memory, and then I wasn’t certain I got it right. That’s why I’m calling, to make certain that we print what really happened.”

“I still don’t know why you need to talk to me.”

“Right, I’m sorry. I should have explained. Mr. Pike mentioned that you were Max Dietz’s secretary. This detail has to do with the day he disappeared. We want to be accurate when we print something. Like your name. I have it down as L-U-capital A-N-N, no space. Is that right?”

“Yes. But what did you want to know about Mr. Dietz? I mean, I’m not sure I should be discussing him with a reporter without asking one of the attorneys.”

“Well, I’ll ask you the question. If you don’t feel comfortable, I can give you my number, and you can call back after you talk to someone. Is that fair?”

“I guess. What do you want to know?”

“OK, I wrote that the last time anyone saw Mr. Dietz, he asked for some subpoenas, you typed them for him, he took them and left the office, and he wasn’t seen again.”

“No, that’s not what happened,” Cody said. “I didn’t type them. Mr. Dietz just asked me for several subpoenas, and I gave him blanks, and he took them into his office.”

“Wouldn’t you have typed them normally?”

“Yes, but he didn’t ask me to that time.”

“Thanks. I’ll change that.” Dana paused as if she were making a note. “You don’t happen to know why he wanted the subpoenas, do you?”

“No, he never said.”

“Well, thanks a lot. Sorry to take up your time, but I wanted the story to be accurate.”

“Has anybody figured that out, what happened to Mr. Dietz?” Cody asked.

“Not that I know. But I’ll let you know if I learn the truth about his disappearance.”

Dana hung up and stared into space. She worked everything through twice more to make certain she wasn’t fooling herself. Of course, she could be wrong, and her flight to Oregon could be a waste of time. Even if she was right, it was highly unlikely that she would be able to find the proof she needed. But she had to try, so she called the airlines and bought a round-trip ticket to Portland.

It was raining in Portland when Dana’s plane touched down, but it always rained in Portland, so she didn’t read the foul weather as an omen. Dana drove her rental car to the hotel where she’d stayed on her last visit to the City of Roses. After she checked in, she headed for Mary Garrett’s office. While she walked, she debated the morality of what she was about to do, a debate that had begun to rage as soon as she’d hung up the phone after speaking with LuAnn Cody. If she went through with her plan, she might learn the truth, but a murderer might go free. If she used deceit to get what she wanted, justice might be served, but she would have to betray a trust.

Mary Garrett rarely greeted visitors at the door to her office because their height disparity became apparent as soon as they met, but she made an exception for Dana Cutler.

“Come on in,” Garrett said when her secretary showed Dana in. “I can’t thank you enough for the work you did for Sarah.”

Dana’s features didn’t betray the guilt she felt. “I just wrote the stories. You wrote the petition for cert.”

“I have no doubt that your exposé had a lot to do with cert being granted.”

“Since the justices never reveal their reasons for granting cert, we’ll never know how much influence
Exposed
had on their decision. What matters is that there is a good chance you’ll get Woodruff’s case reversed.”

Garrett motioned Dana into a client chair and took one next to her.

“You were mysterious on the phone about why you’re visiting,” Garrett said. “What’s up?”

“I have a strange request, Mary.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“I want you to hire me as an investigator in Sarah’s case. It won’t cost you anything. I’ll charge you one dollar.”

Garrett cocked her head to one side. “Why do you want to be my investigator?”

“To protect your client. I may have figured out something about her case, but I won’t know if I’m right until I examine the contents of Max Dietz’s office. When I was here last, Monte Pike told me it’s in the evidence room because Mr. Dietz’s case is still open. I could have gone to Pike with my suspicions, but I’m more interested in seeing if I’m right than helping either side in this case.”

Garrett wasn’t smiling now. “You have me thoroughly confused,” she said.

“Good. If I’m right, the less you know about what I’m thinking, the better off you and Woodruff are.”

“I don’t like this.”

“I don’t expect you to. Think of it this way: If Monte Pike is with me when I examine the evidence, he can use anything incriminating I discover against your client. But the attorney-client privilege will shield me from his questions if I’m Sarah Woodruff’s agent. So, will you get me into the evidence room?”

Monte Pike was puzzled by Mary Garrett’s discovery request. Why would she want to inspect the evidence gathered by the police in Max Dietz’s case? Garrett’s secretary had left the DA’s office as soon as she delivered the motion for discovery, so Pike didn’t get a chance to question her. He assumed she wouldn’t know why her boss had filed the motion anyway and wouldn’t tell him anything if she did. That left a mystery for Pike to solve, but he loved puzzles. Unfortunately, he had no clue to the solution of this one, and the only conclusion he drew was that Garrett suspected a connection between Max’s disappearance and Sarah Woodruff’s case. Pike had no idea what that connection might be when he called Garrett and told her that the evidence would be in a conference room in the DA’s office whenever she wanted to examine it. He had asked what she was looking for, but Garrett had given him a polite version of “That’s for me to know and you to find out,” so he was no wiser when Garrett broke their connection.

The next day, another mystery presented itself when Dana Cutler followed Mary Garrett into the conference room. Pike flashed a bemused smile.

“What a pleasant and unexpected surprise. But I’m afraid reporters aren’t allowed to look at evidence in an ongoing case, no matter how famous they may be.”

“Cutler’s my investigator, Monte,” Garrett said.

Pike looked perplexed and could see that Garrett was pleased by his obvious confusion.

“I guess I could ask if Ms. Cutler is licensed in Oregon,” Pike said, “but you’d find some way around that.”

Mary started to say something, but Pike held up his hand.

“I’m fine with Ms. Cutler helping the defense as long as she promises that she won’t report about anything she sees that is not public record.”

Mary turned toward Dana.

“I’m fine with that,” Dana said.

“OK, then.” Pike pointed to one of the DA’s investigators who was sitting in a corner of the conference room. “Bob Hunsacker is here to keep an eye on you.”

“Hey, Bob,” said Garrett, who knew the investigator.

“Ms. Garrett,” he answered with a nod.

Pike took another hard look at Dana. Then he shook his head.

“Do either of you ladies want some coffee?” Pike asked.

“I know how bad your office coffee is, Monte,” Mary said. “Just the offer is enough for a prosecutorial misconduct charge.”

Pike laughed. “Have fun,” he said before closing the door behind him.

Mary had tried to get Dana to tell her what she was looking for, but Dana insisted that the lawyer couldn’t be hurt by what she didn’t know. Dana suggested that Mary go through the evidence as if she
did
know why they were there. Dana could see that Garrett was annoyed, but she was relieved when Woodruff’s attorney decided to play along.

Brown cardboard boxes were stacked on the conference table and the floor. There were Magic Marker notations indicating where the contents of each box had been found. Dana started with the boxes filled with evidence taken from Dietz’s house so Hunsacker would not be able to figure out what she was doing. She knew that Pike would get a full briefing on what Hunsacker had seen as soon as she and Mary were gone.

One hour and fifteen minutes after Dana started, she opened the first box she actually wanted to examine. It held the contents of Dietz’s office desk. She wasn’t disappointed when she found nothing of interest. The real object of her search was a plastic trash bag that held everything that had been found on Dietz’s desk. Dana’s heart beat rapidly as she unwound the tie that secured the neck of the bag and emptied the contents onto the tabletop.

Dana was an excellent poker player, and she kept any emotion from showing as she sifted through the contents of the bag. Halfway through the mess, her long shot came through in the form of a crumpled, half-filled-out subpoena. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hunsacker watching her closely, so she controlled her desire to read the subpoena and made it the fifth piece of paper she studied. It only took her a moment to see what Dietz had written and, in that moment, she knew she was right.

Instead of feeling elated, she felt sick.

Sarah Woodruff had a huge smile on her face when she walked into the visiting room at the Willamette Valley Correctional Facility for Women.

“I don’t know how to thank you,” Sarah said. “The stories in
Exposed
created a political climate that almost forced the Court to take my appeal. Mary won’t say it, but I know she thinks she’s going to get them to send my case down for a new trial and force the government to reveal what they know about the
China Sea
. When I’m free, I insist on taking you to dinner at the best restaurant in Portland.”

“You may not want to when you learn why I’m here.”

Sarah stopped smiling. “What’s up?” she asked, her voice suddenly chilly with suspicion.

Dana lowered her voice. “I know you killed John Finley.”

Woodruff turned pale.

“You don’t have to worry about me. I made certain Mary hired me as your investigator. Everything I know is covered by the attorney-client privilege, so I can’t be compelled to talk to Monte Pike or anyone else.”

“If you think I killed John, why are you protecting me?”

“Finley put you through hell the first time. I don’t know what went on when he died. I’m certain that you didn’t kill him in the heat of passion, but this is not my fight.”

“So why put your nose where it doesn’t belong?” Woodruff asked angrily.

“Plain old curiosity. Once I figured everything out, I had to know if I was right.”

“What do you think you know?” Woodruff asked.

“I went through the evidence that was taken from Max Dietz’s office. I was looking for one item. Dietz asked his secretary for a stack of subpoena forms on the day he disappeared. He made a mistake on one of the forms and crumpled it up. But he didn’t throw it away. It was a subpoena to a bank for any account belonging to you.”

“So what?”

“The investigators who looked into Dietz’s disappearance missed the significance of the subpoena, and I almost did, too. You grew up poor, Sarah. Your salary as a police officer is the most money you’ve ever made. How were you able to pay Mary Garrett’s retainer and finance a gold-plated defense?”

Woodruff didn’t answer, but Dana saw her fists clench hard enough to turn her knuckles white.

“There have been rumors from the start of the case about a quarter of a million dollars that John Finley was given to pay the crew and other expenses, but no one ever found that money.” Dana caught herself. “Correction, no one but you.”

Dana waited for a response. When there was none, she continued.

“Here’s what I think happened. Finley was wounded when he fled the ship. If he stopped to hide the money or the duffel bag, the kidnappers would have got him before he reached your condo. And he couldn’t stop, because he was wounded and needed medical help. But he couldn’t go to a hospital, and you were the only one he knew who could help him.

“You’ve told everyone that you didn’t know that Finley had hidden his duffel bag in your house on the evening he fled the
China Sea
. I don’t believe that. I think you found the bag when you were released from the hospital and took the money. Then you hid the duffel bag, but you didn’t hide it in your house. If you had, the police would have found it when they searched your place.

“The first time you were arrested, you knew you didn’t kill Finley and you were desperate to help Mary Garrett prove your innocence in any way she could, so you told her several names you claimed John Finley had mentioned. Those names were Orrin Hadley, Dennis Lang, and Larry Kester, the names in the false passports that were found in Finley’s duffel bag when his body was discovered.

“You couldn’t tell Garrett where you saw those names without admitting that you’d found the duffel bag and looked inside it. Once you admitted that, anyone looking for the money would know you’d stolen it. So you made up a story about overhearing Finley say the names.

“I think you believed that Finley had been killed by his kidnappers and that everyone connected with the money would believe the drug dealers or the CIA had the cash. But you couldn’t leave the money in your house. You had to hide it. So you went around Portland making deposits of less than ten thousand dollars in many banks, so they wouldn’t have to file reports with the government, which the banks must do for cash deposits in excess of ten thousand. That’s the money you used to finance your legal defense.

“Then you learned that Finley didn’t die, and you knew he’d show up eventually, looking for his money. And when he did, you killed him with the throw-down gun you stole from the evidence in the drug case. To cover yourself, you fired a shot from your service gun into the floor in the entryway so you could explain the shot your neighbor heard. How am I doing so far?”

Woodruff was staring at Dana with a look of pure hatred. Dana didn’t blame her.

“Unfortunately for you, the police made a match between the throw-down and the drug case and found your signature on the log, which made you the last person to handle the gun after the drug case was over. And you had the misfortune of having a nosy neighbor who saw Finley go into your condo on the evening you killed him.

“Then it got worse. Max Dietz figured out that you’d taken the missing money and tried to blackmail you with a threat to serve the subpoenas on the banks unless you gave him the quarter million you took from Finley. I think you killed him and buried him somewhere to protect yourself.”

“You don’t expect me to respond, do you?” Woodruff asked.

“You’re too smart for that.”

“All of what you’ve said is theory, anyway. You don’t have hard evidence to support any of it.”

“Not now, but I have an idea how I could get some. I’m betting that there are still accounts with amounts of less than ten thousand dollars that were opened in several banks around the time you were first accused of killing John Finley. If I’m wrong, there will still be bank records showing the deposits and withdrawals. I’m betting, post 9/11, getting the skinny on those accounts would be a snap for Homeland Security, the FBI, or the CIA. What do you think?”

“Do you plan to tell your theory to anyone?” Woodruff asked.

“No. I told you, I made Mary hire me so I wouldn’t have to get involved, but Monte Pike knows we were looking for something when Mary and I went through Dietz’s stuff. He’s supposed to be a genius. I guess we’ll find out real soon just how smart he is.”