32
Julia, Paul, and Bennie opened a pizza box in Courtney’s motel room, releasing a tomato-and-cheese steam.
Everybody took a slice on a paper plate, and she tried not to notice her best friend’s mascara or gold hoops lying on the bureau.
She closed the curtains, paranoid after seeing the Buckley cruiser, and sat down on the bed with her pizza.
She tried to set her emotions aside as she sized up Courtney’s lawyer.
Bennie Rosato turned out to be an imposing presence at six feet tall, still trim and ripped in her fifties, like a former athlete.
Her face was pretty but devoid of makeup, and she had clear blue eyes set wide apart, with deep laugh lines around them, a strong nose, and a full mouth.
Her unruly blonde hair was in a messy topknot, and she was dressed in a no-nonsense navy suit, a white oxford shirt, and a pair of Gucci loafers that looked well worn.
Bennie chewed her pizza. “First, the good news.”
“There’s good news?” Julia asked, hopeful.
“Everything is relative.” Bennie wiped her hands on a napkin, then set it aside.
“The good news is we’re going to win. They have a weak case.”
“How so?”
“To put it simply, they have to prove motive and opportunity. Their claim of motive will be Courtney inheriting Kay’s farm and estate, which is about four hundred seventy grand combined.
Also she’s the beneficiary on Kay’s life insurance, but Courtney’s not sure of that amount. Either way, that’s enough for motive.”
“Hold on.” Julia set her pizza aside, realizing she had no appetite. “I know it’s a lot of money, but Courtney didn’t need it. She just got a promotion. She was making great money.” Julia didn’t know how much exactly, so she turned to Paul. “Right?”
“Right, $225,000 a year, with commissions.”
Bennie nodded. “I know, and that will be our argument. But you have to remember that this will be tried to a jury of locals who make a lot less than that, and they’ll think it’s an amount worth killing for.
In my experience, it’s certainly sufficient for motive.
” Bennie crossed her muscular legs. “The Commonwealth’s proof of opportunity is also adequate, since Courtney placed herself on the scene by calling 911.
It becomes a credibility contest as to whether you believe she killed her grandmother for the money. ”
Julia’s heart sank. “So why do you think their case is weak?”
“The weakness in their case involves the murder weapon. They can’t have her prints on the gun because they didn’t have her prints until they booked her.
Her prints aren’t in any federal or state database because she has no priors.
” Bennie took the lid off her fountain Coke, then took a gulp.
“That means they arrested her solely based on where the gun was found, namely here. That’s too circumstantial, and I don’t think that’s enough to prove reasonable doubt.
They can’t prove she touched the gun, either, because she didn’t.
” Bennie turned to Julia. “The fact that your room is connected to hers almost got you charged as a putative co-conspirator. They verified that you were in Italy at the time of Kay’s murder, so you didn’t get charged. We’ll talk more about your role later.”
“Okay.” Julia wondered if Courtney had told Bennie about her alleged psychic abilities.
“Secondly, and it’s a related argument, is that they can’t prove Courtney fired the gun because they didn’t do a residue test on her hands.
A residue test retrieves certain chemicals from the skin after someone has fired a gun.
There are some differences with a ghost gun, but they’re minor and the cops didn’t do any residue test.”
“Good,” Julia said, heartened.
Paul said nothing.
“In addition, they’ll have to prove the bullet that killed Kay came from the ghost gun they found in this room.
Those ballistics tests take time, especially with ghost guns.
The cops didn’t have those results before they recovered the gun, so they really rushed to judgment in arresting her.
It’s super fishy and suggests a police conspiracy to frame her.
I’ve never seen an arrest move so fast on evidence this slim. ”
Julia felt encouraged. “Okay, that’s good, but I have a question. If they planted the gun and they know who killed Kay, or they were actually involved in killing Kay, then it will be the murder weapon and the bullet will pass the ballistics test.”
“Understood.” Bennie nodded. “But the fact that they arrested her without waiting for the test results only makes my argument stronger, proving that they were rushing to judgment. It raises the question why and sets up my argument that she’s being framed by the police. But don’t let me get ahead of myself.”
“Okay, one last thing. Can you just explain about ghost guns?”
“Sure, in Philadelphia we have a fair amount of experience.” Bennie cleared her throat.
“In conventional ballistics, you can do tests to determine whether a bullet came from a particular gun. How? The barrel of a conventional gun has spiral rifling grooves because of the way a bullet spins when it’s fired, which gives it stability during flight.
Those grooves make lines around the circumference of the bullet.
The number, angle, and direction of the lines match the gun that fired it. That’s with a conventional gun.”
“Okay.” Julia nodded, following.
“Plastic gun barrels don’t have rifling grooves.
Even if they did, the plastic would be too soft to dent the bullet.
But 3D printers leave what experts call a ‘fingerprint,’ though obviously it’s not a ‘fingerprint’ per se.
” Bennie made air quotes. “You can use it to trace 3D-printed weapons through digital forensics. Analysts look at the marking on the 3D-printed gun to find which 3D printer produced it. A printer can possess a unique fingerprint because of vagaries that occur during the manufacturing process, like with any product. These imperfections can affect the bullet. But testing is not as certain as conventional ballistics, which is another reason why ghost guns pose problems for law enforcement.”
“So, is that good for us?”
“Yes. I don’t know if they’ll be able to prove that the bullet that killed Kay came from the ghost gun.” Bennie raised an unpolished fingernail. “However, I spoke with the detectives, and they’ll make much of the fact that she sells 3D printers.”
Julia’s heart sank. “But she doesn’t use them.”
“True, but their argument has jury appeal. She can’t claim ignorance, and it won’t look good for her. She spoke to me knowledgeably about the 3D product line. She just got a promotion.”
“So the fact that she’s good at her job will hurt her?”
“Unfortunately, yes. She told me she has a 3D demo printer in her office. I’m sure they’re going to issue a search warrant for that, if they haven’t already.
They’ll test it to see if the bullet came from a gun that would have been manufactured by that printer.
” Bennie glanced at Paul, who was still quiet, then she continued.
“The other weakness in their case, which also involves the gun, arises out of the other failure in their investigation. Not only did they not conduct any residue test, but they didn’t search Courtney.
Their theory is that she concealed the gun on her person or somewhere in the house.
They searched the house but didn’t find a gun.
They didn’t search Courtney, so they can’t prove that either.
” Bennie straightened. “These are significant proof problems for them, and I don’t think they can meet their burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
I’ll use these arguments to support our position that the gun was planted by the police.
I wish I knew why they framed her, but I don’t, yet. ”
“I don’t either,” Julia said, nonplussed. “Alex Dudek, who runs Shenandoah Preservation, said that some of the Buckley cops are white supremacists.”
Bennie arched an eyebrow. “It wouldn’t shock me, but I don’t think the fact that Courtney’s biracial and her grandmother’s Black is sufficient to convince a jury that’s the reason the cops planted the gun. And it doesn’t answer the question, why now?”
“That could be answered by whatever she found at the clean-up, like I told you.”
“True.” Bennie paused. “And you think this Samuel character, who’s gone missing, would know what she found?”
“Yes, Alex thinks Kay would have told Samuel. He had a crush on her, judging from the photographs in his cabin. Wait, hold on. Let me get the note he left in my car.” Julia fished the note from her purse and handed it to Bennie.
Paul looked over, reading the note.
Bennie nodded. “So he knows he was suspected.”
“That was my thought, too. He could’ve figured it out from a phone message Alex left him, or heard it in town, or was told it by Glushenko and Kowalski. Alex thinks he heard it through the grapevine.” Julia thought a moment. “What do we do with the note? Do we give it to the police?”
“I’m not sure yet. We don’t have to. They have an obligation to turn over exculpatory evidence to us, that is, evidence that points to Courtney’s innocence.
But we don’t have a similar obligation.” Bennie shook her head, eyeing the note.
“I don’t believe Samuel anyway. If he didn’t kill her, why’s he on the run? ”
“That’s what I said. But Alex said he isn’t the type.”
“Not all murderers seem like the type.” Bennie frowned.
“I need to know more about Samuel because he’s the likeliest suspect.
He’s known Kay a long time, he’s taking photographs without her knowledge, then he goes missing?
Sometimes the most obvious answer is the right one.
He’s a major suspect for me, whether he turns up or not. ”
“What do you mean?”
“If we have to try this case, Samuel is the man I’ll point to as a much more likely suspect than Courtney.
They pinned this on Courtney for reasons we don’t know and they’re avoiding arresting the obvious killer.
They could have reasons for protecting Samuel.
Who stands to benefit if he’s untouched?
Is he giving money to someone? Does he have money? ”
“Not from the looks of his place.”
“That’s another thing you can’t tell by looking.
” Bennie paused. “By the way, Courtney told me there was a murder on the neighboring farm, owned by a McKenna, almost thirty years ago. A man named Shoemaker was killed, and McKenna went missing afterward. Shoemaker was a drifter, and they found his body in the well. The house burned down. Tell me what else you know about that.”
“Nothing more.”
“I’ll put my investigator on this. I want to know when that house burned down, how, and who owns the property now.
Somebody has to be paying property taxes.
I won’t know if their murders are related until I have the facts.
” Bennie shifted position. “Now. Courtney will be arraigned tomorrow, which means that she’ll be formally charged with first-degree murder.
She’ll plead not guilty. She made that decision when we met. ”
“First-degree murder,” Julia repeated, reeling. “This is a nightmare.”
Paul looked down.
“Next, about two weeks after the arraignment, there’s a preliminary hearing.
Normally a preliminary hearing is pro forma, in that all the Commonwealth has to show is that they have enough proof to keep somebody locked up.
Mind you, not enough to convict them, but keep them locked up until trial. Understand the difference?”
“Yes.”
“I like preliminary hearings because we hear the proof they have, and by then, they’ll have ballistics tests.
” Bennie’s blue eyes lit up. “Usually, I can’t get anybody out of jail after a preliminary hearing, but this time, I have a shot.
If they have these proof failures, they’re going to have a hard time.
I don’t know how they got the D.A. to charge this case unless he’s very friendly to the Buckley cops. ”
“Maybe he’s in on the conspiracy, too?”
“Possible.”
“So you’re saying you can get her out after the preliminary hearing?”
“Yes, I’m going to try, but the bad news is that Courtney’s in jail until after then.”
“When is the preliminary hearing?”
“Within fourteen days after the preliminary arraignment.”
“When’s that?”
“That’s anytime, even tonight.” Bennie checked her watch. “A preliminary arraignment can happen whenever they get a magistrate judge, even after hours. It’s a routine proceeding, and they’ll probably do it from the county prison via closed-circuit TV.”
“Not in person?”
“No.”
“Can we go watch?”
“Yes, of course. I go as her counsel, and you can come with. We’ll have to wait for them to call. Stay in touch with me.”
Julia thought it over. “So you’re saying that Courtney could be out in two weeks?”
“Yes, if we win.”
“Thank God.” Julia felt a wave of relief. She wondered if she’d get a vision sooner than that or if she could cause one.
“That’s good news,” Paul said after a moment.
“Happy to help.” Bennie paused, her expression turning grim. “But we have to talk about the worst-case scenario. If we lose the preliminary hearing, she’s in jail until trial, which can take a year or two.”
No. Julia felt tears come to her eyes.
Paul looked down.
“She doesn’t want to plea bargain, and the Commonwealth didn’t make an offer yet anyway. If their reason for arresting her is corrupt, they won’t. If we lose the preliminary hearing, they’ll transfer her to Muncy, a women’s prison. It’s minimum security, but it’s still prison.”
Julia shuddered. “Can we visit?”
“Yes, after they intake her. I can always see her and I’ll let you know how she’s doing. She asked me to notify her company. She’s worried she’ll lose her job but I’m going to get her put on leave.” Bennie looked at Paul. “You okay? You’ve been pretty quiet.”
“I’m shocked that this can happen.”
“Anything can happen,” Bennie shot back, matter-of-factly.
Just then Julia’s phone rang, and she checked the screen. “Hold on, it’s Alex. I should take it.” She answered the call. “Hi, how are you?”
“Not good,” Alex answered, his voice shaky. “Samuel’s dead.”