Chapter Twenty #2
‘I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But the magistrate’s court can’t grant bail in a murder case. Only the Supreme Court has that power, and even then, only in exceptional circumstances.’
Elsa was thinking about Cam. About the promises she’d made to him. About his frightened little face.
‘Jack’s a single dad, without support. Does that count as exceptional circumstances?’
‘We could make that argument,’ Andrew said, in a tone that made it clear he felt it would be a wasted effort.
‘Look, Badger,’ Nathan put in. ‘We’re in the dark here. The police don’t arrest people for no reason. Why do they think Jack killed this guy?’
Andrew folded his hands together and rested them on the table.
‘The police were given a tip-off that evidence from Walker’s murder would be found at Jack’s apartment.
When they got there they found a gun, and they found a shirt of Jack’s with a bloodstain, and some boots that they also thought they could tie to the scene.
Most of the forensic testing is not complete, but the gun was a match. It’s the gun that killed Walker.’
For a moment, Elsa was speechless. For a moment, she saw Jack living a double life where something like this could be possible. Then sense came flooding back.
‘Jack didn’t do it,’ Elsa said.
‘Elsa—’ Nathan began.
‘No, I’m serious, Nate. I’m telling you, Jack’s not capable of killing someone.
He’s just—he’s not made that way. He’s the kind of guy who carries spiders outside.
If there’s a fight, if there’s trouble, Jack is just gone.
I mean it. It’s because of the way he grew up.
’ There had been times during their friendship when she’d wished he had a little more fight, but really, what made Jack Jack was his gentleness.
He wasn’t perfect. He’d screwed up more than once in his lifetime—his biggest screw-up was one she knew intimately, because it was one she’d had a hand in—but he was, innately, a kind person.
And he was the furthest thing from a killer that she could imagine.
‘Look, his parents were nuts. Religious fanatics. His dad used to beat the shit out of him. His mother used to starve him. Jack’s reaction to all that was .
. . he hates conflict, hates any kind of violence. ’
‘For what it’s worth, Jack says that the gun was sent to him,’ Andrew said. ‘Left on his doorstep in a box with his name on it.’
‘He told that to the police?’ Nathan asked.
Andrew shrugged. ‘From their point of view, it’s not a very convincing story.’
‘What about the bloodstain?’ Elsa asked. She felt a bit sick.
‘What about it?’
‘You said that the forensic testing wasn’t complete. So . . . What? They think that blood is Robert Walker’s, right? What if the testing comes back and shows that it isn’t his blood? Will they let Jack go?’
Andrew was shaking his head. ‘That decision would be up to the police, at least at this stage. But even if the testing goes Jack’s way, I can’t see that being enough for them to drop the charges.’
‘What would be enough?’ Nathan asked.
Andrew seemed to think about it. The window to his office was slightly ajar, and through it Elsa could hear the sounds of the street below. Evening traffic. The odd car horn. She could smell the faint scent of garlic cooking. There must be a restaurant nearby.
‘I think . . . Jack doesn’t have an alibi for the night Walker was murdered, so he’s going to need to prove that the gun got to him exactly the way he said it did. If there was some evidence of that or—’
‘Or if he figured out who the real killer is,’ Elsa said.
Both men looked at her. ‘Well, isn’t it obvious?
Whoever killed Walker sent the gun to Jack, of course.
They must have had a reason to do that. You said this box had Jack’s name on it?
’ She waited for Andrew to nod. ‘So, this wasn’t random.
This person chose Jack. Why? He needs to start thinking about who his enemies are. ’
Andrew was nodding slowly. ‘I’ll talk to him. In the meantime, do you have any idea of who that could be?’
Elsa was at a loss. ‘I mean . . . Jack’s an insurance adjuster.
It’s a shitty job but it pays the bills and he can work from home, for Cam.
I guess he could have pissed someone off if he denied a claim?
’ It seemed so unlikely. ‘His parents are crazy. Maybe . . . but he hasn’t been in contact with them in years.
’ Elsa felt defeated, and they hadn’t even started to fight back yet. ‘Can I visit him?’
‘You can apply to be added to his visitor list. A visit will take at least a few days to be approved.’
‘Right.’ A shudder rolled through Elsa as her mind presented her with images of what Jack could be going through. A prison cell for hours and hours of every day. Other prisoners. No privacy. No choices. Prison food. What if he was assaulted? That happened, didn’t it? All the time.
‘If Jack doesn’t get bail, how long until the trial?’
‘Best-case scenario? Six months. Worst-case, two years.’
‘You’re telling me he could be in prison for two years before he even gets a hearing?’
Andrew said nothing, but only because he didn’t want to say the words out loud, or maybe because he knew he didn’t need to. She could see the answer written all over his face. Elsa reeled.
‘Look, this might be awkward, but we need to talk about money,’ Andrew said. ‘Jack tells me he doesn’t have any real savings.’
‘He doesn’t.’ Elsa said. ‘We’ll pay your fees.’
‘Okay,’ Andrew said slowly. His eyes went to Nathan again. ‘I just want to make sure that you know what that means. What the costs are likely to be, I mean, if this goes to trial.’
‘What are we talking?’ Nathan asked.
Andrew grimaced. ‘We’ve talked about a bail application to the Supreme Court. If we move forward with that, it will run to at least fifty k. We’ll have to pay a QC, so even with my mate’s rates, it could very well be more.’
‘We can do that. And for the trial?’ Elsa asked.
‘At least another three hundred. Minimum. Could go up to half a million, and that’s keeping a tight lid on things.’
Half a million dollars. Half a million, with no possible return and no way of getting the money back.
This wasn’t like the quarter of a million she had gambled—no, invested—in Darla Darling.
If everything with Darla had worked out, that money would have driven revenue and ultimately profit, and even now that things were not at all working out as planned, she would get the money back (she would, she had to).
With Jack’s fees, the absolute best-case scenario was that he would be free at the end of it all, but their bank account would be empty.
Elsa started calculating rapidly in her head.
They didn’t have it. They didn’t have half a million in cash available. They’d have to remortgage the house.
The silence had gone on too long. Nathan cleared his throat.
‘What about Jack’s son?’ he asked.
‘You said he’s with you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Jack made it very clear to me that he doesn’t want his parents anywhere near Cameron. We ran out of time before we could get into the reasons why but from what you’ve said, Elsa—’
‘No. No way. Cam can’t go to them. He doesn’t know them, for starters, and they’re completely unfit. Jack broke his leg once falling out of a tree and they waited two weeks to bring him to the hospital because they thought they could pray it better.’
‘Right,’ said Andrew. ‘What about siblings?’
Elsa shook her head. ‘Jack doesn’t have any.’
‘Social Services will get involved. Have they been in touch?’
‘Not yet. That police officer—Phillips—she said to expect a visit but no one’s called me or anything.’