Chapter 17
The Justice card stands for truth. Stay true to yourself and act with integrity.
CAL
To date, the greatest horror and humiliation of my life is being transported to the courthouse in the back of a police cruiser. Laura directs Detective Bizzell to take me around to the back entrance because “the AJC, CNN, and FOX are out in full force at the front of the courthouse.” Once more I wonder about this woman’s mojo. Her “requests” sound more like edicts.
I’m certain Detective Bizzell could have been a tad gentler with the cuffs, but I let it slide. I did throw up on her. Not on purpose, though she might not realize that.
At the courthouse, she takes me by the elbow and steers me through the courthouse door. A court officer meets us, and I am released into his custody.
I sit at the defense table with Laura. The DA who had been present at the interrogation, Aaron Carter, is seated at the other table. Detectives Chan and Bizzell are seated directly behind him.
The judge enters the room. “Crap,” Laura swears under her breath. I think I heard Detective Bizzell chuckle.
“All rise. The Honorable Gretchen Jackson presiding.”
Judge Jackson is one of the tallest and most regal women I’ve ever seen. She looks fairly familiar; maybe I’d seen her at some of the college’s fund-raising events.
Judge Jackson nods to the ADA. “Mr. Carter, are the people ready?”
“Yes, your Honor, we are.”
The Judge turns to Laura. “Ms. Parker?”
“Still go by Fuller, Judge.”
Recognition floods my mind. Laura Fuller is married to Elizabeth Parker, current Governor of Georgia. It was a big deal when Governor Parker was elected as the first female and first gay Governor of a Bible Belt state. It was a bigger deal when she married her longtime partner a few weeks ago.
Now it made sense why Laura wields so much power around the precinct and courthouse. No one is going to intentionally step on the toes of the wife of the Governor. As for the Judge, I realize why Detective Bizzell chuckled when the Judge approached the bench. Judge Jackson is known as the toughest judge in the city on crime. “Maximum Jackson” is her nickname.
“We are asking that Dr. Cassidy, a professor at Peachtree College and a long-standing member of the community, be released on her own recognizance.”
“The people object, Your Honor.” Aaron Carter pounds the table for effect. “This crime was unusually violent and there is a history of violence perpetrated by the suspect on the victim.”
Well, it was just a few eggs and rocks. Nothing serious. But there was stalking and that pesky restraining order.
“In addition, Your Honor, we have a credible witness, in fact, a colleague of Dr. Cassidy’s, who will testify that he heard Dr. Cassidy threaten to kill Mr. Davis the very day he was viciously murdered. We are locating an additional witness who can place Dr. Cassidy at Mr. Davis’s home at the time of death.”
Judge Jackson peered over her bifocals. “Ms. Fuller?”
“Judge, you will note in the folder on your desk several depositions by colleagues and supervisors of Dr. Cassidy and a statement of support from Peachtree College. We will prove these accusations to be untrue and Dr. Cassidy will be exonerated of all charges in short order. That folder also contains Dr. Cassidy’s passport, Your Honor. We will fully cooperate with the court to have this matter brought to trial and dismissed as soon as possible.”
Judge Jackson reviews the pages before her for several minutes. It seems like an eternity to me.
“Five million dollars bail and released ROR.” She looks pointedly at Laura Fuller. “Counselor, don’t make me regret this.”
“Your honor, if it please the court….”
Judge Jackson cut off Aaron Carter’s plea. “It does not please the court, Mr. Carter.” She bangs her gavel. “Next case, bailiff.”
I confer with Laura in a small anteroom just outside the courtroom. A tough-looking biker is also present in the room.
“Cal Cassidy, this is Eagle Finnegan. She is the best PI in Atlanta. She is going to be your angel, your best friend, your miracle worker, and your savior.” Eagle shakes my hand.
“Dr. C, I’m going to crawl so far up your life that you won’t need a colonoscopy for the next 10 years.”
Wow. Subtle.
Laura gets right down to business. “How long will it take for you to get a check to me for $500,000?”
“Half a million? I thought you said it would be $100,000.”
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. You are not in jail. You are spending every night before the trial in your own comfy bed. Gretchen did me a favor. I now owe her a big one. If you need time to pull together the funds, you’ll have until end of the day.” She pulls a card from her pocket. “This is the bondsman’s information.”
I take my checkbook from my bag. “I’ll just give you the check now.”
“Academia pays a lot better than I imagined.” Laura looks impressed. She doesn’t need to know that I have just emptied my 401K and entire savings to post bail.
“Well, I’ve written a few books that are popular.”
“You’re being modest. Your books are bestsellers.”
“You’ve done your homework, Counselor.”
“I always do.” She smiles and I can’t tell if it is intended to be comforting or calculating. The answer becomes crystal clear with her next question. “Did you kill Paul?”
“Are you kidding?”
“No, I am not. I’m serious. Did you kill him? I need to know how to prepare your defense.”
“If you think I killed him I will find another attorney.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“NO!”
“But you thought about it after you found out he cheated you out of your share of 16 million dollars.”
“Damn right I did. I thought about it after I caught him cheating, too.”
Laura claps me on the back. “Alrighty then. If you were guilty, you would have denied thinking about killing him.” She turns to Eagle. “Do your thing. We don’t have a lot of time to waste.”
“On it, boss.”
“Before you leave, I need another check for $50,000. Eagle is very good at what she does, and she spreads a lot of money around town to get the information she needs.”
“No problem.” I write another check. I’ll have to move some funds around to cover it. I make a lot of money from book sales but most of it goes to a charitable foundation I created to fund educational scholarships and housing for victims of domestic violence.
“Thank you. This has been the craziest three days of my life and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
“Cal, I believe you are innocent, but this is for Danny. He’s a great guy and my favorite ex-husband.”
Ex what? Good freaking grief.
“Be at my office at nine in the morning. We need to go over the evidence and figure out who is setting you up.”
Laura walks out of the anteroom before I have a chance to respond.