Chapter 30
Gus was waiting in the hallway when we walked out. I didn’t know if he’d been in the courtroom, but word of Dane Fischer’s testimony had undoubtedly already spread.
“Good,” I said to him. “I’m going to need you for this.”
“No,” Dane said. “Hell, no. I don’t want him anywhere near me.”
I whirled around and snapped at him. “Like it or not, he’s your best shot at fixing this mess. Now get in here before you have a reporter in your face.”
Dane’s jaw dropped. Whatever he was expecting me to say, it wasn’t that. To be fair, I hadn’t expected to say it either. But my own rage started to bubble up.
Gus opened the door to the empty jury room to Judge Ivey’s courtroom. He was on vacation this week.
“Sit,” I ordered Dane. He took a chair at the long table in the center of the room. Gus stayed back, leaning against the door he’d just closed.
“What are you doing?” I asked Dane. “You had an opportunity to get your side of the story out. On the record. In open court. In front of members of the Luke family. Your family.”
Dane looked from me to Gus. “I know what this is. I know what it’s always been. You want me to think you’re on my side?”
“No,” I said. “I’m not on your side. I’m on Ellie Luke’s side. I’m on Hayden Simmons’s side.”
“You think I killed her?” Dane said, but he wasn’t talking to me. He looked straight at Gus. “You ruined my life.”
Gus flinched. “I don’t think that anymore,” he said quietly. “But yes. Twenty-two years ago … hell … six months ago. I thought you killed her. I thought I knew it. I was wrong.”
“It’s too late,” Dane said.
“Dane,” I said. “I need you to understand what’s happening.
You went in there and pleaded the Fifth.
Fine. It’s your right. And if you want a lawyer in here while we talk, call one.
I’ll help you find one if you want. But right now, there’s a good chance enough members of that jury are going to think the same thing Gus did.
And let’s not pretend he didn’t have good reasons. ”
Dane crossed his arms in front of himself. He looked out the window.
“I know you didn’t kill her,” I said. “Gus knows it. George Luke knows it.”
“I want to hear it from him,” Dane said.
Gus stepped forward. He put his hands flat on the table and got in Dane’s face.
“I know you didn’t kill Ellie. But I also know you’re a liar.
You don’t have to like me. I sure don’t have to like you.
But if you made it harder for Mara to convince that jury Jamie Simmons did this, then that’s on your head.
So you better decide if you can live with that. ”
“I don’t owe her anything,” Dane said. “I don’t owe you anything.
I have to look out for myself. If you think that makes me a bad person, I don’t care.
When I say you ruined my life, I mean you ruined my life.
I lost my job. I lost one side of my family.
My own mother doesn’t speak to me. I’ve been sober for over twenty years.
But they’re lost to me anyway because they believe I killed Ellie. ”
“So why don’t you take this chance to convince them you didn’t?” I said. “Dane, you lied to Gus about your alibi twenty-two years ago. We know you didn’t kill Ellie. Jamie did. You’re not in danger of prosecution.”
“I don’t believe you,” he said.
“I’m the prosecutor! Gus is the detective on this case.
We’re the ones telling you you’re not in jeopardy here.
If you want it in writing, I’ll put it in writing.
Full immunity. But you have to tell the truth.
Jamie’s lawyer has used you to raise reasonable doubt.
He only has to make one member of that jury think maybe you’re the one who killed her.
Then Jamie walks. And this whole thing starts all over again for you.
Not from us. We know the truth. But everyone else will believe you’re a murderer forever. ”
“Take the deal and do the right thing, Fischer,” Gus said.
“I don’t trust you!” Dane shouted. Spit flew from the corner of his mouth.
Gus stayed right where he was, in Dane’s face.
“I don’t trust your deal. And I don’t owe you anything.
I did what I had to do. The only one who can look out for me is me.
I’m not signing anything. I know my rights.
I’m not going back into that courtroom.”
I sat back hard in my seat. Time was running out. Soon, there’d be a knock on the door when Judge Saul was ready to retake the bench.
“Dane,” I said, softening my tone. “Okay. I get it. I really do. You’ve gotten a raw deal. It isn’t fair. The Lukes were wrong about you.”
“So was I,” Gus said. “Is that what you need me to say? I was wrong. And it’s killing me to know that. I wish I could go back in time and change things. You want an apology? You have it. I’m sorry.”
“It’s worthless,” he said.
“Who else are you protecting?” I asked. It was almost a throwaway question. But as I said it, something clicked. Dane’s eyes widened. I knew that look. I knew I’d hit on something.
“Your alibi,” I said. “You told Gus two different stories about where you were and both of them were lies. But you weren’t anywhere near Ellie Luke.
We all know that. So why not come clean now?
You’ve never told the truth about where you were.
That’s why you failed the poly. But we know you had an alibi because we know Jamie’s the one who killed Ellie.
Why do you think you can’t tell us the truth now? ”
“We’re done,” he said. “I told you ten minutes. We’re well past that.”
“Is there somebody who can vouch for where you were the night Ellie went missing?” I asked.
“Dane, for god’s sake. Tell me. Let me go in there and prove your innocence.
If I don’t, this cloud of suspicion will be over you the rest of your life.
This is really your one chance, your last chance to take back some of what you lost.”
He said nothing, but he didn’t have to. A shudder went through him. Dane’s eyes went red.
“I’m right,” I said. “Aren’t I? You lied because you were protecting someone. Who? Whatever it is, does it still matter after twenty years?”
He buried his face in his hands. Gus caught my eye across the table.
“Everything,” Dane whispered. “I lost everything.”
“Who did you lose?” I asked. “Who got scared away when Gus zeroed in on you as the prime suspect?”
It wasn’t his family, I knew. They’d already turned against him at Ellie Luke’s word two years before her death. So it had to be someone else he loved.
“Who was she?” I asked. Dane’s head snapped up and he looked at me.
“You loved her,” I said. “But you didn’t want to drag her into all of this. Is that it?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he whispered.
“I think she does,” Gus said. “Who was she, Dane? Why didn’t you want anyone to know you were with her?”
“The hell with both of you,” Dane said, but I knew the fight had gone out of him. Love. It was the only thing I could think of that might make Dane Fischer hold on to his secret.
“Maybe she’d want to help you?” I said. “Does she know she could make it so the whole world knows you’re innocent? Finally. After all this time. If she cared about you at all, wouldn’t she want that for you?”
“She doesn’t deserve this,” he said. “She never did. You had no idea what I put her through. I made a lot of promises I didn’t end up keeping. But I kept this one.”
“She wasn’t supposed to be with you that morning, is that it?” Gus asked. “It would have cost her something if people knew.”
Dane nodded.
A thought popped into my head. “Dane,” I asked. “Did she have another boyfriend? A husband?”
“A husband,” he whispered.
“Christ,” Gus said.
“You were involved with a married woman,” I said. “If she came forward and told Gus you were with her, then her husband was going to find out? Is that it?”
Dane nodded. I felt a wave of both relief and guilt. I knew Gus felt the same. It was so simple. Dane took a breath. I think he was relieved too. Because when he started talking again, it was as if a dam burst inside of him. His story came flooding out.
“I loved her,” Dane said. “I got sober for her. Then when all this crap went down with Ellie … she got scared. We both got scared. Then … she found out she was pregnant. We were at her place that night. Her husband was out of town. She was gonna tell him. But then there was the baby. And we were pretty sure it was his, not mine. It all just got so messy.”
“And you became the main suspect in a murder investigation,” I said. “Oh Dane. That’s why you lied? Why you failed your poly?”
“She was gonna come forward,” he said. “If you’d arrested me, she was gonna come forward.”
“But one lie wasn’t enough for probable cause,” Gus said bitterly. “So she didn’t have to.”
“Yeah,” Dane said.
“Will you give us a name?” I asked. “Dane, please. Give her a chance to do the right thing. After twenty-two years, surely it doesn’t matter anymore. Her baby is grown. Is she still married to her husband?”
Dane shook his head. “I don’t know. She left Waynetown. Her husband took some job in Dayton or somewhere.”
“Why in God’s name didn’t you just say that on the stand, Dane?” I asked.
“You’ve never believed anything I had to say,” he answered, staring at Gus.
“I believe you now,” Gus answered.
“I can put you back on the stand,” I said. “You can tell your story.”
“No,” Dane said. “You think any of this makes me trust either of you? Plus, Jamie’s lawyer will find a way to twist my words. He won’t quit.”
“You could have told me back then,” Gus said. “You could have let me talk to her. If she was credible, this would have ended things. It would have been over.”
“Yeah?” Dane asked. “Bullshit. You gonna sit there and lie to me now? You had your mind made up. I wasn’t gonna drag her into this and ruin her life, too.”
Gus had no answer for him. I knew Dane was right. Gus knew he was right. Twenty-two years ago, Gus probably wouldn’t have believed him.
“Let us talk to her now,” I said. “She might feel differently. Her life might be different. Please. I know you don’t want Jamie Simmons to walk. You were mad at Ellie Luke. But you didn’t want her dead. I know you didn’t.”
Dane squeezed his eyes shut.
“She … I don’t know.”
“Yes,” I said. “You do. It’s time to close the book on this. It’s time everyone knew the truth. It wasn’t you. You didn’t kill Ellie. Let me prove it for you. If your girlfriend back then really loved you, she’d want the same for you.”
“She said that,” he said, letting out a bitter laugh. “But I wouldn’t let her. When I knew you weren’t going to arrest me, I let her go.”
“Who is she, Dane?” I asked.
“Holly,” he whispered in a voice so low I almost didn’t hear it. “Holly Logue. And I have nothing more to say to you.” He rose from his chair. Gus moved away from the door and let him pass. As Dane opened the door, Judge Saul’s bailiff stood there, ready to call me back in.
“Five minutes,” I told him.
“You have two,” the bailiff warned me, then left Gus and me alone.
“Gus,” I said.
“Christ,” he muttered. “What a damn waste. If he’d have just told me, I could have cleared him.”
“Gus,” I repeated. “I need you, okay? Whatever happened twenty-two years ago doesn’t matter. I need you now. You have to find Holly Logue and convince her to testify. What I told Dane was the truth. If this trial ends right now, Jamie Simmons is going to walk. They’re going to think Dane’s guilty.”
“Because of me,” he said.
“Enough. You made a mistake. An honest one. A legitimate one. Dane did lie. He acted like a guilty man. Even today. He’s been in his own way since the beginning.
But we’re out of time. I’m going to try to stall, but when I go back into that courtroom.
I can almost guarantee you Bennett Cutler’s going to rest. I have to convince Saul to give me until tomorrow morning to call my rebuttal witnesses. Get me Holly Logue. Can you do that?”
Gus straightened. His expression hardened. “I’ll find her,” he promised me. I prayed he could. But she could be anywhere. She could even be dead.
“I’ll find her,” Gus repeated. We both knew Jamie Simmons’s fate would depend on it.