Chapter 6 #3
“No, family aren’t permitted visitation to a holding cell, which is what he’s in.
You’ll see him at his bail hearing on Tuesday.
I expect his bail to be high, given the charges.
But he’s not a flight risk and he’s a first time offender, so I don’t think he’ll be remanded to custody until the trial.
” He was cut and dry. He lacked any sort of bedside manner, which is probably why he was a lawyer and not a doctor.
“Can’t my dad—?”
“Not even the great Judge Herbaugh can get around this one,” Glynn intoned darkly, cutting me off.
I smarted from the chastisement. “Okay, fine. He’ll be home soon enough anyway.”
Glynn raised a bushy eyebrow. He looked like he’d slept in his car, despite his high-end surroundings.
His hair was slightly too long, and he needed a shave.
His suit was rumpled even though it was pricey.
“As I said, I’m assuming they’ll grant bail, but we’ll have to see what kind of mood Judge Balfour is in.
Hopefully, he’ll be magnanimous after his two-week vacation. ”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I know Judge Balfour can be a bit of a ball breaker, but I’m sure he’ll be reasonable.”
Glynn peered at me like I was an idiot. I wanted to poke his eyes out. “It’s really bad luck that of all the judges in the county, Rhett’s case landed on Harry Balfour’s desk. I’m sure you know he and your father have a bit of a history.”
“So I’ve heard,” I said tightly.
Glynn stared at me a little longer before opening a file on his desk, his eyes scanning the papers in front of him. “I have to be honest with you, Mrs. Clark, the evidence against your husband is significant.”
I sat up straighter. “What does that mean?”
“Does the name Martin Richards ring any bells?”
I frowned, playing dumb. No way I’d reveal anything to a guy that looked like he would mansplain my menstrual cycle. “Martin Richards?”
“His friends call him Marty.”
The image of a tall man with intense blue eyes instantly came to mind. As well as a scar that contorted his handsome features. I could almost smell the sweet, musky scent of weed and wood smoke that always clung to his clothes. I could still hear his deep, cruel laugh.
And I could feel the way his eyes seemed to follow me everywhere. How he saw more than I wanted him to.
“Marty? What about him? I haven’t thought about him in years.”
Glynn closed the file, crossing his hands over top of it. “Rhett tells me they used to be friends. That Mr. Richards worked for your parents for a while.”
I chewed absently at my thumbnail. “I wouldn’t really call him and Rhett friends.
He hung out with my husband for a few months.
But it’s not like they were close. He was new in town.
” My frown deepened as my mind went through details, trying to determine which I should share …
and which I shouldn’t under any circumstances.
“I can’t remember where he came from, but he moved here around the same time as … ” My voice trailed off.
“Around the same time as Jennifer Moore,” he finished for me. “In fact, I hear it was within a week or two of her coming to town,” Glynn volunteered with a knowing look.
I cleared my throat. “Yes, that’s right.
” I fidgeted in my chair restlessly. “He worked for Sal Stanley, you know, the landscaper. He was part of the crew working at my parents’ house.
He came with the usual crowd of transients that move to the area every summer for cash-only work—” I stopped suddenly.
Glynn met my eyes and gave me a small nod.
“He’s the eyewitness,” I stated, saying out loud what we both knew.
“Seems so. He says he was with your husband the night of Miss Moore’s murder and that the two of them were driving around smoking a joint and drinking when they picked her up.”
“What?” I gripped my hands together in my lap. “Marty Richards is saying he and Rhett were with Jennifer that night? He’s lying!” I sounded so sure. So emphatic.
Glynn raised an eyebrow and pulled a paper out of the file. “And you would know that because you were his alibi.”
I cleared my throat again. The room felt close. The air conditioning was obviously not turned on high enough. “That’s right.” The words barely squeaked out.
Even to my ears it sounded like a lie.
Glynn looked at me again. “Except Marty produced evidence that contradicts that. A T-shirt with both Rhett and Jenn’s blood on it.
” I tried to control my reaction, but Glynn wasn’t even paying attention to me.
“It sounds bad, but I can argue there was no chain of custody. Sure, the prosecution says Marty kept it in a Ziploc bag for all these years, but come on. No reasonable jury—or judge for that matter—will simply take his word for it. And if Judge Balfour isn’t feeling particularly ornery, maybe he’ll throw it out. ”
“You don’t sound convinced,” I surmised, my words careful.
“Judge Balfour isn’t known for being particularly agreeable or reasonable, particularly where your father—or those connected to him—are concerned. So we have to hope that his vacation mellowed him out enough for him to listen to my very sensible argument.” Glynn’s smile was more of a wince.
“Okay, what else is there?” I asked.
Glynn sat back in his chair. “Mr. Richards also has videos on an old phone showing the three of them together, with Rhett wearing that very same T-shirt. The footage depicts a violent argument between Miss Moore and your husband that’s time stamped the night of her death.
Marty has told a convincing story of how Miss Moore rejected your husband’s advances and he murdered her, bludgeoning her to death with a rock and leaving her body in the brambles out by Jagged Point next to the turnoff onto the main road.
The police found this interesting because investigators never released a cause of death.
Nor the exact location where her body was found.
” He pursed his lips. “So, this paired with the shirt makes your husband look very, very guilty.”
“Why is this only coming out now, though? It’s been years and he’s never said anything. That has to look suspicious,” I asked, testing him.
“I agree, and that’s something I will argue when this goes to trial—because Lucinda, this will go to trial.
There’s no way this will be thrown out with a pretrial motion.
They’ve pressed charges, and there’s enough here for the prosecutor’s office to build a good case against Rhett.
” He sat back in his chair. “But as to your question about why now, Mr. Richards is not saying much other than the truth has been preying on him and he finally wants to come clean about what he knows. He’s painting it that he’s offering up details as a way of assuaging a guilty conscience.
Given he only lives over in Floyd County, about thirty miles from here, he’ll be testifying in person at the preliminary hearing. ”
I had hated Rhett’s friendship with Marty.
Marty was the complete opposite of my once dependable, mild-mannered fiancé.
He was wild and reckless. Maybe even a little exciting.
Yet, there was something dark and disturbing about him as well.
He had opinions I definitely didn’t agree with that rubbed off on Rhett.
It had caused a lot of conflict between us at the time.
I honestly couldn’t even remember how they had met. It seemed one day Marty was there—sticking his nose into our lives and stirring up trouble—and the next he wasn’t. And the void he left behind was far too noticeable.
“If I remember correctly, Marty left town right after the … the death,” I added. “Maybe he’s trying to make Rhett look guilty to cover his crime. He knows all these details, after all.”
Glynn gave me a wily grin. “My thoughts exactly. This evidence, while interesting, is also circumstantial, and I can build a case of reasonable doubt. But I’ve heard a lot about the prosecutor.
He’s come all the way from Atlanta, and his trial record is one of the best on the East Coast. He knows what he’s doing, and Rhett wouldn’t have been arrested if the commonwealth’s attorney didn’t think he had a damn good case.
” Glynn shrugged in a way that infuriated me.
“And we can’t underestimate Judge Balfour’s grudge against your father. ”
I rubbed my forehead like I did when I started getting a migraine. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Glynn attempted a sympathetic expression, though it only made him appear constipated. “I’ll do whatever I can for you and your family.” We both knew his words were merely lip service. We were his paycheck. Nothing more, nothing less.
I wasn’t in the mood to engage in niceties neither of us meant. “I’m sure my father is paying you handsomely for the privilege.”
Glynn gave me a tight, closed-mouth smile.
“Right, well, I think that’s all for now.
I’ll call you to set up a time to go over that statement you made fifteen years ago.
You can’t be made to testify against your husband, but your official statement will be pored over with a fine-toothed comb, and I need to know it inside and out.
We can discuss whether you going on the stand will help Rhett.
And Lucinda,” he forced a smile, “one positive is the pretrial assessment is in Rhett’s favor.
Ms. Poole reported that he isn’t a risk to the public, nor does she believe he’ll leave town.
So at the very least, he’ll be able to come home until the trial. ”
I got to my feet, eager to leave. “That’s something, at least. I’ll see you at the hearing.”
Glynn had already turned to his computer, lifting his hand in a distracted wave.