Philip Margolin - Gone ,but not forgotten

"Please, Martin!" Betsy begged.

"Why should I help you?" Darius yelled. "You set me up.

"I had to. She would have killed Kathy."

"Then Kathy's death will be a fitting punishment."

"Please, Martin," Betsy begged. "She's my little girl."

"You should have thought of that when you decided to fuck me over,"

Darius said, tightening his hold.

Betsy raised the gun and aimed it at Darius.

"Martin, I will shoot you dead if you don't put her down. I swear it.

I'll keep shooting you until the gun is empty."

Darius looked across Reardon's shoulder. Betsy locked eyes with him.

He calculated the odds, then he relaxed his grip and Reardon collapsed on the floor. Darius moved away from Reardon. Betsy reached behind her.

"I'm opening the door. Don't shoot. Everything is — all right."

Betsy opened the door to the courtroom. Darius sat down at the table with his hands in plain view. Two armed policemen entered first. She gave one of them the gun. The other officer handcuffed Reardon. Betsy collapsed on one of the chairs. Several policemen entered from the hall.

The jury room was suddenly- filled with people. Two officers lifted Reardon off the floor and sat her in a chair opposite Betsy. She was still struggling for air. Alan Page sat next to Betsy.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Betsy nodded mechanically. Her attention was riveted on Reardon.

"Samantha, where is Kathy?"

Reardon lifted her head slowly. "Kathy is dead."

Betsy turned pale. Her lips trembled as she tried to hold herself together. Reardon looked at Alan Page.

"Unless you do exactly what I say."

"I'm listening."

"I want what Peter Lake got. I want a pardon for everything. The cop in the hall, the women, the kidnappings. I want the United States attorney to guarantee no federal prosecution. I want the governor here personally.

We'll videotape the signing. I'll walk. just like Lake.

Complete freedom."

"If you get your pardon will you tell us where you're holding Kathy Tannenbaum?"

Reardon nodded. "And Nancy Gordon."

"She's alive?" Page asked.

"Of course. Nancy is the only one who continued to track Martin. She's the only one who believed me. I wouldn't kill her. And there's something else."

"I'm listening."

"I can give you the proof to convict Martin Darius of murder."

Darius sat rigidly at the far end of the table.

"What proof is that?" Page asked.

Reardon turned toward Darius. She smiled.

"You think you've won, Martin. You think no one will believe me. A jury will believe a crazy woman if she has proof to back up her testimony. If she has photographs."

Darius shifted a little in his seat.

"Photographs of what?" Page asked.

Reardon spoke to Page, but she stared at Darius.

"He wore a mask. A leather mask. He made us wear masks too. Leather masks that covered our eyes. But there was one time, for a brief moment, when I saw his face. just a moment, but long enough.

"Last summer, a private investigator named Samuel Oberhurst showed me pictures of Martin. As soon as I saw the pictures I knew he was the one.

There was the beard, the dark hair, he was older, but I knew. I flew to Portland and I began to follow Martin. I was with him everywhere and I kept a photographic record of what I saw.

"The week I arrived, Martin threw a party to celebrate the opening of a new mall. I mixed with the guests and selected several women to use as evidence against Martin. One of the women was his mistress, Victoria Miller. I sent a picture of Martin leaving their room at the Hacienda Motel to Nancy Gordon to lure her to Portland.

"The evening after I gathered Victoria, I followed Martin. He drove into the country to Oberhurst's house.

I watched for hours while Martin tortured Oberhurst.

When Martin took his body to the construction site, I was there. I took pictures. Most of them did not come out, because it was night and there was a lot of rain, but there's one excellent photograph of Martin lifting the body out of the trunk of his car. The trunk light illuminated everything."

Page looked across the table at Darius. Darius met Page's stare without blinking. Page turned back to Reardon.

"You'll get your pardon. We'll go to my office. It will take a while to firm up everything. Will Kathy and Nancy Gordon be — all right?"

Sloane nodded. Then she smiled at Betsy.

"You didn't have to worry. I lied about starving Kathy. I fed her before I came here, then I put her to sleep. I gave Kathy her stuffed animal, too, and made certain she was nice and warm. I like you, Betsy. You know I wouldn't hurt you, if I didn't have to."

Page was about to tell two of the officers to take Reardon to his office when Ross Barrow rushed into the room.

"We know where the girl is. She's all right. Tannenbaum's investigator found her in Washington County."

The woman the medics carried out of the dark basement looked nothing like the athletic woman who told Alan Page about Hunter's Point. Nancy Gordon was emaciated, her cheeks sunken, her hair unkempt. Kathy, on the other hand, looked like an angel. When Stewart found her, she was in a drugged sleep, lying on a sleeping bag, hugging Oliver. The doctors let Betsy touch Kathy's forehead and kiss her cheek, then they rushed her to the hospital.

In the living room, Ross Barrow took a statement from an excited Reggie Stewart while Randy Highsmith looked at photographs of Martin Darius that had been found during a search of the house. In one of the photos, the trunk light clearly showed Darius lifting the dead body of Samuel Oberhurst out of the trunk of Martin Darius's car.

Alan Page stepped out onto the porch. Betsy Tannenbaum was standing by the railing. It was cold. Page could see the mist formed by her breath.

"Are you feeling better, now that Kathy's safe?" Page asked.

"The doctors think Kathy will be fine physically, but I'm worried about psychological damage. She must have been terrified. And I'm frightened of what Reardon will do if she's ever released."

"You don't have to worry about that. She's going to be locked up forever."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"I'm having her civilly committed. I would have done that even if I was forced to give her a pardon. The, pardon wouldn't have prevented me from committing her to a mental hospital if she's mentally ill and dangerous.

Reardon has a documented history of mental illness and hospital commitments. I spoke to the people at the State Hospital. There will have to be a hearing, of course.

She'll have a lawyer. I'm certain there will be some tricky legal issues. But the bottom line is that Samantha Reardon is insane and she will never see the light of day again."

"And Darius?"

"I'm dismissing all of the counts except the one for killing John Doe.

With the picture of Darius with Oberhurst's body and the evidence about the murders in Hunter's Point, I think I can get the death penalty."

Betsy stared at the front yard — The ambulances were gone, but there were still several police cars. Betsy wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

"A part of me doesn't believe You'll get Darius.

Reardon swears He's the Devil. Maybe he is."

"Even the Devil would need a great lawyer with the case we have."

"Darius will get the best, Al. He's got enough money to hire anyone he wants."

"Not anyone," Page said, looking at her, "and not the best."

Betsy blushed.

"It's too cold to stand out here," Page said. "Do you want me to drive you to the hospital'?"

Betsy followed Page off the porch. Page held open the door for her. She got in. He started the engine. Betsy looked back toward Kathy's prison.

Such a charming place. To look at it, no one would ever guess what went on in the basement. No one would guess about Reardon, either. Or Darius.