Phillip Margolin - Lost Lake

“Mr. Kirkpatrick, those documents are a figment of my daughter’s and Mr. Rice’s imaginations. They were never in my safe, because they never existed.”

“Do you know why Mr. Rice made up this story about the secret army?”

General Wingate hesitated. “I have a theory,” he said at last.

Judge Velasco looked at Ami because he expected an objection. When she didn’t make one, he chalked it up to her inexperience.

“Please tell it to the court.”

“I’m not particularly proud of what I’m about to say. At the time I believed that I was doing what was best for all concerned.”

Wingate paused to collect himself. Ami thought that he looked like a man who was being forced to perform a necessary, but regrettable, duty. From the silence in the courtroom, it was obvious that he had captivated the spectators and the judge.

“As I’ve said, Mr. Rice was an extremely bright young man who made an excellent first impression. Unlike most of the children at St. Martin’s Prep, Carl was on scholarship, and I admired his grit. I came from a poor family and was also a scholarship boy. I knew how hard it was for someone who is poor to be around other children who have everything. It was only later that I discovered that he was deeply confused, especially about his relationship with me.

“Mr. Rice’s father deserted his family when Carl was very young, and his mother raised him. There was no significant father figure in his home while he was growing up. It soon became apparent to me that he envied Vanessa her wealth and wished that he could be part of our family. He began relating to me as if he were my son. I didn’t realize that this was happening at the time, or I would have distanced myself from Carl.”

“Did a particular incident make you realize that there was a problem?”

“Yes. In those days I knew a man who organized fights between combatants from different martial arts disciplines: boxers would go up against wrestlers, judo players would fight Thai kickboxers. I took Carl to one of these matches because he was a serious student of karate.

“One of the fighters was a black belt named Torrance who ran a dojo and was a local karate champion. After he won, Carl and I discussed the fight and I asked him how he thought he would do if he went up against Torrance. It was a casual conversation, and I didn’t think anything of it until several weeks later when I received an envelope in the mail. There was no name on it and no return address. There was no letter inside either, only a newspaper clipping about Torrance. Someone had broken into his karate studio and beaten him almost to death. I was certain that Carl was the assailant and had sent me the clipping to impress me. It didn’t. I felt terrible that I might have inadvertently caused Carl to attack Torrance, and I was deeply concerned that someone this unbalanced was close to my daughter. But there was no way I could talk Vanessa into breaking up with Carl. By her senior year in high school our relationship was very strained. If I’d even suggested that she stop seeing Carl, she would have intensified the relationship just to spite me.”

“What did you do?” Brendan asked.

“I thought about calling the police, but I had no proof that Carl was involved. Besides, he had a scholarship to an Ivy League school by this time and I knew that an arrest would ruin his chances of going to college. And, as I’ve said, I felt terribly guilty about what had happened. Then fate intervened. Carl received a draft notice, and he came to me for advice.”

“Did you have anything to do with his being drafted?”

“I did not. This is another one of Vanessa’s delusions.”

“Go on.”

“Carl wanted to know if I thought that he should serve or get a student deferment. I should have helped him go to college, but I wanted to get Carl as far from Vanessa as possible, so I persuaded him to go into the army. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of the fact that he saw me as a father figure, but I did it to protect my daughter. I also thought that spending time in the military might help Carl mature.

“When Carl saw Vanessa again in 1985, he knew that she hated me. I think he made up this story about a secret army so she would take him back. He may still have been in love with her.”

“Did you ever meet with Mr. Rice between his senior year in high school and this year when he invaded your home?”

“No, we had nothing to do with each other.”

“You did not have him come to your town house in Virginia soon after his first combat mission so that you could recruit him into this secret army?”

“No. He was never at my town house in Virginia, and, as I’ve testified, there was no secret army.”

“And you did not meet him in a motel in Maryland and order him to torture Congressman Eric Glass to death?”

“Certainly not.”

“Okay, let’s move forward to more recent events. Please tell the judge how the defendant came to be at your home after she helped Mr. Rice break out of the county hospital.”

“You have to remember that Carl had murdered Congressman Glass in 1985, and was also the main suspect in the murder of an army general named Peter Rivera around the same time. Then there were the two men he nearly killed at that Little League game. Needless to say, I was horrified that Vanessa was on the run with someone that dangerous. So I instructed some of my people at Computex…”

“This is your company?”

“Yes. We have a highly trained security force of former Green Berets, Delta Force, and Rangers, who I used to rescue my employees in Afghanistan. I sent them after Vanessa because I knew how dangerous Carl could be. They were lucky enough to find her before Carl hurt her. My men were under orders to bring Vanessa to me. I was planning to call the authorities after I arranged for legal representation and psychiatric care.”

Wingate paused. He looked pensive. “Maybe I should have had my men take Vanessa directly to the police, but I have been able to do so little for her since her mother died and I…Well, I may have used poor judgment, but I would probably do the same thing if I had a second chance. Honestly, I just wanted my daughter safe and with me.”

“What happened after you learned that Vanessa had been rescued?” Kirkpatrick asked.

“I was in Cleveland making a campaign speech. I flew directly home.”

“Tell the court what Carl Rice did when he learned that your daughter was in your home.”

“Soon after I arrived, Carl invaded my house.”

“Was anyone hurt during this invasion?”

“Yes. Several of my guards were either killed or injured.”

“Once inside, what did Mr. Rice do?”

“He broke into the room where Vanessa was staying. I was talking to her when Carl attacked. One of my men distracted Carl, and I escaped and summoned the guards. We kept him pinned down until the police arrived. My daughter had called an FBI man named Victor Hobson, and he negotiated their surrender. I’m very grateful to him because Vanessa was not harmed.”

“I have no further questions for General Wingate,” the DA said.

The judge nodded to Ami. “Mrs. Vergano,” he said, “your witness.”

Ami slid a list of ten names out of her file. “Thank you, Your Honor,” she said, rising to her feet. “General Wingate,” Ami said, “who is Arthur Dombrowski?”

“I have no idea.”

“Who is Fredrick Skaarstad?”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of him.”

Ami read seven more names. The General denied knowing all of them.

“But you do know Carl Rice?” she asked after glancing up from the last name on the list.

“Yes.”

“Would it surprise you to know that I’ve just read you a list of the ten men whose records your daughter took from the safe in your home in California and gave to Congressman Glass?”