Филипп Марголин - The Perfect Alibi

Hastings made his way through the rest of the house. No one was home, and there were few items of clothing in the closets. Hastings stifled an urge to scream. Then he closed his eyes and took several slow breaths until he’d regained control of his emotions. The Starks were hiding. But where were they and who would know?

One name came to mind immediately. Robin Lockwood, Randi’s lawyer, would have to keep in touch because of the lawsuit. Hastings remembered the contempt she’d shown him in court. He hoped Lockwood would refuse to tell him where the Starks were hiding so he could beat the information out of her.

“It’s Vanessa Cole,” Kellerman said as soon as he and Les Kreuger were alone in the contact visiting room at the jail. “The bitch has always been jealous of me.”

“I talked to Vanessa,” Les said. “She wouldn’t tell me much, but she did tell me you were forced to resign because of the way you handled Doug Armstrong’s case.”

“Doug Armstrong killed Frank Nylander, but everyone is trying to protect him.” Kellerman shook his head. “Paul and I had a deal. I can’t believe he’d stab me in the back like this. I was supposed to resign, and that was supposed to be that.”

“Vanessa knows about the deal. She told me that Paul tried to talk her out of bringing any charges against you, but she decided to charge you anyway. Once I know more about the case, I might be able to use Paul’s promise to your advantage. Right now, I need to know what’s behind these charges. If Armstrong is guilty, why were you fired for prosecuting him?”

“I may have cut some corners,” Kellerman answered with a nervous laugh.

“Tell me about that, because the indictment alleges that you bribed a witness to falsify evidence so you could frame Doug for a crime that could have led to his being executed.”

“Yeah, well, he wasn’t framed. The DNA evidence proved he’s guilty.”

“I’m confused. If you had evidence, what was the problem?”

Kellerman told his lawyer about the inconclusive first test and his request for a retest. “It was all legal, but Paul misinterpreted what I did.”

“Vanessa told me you had an affair with Doug’s wife and didn’t tell anyone about it. Did she ‘misinterpret’ that?”

“I didn’t tell anyone, to protect Marsha. I didn’t want to mess up her marriage.”

“Wouldn’t sending Doug to death row have messed up their relationship?” Kreuger asked.

Kellerman started to respond. Then he realized there wasn’t much he could say. “Can the attempted murder charge stand?” he asked instead. “Have you ever heard of anything like this?”

“I had an associate work on the problem after you called from jail. He found a few cases where a district attorney was prosecuted for withholding evidence that led to the conviction of an innocent man. But there is a United States Supreme Court case that might hurt us. It held that the Civil Rights Act of 1871 did not authorize a convicted person to assert a claim for damages against a police officer for giving perjured testimony that helped the state get a conviction. The bad news is a statement by the Court that you don’t need the possibility of damages to dissuade witnesses from lying, because they know they can be prosecuted criminally for perjury.

“Vanessa can argue that you convinced the DNA expert to commit perjury and should be criminally prosecuted for attempted murder since you knew that the jury might sentence Doug to death if it accepted the perjured testimony.”

“That’s a stretch,” Kellerman said.

“I agree. I was just trying to play devil’s advocate.”

“What’s the plan, Les? What are we going to do next?”

“Your arraignment is at ten. I’m sure Vanessa will alert the press, so be prepared for a circus.”

“Can you get me out of here?”

“Teresa Reitman is presiding. That’s good. She’s smart and she doesn’t choose sides. I’m fairly confident she’ll grant bail that you can afford. After that, we hunker down and figure out how to get your case dismissed.”

Marsha Armstrong turned on the television in the kitchen while she fixed breakfast for Doug. He had started going to his office again because he thought it would help to get back into a routine, but he still couldn’t remember anything about the days surrounding Frank’s murder.

The lead story on the news killed Marsha’s appetite. Vanessa Cole had charged Rex Kellerman with attempted murder because he had bribed a witness to falsify evidence that could have led to Doug’s execution. From the debate between the legal experts, Marsha gathered that no one had ever charged a prosecutor in this manner, but it wasn’t the novelty of the legal action that made Marsha want to throw up. Now that he was under arrest, Rex would have no reason to keep their affair a secret, and Marsha was smart enough to realize that Vanessa would expose the affair to prove Rex’s motive for framing Doug.

Marsha turned off the set and collapsed on a chair. By the time Doug walked into the kitchen, she had decided what she had to do.

Doug was smiling, but his smile faded when he saw Marsha’s face. “What happened?” he asked.

“Sit down. I have something I have to tell you.”

Doug was confused. Marsha looked like she was about to cry. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“The police arrested Rex Kellerman for attempting to murder you by bribing that witness to lie at your trial about the DNA.”

Doug brightened. “That’s great! I hope they send the bastard to prison.”

“It won’t be so great for us.”

Doug’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”

“There’s a reason Rex went after you, why he tried so hard to frame you.”

“What reason?”

Marsha looked down at the tabletop. “I… We… Rex and me, we had an affair.”

“What?!”

“It was the miscarriage. I was so depressed about losing the baby. I wasn’t thinking straight. I… I was sick, crazy with grief.”

Marsha looked up. “I stopped when I came to my senses. When I realized how wrong it was.” Her eyes begged Doug to understand. “I’m so sorry.” Marsha started to cry.

Doug stared at her for a moment, stunned by what she’d told him. Then he walked around the table and took Marsha in his arms. “I love you, Marsha. I’ll always love you. I know what losing our baby did to you. The affair means nothing. It’s your happiness that means everything to me.”

“I was so wrong.”

“No, if that’s what you needed to heal, it’s what you had to do.”

Marsha started to wail. She squeezed her eyes shut and threw back her head. She was crying so hard, she couldn’t talk. Doug hugged her as hard as he could.

“You’re so good,” Marsha managed when she had enough air to speak.

“No, baby, you’re the one who’s good. You’re the one who saved me. You brought me back to life after Lois died. I’d do anything for you. I love you so much.”

Marsha rested her head on Doug’s shoulders, and they stayed in an embrace for a while. When Marsha calmed down, she leaned away from Doug. “Paul Getty made a deal with Rex. He said he wouldn’t make public the reason Rex was resigning if Rex promised to keep our affair secret. Now everyone will know I betrayed you.”

“I don’t care,” Doug said. “All that matters is that we’re back together.”

“How can I face our friends? What will they think?”

“If they’re really our friends, they’ll forgive you like I have.” Doug gripped Marsha’s shoulders and stared into her eyes. “Be strong. Together, we’ll get through this.”

“Oh God, Doug,” Marsha said as she threw herself back into his arms. “I will never deserve you. Never.”