Brian Freeman - Spilled Blood

‘You haven’t asked for my advice, Mr. Hawk,’ Altman began, ‘but do you mind if I offer you some?’

‘Not at all.’

‘I did my homework on you. You’re smart. Smart enough to realize you don’t belong anywhere near this case. My advice is that you hire a good lawyer from the Twin Cities and let him or her do the heavy lifting.’

‘I appreciate your candor.’

‘I’m a father like you. Four girls. If it was one of my daughters, I know that I couldn’t separate my emotions from my legal judgment. Neither can you. You are not a defense attorney, and even if you were, you’d be making a mistake representing your own daughter. Frankly, if you persist in representation, I may ask the judge to have you removed as counsel.’

‘I understand your concerns, Mr. Altman,’ Chris replied. ‘I haven’t made any decisions about outside counsel yet. Right now, I’m just trying to figure out what happened on Friday night.’

‘Unfortunately, the chain of events is pretty clear,’ Altman said.

‘I’m not so sure.’

Altman swiveled in his leather chair. He pinched his gray beard. ‘You’re a negotiator, Mr. Hawk. I’ve learned that much about you. Are you looking for some kind of deal here? Are you already thinking about a plea agreement?’

‘No.’

‘Then what are you saying?’

‘I’m saying that you and the sheriff’s department already have your minds made up about Ashlynn’s death, but I think you’re wrong. My daughter says she’s innocent.’

‘Innocent?’

‘She didn’t pull the trigger. She didn’t shoot Ashlynn Steele.’

Altman’s head snapped back and forth in a sharp dismissal. ‘Your client is lying to you. I don’t need to tell you that defendants lie all the time, do I? Clients lie to attorneys, and daughters most certainly lie to fathers.’

‘I believe her.’

‘Of course you do, which is another reason to bring in counsel with no emotional attachment to the accused. Look, Mr. Hawk, any attorney you hire will do a dance about your daughter’s age, and her consumption of alcohol, and her emotional state, and about whether a game of Russian roulette – if in fact there was any such game, rather than a cold-blooded execution – demonstrates a depraved mind. Fair enough. Those are questions for a judge and jury. But if you don’t believe we have overwhelming evidence that Olivia Hawk caused the death of Ashlynn Steele, then you are fooling yourself.’

‘No one saw her pull the trigger,’ Chris pointed out, ‘and you didn’t find the murder weapon at the scene.’

‘Your daughter tested positive for gunpowder residue.’

‘Tanya Swenson saw Olivia fire a gun, but she fired into a tree, not Ashlynn.’

‘Tanya saw your daughter take out a gun and threaten to kill Ashlynn Steele in a deserted location not two hours before her body was found in that same location. We have a self-professed motive for the crime based on her antipathy toward the victim and the victim’s father. We may not have the gun, but we have a bullet in the tree and a bullet in Ashlynn’s head. We’ll match the two, I assure you. There is no rush to judgment here, Mr. Hawk. If we’ve moved quickly, it’s because the evidence warrants it.’

‘Maybe so,’ Chris said, ‘but the victim was also the daughter of one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the county.’

‘You think your daughter is in prison because of pressure from Florian Steele?’

‘Let’s say it crossed my mind.’

Altman sighed and opened the center drawer of his desk. He removed a business card and slid it toward Chris with the tip of his index finger. ‘I haven’t had to get new business cards in twenty-six years, Mr. Hawk. That’s how long I’ve sat behind this desk. I’ve seen it all. Meth factories. Mayors selling city contracts for bribes. Environmental fringe groups blowing up power lines. Illegal immigrants locked in semi trailers. Right now, I’ve got the U.S. attorney in Minneapolis telling me he’s got hard evidence of child pornography distribution operating out of my county. Frankly, I’ve got too much on my plate to worry about political pressure.’

‘That’s refreshing, Mr. Altman, but men like Florian Steele know how to get their way. If Florian is convinced that Olivia murdered his daughter, he wouldn’t be shy about demanding action.’

‘As would you if it were your daughter.’

‘I’m not the CEO of Mondamin Research,’ Chris said.

Altman stared at Chris in silence for a long time. ‘I appreciate your situation, Mr. Hawk,’ he replied finally. ‘I would find it hard to imagine one of my children taking someone else’s life. It’s easier to believe she’s being railroaded to satisfy a powerful man like Florian. Unfortunately, I live here, and you don’t. I’ve seen too many sweet young people – people just like your daughter – who have been radicalized by this insane feud. There’s a lot of misguided hatred in this county surrounding Mondamin.’

‘Misguided?’ Chris asked. ‘Five teenagers in St. Croix died of leukemia.’

‘I realize that, but it’s a tragic coincidence.’

‘In a town of four hundred people? That’s a hell of a coincidence.’

‘Honestly, no, it’s not. People shudder when they hear about cancer clusters, but nearly all of them are mathematical anomalies. If you flip a coin a few million times, you’ll land on heads a hundred times in a row at some point. It happens. The loss of those children in St. Croix is devastating, but the families blamed Mondamin because of emotion and speculation, not facts. I’m a lawyer, not an epidemiologist, so I can’t tell you anything about the science involved. All I can tell you is that an independent special master found no evidence of any link between Mondamin Research and the deaths of those young people in St. Croix.’

‘You’re a lawyer. You know a lack of evidence doesn’t mean there’s no link.’

Altman stared at the ceiling. ‘Yes, I get it, Mr. Hawk, I do. People are naturally suspicious. I don’t know exactly what goes on behind the walls at that company. However, one of the largest agri-businesses in the world acquired Mondamin last year, so they must be doing something right. I gather they snip at DNA strands and create new strains of seeds and pesticides. Genetically modified organisms. Nanoparticles. If you believe the hype, they’re part of a revolution that will wipe out world hunger. If you believe the environmentalists, they’re monsters fiddling with things they don’t understand, creating mutants that will kill all of us. Take your pick. Whatever you believe, the hard truth is that the families of St. Croix lost in court. They chose not to let it end there. Ever since the judge threw out the litigation, I’ve had to deal with terroristic violence from teenagers in both towns. Shootings, fire bombings, animals tortured.’

‘Olivia wasn’t involved in any of that.’

‘Not as far as I know, that’s true. On the other hand, your daughter has been a vocal critic of Mondamin at the local high school.’

‘Free speech isn’t a crime,’ Chris said.

‘No, but carrying a gun without a permit is a crime. Murder is a crime. I knew Ashlynn Steele, Mr. Hawk. I used to see her at church every Sunday. Regardless of what you may think about Florian, she was a beautiful, intelligent young woman. I will see she gets justice. I would do that for any man’s daughter.’

‘Sometimes children pay for the sins of the father,’ Chris said.

‘Meaning what?’

‘ Destruction will rain down on all that you have created. No one will be spared. ’

The county attorney carefully adjusted his black glasses, then steepled his fingers in front of his chin. ‘I see you’ve been reading the newspaper.’