Her heel caught on a rock and she stumbled again. This time she was the one who reached out for his arm to keep from falling. When shed righted herself, she started to release him, but he grasped her hand and wrapped it around his bare forearm. Maybe you better hold on till we get back to the parking lot.
She didnt argue, and for the next couple of minutes, Ford found himself annoyed that he could not stop focusing on the feel of her warm, soft hand against his arm. How many times in high school had he vividly imagined sex with her? Yet hed never thought about the experience of holding her hand, or listening to her talk, or the faint scent of that light, teasing perfume.
The second point I would like to bring up is the wig fiber, she said, sounding more like an attorney than ahe didnt know what she was now, other than I rich mans ex-wife. The cops combed Eldons car bit by bit, and they found one lone fiber that didnt belonga blond, synthetic wig fiber. They claimed it was insignificant, but I cant think of a single person Eldon or Justin came in contact with who wore a blond wig.
Ford loved fiber evidence. In years past, forensic scientists could declare one synthetic fiber consistent with another. But as testing became more sophisticated, precise matches were more commonplace, particularly with something like a wig fiber. That was something he could sink his teeth into. I like it, he said. But as I recall, the cops found blood evidence in Eldons car, too.
A few tiny drops. Justin frequently had nose-bleeds.
Okay. Whats your third point?
Robyn took a deep breath. I believe Eldon was with someone that night, someone who could clear him. I know theres something hes holding back. Theres a certain look he gets in his eyes when hes lyingabout a woman.
Ford couldnt think what to reply to that. He had a healthy respect for a womans instincts, but this was hardly hard evidence.
I know what youre thinking, she rushed on to say. But if I could just talk to him, I could convince him to come clean.
You havent talked to him?
They wont let me. And Trinashe knows nothing about the woman and Ive hesitated to say anything to her. I dont want to be the one to tell her Eldon was cheating.
I could probably get you an interview with Eldon, Ford found himself saying. The Project Justice lawyers were experts at negotiating prison regulations. But why in hell didnt he speak up about this woman, if she exists?
He must have a reason. But Im positive she exists. Robyn sounded like she was trying to keep the edge of desperation out of her voice.
Maybe shes the one with the wig, Ford said.
Exactly! Right about then, Robyn realized she was still holding on to Fords arm, and she pulled her hand back self-consciously. She wiped her damp palm on the leg of her jeans. Im sorry. I forgot I was holding on to you like that.
He hadnt forgotten. He still felt the ghost of her touch, like a brand on his forearm. Its okay. He opened his mouth to tell her she could touch him any old time, then thought better of it. Shed come to him in a desperate frame of mind, and he would be lower than slime to take advantage of that.
Robyn, it sounds like youve got some sound reasons for reopening the case. Have you talked to the original investigators? The District Attorney who tried the case?
Yes on both counts. Theyre like brick walls. Maybe youve never noticed this, but cops and D.A.s dont like to admit they made a mistake. They particularly dont like to admit they sent an innocent man to death row. No matter what I hit them with, I get the same company line.
Were positive the right man is behind bars? Hed uttered that one once or twice himself when he was on the other side of the fence, and at the time hed meant it.
Thats the one.
Hed once been that arrogant, believed himself infallible. He was a smart cop, everyone said so. Careful, conscientious. And still, hed helped send an innocent man to prisonthen, two years later, freed a guilty one.
He refused to make any more mistakes.
I suggest you submit Eldons case through the normal channels at Project Justice, Ford said. Ill put in a good word for it.
Ive already done that.
Then why was she talking to him? Before he could voice the question, she answered it.
The application process can take months. Do you know the date of Eldons execution?
It wasnt something Ford kept up with. Im afraid I dont.
July 18. Exactly two weeks and one day from today. Hes running out of time, and youre his only hope.
Ah, hell. If Ford hadnt been sober before leaving the bar, he was now. He walked back toward his big Crown Victoriathe same type of car hed driven as a cop, purchased at a police auction. Old habits die hard. Youre not making this easy, you know.
I didnt intend to make it easy. An innocent mans life is at stake.
Robyn, I no longer work for Project Justice.
Her eyes widened in shock. What? Since when?
Since this afternoon. I quit. But I could try to get Eldons case at the top of the pile
She shook her head. I want you to handle it.
I cant.
Why not? I dont understand.
He wasnt going to explain it, either. But when hed seen Katherine Hannigan lying in that hospital bed, literally black-and-blue, nearly murdered by a man Ford had helped to free, something had clicked inside his brain. He wasnt going to take peoples lives into his hands anymore.
Ill plead your case tomorrow morning, first thing, he said. Give me your number. Someone will contact you within forty-eight hours.
I want you to handle it.
In her chin-forward, clench-fisted stance, he caught a glimpse of that belligerent girl hed known in school, the one who had so steadfastly maintained her innocence when shed been accused of a theft.
The one hed wanted to believe.
Why me? he wanted to know. I thought you hated me.
She flashed him the ghost of a smile, then sobered. My personal feelings for you are irrelevant. I know youre determined. I know when you get a case in your teeth, you dont let it go. And after years of being lied to by lawyers and scammed by private investigators, after having cops and D.A.s cover their butts rather than get at the truth, I want someone on my team who will work hard, stay the course. Youre the ideal candidate.
Ford could hardly believe his ears. Why would Robyn Jasperson put so much faith in him? How do you know that about me?
I pay attention.
They stared at each other, sizing up each others resolve in the dimly lit parking lot as rowdy music from the bars jukebox drifted out each time the front door opened.
Ive changed, he said softly, looking away.
People dont change that much. Can you really walk away from a man whos going to die by lethal injection in little more than two weeks? If theres even a chance hes innocent?
Damn it. He couldnt. He wasnt sure how she knew that about him, but she did.
Ill think about it. He wouldnt make a promise he couldnt keep.
FORD DIDNT TRUST MANY people, but Daniel Logan was someone he did.
FORD DIDNT TRUST MANY people, but Daniel Logan was someone he did.
Daniel had no training as either a lawyer or a cop. But six years in federal prison maneuvering through the ins and outs of his various appeals had provided him quite an education.
With the help of his billionaire father, Daniel eventually had found a way to prove he was innocent of his business partners grisly murder.
Given his freedom and a full pardon, Daniel had wanted nothing more than to help others who didnt belong in jail. Thus Project Justice was born. His father had financed the foundation and Daniel ran it, though the employees rarely saw him.
I never liked the looks of that Jasperson case, Daniel said after Ford had spent all day reading the trial transcript, then presenting his evidence to Daniel. They were in Daniels study at his River Oaks mansion, which looked like NASAs ground control, given all the computers and research paraphernalia.
Daniel, tall and lean with a world-weary look that made him seem older than his thirty-six years, sat behind one of those computers rapidly tapping at the keys as he spoke. The death of a child brings out the best and the worst in people. In this case, the people wanted blood. The cops and the D.A. gave it to them.
The case was badly mishandled from the beginning. Ford sat in a leather wingback chair, Daniels one concession to comfort in his high-tech lair. A guy like Jasperson could have afforded the best lawyer in the country, and he chose some school buddy who couldnt tell his ear from a leaf of cabbage.
Jasperson was an arrogant idiot. He wasnt worried enough to hire the best. He was so sure he would beat the chargemaybe because he was innocent. Maybe because he thought he was clever.
I cant help thinking that if he were clever, hed have done a better job staging a crime. Once Ford had started checking things out, he felt his blood thrumming. He loved the challenge of a complex case, ferreting out the tiny points of illogic, the in consistencies everyone else overlooked.
You know as well as I that intelligent people do stupid, stupid things, especially in the heat of the moment.
So whats the bottom line? Ford asked, intensely aware that the evening was slipping away. He wanted to have an answer for Robynas soon as possible.
Daniel tapped a finger to his chin. I think theres enough to warrant an investigation.
Yes! Id like Raleigh to take the case. She has experience with
Raleigh just took on the Simonetti case, the guy who supposedly shot his girlfriend.
Well, Joe Kinkaid, then. Hes been asking for
I gave him the Blanchard case this morning.
Damn. Who did that leave? Project Justice wasnt a large foundation. They received far more requests each month than they could take on, and regrettably had to turn down cases even when the evidence seemed strong.
Who, then?
With your resignationwhich I have not accepted, by the waywere running at full capacity and then some. While I feel strongly that the Jasperson case should get some attention, I dont have anyone free. And I wont have any of my people neglect a case theyve already committed to. Nothing gets done half-assed around Project Justice.
Ford knew that. No one got a job with the founation unless they were willing to work nights and weekends when called for. Daniel was passionate about his vocation, and he demanded that same dedication from his people.
The fact of the matter is, Daniel said, looking up from the screen, if you dont work this case, no one will. He sighed. I simply dont have the manpower.
If it had been anyone else, Ford would have felt manipulated. However, Daniel Logan didnt play games, not with Ford anyway. If he said the personnel were stretched to the limit, then they were.
Would you even want me to take this on? Ford asked. After the Copelson case He let that hang in the air.
The Copelson case was a mistake, Daniel said.
It was worse than a mistake. Using my skills to get that animal out of jail was a crime. They should have put me behind bars.
Dont be melodramatic, Hyatt. The cops manufactured evidence on that case, and you proved it. He was unfairly convicted.
Unfairly convicted, and guilty as hell, Ford muttered. He should have seen the guys rotten soul oozing out his pores.
Better to let a hundred guilty men go free than one innocent man
I know the saying, Ford said impatiently. It was emblazoned on the gold seal in the front foyer of the Project Justice offices. He wished he could be as calm and businesslike as Daniel, to simply admit a mistake, learn from it and move on. But Daniel hadnt seen Katherine Hannigan in the hospital, the savageries done to her body. So if I dont take the Jasperson case, no one will?
Thats the truth, Im afraid.
Damn it. Fine, he gritted out. Ill take it. But at what cost to his soul, he didnt know.
CHAPTER TWO
MS. JASPERSON! CAME the panicked summons. My pot keeps collapsing.
Suppressing a smile, Robyn hurried to the aid of one of her summer school ceramics students who was using a pottery wheel for the first time. Yesterday, his pot would have meant something else entirely. Today Arnie was lost in the throes of creativity, the feel of the wet clay, the joy of creating something out of nothing.
Sure enough, the tall, thin vessel hed been painstakingly working on had fallen in on itself and was now a formless lump of clay.
Thats the fun thing about pottery, she said. If you ruin something, you can just add some more water and start over. No need to throw it out. I think for this first pot you might try making something a little shorter and the walls a little thicker.
But I was gonna make a vase, he objected. For my mama.
Vases come in all shapes and sizes. She loved it when the tough-talking kids expressed their love for their mamas. Arnie was still just a baby. Hed been arrested twice for defacing public property, but it wasnt too late for him to realize that creating something beautiful was a whole lot more fun than destroying something. Shed started this summer pro-gram after only a year of teaching. At first, she had donated her time. Now she received funding from a grant, enough to buy materials and pay herself a small stipend.
She showed Arnie an example of the kind of vase he might attempt. It was squat with thick walls, but it had a dramatic red glaze with blue streaks. Can I make mine red like that?
Sure.
All right, then. Satisfied, he followed Robyns instructions for getting the new vase started, then she left him to his own devices and went to check her cell phone again. It was almost two oclock, and she hadnt yet heard from Ford. His forty-eight hours would be up soon.
She didnt know what had disillusioned Ford. Hed been a serious student and athlete in school, a hard worker. But hed also had an infectious smileespecially around people who needed cheering up.
Hed had no smile for her last night.
She knew she was right about him. He might have been wrong about her back in high school when hed laid out her punishment for supposedly stealing those art supplies. But shed recognized even then that he operated under a moral guidance system that saw no room for compromise. Hed seen things in black and white, right and wrong, just and unjust. And that was exactly the sort of person she needed to free Eldon.