I can’t see the person she’s talking to, but his voice comes across the recording loud and clear, as if he’s sitting right next to the camera’s mic. “My apologies it took this long for me to get back to you. The detective who handled this case originally recently retired. What is it that you wanted to discuss with us?”
Aubrey takes a deep breath and sits up a bit straighter. “I wanted to see if it was possible for you to review the case against Paul Granger.”
“We are not in the habit of reviewing cases of those who were rightly found guilty by a court of law.” There’s no missing the censure in his voice. “But more importantly, why would you want that?”
“I got a letter from Paul. He told me some things that are making me question everything.”
“He’s not supposed to be contacting you. Ever. I’ll call the warden…” His voice booms so loudly that Ben and I both flinch.
“No! Wait, please. Just listen before you call and get him in trouble.” Her hands are out in front of her, and she looks on the verge of tears. “Just hear me out. Please.”
She seems desperate. Her words, her mannerisms are a far cry from the woman I met at the bar, hell-bent on getting answers.
A very different Aubrey than the one I’ve gotten to know.
“He shouldn’t be contacting you,” he says, the judgment in his voice coming over loud and clear. “And you should have contacted Angola immediately.”
She shrugs. “I didn’t come in here to talk about how I heard from him but what I learned when I did. He makes a compelling argument.”
“They always say they didn’t do it.” The frustration in his voice is clear. “He was convicted of killing your parents. It is highly inappropriate for him to contact you.”
Aubrey pushes her hair back again. “He says there is new evidence.”
“Is this what you wanted to talk to me about? Delusions from a convicted felon?”
She bristles at his response. “I may have been young when it happened and didn’t know everything back then, but I’ve been looking into it now. There’s always been something that felt off. Stuff that didn’t add up. Paul has always said he didn’t do it, even after all these years. Someone connected with the case came to see him. Told him he was framed.”
“Did he say who the person ‘connected with the case’ was? Did you get a name?”
“No, he didn’t tell me that part.”
The man scoffs. “Of course he didn’t. But you believe the word of a convicted murderer over the police officers and prosecutors who worked to get justice for your parents.”
She stands up so quickly her chair nearly tips over. It wobbles a few seconds before settling back in place. The top of her head moves just out of the camera’s frame. “Looking into what he says doesn’t mean I’m believing him over y’all. I’m not asking anyone to let him out of prison. I’m not even asking for anyone to reopen his case. All I asked is if you would review it with fresh eyes. If you won’t even consider the possibility that maybe there was more to what happened that night, then why did you agree to see me?”
“You were insistent that you speak to us about your parents’ case—”
She interrupts him. “So, what, you’re humoring me.” She has a wild look about her, almost hissing at him.
Ben is glued to the screen as he takes in every word.
Everything she’s saying now she has said to me, but there’s something visceral about seeing her grief surface. She’s always so calm and in control with me.
“Look, Paul Granger was a known drug dealer. Arrested for selling and possessing more than once. He hit your parents’ car then fled the scene, but he couldn’t even do that right since he left his truck behind. Maybe I’m not inclined to take a lying, stealing drug dealer’s word on what he says happened that night. I’m trying to be considerate, but you’re coming in here and telling me our department got it wrong, the prosecutor got it wrong, the judge got it wrong, all because a murderer in prison said so.”
His words knock her back into her chair. Her voice is softer when she says, “I’m coming in here asking you to follow up on every lead. You’re the one taking it personally.”
“Your mother died instantly but it took longer for your father to succumb to his injuries. It was an hour before anyone stumbled across your parents’ car, and by then it was too late to do anything for him. If I were you, I’d take it personally that Paul was a coward who fled the scene instead of making sure your dad received timely medical attention that could have saved his life.”
Ben and I both flinch at the brutal way he’s talking to her, and I can’t help but wonder what is going through Ben’s mind. Hearing this would certainly bring up memories of that night if Ben was somehow involved.
In the video, Aubrey wraps her arms tightly around her waist. It’s clear his words slice right through her.
When it doesn’t seem like she’s going to say anything, he adds, “Thereare ways for Paul Granger to introduce new evidence, but getting the victims’ kid to come down to the station isn’t one of them.”
Victims’ kid.
It’s hard to watch this asshole talk to her like that.
