Chapter 12
Battle in Court
Gale Fears
“So, we have no evidence that Dean was with his friends at the family farmhouse the night we believe the girl was killed,” I said. “She was found in the woods near the farmhouse, and I have a few local witnesses that have stated that the Maverick boys were at the farmhouse that night. Soon after, these locals retracted their statements, saying they were mistaken. Dean himself has a very strong alibi, by which I mean that he stayed at home. We have no way to prove this is false, especially because his entire family is willing to testify.”
“So, not only do we have an alibi that we can’t question,” Seth said. “We also have no proof that they were at the scene of the crime.”
“That’s another problem,” I said, sighing. “The Mavericks didn’t let the police investigate the farmhouse until almost a week after the crime was reported. When the police finally investigated, there was no evidence at all. Even the CCTV footage was wiped. When the police asked, they said it must have been some computer virus, and they didn’t know why there was no footage. So, we have no proof that the farmhouse is the crime scene.”
“So, we can’t prove he killed her,” Heath said. “And the proof we have about Maverick harassing her is also weak.”
“We have only the word of the Averys and a few of her friends who are willing to testify that Dean was harassing her,” Seth said. “The people who initially gave statements that Dean had been threatening Nina have all since backed off. Even if we manage to prove that he harassed and molested her, he will get off with a few years in prison. That is if we even manage to prove it and the judge is fair.”
“No, we need to prove that he assaulted and killed her,” I said. “He has to go down for her murder. He deserves nothing less than that.”
“We don’t have much of a case to stand on,” Seth said. “The Mavericks are already calling the case baseless and appealing for a motion to dismiss. We have the preliminary hearing soon. We need to show we have sufficient evidence so we can charge him with assault, if not murder. He will just get out on bail, but if we don’t show our evidence, the judge may dismiss the case.”
I looked at my team thoughtfully, tapping my fingers on the table as I did.
“We need evidence that he was at least at the farmhouse that night,” I said. “See if we can convince any of the locals to testify that they saw him. Call them for interviews, and let’s hope we can succeed.”
“There is more,” Seth said. “Laura has backed out after a man attacked her in her house in the middle of the night. But it seems the others have found out about it, and they are all hesitant about testifying. Katie has already backed out of the case too. We have lost two of our plaintiffs.”
The door to the conference room opened, and Hillary peeked in.
“I am sorry to disturb you, Mr. Gale,” she said. “But the Jansons are here. They want an update on their case.”
I sighed, too exhausted to even think.
“Seth, handle them, will you?” I said. “Heath, get on filing for the discovery. Even though I doubt it will help much. Arrange interviews for the alibi statements and with the Mavericks. Let’s see what the fuck we got.”
As the two men walked out, I turned to look at Hillary.
Her soft eyes gazed back at me with concern.
“It’s not going to work,” I finally said after a moment of silence. “There is nothing I can do. Everywhere I look, it’s just a mess. I am going to let all those people down, aren’t I?”
“No,” she said. “You are not. Just because you lose the case, it doesn’t mean you let anyone down. No, we let them down when we stop trying. You are not stopping, Gale. When your strength fails you, I will give you all of mine. We will fight this together.”
I just nodded because I didn’t have the heart to tell her. How was I supposed to explain that this mess was worse than we thought? How did I explain the grave I had dug for myself? How could I squash the hope she had? Especially when it was the only hope she had.
∞∞∞
“So, you and Stella have been going out again, huh?” he asked.
“Dad, I am not here to talk about that,” I groaned. “I want to discuss the Avery case with you.”
As upset as I was with what my father had done, and as much as I detested him for his past, I couldn’t deny that he was an excellent lawyer, and I really needed his help.
“Well, let’s see,” Dad said. “For the Avery situation, I can see it’s very tricky. Proving assault will be easy; it’s the murder that is a problem. For one, you need to tear down the alibi.”
“It is strong,” I said. “All the house members—”
“Forget the house members,” He said. “Go after the servants. And not the good, highly paid, loyal servants. The ones who have only been there for a few months. The ones who wouldn’t mind talking. The ones who are badly treated enough to testify for a few pennies.”
“I can conduct interviews—” I said.
