Amnesia Ch. 10

"OK, Nolan. Don't tease me. Tell me what you think," Tony said in a serious tone.

"I need a reason to subpoena agent Van Hoote. A sworn statement from him will reveal his belief that the computer may hold contradictory evidence of the dating on the documents. That's the key to this whole opportunity."

"Do you know any 'friendly judges' that would give you that subpoena?" Tony asked.

"Hah! Sorry, Tony, there's no such thing as a 'friendly judge.' However, if I can make my case strongly enough, it may cast some doubt on the authenticity of the evidence, and that might be the opening we are looking for. You're going to have to leave this with me for now. I need to think how I can get that subpoena."

They parted with the understanding that Nolan would keep Tony informed of his progress. Nolan made it clear that this was a long-shot at best. It was going to take some time to create a cause to re-open the case. Tony nodded, knowing how long it had taken from the time he was charged until his trial. Nothing happened quickly in the criminal justice system.

It was three weeks before Nolan called Tony.

"I have some news, Tony. I went to visit Elliot Stainsby in prison. I wanted to know if he would talk to me. At first, he didn't want to give me anything, including the time of day. But after a while, he started to talk.

"Stanton Mellows was frightened to death that you would blow the whistle on the firm and he would be disgraced. He went to Stainsby, knowing he was up to his neck in the embezzlement, and asked him to silence you. Stainsby thought he meant killing you, so he decided to find someone to look after you on his own. You know the rest of that scenario.

"What none of them knew, of course, was that you had tipped off the S.E.C. and they were already under investigation. In a moment of panic, Mellows decided to implicate you to deflect some of the heat from him. He enlisted Stainsby to help him and gave him access to your computer. What Mellows didn't know was that Stainsby had already hired his hit man and you were in hospital when they made the phony transactions.

"Stainsby figured it out later that day, but never said anything to Mellows. If Mellows was the only other person besides you that could access your account files, he would be the fall guy if anything went wrong. Stainsby had it all worked out and he would be in the clear. Unfortunately, thanks to you, he didn't get away with it."

"Jesus, Norm. That's some complicated plot. How are we going to get a subpoena to prove any of this?"

"Easy. I taped the conversation. I'll be playing it for the judge tomorrow morning."

"Can you do that? I mean, tape the conversation and get away with it?"

"Yeah. It's a federal institution and we were in a public place. No expectation of privacy. I can at least get a federal court judge to listen to it, claiming I'm trying to reverse a miscarriage of justice. I'm pretty sure they won't turn me down. It isn't being presented as evidence at trial."

"Whew! I don't know whether to celebrate or not, Norm, but thank you ... thank you very much for your efforts. If nothing else, I'll know we've tried everything we could think of to get at the truth. I still don't remember, so I need to know one way or another just for my own piece of mind."

"Yeah ... I can imagine. Hang tough, Tony. I'll call you as soon as I know something."

Tony returned to his kitchen shift with his mind once again in chaos. Was there a chance? Was there hope? He dared not imagine being proven innocent. And what if he was? He'd heard stories before of innocent men spending years waiting for the appeals to be heard and adjudged. He pushed the commotion to the back burner once again, and began to concentrate on the midday meal.

Norman Matthews worked his charm on Federal Court Judge Ramona Martinez. She was sympathetic to wrongly convicted people, but less sympathetic to money men who used their position to swindle millions of ordinary people out of their savings. However, she was patient enough to listen to the lawyer for Tony Milano. She promised to review the case and its background and get back to Matthews in a week or so.

In fact it was almost two weeks before Judge Martinez called Norman Matthews to tell him of her decision. She was granting the subpoena with a proviso that it would only involve the analysis of the Milano and Mellows computers and the sworn statement of FBI agent Dirk Van Hoote.

On Friday, May 14th, in a conference room at the FBI offices in New York, Norman Matthews, Dirk Van Hoote, and Morris Weismann, legal counsel for the FBI, met to depose agent Van Hoote in the matter of his investigation of the trail of evidence leading to the conviction of Anthony Milano. The meeting took two hours and when completed, Norman thanked the assembled group for their candid and complete cooperation.

Unknown to Weismann, Dirk Van Hoote would be joining Norm and Phil Talbot, a computer analyst, in Norm's office. The purpose of the meeting was to determine the history of Tony Milano's computer on the date when the illegal transactions were to have taken place.

The analyst had been granted access to the computer by court order and under the supervision of agent Bilecki, he had extracted the critical information on the date that the transaction had supposedly happened. There was no evidence that any such transaction had taken place on that date.

Step two was much more tedious. It was now necessary to determine when the transaction actually had taken place. Since Talbot was not allowed to remove the computer to work on at his own pace, the three spectators were unable to leave him to his work in peace. At least one of them had to be there at all times. It fell to Van Hoote to be the odd man out.

It took nearly four hours for Talbot to find the transaction trail, but when he did, all doubt of Tony's innocence was erased. At the time the log was created, Tony was in day three of his coma in Burnside Private Hospital. He could not possibly have committed the crime.

Norm took the time to thank agents Van Hoote and Bilecki, knowing full well they had risked their careers on a hunch. Nothing would be said, of course. It was a shame, really. They deserved some recognition for their initiative. It would have been easier to just let things go. Case closed. Bad guy in jail. End of story. But they didn't.

Norm now began the laborious and frustrating job of getting Tony out of prison. The procedure was tedious and required the assistance of Judge Martinez to even get the process started. It was now evident that Tony was a wrongly convicted man, but it was never that simple. It had to go through the system and the system took time.

On a clear, frosty December morning, Tony Milano walked out of the confinement area of Candlehurst Federal Corrections Institute and into the arms of Nina, his family, and friends. Among the people in the group were Assistant Warden Dorathea Kettleworth and Warden Fredrick Meyer. They were almost sad to see Tony go, but then, he had left something of himself behind. The cooks in the kitchen had a new standard to live up to.

Tony had been in prison for over nineteen months. It was the longest nineteen months of his life. He had no understanding of the real meaning of freedom until it was denied to him. But more than anything, it was the certain knowledge that he was not a criminal, and he no longer had a criminal record. He was free to be Tony Milano: husband, father, friend, and of course, cook.

He went back to Amnesia! and Muriel promptly retired. She would be a fill-in when needed, but she was ready to live a less hectic life. Tony worked for a few weeks in the old familiar kitchen, but when the opportunity was presented to teach at the local vocational school, he grabbed it. It would mean regular hours and open weekends. He would still be involved in what he loved, but with much less pressure. All plans for the new restaurant were shelved indefinitely.

Magda and Martin married, just as Nina knew they would. It was almost pre-ordained. Martin wanted what Tony had; a beautiful woman with spirit and ambition. Magda was the perfect answer. Magda wanted what Nina had; a loyal and loving husband. She had waited over twenty years for the right man.

Martin's son, David, graduated from City College of Culinary Arts right into a line chef job at an upscale restaurant in the theatre district. He was on his way. Along side was Debbie Simmons, his partner and roommate. They were an inseparable pair.

Ralph Cummings completed his first draft of Tony's now even more remarkable story, and was encouraging him to listen to offers from Hollywood about making a movie based on the book. Tony was reluctant to do anything until he saw the finished book in publication. By all accounts, the only authorized version of the events in the past five years would be a winner; both in the book stores and potentially, as a motion picture.

Mr. Leung sold the Bamboo Terrace to three of his nephews and retired on the proceeds and the income from Amnesia! Carl happily remained as the manager and bartender while Eric was now the head cook. He had married Shanna when she became pregnant. Their new baby girl was named Marion, after the woman that had helped Eric so much when Tony was gone.

Nina's father, Janos, had a heart attack and was now fully retired and living a comfortable life at home. That is, if you can call living with Mama Novak comfortable. Still, they both looked forward to the visits of their family. Mama's special "son" Tony was back once more and she was joyful. They had a bond that could not be broken.

Naturally, Tom and Norm Matthews and their wives were regular guests of the Milano's. Tom's unfailing loyalty and Norm's persistence on Tony's behalf was something to be treasured.

Nina often remarked at how well their life had turned out, despite all the ups and downs. She was distraught when Tony went missing, and even more so when he was in prison. But in the aftermath of that turmoil, they emerged stronger as a couple. Each knowing the love the other held for them. They had been tested and they were not found wanting.

The End