Amethyst Purple Pt. 02

As Ted sipped the burning liquid from the short glass in his hand, his phone rang.

"Hello"

But when he heard the very agitated voice of his wife he knew what was coming and he smiled to himself.

"Asshole, you did this to me on purpose!" came Marti's muted, fractured voice.

"From the sound of your voice I'd say you were either getting laid or you're on the Observation Deck of the St. Louis Arch."

"This is the worst place I've ever been in my life."

"Come, now, it's not the worst place you've been, some of those caves we've been to were tighter than that room."

"It's not the room that's so bad, I looked out the window. I know the ground is down there somewhere but I can't see that far." Finally, a touch of amusement creeping tentatively into her voice.

Ted laughed enthusiastically "You have to admit, that is a spectacular view from up there."

Marti, relaxing somewhat agreed that it was and told Ted of her plans to have dinner at a restaurant near to her hotel then soak in the hotel hot tub or sauna for a while before retiring back to her room for the evening. She promised to call him again once she was winding down in her room then severed their connection.

After her supper of Smoked Salmon Marti strolled along the river walk near the base of the Arch. As she gazed up at the top from ground level she felt a sense of awe from her memory of the view from the Observation Deck earlier in the afternoon. Marti suddenly grew pensive, the loneliness she always seemed to develop three or four days into her trips away from her husband drifting in as unrestrainable as an ocean's tide. Or the Mississippi river's current. Marti shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket and turned into the direction of the Jameson Plaza and the relative comfort of her room. Once there, she decided to wait and visit the Hot tub another night, she just wanted to shower, dress for bed and call her husband for their nightly routine.

"Hey Babe, I miss you terribly."

"I miss you, too, Doll. How was your day? Did you get to see more of the 'Gateway to the West' this afternoon?"

"Yeah, I walked along the river for a while after dinner but it was just lonesome without you walking with me."

"I know. How much more do you have to do there?"

"I'm pretty confident in my recommendation already but the bank expects me to stay until midweek. The truth is that if I hadn't completed as much of my initial investigation remotely, before making the trip I'd still have nearly a week to go but that's something I'll be able to take into account the next time I'm out of town. Do you think you might be able to fly over this weekend and spend a day or two with me? How's your trial going?"

"I think the prosecution will rest tomorrow and we only have a couple witnesses, Martin has pretty well shredded the Prosecution's witnesses so far. I was really hoping to get something from the new FBI database but I guess it's just too new and the science still has bugs in it. Anyway, it doesn't look like it's going to be much help to us. It could be worse, the only evidence they have is circumstantial and only connects to Vincent obliquely. We have verifiable counters to everything they've presented against him. He should be acquitted, no problem, but it would certainly have been nice to be able to provide another suspect name on our way out the door. Whoever did this thing needs to ride the lightning."

"There's still time yet. And if not maybe this new database will bring the answer eventually. You said it was the longest of long shots to begin with." Marti consoled.

"Enough depressing shit for the night. What're you wearing?..." Ted honeyed.

Thursday, June 23, 1994

Knoxville, TN

The prosecution's last witness gave the most emotional testimony ever witnessed by some of those present in the courtroom at the time, even stalwart Judge Baker grew glossy-eyed briefly at one point. David Gardner was a 44 year old Auto Mechanic whose daughter was a student at UT Knoxville. He was also an amateur Tournament Fisherman who was preparing for an upcoming fishing tournament on the Tennessee River. Mr. Gardner was in his boat early on the morning of September 19, 1994, almost twelve hours after the investigation at the Riverside Landing Park two miles farther up river when he recognized a terrifying image drifting toward his boat. While the severity of the injuries the girl had suffered before her life had left her body were profoundly obvious in the swollen features of her face and the unnatural shape of her jawline and the side of her skull the fact that she had once been a beautiful young blonde haired woman was evident. Mr. Gardner's testimony more than hinted at the impact the experience had on his psyche. When asked to describe the event he began stoically describing the cold, foggy morning on the water at day break but left the witness stand in open tears.

"I was fishing structure about seventy yards from the north bank of the river when I noticed what I, at first, thought was a strange looking log floating just under the surface of the water toward my boat. As it got closer I realized it wasn't a log, it was a broken little girl. The only thing she was wearing was a torn shirt and it was only barely hanging on one arm. She had some cloth tied around her neck and her face was a terrible mess. I don't know how but I just knew her face wasn't supposed to be that swollen and round, I'd never seen her before in my life, but I felt that her face was supposed to be more narrow than what I saw that morning. Her jaw was crooked, too and the side of her head wasn't right, I looked like it was sunk in. God I wish her eyes were closed all the way... but they weren't. I can still see her now, I can't forget what she looked like. It felt like she was begging me to help her but there wasn't anything I could do for her. I dropped my fishing rod when I saw her, I guess it went overboard because I haven't seen it since. It was my favorite rod, too. I wanted to get her into my boat but I felt like she was embarrassed because she was naked and I couldn't get a hold of her good enough to bring her aboard anyway but I was even more afraid she'd sink and nobody would ever be able to find her again and she wouldn't be able to go home. So I grabbed my radio microphone with one hand and reached out and grabbed her hand with my other hand and started calling for help on the radio. After a few minutes the fire department rescue team came on and asked me where I was. I just leaned over the side of my boat and held her hand so she wouldn't disappear in the river until the rescue boat caught up with us and the divers got her out of the water. I still dream about her; it's always the same dream except now... now it's my daughter in the water, not Miss Reynolds. She shames me for not pulling her out of the water sooner and giving her a blanket because she was so cold. I haven't been on the water again since that morning. I just can't do it. I moved my boat into storage at a marina because I can't stand to see it in the driveway when I go out of the house. She was somebody's little girl and I couldn't save her."

No one asked Mr. Gardner any questions, it was obvious to everyone present that he'd given everything he had to offer in his narrative. Judge Baker excused him and the courtroom stood still in silent admiration as David Gardner left the stand and walked through the double doors at the opposite side of the room.

St. Louis, MO

"Well, how'd it go?"

"Marti, it was wonderful! He was such a gentleman! He took me on a riverboat evening dinner cruise. We had an excellent dinner in the dining room and then dancing to a live swing band outside on the top deck afterward. When the cruise was over we walked around the park at the Arch holding hands and talking for over an hour but it only seemed like it was minutes! Then he took me home and kissed me goodnight on the front step and then made sure I was safely inside with the door locked before he left. I've never been kissed on the front steps after a date and no guy has ever seemed to care that I was safely locked inside before leaving. The few dates I've ever been on the guys only wanted to follow me into the house and into my bedroom. And if I didn't let them, they never asked me out again but he wants to go out again tomorrow night!"

"Well, I'm glad to see you're excited." Marti couldn't suppress her own grin, fueled by Jordan's obvious ecstasy.

"Peter wanted me to ask you if you'll join us tomorrow, he wants to thank you for making this possible."

"I'd hate to intrude and be a drag on a budding romance."

"Nonsense, you won't be intruding on anything. If you hadn't already 'intruded,' as you put it, I'd still be walking around and telling everybody to stay away from me with the way I presented myself and I wouldn't even have a date at all. Besides, I can't leave you lonely, five hundred miles from home on a Friday night."

Marti smiled and accepted Jordan's invitation then they lost themselves in their work.

Knoxville, TN

After lunch, Judge Baker reopened court and Martin presented the Defense's deferred opening statement, one much shorter than what the Prosecution presented on Tuesday morning and then called their first witness. In a somewhat unusual move, he called the defendant as their first and key witness. Usually, the Defense strategy is to not permit the accused person to testify unless absolutely necessary for a couple reasons. First, their testimony is usually unreliable because, to be honest, most often they're guilty. Second, any witness loses credibility if they get crossed up or confused during cross examination but when it happens to a defendant the result is most damaging, maybe even devastating to the Defense's case. Third, even if the defendant is acquitted, he or she can still face contempt charges if there is some malady in their testimony. There are other considerations but these are the most important for the implementation of this particular Defense strategy.

"I Do." Vincent responded to the administration of the oath to testify truthfully.

"Please, share your name and occupation with the court." Martin directed his client.

"My name is Vincent Turner and I tend bar at Wingz N Thingz."

"Several months ago you were in this courtroom for your arraignment and you were asked to enter a plea, how did you plead at that time?"

"I plead 'Not Guilty'." Vincent answered.

"Are you, actually, not guilty of the charges levied against you?"

"I am not guilty, I did not commit this crime."

"Did the young ladies who testified earlier in these proceedings see your van leaving the Riverside Landing Park on the evening of September 18, 1993?"

"No, sir, they didn't."

"How can you be so certain?" Martin asked.

"They couldn't have because I've never been there, I never even knew the park existed until Detective Bradford told me about it."

"So that wasn't your van the witnesses saw that evening?"

"No, Sir." Vincent answered.

"And that wasn't your tank top t shirt the police recovered at the scene of the assault?"

"No, Sir, it couldn't have been."

"Why could it not have been your tank top?" Martin queried with a confused look on his face.

"I don't wear sleeveless t-shirts, I wear short sleeved "V" neck undershirts." Vincent returned.

"Do you ever wear sleeveless shirts at all? Never?"

"No, Sir. I don't exactly have the build for tank tops, I don't spend much time in the gym or working out." Vincent admitted, staring at his hands.

"Detective Bradford testified that he received a tip from a lady named Carla Augustine claiming that she suspected you might have committed this crime, do you know Ms. Augustine?"

"Unfortunately, I do."

"Unfortunately? Why is that unfortunate?"

"We dated for a couple months but I ended the relationship because she's insane."

"Objection, Your Honor, the witness has not established credentials necessary to provide an opinion on Ms. Augustine's mental acuity or status." A.D.A. Reeves announced, standing from behind the Prosecution table.

"Sustained, the descriptive will be struck from the record. Mr. Turner, please hold the name-calling to a minimum." Judge Baker admonished.

"Yes, Sir." Vincent answered contritely.

"Mr. Turner, can you describe your relationship with Ms. Augustine and what events caused you to break up?"

"I was at work one night and a group of five women came in together, all the high tops were occupied so they sat at the bar. They stayed a couple hours and Ms. Augustine made no secret that she was unattached and seemed to be very interested in me personally. She kept flirting with me, much more blatantly that anyone else and asked me several times what time I got off work. The more she drank, the more she would emphasize the phrase "get off" I just told her that when my shift was over I had to go straight home because I had a day shift early the next morning. When they finally left she wrote two phone numbers on a napkin, one labeled 'home' and the other labeled 'cellular' with 'Carla' above the numbers and handed it to me. She said 'don't make me wait more than a day or two before you call me, tomorrow would be great'. The next morning she came back in at lunch time and apologized for her behavior the night before, she said she was embarrassed that she had acted like a 'painted trollop', her words, but she hadn't met anyone she was so immediately attracted to in a long time. She said she hoped I didn't throw her phone numbers away but she understood if I had. I had thrown the napkin in the garbage the night before but I didn't tell her that. She ate a half-dozen lemon pepper wings for lunch and as she left she wrote her cellular number on another napkin and said it was just in case the one from the night before got misplaced. I think she suspected I had most likely trashed the first one. She was very pretty and sober. She was much more attractive than she'd been the night before so I kept her phone number. I called her later in the week and asked her out and one date turned into a second date and a third and eventually we were seeing each other three or four nights a week. Things went OK for about two months until she started accusing me of flirting with customers and seeing other women behind her back. We had never discussed the idea of exclusivity but I wasn't dating or messing with anyone else anyway. She kept asking me for a key to my house and wanted to move in but I wasn't ready for that. Somehow she must've gotten a hold of a spare long enough to make a copy without my knowing because she broke into my house one night while I was asleep and began beating the shi... excuse me Judge, beating the crap out of me while I lay in bed. She busted my lips, bloodied my nose and gave me a black eye. She scraped my cheeks and neck with her fingernails. I'm convinced she was trying to take my eyes out. By the time I shoved her off of me and got on my feet she grabbed a wooden back scratcher and began frailing me with it. I had welts on my arms and chest and she even busted my scalp open with it. I finally knocked her down outside my bedroom and locked the door long enough to call the police on her. She was gone when they arrived."

"So was that how you obtained the visible injuries that Detective Bradford described observing during his interview on September 22 of last year?"

"Yes, it is." Vincent responded

"Much has been made regarding the arson of your van, the Prosecution has gone so far as to accuse you of setting the fire yourself, either as a form of insurance fraud or an attempt at destroying evidence of the crimes you stand here accused of. Did you burn your van, regardless of reason?" Martin queried.

"No, but I know who did burn it."

"Really? You know who burned your van? Please, share that knowledge with the court."

"Carla did it." Vincent replied.

"Carla? Carla Augustine?"

"Yes, Officer D'Agostino found and arrested her for that and breaking into my house to assault me later that week in September."

"Did she set this fire on your behalf?"

"I don't know what you mean 'on my behalf". Vincent asked, confused.

Martin reformed his question "Did you ask or direct Ms. Augustine to set the fire in your van? Did she do so because you wanted her to?"

"No, Lord no. She was still mad at me, trying to hurt me and I already described the extremes she was going to. Even if I 'm not qualified to say she's crazy, that's the way she was behaving. I just wanted her to leave me alone so I could go about my life but she said 'nobody breaks up with her' and that 'we were dating as long as she said we were'. She wouldn't let go."

"Thank you, Mr. Turner. That's all I have at this time Your Honor." Martin finished.

The Prosecutor tried, without success, to shake Vincent but he stayed calm, spoke clearly and never once contradicted himself, and always responded politely and respectfully, just like his attorneys instructed him before the trial began.

When A.D.A. Reeves gave up trying to confuse the witness enough to make a fatal mistake on the stand and closed her cross examination at nearly five o'clock, Judge Baker asked "Mr Wynn, how many other witnesses do you have?"

"Your Honor, we plan to call Officer D'Agostino and Carla Augustine as well as a couple medical experts but I don't anticipate any of them having very lengthy testimonies."

"So do you expect to require more than another day, then?"

"Your Honor, we should be finished by mid afternoon tomorrow at the latest unless the Prosecution spends an exorbitant amount of time on cross." Martin snidely answered.

"Ms. Reeves, do you have anything else that needs to be addressed this afternoon?"

"No, Your Honor." She answered

"That being the case, we'll be in recess until Nine AM tomorrow. All admonitions remain in effect." Judge Baker commanded.

Martin and Ted knew they had countered every point the Prosecution had made except the matching blood type, but there wasn't anything they could do to change Vincent's blood or change the statistics surrounding its rate of dispersion throughout the population. But they hoped to be able to mitigate the matching blood type with their intended medical experts and they still hoped without hope that Ted's theory about the brand new federal DNA database would give them the certainty they longed for but it was only a month old and the number of samples represented was still extremely minimal. Ted and Martin were both self deprecating because they hadn't pursued DNA testing any earlier than they had done.

As the attorneys packed their files into their valise's and the audience filed out of the courtroom an intern from their law offices walked up and handed Ted a large sealed manila envelope. Ted glanced at the label affixed to the front then with astonishment quickly looked up at the Judge's empty bench then back at Martin who was still collating papers and files. Ted dropped everything else on the table then tore the envelope open, snatched the contents out and began reading as fast as he could. After seeing and not really believing what was printed on the reports within he spoke to Martin with an unsteady voice.

"We need to get Reeves and see if we can meet Judge Baker in his Chambers."

"Is that from the DNA Database?" Martin roughly whispered.

"Yes, and we're extremely happy!" Ted said before turning toward the Prosecution table.

Five minutes later, Ted, Martin and A.D.A. Reeves were standing shoulder to shoulder in front of Judge Baker's desk in his office while he read the report recently delivered to the attorneys in the courtroom. After he read the report the third time he looked up at Ted and Martin briefly then turned to Reeves. "Do you have any objections, Counselor?"

"I'd like the opportunity to look at the report and verify the information but if it is accurate the State will not voice any objections. Indeed, if the information is accurate and correct I'd like to ensure that we complete the proceedings with all possible haste."