Show of Evil

Judge McElroy leaned back in her chair and took off her glasses.

'I assume the defence is prepared to enter a plea,' she said, staring down at Venable.

'Yes, Your Honour.'

'And you want to introduce this witness before the prosecution makes its presentments?'

'I think it would be appropriate to do it now,' Venable answered.

'Huh,' McElroy said. She picked up a pencil and tapped the point on a pad for several seconds. 'Well, I agree with the prosecution. It certainly is an unusual departure from normal procedure. On the other hand, I do not wish this court to appear without compassion. Ms Parver, I'm going to overrule your objection. Keep in mind there is no jury here. The question of bail rests with my discretion.'

Although she was angry, Parver realized it would be foolish to stir the judge's wrath this early in the game.

'Yes, Your Honour,' Parver said.

'Thank you. All right, the defence may call its witness,' she said.

'Defence calls Angelica Stoddard.'

Angelica Stoddard was pale and nervous. Her hands were shaking as she took the oath and sat down in the witness box. Her eyes were fixed on Venable as she wheeled her chair to the front of the courtroom. Edith Stoddard stared suspiciously at Venable.

'Just relax,' Venable said softly. 'I know you're nervous but this will only take a few minutes. Give your name, please.'

'Angelica Stoddard.'

'How old are you, Angelica?'

'Twenty-one.'

'And where do you reside?'

'In Chalmers Dormitory. I attend Chicago University.'

'And how long have you been attending college?'

'Three years.'

'What kind of grades do you make, Angelica?'

'I have a 3.2 going into my senior year.'

'An A-student?'

'Well, yes. I've made a couple of B's, but mostly A's.'

'You have a scholarship, do you not?'

'Yes. It pays tuition and books.'

'And who pays your room and board?'

'My mother.'

'Mrs Edith Stoddard?'

'Yes.'

'What is your father's name?'

'Charles. Charles Stoddard.'

'Is your father employed?'

'No. My father is paralysed from the neck down.'

'And he lives with your mother?'

'Yes.'

'So, your mother is the sole support of both you and your father, is that correct?'

'Yes.'

'And until recently, she worked at Delaney Enterprises?'

'Yes. Mister Delaney fired her.'

'Who takes care of your father during the day?'

'We had a nurse who was also our housekeeper. She came at eight in the morning and left at five.'

'So your mother takes care of him from eight on?'

'Yes. Except when she has to… had to, work at night. Once or twice a week I went to the house when she had to work after five.'

'So you both take care of him.'

'Yes, but mainly my mom watches… watched over him.'

'And have things changed since your mother's arrest?'

'Yes. Our nurse quit. The insurance wasn't enough to cover her wages anyway.'

'And do you take care of your father now?'

'Yes. I dropped out of school and moved back to the house.'

'So when your mother lost her job, it changed your lifestyle radically, is that true?'

'Yes.'

'And this happened when your mother was arrested?'

Angelica nodded and stared down at her lap. 'Doctor Saperstein - he's my father's doctor - says we should put him in a nursing home.' She began to cry and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

'Can you afford that? I mean, if your insurance doesn't cover the nurse, how could you afford a nursing home?'

'I will… would get a job. Sell the house…'

She stopped for a moment, stared down again, and seemed to gather her composure. Then she looked up and her expression had changed from sorrow to anger.

'It's so unfair…' she said, then hesitated for a moment and looking straight at Edith Stoddard, her voice stronger and her eyes flashing, she said. 'It's unfair because my mother didn't kill Delaney, I did! She confessed to protect me!'

The judge was jolted back in her chair. Venable seemed shocked. Edith Stoddard leapt to her feet.

'That's a lie,' she yelled. 'She's trying to protect me! I killed Delaney, I confessed to killing Delaney. The police have my confession on record. Stop this now!'

'No, you stop it, Mama,' Angelica yelled back. 'I was the one he kept in bondage. Since I was eighteen. He held your job over my head. He threatened me…'

The courtroom was in bedlam. Parver was on her feet. 'Objection, Your Honour, objection'

 Venable stammered: 'Your Honour, I had no idea…' Naomi turned to Vail. 'Holy shit!' she whispered. But Vail did not answer. He stared at Venable with absolute awe.

'It's true,' Angelica Stoddard screamed. 'I went there that night to plead with him to give her job back and he forced me to…'

'Objection, Your Honour,' Parver yelled.

McElroy slammed her gavel several times. 'Quiet in this courtroom,' she demanded, her eyes flashing with rage. 'Quiet, NOW! Counsellors - in my chambers, now. This court is in recess.'

'Excuse me, Your Honour, may we have ten minutes before you meet with the attorneys?' Parver asked.

Judge McElroy still flushed with ire, glanced at Venable. 'All right, allll-right,' she snapped. 'Fifteen minutes, ladies. Then I'll see you both in chambers.'

She fled the bench.

Vail looked across the room at Venable, who held her hands out at her side as if to say, I'm just as confused as you are.  Vail smiled at her and shook his head.

Vail led Parver, Naomi, St Claire, Stenner, and Flaherty into a small holding office beside the courtroom.

'Okay, Shana,' Vail said after pulling the door shut, 'now what're you going to do? Punt or play?'

She looked him straight in the eyes and said, 'I'll be damned if I know. I can't even figure out what the options are.'

'Do you think Venable planned this, or is she just as surprised as we are?' Naomi asked.

'I don't think she planned it,' Vail said. 'But I think there's a chance she knew it was going to happen.'

'Shock defence,' Flaherty said.

'Theatre of the law,' Vail answered.

'You should know,' Stenner said. 'You pulled the same kind of stunt on Jane ten years ago.'

'Maybe so, Abel,' Shana agreed, 'but who do we deal with? What's your gut feeling? Which one of them did it?'

Stenner made a practical decision. 'The mother did it. The other way is too convoluted.'

'I say the mother,' Flaherty said. 'But I think the daughter was involved with Delaney, just as she said she was , on the stand, and the mother killed him to set her free. All this can come out in discovery. I say we postpone the arraignment and go back to the drawing board.'

'The daughter did it and the mother's covering for her,' St Claire said. 'I don't care how convoluted it is.'

'I think Angelica did it,' Parver agreed.

'I think Edith did it for a lot of reasons,' Naomi said. 'They're both giving the same story, both say the other one knew nothing about it, they have the same motive, the same opportunity, and neither one of them has an alibi,' Stenner said.

'That's ridiculous,' said St Claire. 'We got Stoddard's fingerprints all over the weapon.'

Vail stared at the ceiling. 'Why wouldn't Stoddard's fingerprints be all over the weapon, it's her gun?' he asked of nobody in particular.

'How about the bullets?' Flaherty asked.

'Same story,' Vail said. 'It's her gun. Naturally, she loaded it.'

'And the daughter?' asked Flaherty. 'How about her prints?'

'She'll say she wore gloves,' Shana said. 'If she wants to stick with her story.'

'Indict 'em both, see if we can break one of 'em down before we get to court,' suggested St Claire.

Vail laughed. 'Oh sure, I can see that. What do you think the grand jury will say if we go back in there and tell 'em we want to indict two people because we're not sure which one committed the crime?'