Show of Evil

'I think it's a setup,' said Stenner. 'Either they were in it together or they're confusing the issue now.'

'Can we crack one story?' said Flaherty. 'Find a chink in Edith Stoddard's story and see if the daughter stays, with the wrong yarn?'

Shana Parver shifted uneasily in her chair. She stared down at the floor but said nothing.

'Okay, Parver,' Vail said. 'What's bugging you? Out with it.'

'I think,' she started, hesitated for a moment, then went on, 'I think he deserved what he got no matter who shot him.' That quieted the room down. They all looked at each other, then back at Shana.

'Let me ask you all something,' said Vail. 'Do any of you think Edith Stoddard would willingly have become involved in Delaney's sex games?'

 'Why?' Shana asked.

'Because that may be the key to this whole mess,' Vail said. 'Delaney shined to the daughter and dazzled her. Look, she's a kid, all of a sudden she's getting attention from her mother's boss who is a big shot in town. He lures her in, the next thing you know he's playing kinky sex games with her. She doesn't tell anybody, certainly not her mother. Delaney was naked when he was hit. Supposing he was with the daughter and Edith Stoddard came in and caught them. She goes off the wall, pulls the gun, and drops Delaney. Then she hustles Angelica out of there, dumps the gun and splits. The next day during Johnson's interrogation, she realizes she can't buffalo the pros so she cops to the crime, says she lost it because Delaney got rid of her, and hopes it will end there. That way she protects her husband and her daughter.'

'Pretty good scenario,' Stenner said.

'Except we know the truth,' said Flaherty.

 'Do we?' St Claire offered. 'All we know is that Delaney was one sick son of a bitch and whoever whacked him knew about his closet full of goodies. Either way, he comes off in court as a greaseball and the ladies get the sympathy.'

'Gonna be hard to get a unanimous decision on this,' Naomi said. 'If half the jurors are women, they'll hang that jury up for ever.'

'I think Naomi's right,' Vail said. 'The question here is, what do we want. Do we want to put Edith or Angelica Stoddard away for the rest of their lives?'

'Compassion?' Stenner said, eyeing Vail.

'Expedience,' Flaherty offered. 'I say make the best deal we can, otherwise she may walk.'

'Shana?' Vail said. 'It's your call.'

'First-degree manslaughter. Ten to twenty.'

'Venable won't buy it,' said Vail. 'She'll take her chances with the jury.'

'You're overlooking Edith Stoddard,' said Shana. 'She doesn't want to go to trial. She sure as hell doesn't want what happened in the courtroom this morning to be repeated. Her whole thing now is to protect her daughter and her husband.'

'You think she'll go for manslaughter one ?' Naomi asked.

'I think Janey wants her client to walk out of this courtroom a free woman,' said Vail.

'So?' Shana said.

'So, I think it's time to make a deal,' Vail said.

'And I think no matter what happens, justice is going to get another swift kick in the ass,' Stenner said.

And it was the first time anyone in the room ever saw him smile.

'What the hell are you pulling, Ms Venable?' Judge McElroy asked, scowling across her desk at Venable.

'I swear, I had no idea she was going to say that,' Venable answered. 'She asked if she could be a character witness, to help her mother get bail.'

'I certainly hope so. I don't take kindly to lawyers who try to turn my courtroom into a carnival.' Judge McElroy glared at her for a few seconds more.

'You have my word,' Venable replied firmly.

'All right,' McElroy said. 'What are we going to do about this mess?'

'I think that's up to Ms Venable,' Shana answered immediately.

'Me?' Venable said.

'Yes,' Parver said. 'You can't defend them both. That means Angelica will have to get her own lawyer. Are you prepared in your defence to lay this off on Angelica Stoddard?'

'What do you mean?' Venable answered, her voice getting edgy.

'That's the only way you can walk Edith out of here,' said Parver. 'Either we assume Edith Stoddard is guilty and try to work something out, or you're going to have to convince your client that you should go after her own daughter. Only one of them's guilty.'

'Then we'll go to the jury,' Venable snapped.

'And wash all that dirty laundry in front of the press?' Shana answered. 'I don't think so. We still have a confession, Counsellor. Your client hasn't recanted that yet.'

'No jury in the world will convict Edith Stoddard,' Venable said.

'That isn't the point, is it?' Shana said.

'What is the point?'

'We have a clear case of premeditated murder. We have a powerful civic leader who has a lot of friends in high places. The only way to break that down is to drag Edith through the mud, too. Think about it.'

McElroy leaned back in her chair, making a pyramid of her fingertips and leaning her chin on them. She smothered a smile. This Parver child was slick and tough, she thought. Inwardly, she admired both women. She stood finally.

'If you two will excuse me,' she said, 'I'm going to step outside for a few minutes. I would like to think that when I get back we can resolve this problem.'

She left the room.

'Okay, what are you offering?' Venable said.

'Manslaughter one. Ten to twenty. She could be out in six or seven years.'

'Not a chance. I'd be betraying my client. We'll take second degree. Five to ten.'

'I can't do that.'

'What does Martin want?'

'This is my case, not his.'

'He didn't make a recommendation?'

'Nope.'

Venable smiled. 'What a guy,' she said.

'We agree on that,' Shana said, and finally smiled too.

'So - what's the answer, Shana? We can wrap it up here and now.'

'Your way?'

'Hell, girl, you got me into this in the first place,' Venable said with a smile. 'I was perfectly happy sitting up in platinum city making a fortune. I think the question is, do you really want to go to trial on this?'

Shana Parver did not answer immediately. She stared at the ceiling, as Vail often did, thinking. Finally she said, 'How about a compromise? Plead her guilty to first-degree manslaughter if the judge will agree to five to twenty. She could be out in three years.'

'Minimum security prison?'

'I have no problem with that.'

Venable smiled and stuck out her hand.

'Deal,' she said. 'You're a helluva lawyer, Shana.'

'Look who's talking.'

A few days after the arraignment, the governor of Kentucky ordered the state patrol to recover Stampler's body from mine shaft number five. Spring rains had washed away the snow, leaving behind a muddy oasis in the forest with the gaping hole, like a bull's-eye, in the centre of the timbers that covered the old lift shaft. A small crowd of Crikside residents stood in the periphery, watching with anticipation the way crowds will, although there was nothing much to see but a small crane with lights and a video camera that was lowered into the bowels of the Kentucky mountainside, and a half dozen state troopers staring at the video monitor. The mine shaft was empty.