The Price of Justice (17 page)

C
HAPTER

28

O
cho Rios, Jamaica, was every bit as splendid as Dani had imagined. Soft sand leading to turquoise blue water, with sunshine every day. They’d gone fishing from a boat, snorkeled, climbed Dunn’s River Falls. Doug had attempted to teach Dani how to play golf on a course that looked out over the water. They’d even gone swimming with dolphins. Every evening she’d called home to talk to Jonah, and every evening he’d sounded happy to be with Katie. It had been a long time since Dani and Doug had taken a winter beach vacation, just the two of them, and every tight muscle in her neck seemed to unwind while there, even before they indulged in a couple’s massage.

Before she’d left, HIPP had received the additional $500,000 promised by Amelia Melton if Winston was exonerated. The board, ecstatic at the windfall, decided to reward Dani, Melanie, and Tommy with a $2,000 bonus each. It had helped make her vacation more affordable.

Grudgingly, Dani left the sun and warmth behind and returned to the bitter cold of New York. She arrived at the office fully relaxed and ready to take on a new client. She settled in behind her desk to look over letters from inmates seeking HIPP’s help. As she read the pleas, she wished HIPP could accept more cases. After all, the injection of money from Mrs. Melton should have helped. But they were still limited by the number of attorneys and investigators on staff, and the board had felt that it would be unwise to hire more, since that money wouldn’t be there the following year.

She was absorbed in one letter when she looked up and saw Tommy standing in her doorway, his face ashen.

“Come on in.”

Tommy stepped inside and sat down on a chair. He placed his elbows on her desk and bent his head over, cradling it in his hands.

“What’s wrong, Tommy? Are your kids okay?”

Tommy shook his head. “It’s not the kids. Not Patty either.”

“Tell me. What happened?”

Tommy took a deep breath, then picked up his head. He got up from the chair and closed the door to Dani’s office. “Remember, I’d been suspicious that
grand dame
Melton had paid Sanders to confess?”

“Right. And you checked it out. None of the Meltons or their lawyers visited Sanders. Just his mother.”

“And then I met with his mother. She lived in a run-down trailer park. I figured no way did anyone give her money. But I kept thinking how I ran up to college when Tommy Jr. got in trouble. I knew I’d use whatever pull I had to get him off without a record. It’s just human nature to want to help your kids. Only Amelia Melton had the resources to help in ways most people can’t. I needed to be sure she hadn’t bought Sanders confession.”

“What did you do, Tommy?”

“You don’t want to know. Let’s just leave it that I was satisfied none of the Sanderses received any money.”

Dani looked at Tommy quizzically. She knew he had many sources for information, mostly from former FBI buddies.

“So, what’s the problem?”

He hung his head in his hands again.

“Tell me,” Dani said. “I’m a lawyer. You’re asking me for advice. Anything you say to me is privileged.”

“There was this kid. Back when I was with the FBI, we busted him for hacking computers. Put a scare in him but let him off easy. He went on to finish college, got a job. I knew through the grapevine he was probably still into some hacking. I asked him for a favor.”

Dani stared hard at Tommy. She didn’t want to hear what Tommy said next. Yet, she had to know. She gritted her teeth while he continued.

“I asked him to check Mrs. Sanders’s bank accounts. It was pretty easy. She didn’t have much money. Earl didn’t have any bank account. He checked the accounts of her other children as well. They didn’t have much either. So, it was good. Sanders’s confession was genuine.”

She knew what was coming.
Please, don’t say it. Don’t tell me.
If she could, she would have covered her ears and told Tommy to leave. But she couldn’t.

“I thanked the guy, and that was that. Until this morning. He decided on his own to check once more. A few days after Win was acquitted, $500,000 showed up in Mrs. Sanders’s bank account. It came by a wire transfer from Independence Enterprises, Inc. He looked into the company and learned that its stated mission is to give a helping hand to disadvantaged but deserving people.”

Dani brightened. The news wasn’t what she feared. Her hopefulness was quickly punctured.

“He decided to investigate further,” Tommy continued. “The company was incorporated one week after the death warrant was signed. In addition to the half million given to Earl’s mom, Billy Clark and Debby Malone each received $25,000. I had him check further. The foundation made a few other disbursements before and after that, but I’m convinced it was just to cover its tracks. Amelia Melton must be behind it. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense that the three most important people for Win’s retrial were selected to receive money. With the biggest windfall going to the mother of the most important witness.”

Dani wanted to cry. She looked over at Tommy and saw his hands were shaking. The knowledge of what they’d done covered her like a black cloud, cutting off her air. Together, they had succeeded in setting a guilty man free.

C
HAPTER

29

“
W
e
have to tell Bruce,” Dani said. It was the right thing to do. She also knew what Bruce would say. Put it behind them, move on. Only she knew she couldn’t. She suspected Tommy would have a hard time doing that as well. Both of them came from the prosecution side. But the clients HIPP represented were innocent and didn’t belong in prison. It was one thing for her to choose to believe Win was innocent, absent proof of his guilt. If her efforts resulted in freeing a guilty man, well, she just couldn’t swallow that. Already, she felt a burning sensation in her gut.

Tommy nodded at Dani, and she stood up.

They picked up Melanie on the way to Bruce’s office. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“Tommy found out something. It’s not good.”

“What?”

“Let’s wait ’til we get to Bruce’s office.”

They walked into the director’s office together and took seats.

“Uh-oh, the posse’s here. What did I do?”

“It’s not you.” Dani turned to Tommy. “You tell him.”

“I now have reason to believe that Amelia Melton paid Earl Sanders to confess to Carly Sobol’s murder.”

The color in Melanie’s cheeks drained, and a scowl passed across Bruce’s face as his eyebrows lowered and pinched together. “That’s a pretty serious allegation. What’s it based on?”

Dani piped in. “Tommy has consulted me as a lawyer, and I’ve advised him not to say how he learned this. But he’s told me, and it seems ironclad.”

“We’re all lawyers in this room. If you’ve done something illegal, I need to know before HIPP takes a hit on it.”

Dani reached up to twirl her hair, once again forgetting it was now short. “Just remember, I’d said I wouldn’t have continued with Win’s case if I thought he was guilty. No matter what the board said. You knew that. Tommy was just making sure we should go ahead.”

Bruce sighed deeply, then looked at Tommy. “Look, I know it was unusual circumstances. I know I forced Dani into this. I’ll overlook whatever you did, as long as it was a one-time occurrence. But I need to know what happened.”

Dani nodded at Tommy, and he filled in Bruce and Melanie about what he’d learned. When he finished, he said, “Part of me wants to go to the authorities, but I don’t want to get the hacker in trouble, and I certainly don’t want to bring them down on me.”

Bruce leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling, saying nothing for a while. Finally, he sat upright again, his expression grim. He started to speak, then stopped and just shook his head.

“What are you thinking?” Dani asked.

“I’m thinking we have a serious problem.” He shook his head again. “We never should have taken that money. I should have fought the board harder on it. If it comes out that we accepted a million dollars to get a guilty man out of prison, we’ll never get another grant. Even our corporate and individual donors will walk away from us. Instead of letting some staff go, this could shut us down completely. Hundreds of wrongly convicted men and women that we could have helped just—” He couldn’t finish speaking. Instead, he slumped back down in his chair.

“Maybe it won’t be discovered?” Melanie said. “I mean, Tommy wouldn’t have known if his friend hadn’t found out illegally.”

“These things always find a way of coming out,” Bruce snapped. “Maybe Tommy’s friend gets caught hacking again. Maybe he decides to make a deal and offers up Amelia Melton. Or maybe some unethical journalist decides to do some hacking on his own and discovers it. Damn!”

They were all silent.

“Let me investigate further,” Tommy said at last.

“Why? Double jeopardy’s attached. He can’t be tried again.”

“I know. But I guess working with Dani this long has rubbed off. A small part of me wants to believe he really is innocent. That his grandmother did this to save him from the needle.”

Bruce nodded. “Go ahead. You, too, Dani.” He laced the fingers of his hands together and squeezed tightly. “Frankly, the only hope of HIPP surviving this is if Win really is innocent. And at this point, it seems doubtful.”

She should have known. It had seemed strange to her that Frank Lesco, Win’s Florida attorney, hadn’t kept Jack Donahue in the loop on his dealings with the state attorney. After all, Jack had handled the trial and all the appeals. The firm continued to handle the family businesses’ legal matters. Now it seemed clear to her. Donahue knew what Mrs. Melton had done.

Dani picked up the phone and dialed his firm. She was furious. It was bad enough that Mrs. Melton had engaged in bribery and fraud, but for a respected law firm to condone it shocked her. When Donahue came on the phone, before Dani had a chance to speak, he said, “I’m so glad you called. I’ve been meaning to ring you up to congratulate you.”

Seething, Dani gritted her teeth together and willed herself to remain calm. “Well, the verdict was a foregone conclusion once the confession was bought, wasn’t it?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

“Surprised that I know?”

More silence.

“Don’t worry, Jack. I’m not going to tattle to the ethics board.”

She heard a throat being cleared. “I could pretend that I don’t know what you’re talking about, and to be truthful, I don’t know with any certainty. Amelia asked me to recommend a private investigator after the death warrant was signed. I questioned her about why she needed one—the reason would dictate whom I suggested—but she demurred. Said it was a personal matter. I didn’t push her on it.”

“But you knew what she wanted?”

“Not then. I took her request at face value. But when the confession surfaced, I wondered whether she’d asked him to research prisoners close to their execution dates for similar crimes. It just seemed so neat.”

“And that’s why you kept a distance from the case.” She didn’t ask it as a question. She knew it was true. Plausible denial. Don’t ask questions to which you don’t want the answer.

“Yes.”

She felt betrayed. Betrayed by her client, by his grandmother, and by the lawyer on the other end of the line. “You lied to me. You told me you thought Win was innocent.”

“No, Dani. I never said that. I told you his grandmother believed he was innocent. That’s still true. What she did, if indeed it’s true what you say, it was from a belief in her grandson.”

“It’s wrong. It’s so wrong what she did.”

“You work for an innocence project. You use every avenue possible to save inmates that you believe are wrongfully convicted, especially if they’re facing death. Amelia used the resources available to her. Is it really so very different?”

“Of course it is. I work within the law. I don’t commit felonies in the process.”

“And if he weren’t a stranger to you, if it was your son who’d been wrongfully convicted, if you were certain of his innocence, and he was facing death, would you still work only within the law?”

Dani sat back in her chair, suddenly exhausted, all her energy drained from her body. Was Jackson right? Would she have done the same thing if it were Jonah? Tears came to her eyes as she realized her answer was, “Maybe.”

“I’m not saying what she did was right,” Donahue continued. “I’m just saying she did it out of love.”

When Dani hung up the phone, she realized Tommy was correct. She wouldn’t be able to put this behind her until she knew the truth, whatever the truth might be.

C
HAPTER

30

D
ani pulled up to the address listed for the Meltons’ Palm Beach home and whistled. Huge didn’t begin to describe it. The three-story stucco building faced the ocean and shouted money from every window. Large Queen Anne palm trees flanked the front lawn. She and Tommy had flown in that morning without notifying Win in advance. She hadn’t wanted to give him time to concoct an explanation.

They walked up to the arched doorway and rang the bell. Inside, Dani could hear chimes that played the beginning notes of a Beethoven sonata. When the door opened, she saw a woman dressed in a black-and-white starched maid’s uniform. Thank goodness she didn’t have a pointed white maid’s hat on her head, Dani thought. That would have been too much even for the Meltons.

“Can I help you?”

“Is Winston home?” Dani handed the woman her card.

“Is he expecting you?”

“No. But would you let him know we’re here? I think he’ll see us.” Dani hoped that were true. After all, she’d won his freedom for him, even though it was with a stacked deck. If not, Tommy would stake out the front of the house. Sooner or later, Win would have to leave.

“Wait here.” The maid closed the door and left. Five minutes later, the door opened, and Win stood there, a big smile on his face.

“Dani! Tommy! This is a surprise. A happy one.”

Dani looked him over. His dark hair had grown longer, and his body had begun to fill out. Still, he didn’t look healthy. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his posture was sagging. Despite that, he was strikingly handsome. “We happened to be here on another case, and we thought we’d drop by to see how you’re doing.”

“Come on in.”

Dani and Tommy stepped inside the marble-floored foyer. Dani had to stop herself from whistling again.

“Yeah, I know,” Win said. “It’s over the top.” His smile dimmed. “I spent seven years in a cell that’s smaller than my closet here. You’d think I’d be happy to be back in luxury. But it’s too ostentatious. I saw too much in prison, heard too many stories, to ever be comfortable again in something like this.”

“Then what are you doing here?” Tommy asked.

Win stared down at his hands. “Recuperating. I don’t go out very often, just when I absolutely must. Princeton accepted me back for next fall’s semester, but I don’t think I’d fit in there anymore. Too old, and too much has changed for me. My mother wants me to transfer to Columbia and live at home, in our Manhattan town house. I’m not sure I’m ready for that.” He sighed. “I can’t imagine living a normal life yet, hanging out with friends, dating. I’m too different now.”

“You need time,” Dani said.

Win nodded. “I suppose. I hope that’s all it is.”

Dani didn’t know what to make of Win. No question, he seemed genuine. But he’d seemed genuine in prison, too. That was before she’d learned of the money Letitia Sanders and the two witnesses had received. Had Win been fooling her all along? There was only one thing of which she was certain. If Win had murdered Carly Sobol, then he should be in prison.

“Want a tour of the house?”

“Sure.” Dani didn’t mind putting off the inevitable confrontation with Win. And when would she ever get a chance to see the inside of a house worth upward of $50 million?

First, Win brought them to the rear of the house. With the ocean across the road from their front yard, they had the Intracoastal in the back, with a kidney-shaped swimming pool and two clay tennis courts leading to a hundred-foot boat dock. Tied up to it was a yacht at least 140 feet long.

“Pretty impressive,” Tommy said.

“Actually, I think it’s awful. Conspicuous consumption. It’s appalling enough to spend this kind of money on a full-time residence, but it’s obscene for a home used only four months a year.”

They went back inside the house, and Win led them through the eight bedrooms and ten bathrooms. In addition to the large curving staircase in the front foyer, an elevator carried people to the second and third floors. “It’s more than fifteen thousand square feet. And only four of us use it.” Win shook his head. “Imagine if that money went into improving education, or feeding the hungry. I learned a long time ago that money is power. It can be used selfishly—” He spread his arms open. “—for homes like this, or to accomplish good. When I inherit, I plan to use my money for the latter.”

Did Win mean this? Dani wondered. Or was everything part of an act?

They returned to the first floor, and Win brought three cold beers from the kitchen. “Let’s sit outside.”

Once settled, Dani knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. “Win, I know what your grandmother did.”

Win looked at her blankly.

“Please, don’t play coy with me. I can’t do anything about it, not with you, anyway. Double jeopardy has attached.”

Win had a perplexed look on his face. “Dani, I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Somebody paid Earl Sanders to confess to killing Carly Sobol. We believe it was your grandmother. If not her, then your father or mother.”

The color drained from Win’s face, and his mouth dropped open. “Th-that can’t be.”

Was it possible? Dani thought. Could it be that Win wasn’t in on the scheme? “Look, I just need to know. Did you kill her?”

“No, God, no! I swear I didn’t. Everything I said on the stand was true.”

Dani wanted to believe him. She really did. But she couldn’t get away from the half a million dollars in Letitia Sanders’s bank account. “Why would someone pay him to confess if you were innocent?”

Win slumped over in his chair and buried his face in his shaking hands. When he finally looked up, he said, “If anyone, it would have to be Grandmama. My parents would never do that. Is she in trouble?”

Dani nodded.

“If Grandmama did what you say, it was only because she loves me. And because she believes I’m innocent. And because I was going to die for something I didn’t do.”

Win seemed so distraught that Dani’s internal radar told her he was being truthful. She reached over and touched his hands. “It was still wrong.” As soon as she said that, she wondered if it were true. Maybe the State was wrong for rushing his execution. Maybe if more time had passed, different evidence would have come along to clear Win. Maybe she would do the same thing if her son were facing death and she believed he was innocent. Dani hated ambivalence. She wanted certainty in her life. If Win was telling the truth, it meant someone else, not Earl Sanders, had murdered Carly Sobol. And for HIPP, or more important, its benefactors, to be certain that Win was innocent, that it hadn’t been wrong for them to accept Amelia Melton’s money, she and Tommy had to find the real killer.

Two hours later, Amelia Melton and Win’s mother, Lucy, returned from the charity luncheon they’d attended. Dani and Tommy had stayed with Win, waiting to speak to the elder Mrs. Melton.

When Amelia entered the living room and saw Dani and Tommy, she looked confused, then quickly regained her composure. “Ms. Trumball. Mr. Noorland. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”

“We need to talk,” Dani said.

“Indeed, about what? Your services were concluded, satisfactorily, and payment sent. I don’t believe there’s anything outstanding.”

Dani turned to Win. “We’d like to speak to your grandmother alone. Would you mind taking your mother somewhere else?”

“I want to be here for this.”

“Please, Win. You’ll have your chance to speak to her.”

When the two left the room, Mrs. Melton said, “We might as well be comfortable. Please, sit down.” Dani looked around. None of the chairs in the expertly decorated living room looked particularly comfortable. They both took seats in embroidered Queen Anne chairs, and the
grand dame
took a seat opposite them.

“What’s this all about?” she asked.

“We know that you paid Earl Sanders to confess,” Tommy said.

Mrs. Melton gave a sharp laugh. “Nonsense. I did no such thing.”

Tommy reached into his briefcase and took out some papers. Holding them up in his hand, he said, “I have the proof.”

The elder woman stared at Tommy coldly. “What are you two here for? Your payment to back off?”

“We don’t want money,” Dani said.

“Everyone wants money. Everyone has a price.”

In her world, that was probably true, Dani thought sadly. “I have everything I could want. I don’t need your money.”

“Then why are you here?”

“For the truth.”

Her tone was incredulous. “What truth? The jury’s? They said it was true that Winston murdered that girl. They said he should die for it! The governor signed his death warrant because he believed the jury’s truth. It was all a lie. Winston was innocent.” The daggers coming from Mrs. Melton’s eyes pierced Dani. She could feel the elder woman’s pain.

With her voice soft, Dani said, “I understand you believed your grandson. Every parent and grandparent wants to believe their child couldn’t have done something so reprehensible. But what you did was wrong. It was a crime.”

Dani couldn’t believe it, but she thought she saw tears in the woman’s eyes. When she next spoke, it seemed like the fire had gone out in her.

“I know you don’t think much of me. Haughty and coldhearted, probably. They were going to kill Winston for a crime I knew he didn’t commit.”

“Look, I like Win. I want to believe he’s innocent, too. But none of us can know with certainty what happened that night.”

“You didn’t hear me. I didn’t say I believe he’s innocent. I know that he is.”

Tommy looked at her skeptically. “How could you?”

“I know. Just leave it at that.”

Dani watched the woman’s rigid back and tight-lipped mouth, and her arms crossed over her chest.
She’s not telling us something. Something important. Something she’s afraid to say.
“Do you have a dollar?” Dani asked Mrs. Melton.

“Whatever for?”

“Please. Humor me. I’d like you to give me a dollar.”

Mrs. Melton opened her purse and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. “This is the smallest I have.” She handed it over to Dani.

“If you wish, I accept this as payment for your retention of me as your attorney. Anything you tell me is privileged. I can’t tell anyone else, other than the people in my office who work on your case, and they must keep it secret as well.”

The elder woman nodded.

“Now, tell me. Why are you so certain that Winston is innocent?”

Amelia dropped her head and twisted the wedding band on her left hand. When she looked up, her eyes were clearly moist. “I know Win is innocent because I know who killed that poor girl.”