“Victoria’s marriage lasted nine years or so,” Max continued, “but apparently she and her ex were still friends and continued to work together. I reached out to the family after the murder to offer my condolences, and from the beginning Grover has been skeptical about the investigation, which is why I hired Sean to keep me up-to-date. Sean met with Grover, they hit it off.”
Max finished her wine, put the glass down on a coaster. “There are some inconsistencies in the investigation—for example, motive. Sean uncovered information that Grant didn’t move the money until days after her murder. In fact, the money disappeared from the account the day before he confessed to the police. He wasn’t even on their short list of suspects. After his confession, everything seemed to fit … but they had two suspects they may have not cleared. When I heard about the plea change, I became suspicious. I don’t like it when the police try to fit square pegs into round holes, and this case has many holes. That’s where I do my best work.”
“The detective in charge will have time to build the case for the DA,” Lucy said. “They don’t just walk away when there’s a plea, they still wrap up the case—false confessions are unfortunately common.” Though to Lucy, this didn’t sound like a false confession. It sounded like “buyer’s remorse,” only this time the buyer was a confessed killer who realized too late that his guilt wasn’t greater than his desire for freedom.
“The first thing the new lawyer will do, if they’re halfway competent, is have the confession tossed,” Max said. “Without the confession, they have nothing. No murder weapon, no clear motive, no physical evidence. The confession is problematic because he clearly lied about the embezzlement—or it was so well hidden that even your husband couldn’t find evidence of it.”
Lucy didn’t doubt Sean’s skills, but at the same time, some information would be impossible for him to legally obtain.
“If he voluntarily confessed to police, without coercion, I don’t see why a judge would toss it,” Lucy said. “He could claim that it was a false confession—and be convicted of making a false report to the police. That’s far less jail time than murder.”
“There’s no physical evidence tying him to Victoria’s murder and no murder weapon. I want to talk to him. Sean tried to talk to him multiple times after he confessed, but his first lawyer put up roadblocks. The one time he got in to see him—by not going through the lawyer—the lawyer found out and stopped Grant from speaking to Sean, and said that if he continued to harass his client, he’d file for a restraining order.”
That was news to Lucy.
“The new lawyer is fresh out of law school,” Max said. “Just passed the bar this year and has been with the public defender’s office for six months.”
“Meaning, you can manipulate him.”
“His former lawyer kept a tight leash and wouldn’t let anyone talk to Grant. His new lawyer brought my proposal to Grant this afternoon, and I’m confident that Grant will talk to me.”
Lucy admired Max’s confidence, even when it annoyed her.
Jesse called out from the kitchen, “Dinner, and I’m starved!”
“So am I,” Lucy said. She had a hunch that Max had more on her mind—and that Lucy would be hearing about it soon.
* * *
After dinner—which was filled with pleasant conversation mostly about Max meeting Dillon’s wife, Kate, and their excursion out into the Big Apple—Sean cleaned up and Max leaned back at the table.
“I have a favor to ask,” she said, “and I recognize it’s a bit of a gray area for you, but I’m going to ask anyway.”
“I had a feeling,” Lucy said.
“I didn’t say anything,” Sean said to Max as he put the leftover lasagne into a container. “I told you, this is between you and Lucy.”
Lucy already didn’t like the conversation and she hadn’t heard what Max was going to say.
“San Antonio PD has been less than forthcoming about this case,” Max said. “I haven’t been able to get any information out of them other than the media statement. Grover—Victoria’s father—went down and spoke to the lead detective, Jennifer Reed, and was able to learn more, but he was unsatisfied because other than the confession, the police don’t have anything substantive on Stanley Grant. They didn’t come out and say that, but Grover is smart, he read between the lines.”
Lucy shrugged. “The police may not tell anyone, even the victim’s family, what they have or don’t have.”
“Grover also met with the district attorney,” Max continued. “This was a week before the plea change. They are friendly. The Mills family is a longtime Texas family. It means something here, and the DA comes from a similar Texas family. The DA gave a long and compelling song and dance about how the confession coupled with the money traced from the joint business to Grant—and evidence that he had a gambling problem—would be sufficient to get a conviction if they couldn’t come to terms on the plea deal. Mind you, this was when Longfellow was still working for Grant and negotiating the plea arrangement to avoid the death penalty.”
Max sipped her wine, her eyes on Lucy. Lucy could feel her weighing how she wanted to ask the question Lucy knew she wanted to ask, but Lucy let her wrestle with the approach. There was no way Lucy could do what she wanted.
“I wouldn’t ask you to obtain a copy of the report,” Max said, “but I trust your independent judgment and analysis. If you could look at it for me, give me your professional opinion. I already know about the two individuals who have been interviewed—prior to Grant’s confession. A neighbor who had a conflicting story about where he was that night, and a client of Victoria’s who wasn’t happy with the sale of his house and threatened her in public. Neither seems all that viable, but stranger things have happened. What I really would like to know is how the police learned of the embezzlement when the money wasn’t taken until four days after Victoria was murdered. And there’s something else missing—her digital calendar was corrupted and your expert husband said the only way it could have been corrupted was on her computer where the corruption could be efficiently replicated into the Cloud—and yet all backups were erased. Of course, if Sean could gain access to her computer he could know for certain.”
“That won’t happen.”
“The defense could hire him as an expert consultant.”
“True. The prosecution would have to provide access to any evidence they use at trial. But if they don’t submit Victoria’s computer as evidence, I don’t think the defense will be able to access it. I may be wrong—I’m not a lawyer. Yet you don’t need me. You need time. Eventually, the prosecution will have to provide the defense with any discovery they plan to use at trial. It sounds like you want to cut corners.”
“I want to know why Stanley Grant confessed, if out of guilt or threat, and whether he really embezzled the funds and, if so, why; I want to find out what the real motive is if he’s guilty because it sure wasn’t embezzlement; but mostly, I want to find out if he’s being framed for Victoria’s murder and if he knows who was behind it.”