But if I am found guilty, I will go to prison for a time, no matter what I am able to accomplish at Ardmore. The justice system moves slowly, and possibly not at all.
Don Crystal has gotten back to me with the information on the three people I asked about, Landry, Devers, and Seaver. He is awaiting further instructions.
I have talked to the people I need to talk to, and everything is arranged as well as it can be.
So all is in place.
Today is the day.
I make the phone calls necessary to start the process and to confirm that Jason Musgrove and Stephanie Downes are at their respective homes. I’m about to take the next step when Andy calls. His three words cause my heart to start pounding in my chest.
“There’s a verdict.”
He tells me that we need to be in court in forty-five minutes, and that he’ll meet me at the courthouse.
“I can’t be there, Andy.” He has to know why I am saying this since Laurie has already left their house to get into position.
“You can’t be there to hear your own verdict?” he says, incredulous.
“No. I really can’t. You know that.”
“Judge Wallace will be beyond pissed off. He’s got this little idiosyncrasy about him: when he tells the defendant to rise, he likes the defendant to actually be in the courtroom.”
“Sorry. Andy, I gotta go. There’s no other way.”
“I’ll cover for you. Just be careful. Be really careful.”
The drive to Jason Musgrove’s house takes about twenty minutes. Simon is in the back seat. I think he senses something is up; he sits up straight when we’re working. He probably doesn’t have a role to play here, but since he’s been involved throughout, I feel like I owe it to him for him to be around for the resolution.
I pull into the driveway. I don’t want to hide; I want it to be obvious to anyone interested that I’m here.
I ring the bell and he answers the door. I’m glad he lives alone; if he had a wife here, it would complicate matters greatly. It wouldn’t make this impossible, but it would make it more difficult.
It takes a few moments for him to register and figure out who I am; then he probably switches to wondering what the hell I’m doing here. “Mr. Douglas. This is an unwelcome surprise.”
“If I had a nickel for every time someone said that to me…” I walk past him and into the house.
He follows me into the den. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“You can ask, but it’s not going to happen.”
“Then I will call the police.”
“Okay, here’s the situation. If you pick up that phone, I will beat you to death with it. Then I will shoot you, which will be an unnecessary act because I would have already beaten you to death. So are we clear? Now sit your ass down on that chair. I have to make a phone call, and then I will tell you exactly what is going to happen.”
I take out my cell phone and dial; Stephanie Downes picks up on the third ring. “Mr. Douglas” is how she answers.
“You recognized my ring.”
She laughs. “That, and caller ID. To what do I owe this call?”
“You owe it to your being deeply involved in a criminal conspiracy to commit fraud, murder, and a whole bunch of other stuff.”
The lightness leaves her voice, which is no great surprise. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“No need to tell you what you already know. But I know everything about the insurance operation; in fact, I owe part of it to you. You never knew Richard Mahler in high school, and his nickname was not Rico.”
“We need to talk.”
“We’re already talking; you need to listen. An hour from now I will be at Jason Musgrove’s house with my lawyer. He is prepared to write out a full confession, which we will then deliver to the police and the judge trying my case. You can use the time to get your things together; think of this as a courtesy call.”
“Mr. Douglas, I—”
I don’t get to hear the end of her sentence because I hang up on her. She doesn’t know it, but everything now depends on her.
Five minutes later, Laurie calls me: “She made the call.” That is as good a sentence as I’ve ever heard.
“She may or may not try to leave,” I say.
“I’ll see that she doesn’t.”
“Is Marcus in place to clean up if there are any left behind after they leave?”
“Absolutely.”
I thank her, hang up, and turn to Jason Musgrove. “Now we wait.”
“What are we waiting for?”
“For your close friends to come kill you. Actually, to come kill us.”
WHEN Andy arrived at the courthouse, he requested a meeting in chambers with Judge Wallace and Dylan.
Once they were seated, Wallace said, “I must say this is unusual, Mr. Carpenter. My curiosity is piqued.”
“Unusual is a good way to put it, Your Honor. I didn’t want to inform you of this in open court, but my client will not be in court today to hear the verdict.”
Dylan made a noise, somewhere between a snort and a grunt, but didn’t say any actual words.
“My ears must be deceiving me. Did you just say your client will not be here?”
“I did say that, Your Honor. This is not an issue with your ears.”
“Has he violated terms of his bail? Is he missing? Is there a medical emergency?”
“None of the above, Your Honor. There is an emergency, but it is not medical. It has to do with an investigation Mr. Douglas is conducting, which relates directly to this trial.”
“Mr. Carpenter, this is not like cutting a class in high school. His attendance is mandatory.”
“I can promise you that if he is found guilty, Mr. Douglas will turn himself in today. But at the risk of further annoying
