An Insignificant Case

Chapter Fifty-Two

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Charlie and Alexis were sitting in the jury room. The judge had dismissed the jurors and taken the plea. In chambers, he’d told the parties that he was glad that the case had been resolved the way it had, and he wished Alexis good luck. When the hearing was over, Charlie told Bridget that he wanted to have a few moments alone with their client.

“It’s just the two of us, and the attorney-client privilege is still in effect.”

Alexis smiled. “What do you want to know, Charlie?”

“Did you ambush Makarov, and did you ambush Gretchen Hall and plant Hall’s gun at the park?”

“What do you think?”

“I am sure you did, because I am certain that you planned on killing Gretchen Hall before you lured her into the park.”

“Are you a mind reader?”

“No, Alexis, you made a fatal mistake. Fortunately for you, Tom Grant never picked up on it.”

“Enlighten me.”

“You planted the weapon you used to murder Hall in Guido’s house after you killed her, but you took Guido’s painting before you lured Hall into the park. If you weren’t planning on killing Gretchen Hall, why would you bring Guido’s painting to the park? If she were alive, she would be able to tell the police that Mr. Sabatini wasn’t her attacker. The only answer is that you planned on killing Hall all along.”

“You’re a lot smarter than people think you are, Charlie.”

“I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not.”

“It is definitely a compliment.”

“There are a few more things I’d like cleared up.”

“Like what?”

“Like what really happened at Leon Golden’s estate.”

“What do you think happened?”

Charlie looked Alexis in the eye. “I think Thomas Grant’s unlikely scenario happened. Golden said that he never had a gun and that he never tried to shoot you. He says that you shot him in the kneecap and forced him to confess while you recorded the confession. Then he said that you knocked him out and planted the gun they found next to him.

“You know a lot about firearms, and snipers have to know angles, so figuring out how to make it look like Golden fired at a specific spot shouldn’t have been hard for you. And you’re pretty strong. I imagine you could have lifted up Golden, even if he was unconscious, then fitted that gun in his hand and manipulated his finger to take the shot that was found in the door.”

Alexis smiled. “Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

“So, no comment.”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, one more question. Atkins. Was that really self-defense?” Charlie asked.

Alexis stopped smiling. “That’s the only thing I’ve done that I regret, but I really had no choice. It was like I said. It was pitch black, he heard me and turned with the gun up. I didn’t have time to think.

“And now I have a question of my own, Charlie. If I did kill Makarov and Hall in cold blood and I did plant the gun they found next to Golden, would you regret getting me this deal?”

“Not in the least. If there’d been some way that I could have arranged for you to walk out of court a free woman, I would have done it without a single regret.”

“Even with the way I used you?”

“I’ve always been a sucker for a pretty face.”

“Are things good with you and Bridget?”

“They couldn’t be better.”

“I’m happy for you, Charlie, and I’m very happy about the way you’ve evolved from the insecure person you were when I met you.”

“You had something to do with that.”

“I’d like to think I did.”

Charlie stood up. “I’m going to keep in touch. If you need me at your parole hearing, let me know. I’ll be there, free of charge.”

“Thanks. Can I consider you a friend?”

“Always.”

Gary and Bob had been in court every day of Alexis’s trial, and they were waiting in the corridor outside the courtroom for Bridget and Charlie.

“You’re fucking magicians,” Gary said.

“That’s not what he was saying before you got that insane plea deal,” Bob said. “He bet me a hundred bucks that Chandler was going down on the murder charges.”

“Thanks for believing in me, asshole,” Charlie told Gary.

“I lost my bet, but I’m really glad Alexis won’t be in the pokey for very long,” Gary said. “I think she’s hot. Do you think you can put in a word for me when she gets out?”

“Definitely,” Bridget said. “The word I’ll say is ‘RUN!’”

Gary and Bob laughed.

“We got to celebrate,” Bob said. “Let’s head to the Buccaneer. Drinks and eats on us.”

“We’re pretty beat, guys,” Bridget said. “Can we get a rain check?”

“You bet,” Bob said.

When they were walking back to their office, Charlie told Bridget about his conversation with Alexis.

“How are you feeling?” Bridget asked.

“Good.”

“She lied under oath in court, and she lied to you from the get-go.”

“True, but I don’t regret the outcome. I feel sick every time I remember what we saw on that film. If someone had done that to you, I don’t know what I would have done. And don’t forget what those monsters did to all those other girls.

“I know you have reservations about what Alexis did, but I feel really good about the way this case ended. Sometimes a person does something that’s against the law that you can’t help feeling is justified. That’s what this case was always about.”

Bridget leaned over and planted a kiss on Charlie’s cheek. “You’re a good man,” she said.

“I’m glad you think so, because you’re stuck with me.”