Where the Bodies Were Buried by T. J. English

Author:T. J. English
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-08-06T16:00:00+00:00

9

SURROGATE SON

ON THE AFTERNOON of July 2, after Billy Shea completed his testimony, it was time for the trial to adjourn for the Fourth of July holiday. Before releasing the jury for the long weekend, the judge called the legal representatives from both sides over to the bench for a sidebar. She asked Wyshak and Kelly for an assessment of how many more witnesses the government would call to the stand, and how much longer their case would take.

“We continue to make great progress with our schedule,” Brian Kelly informed the judge. “We anticipate being done with our case by the end of July.”

Jay Carney tried to throw water on the notion that the end was near. He reiterated to the judge that the defense had a substantial list of witnesses they wanted to call to the stand. “Our plan now, based on our witness list, is to go into September.”

Unsurprisingly, the two sides were at cross purposes, with different versions of reality.

Judge Casper first gave the eighteen people seated in the jury box an assessment, based on what she’d just been told by the lawyers, of how much longer the trial was likely to continue. Then she gave them the standard admonition: “As you leave for the weekend, please keep all of my cautionary instructions in mind. . . . Don’t discuss the case with anyone. Don’t let anyone discuss it with you. Avoid any media coverage of the case. Don’t do any research of any kind on your own about the case. Have a great afternoon, and a great holiday. Thank you.”

The jury was dismissed.

Janet Uhlar had been planning on spending the Fourth of July weekend with her mother in Quincy. But she felt so overloaded by the trial—the sheer volume of evidence and also the unseemly nature of much of the testimony—that she decided to stay at her place in Cape Cod. One thing about living on the Cape: you don’t need to go anywhere for a vacation. The summer weather is nice and the beach is inviting. On the Fourth of July weekend, tourists traditionally flood into the area from around New England, the United States, and even the world. In July and August, the population of the Cape doubles in size, making it difficult to get around due to traffic. Mostly, throughout the long mini-vacation, Janet stayed indoors and away from the throngs of people.

It should have been a time for Uhlar to forget about the trial and return to normal life, but she couldn’t. The testimony of John Morris had been a kind of tipping point. Morris was creepy, for sure, and obsequious in his corruption, but what she found more disturbing was the fact that he not only functioned but flourished within the law enforcement bureaucracy. Each year, he received the highest possible commendations from his superiors. As long as he played the good company man, dotting his i’s and crossing his t’s, the system seemed incapable of recognizing this con man in its midst.

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