Justice Redeemed (Darren Street Book 1) by Scott Pratt

Author:Scott Pratt [Pratt, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2015-11-16T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Grace came to my cell that night around eight. She looked as though her favorite pet had just been run over by a car.

“I’m sorry, Darren,” she said as soon as she walked in. “I can’t believe I made such a stupid mistake.”

I knew what she was referring to. She’d asked the FBI agent, Agent Riley, a question when she didn’t know the answer. It was a cardinal sin for a trial lawyer. You simply don’t ask witnesses questions, especially on cross-examination, to which you don’t know the answers.

“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Clancy was right. They were going to get it in through Tipton eventually. All Riley did was speed up the process.”

“And create an ‘oh my God’ moment in front of the jury. He might as well have hit me in the face with a shovel.”

She was right about that. It had been one of those rare moments in a court proceeding where everyone in the room was figuratively knocked off their feet.

“I guess the circumstances could have been better,” I said. “If we’d known it was coming we could have tried to lessen the blow a little, but we didn’t have any way of knowing.”

“We should have gotten to Tipton.”

“You know how it is, Grace. Prosecution witnesses don’t have to talk to defense lawyers in criminal cases.”

“He’s going to lie, isn’t he?”

“Of course he’s going to lie. I didn’t buy that rifle from him and I’ve never seen that tree stand in my life. The question at this point is why is he lying? And the answer has to be that Clancy is coercing him somehow. He has something on James, something that must terrify him. He’s one of those old school thugs, or at least he used to be. One of those guys who would rather cut off an arm than talk to the police. Have you checked him out thoroughly?”

Grace shrugged.

“As thoroughly as we can, I suppose,” she said. “I’ve followed up on everything you’ve told me. My investigator has poked around some. Tipton’s grandmother is apparently some kind of Ma Barker or something. The story is that she and her grandsons run an oxycodone smuggling operation from her farm in Sevier County. But we haven’t been able to get anything out of the DEA about a drug investigation into Tipton or his family. I talked to Clancy right before I came here, and he swears there is no drug case pending against anyone in Tipton’s family and that they haven’t offered Tipton anything in return for his testimony. The only reason he got involved was because they traced the rifle back to him.”

“I wonder if Tipton killed Jordan,” I said, “and if he did, why?”

Grace shook her head and sat down next to me on the bunk.

“I don’t even want to think about the answer to that question,” she said, “because it’s just so frightening. Is Ben Clancy capable of manipulating all of this? Could he possibly have set all of this in motion just to frame you for a murder?”

“You’re damned right he’s capable,” I said.

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