Chapter 8 chapter eight

Joey Levistone is a handsome eighteen-year-old boy with blond hair, blue eyes, and thick arms.On today, the most critical day in his life, Joey is wearing a white shirt and a navy blue blazer, the two creases on the gray trousers ironed to razor sharpness.In addition, he also specially tied the Whitley College tie.This attire was very similar to the one he wore the day he raped and murdered Mary Harding in the woods behind the exclusive private college. Outside the offices of Matthew Raynor's attorney-at-law partner in Atlanta, the sun scorched Peachtree Street with scorching heat.However, the atmosphere in the office was gloomy and gloomy.Joey leaned back, sat on the chair boldly, and stared at Renault with a smile on his face.Seeing his virtue, uninformed bystanders would definitely think that Joey was contemptuous of Matthew and scoffed at what he said.However, Joey's rapidly shaking right foot unconsciously revealed the fear in his heart.Matthew is very clear that the message sent by the trembling foot is just like the question that this big boy has been asking repeatedly in the past year: "Will I die? Will I die? Will I die?" Die?" Only Renault is qualified to answer this question.

"Are we going to court?" "Not yet, Joey, there is still some progress." "What kind of progress?" the boy asked anxiously. "Last night, when I arrived at the hotel, I received a message from Inspector Fogg." "What does he want to do?" "He wants to settle your case out of court. We were talking in the hotel until midnight yesterday." Matthew stared blankly at his client, while Joey looked ignorant and confused. "Joey! Mary Harding was a very popular girl, and many people in Atlanta were outraged by her murder. On the other hand, your parents were well-known figures in this community. They were loved and respected by people, So there are many people who sympathize with them, and some people even use their position and power just to not want to see your parents lose their only son."

Joey looked at Renault expectantly. "Mr. Fogg has filed a motion that must be granted before a judge can decide on our claim." "What kind of request?" "Indicted the case for murder in exchange for his promise not to carry the death penalty." "Well... then what?" "You will be sentenced to life imprisonment, at least ten years in prison." "Oh no! I don't want to do that; I don't want to spend my life in a dungeon." "It's the best we can think of." "My father paid you 250,000 yuan. You should try to help me get rid of the crime."

Matthew shook his head impatiently, "Your father asked me to save your life, Joey. Even if the emperor and I descend to earth, no one can help you get away with it. You killed Mary , and also pleaded guilty to the police, the evidence is conclusive, and you can’t stand up, you can’t get away with it. Haven’t we said it several times before?” "However, if we go to court..." "You will definitely be punished, and in the end, you may even lose your life." Matthew picked up a photograph of Mary Harding at the orientation ball and placed it on the table next to her autopsy photograph.

"That's what the jury will see throughout the trial. What do you think you'll be convicted of?" Joey's lips were trembling.All of a sudden, his youthful arrogance disappeared without a trace. "I'm only eighteen years old," he protested, and a tear came out of his eyes. "I don't want to spend my whole life in prison." Joey slumped on the chair depressed, his whole face deeply Bury it in your hands. Matthew leaned forward slightly, and put a hand on Joey's shoulder, "What's the matter, Joey?" "I'm so scared!" the boy choked up and sobbed.

"I know, Joey. Every one of my clients feels the dread of a conviction when the hammer comes down, even the most combative heroes." Joey turned his teary face to Matthew.Now he looked like a helpless little baby, and it was hard to imagine what it would have been like when he had knocked Mary Harding down, stripped her naked, and brandished the stick to kill her. "What shall I do, Monsieur Renault?" "You have to pay for what you've done, but you're not going to be in jail forever, you're going to be paroled. Your parents love you and when you get out they're there to welcome you with open arms Go home. Besides, even in prison, you can still finish your college work and get your degree."

Matthew continued to comfort him, trying to raise his voice, trying to ignite a glimmer of hope for Joey.But he knew he was lying to him, and prison would be hell for Joey Levistone.He may still survive, but when he gets out of prison, he will definitely change his appearance completely, and he will no longer be this timid and weak boy. Joey Livestone's indictment brought the case to a sudden close.During the three days of the pre-trial ruling, Matthew Raynor and Trish Conwana were busy in the court for three days.When the judge accepted the complaint and dropped the gavel, Trish glanced at Joey's parents.In Fultonshire court, the well-dressed and stately couple could not take the sudden blow, but managed to restrain themselves from breaking.

Braver Livestone, an eminent banker, sat briskly with his hands tucked between his legs, rather ill at ease under the gaze of the police and court spectators.Inadvertently, Tracy caught sight of Braver staring at his son suspiciously.Elaine Livestone leaned her whole body back.Over the past few days, she has become more and more pale and fragile, haggard.When the judge pronounced the sentence, the couple seemed to be ten years older in front of Tracy's eyes. After the court, there was a tearful meeting between Joey and his parents, followed by another exhausting interview between Matthew and his parents, in which Matthew's compassion was revealed.

It was seven o'clock when Trish and Raynor met in the hotel restaurant for their last dinner in Atlanta.Trish noticed that Matthew ordered the same food every day: steak, green salad, roasted potatoes, and a cup of iced tea. This evening, Trish really couldn't enjoy her dinner like her boss, and unconsciously fiddled with the plate of pasta in front of her, replaying everything that happened today in her head, until Renault asked her: "What's wrong with you?" Then he suddenly came back to his senses. Trish looked back.She seemed to realize that Renault had said something, but the words flew past her ears.

"You've been in a daze for a while, so I'm wondering if something's bothering you?" he said. Tracy hesitated for a moment before asking, "Why did you persuade Joey to accept that agreement?" Raynor was about to put a small piece of steak into his mouth with the fork, but when Tracy asked, he put the fork back on the plate and leaned back in the chair. "Do you think I shouldn't do this?" From the tone of Renault's reply, there was no trace of his thoughts, Trish suddenly felt uneasy.The man in front of her has been handling cases for more than 20 years, but she herself has not even handled a single case, plus she has only worked for him for a week, Trish really doesn't know if she should ask questions so brazenly .Yet again, Raynor asked for her opinion in a very calm tone, as if assuring her that he would not be the least bit offended by her views, even if they were full of ignorant prejudices.

"I think the reason why Fogg made this request is because he is afraid that when we go to court with you, the verdict we bring will suppress the confession that he has." "You're right." "It's possible we could win this case." "But we could also lose." "But the judge's attitude is biased towards us. Without the confession, we can point the finger at the direction of manslaughter. There is no bottom line for manslaughter, and Joey can be eligible for a suspended sentence and be arrested at any time. bail." "Death also has no bottom line of punishment." Trish originally planned to reply, but swallowed the words back.Renault waited for a while, then asked, "What is the purpose of our case?" "Win the lawsuit!" Trish replied without thinking. Renault shook his head, "Our purpose is to save Joey Levistone's life, which is also the sole purpose of handling every death penalty case. Winning the lawsuit is only one of the means to achieve this purpose, but it is definitely not your last important purpose." "When I started practicing as a lawyer, I always thought that the goal of my efforts was to acquit the suspect." Reynolds smiled a little tiredly, "Unfortunately, I won three murders in a row at the beginning. criminal case, so it became quite high-spirited and high-spirited, and the next homicide I took on was in a small eastern Oregon county, and the District Attorney Eddie Brace who handled that case Only a few years older than me, and he had never tried any murder cases. There was a rumor at the time that he was transferred to District Attorney because he was not allowed in private law firms. In my first The first time he confronted him in court, Blaise was extremely clumsy, stuttered frequently, and spent most of the time apologizing to the judge. "Brace came to see me at my hotel that night before we started working on the verdict application. We chatted for a while, just like Fogg did, and he said quite frankly that he was going to convince a jury to take a man's life. It made him very uncomfortable, so he wanted to know if my client was willing to accept an agreement in which he waived the death penalty and my client pleaded guilty to murder. However, I am sure to win the case , plus my undefeated record, so I took it for granted that Bryce, like Fogg you think, made this move out of fear of losing the lawsuit. Therefore, I declined. I know I have full strength Seize can beat him." Raynor looked down at his plate, then looked up quickly at his partner. "As a lawyer, the worst thing you can do is to hear that your client has been sentenced to death. You don't want to hear the judge's sentence in your case, Tracy. But when I turned down Eddie It's the first time I've heard a judge pronounce a sentence like this since Brace's deal." "What went wrong?" "Just one thing, as clumsy as Blaise was, and as brilliant as I was, the attitude of the jury was toward the death penalty. They really wanted to see my client dead. Actually, during the trial, I can vaguely see that no matter who comes to fight this lawsuit, my client will definitely die, because the jury has already decided to do this. Blaise knows this very well, he understands those people's thoughts , That’s why he hurried to negotiate with me. It’s not because he’s afraid he’ll lose, but because he knows he can’t lose.” "However, Joey's case... is different. The judge may..." "No, Trish! No matter how much I try to defend Joey, it won't help. I know you will never believe it now, but you will naturally understand later. Most importantly, I know that the judge will do everything possible to make the confession And those jurors will have no sympathy for the murder of a young girl by such a spoiled rich dandy." Renault looked at his watch. "I'm going for a walk and I'll be back in a minute. There will be a minibus to take us to the airport at seven tomorrow morning. Get some sleep and don't let this case take itself to heart. We've done a good job and it's over. What we should do. Because we saved the client's life." Matthew Raynor walked into the hotel room, closed the door, and stood alone in the darkness.The dull room was cleaned spotlessly, the bedspread was covered flat, the creases at the corners were straight and neat, and the pattern of coffee-colored mint leaves was clearly branded on the pillowcase ironed with washing starch.Every night. Renault took off his coat and put it on the back of the chair.The air conditioner in the room dried out his sweat, making the shirt stick tightly to his shriveled chest.Outside the sealed window, the sweltering heat of August is baking the whole of Atlanta, and the lights in the city are flickering everywhere.This would be the last time Raynor would see them, and tomorrow morning he would be back in Portland, away from the reporters here, away from his client, and this annoying case. Renault turned around from the window, and saw the red light on the phone on the bedside table with a message on.After listening to the message, he hurriedly dialed Barry Flamm's phone number, and listened anxiously to the results of the case entrusted to Barry to investigate. "It's me!" said Flem. "Tell me!" Renault asked anxiously. "Mrs. Franklin covered the bullet hole in the wall with a painting. It's too bad for Elvis. The investigators who searched for it never thought of flipping it, because they have absolutely no taste in aesthetics. Jeff." Ray Conte was really lucky." "Stop putting gold on your face. Keep talking." "Take it easy, Matthew! We don't have to worry about this case any more. I'll bet Griffin's going to miss the Criminal Commissioner's report. Come to think of it, the picture hangs so high, nobody's gonna do that, There is no one who has such superb taste as Mrs. Franklin. When I saw the pictures of the crime scene, I wondered. When I entered the living room of the house, I found that it was even worse! "From the point of view of Jeffrey shooting, when Franklin drew his gun, he was on the ground, so Franklin didn't shoot him. Jeffrey was very tall, so if Franklin was going to shoot His head, the muzzle must have been aimed high. We found a picture of the wall in the family album in the house three months before the murder. I removed the painting on the wall and found a Grey, small holes that were filled. After recording the evidence with a video recorder, I dug up the ashes and asked an expert to identify them. He was very sure that it was a bullet hole. But the bullet was gone. It must have been shot by Mrs. Franklin Annihilated." "Then when can we get the Criminal Commissioner's report?" "This weekend!" "Continue to track and investigate Franklin's background information. If necessary, we can add another person." "Why? The fact that Mrs. Franklin destroyed the evidence is already obvious. She patched the hole and covered it with a painting, which means that she is protecting her son. This accusation cannot be refuted by Griffin." "Barry, don't ever think that the prosecutor's prosecution actions will be so rational. Abijill Griffin is not such a simple character, and she may have written differently about that evidence. Before the trial, we must prepare a comprehensive The search for evidence will do." "You're right," Barry said wearily. "I'll put Ted Frank in charge of looking into this. Well, how's your Atlanta thing going?" "Joy accepted that deal." "That's exactly what you want, isn't it?" "That's right." "So, what about his parents?" "Not very good." Matthew paused for a while, rubbing his eyes, "I'll go back tomorrow. But don't tell anyone, because I want to rest for a few days." "Are you okay? The voice doesn't sound right!" "I'm tired and want to be quiet for a few days." "I told you a long time ago that you need to rest. What time does your plane arrive? I'll pick you up at the airport." "Ten past three! And, Barry, you did a good job on the Franklin case, really well." Matthew hung up the phone, his eyes glazed over, and his bones seemed to be falling apart.It was pitch black, and he slumped in bed, thinking about Joey Levistone, Jeffrey Count in Portland, and Aronso Noches in Huntsville, Texas. , and others who sold their lives to him because they were on the verge of life and death.It was too tiring for him to carry so much on his own, and he began to feel that he was going to lose it. Matthew thought of Tracy Conwanagh's energy and drive.Once upon a time, he was such an energetic figure, handling cases one after another, never getting tired.But now, the pile of cases weighed him down and drained his energy: he needed to get away from what was in front of him, he needed something else...someone. Matthew turned over and buried his whole face in the fluffy pillow, feeling the coolness and comfort of the linen.He closed his eyes, thinking of a photograph of Abigail Griffin that he kept in the bottom right drawer of his desk.This is his favorite one.In the photo, she stands leisurely in front of the French window of her home, with her hands on her waist, her right knee slightly bent, and her eyes wandering towards the direction of the woods, as if she is listening to some faint voices, leading her heart to go with the wind.