Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen

"I will never believe who the secret witness is!" Barry Flem threw the police report on Abby's case on Matthew Raynor's desk. "Tell me!" Matthew looked at Fram eagerly. "I should let you guess first. However, I don't think you will ever guess." Flem slumped into the chair with a grunt, "So, I have prepared three options for you: Darth Fan De, and Son of Sam, and Charlie Deam." Matthew was dumbfounded, while Fram couldn't restrain the smug smile on his face. "That's good news, isn't it?" he asked Raynor. "Guedes would base his case on the words of a psycho who both dealt drugs and killed a nine-year-old girl."

Matthew didn't look too happy. "What's the matter, boss?" "Have you read all the evidence?" Renault asked, pointing to the thick stack of police reports on the table. "I took so much pains to get you a copy of it from the D.A.'s office that I didn't have time to read it. But I did look at Jack Stein's meeting with Tim. There was a touch of fluke in the conversation report, too. If Geddis had met Stan before he took the notes, I don't think the notes would have been done." "There's absolutely something wrong with this, and there's no way Barry Gaddis would base his case on someone like Charlie Deam unless he thinks it's proven. So, I want you and Tracy to go through the whole thing." Go through the reports. I would do the same myself."

"Are you going to finish it tonight?" He thought that his day's work plan should end with sunset.But Matthew ignored his question. "I want you to make a list of all the doubts about the case, especially the weaker parts of the prosecution's evidence, and add your own opinion. If Guedes is really confident enough to take the testimony of Charlie Deem As a basis for handling the case, that would be a very scary thing.” Abby answered the door wearing black shorts, a navy blue T-shirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, her arms and legs were tan and healthy, but with a sleepy look on her face.But when she saw that the person standing at the door was Matthew, she suddenly brightened up, with a bright smile on her face.

Matthew was still wearing his one hundred and one uniform, and Trish behind him was wearing a suit with gray lines, looking like a full-fledged female entrepreneur.Only Flem, dressed casually in denim shirt and trousers, looked like a working man. Ignoring the presence of Barry and Tracy, Abby grabbed Matthew's arm excitedly. "Come in and sit down!" She led Reynolds into the inner courtyard, and then brought out a large pot of iced tea and a bowl full of fruit on the low glass table, next to the piles of police report records on the table.Matthew waited until Trish and Fram were seated one after another, then pulled up a chair and sat down, holding his documents on his lap.Barry took out a pen and paper, and Trish leaned over to listen.

"Have you read it all?" Matthew asked. Abby nodded. "How do you feel?" "This whole thing is absolutely ridiculous, not a word of what Dim said is true." "Okay! So let's start with Tim's claims. Which ones aren't true?" "All. He said that I asked him to meet at the cabin the day I was attacked at the beach, and paid him to help me kill Robert. It was all nonsense. It didn't happen at all. Since he was tried in court After that, I never saw him again, nor did I speak to him." "What about those explosives?" Abby looked apprehensive, "Rob really bought some explosives, but they were used to clear the stumps and piles in the yard."

"How did Tim know about the explosives if you didn't tell him?" Barry asked. "Rob kept the dynamite in the tool-room. Maybe Tim went to scout the cabin before he was going to attack me and found the dynamite in the tool-room." "Was there still explosives in the tool room the day you were attacked?" Matthew asked. "Is it possible that Judge Griffin used it up while clearing the stake?" "I don't know. Rob did tell me he cleared the stakes, but he didn't say if he ran out of explosives." "So were you in the tool room the day you were attacked?" Matthew asked.

"No. The tool room is at the back of the cabin, and I don't go around the back very often. I'm either right by the sea, or I'm in the front yard and in the house." "Have you been to the beach since the attack?" Barry asked. "No. And I don't think Robert's going there either. He's got to sit in Sharon for a while." "Barry, remember: we have to go to the cabin by the sea and check the tool room." Then Matthew asked Abby, "Can you think of a way to prove that Dim is lying?" "No way. His words hit me, but they didn't carry much weight. My God! He's the worst scum in the world. I can't imagine a guy like Guedes would take his word for it. .”

"But he did," Matthew said. "And yet even Jack Stein thought that was reason enough for him to turn the case over to the Attorney General's office. Why, Abby? How sure are they of Tim's word?" Abby shook her head, "I read these reports over and over again, but I just can't figure out why?" Trish felt a little nervous.She wanted to interrupt, but a thought rushed up in her head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Reynolds!" she said bravely. "I probably know where we should go to get evidence that Charlie Deam lied. When Mrs. Griffin sued him, he was sentenced to death. That Mrs. Griffin must have had sufficient evidence to prove that he was a potentially dangerous man in order to prompt the jury to reach a verdict of death..."

"Yeah!" Abby said to Raynor, "Why am I so stupid." Matthew also had a flash of inspiration, "Good idea, Trish." Abby looked at Trish as if she was looking straight at her for the first time. "Who's handling Tim's appeal?" Renault asked Abby. "Bob Pike." "Tracy," Raynor said, "call Bob. He must have a copy of Deem's case. It could be a gold mine for information on Deem's background!" The inner courtyard is warm and warm.Trish bowed her head and wrote a memo to contact Pike.Matthew took a shallow sip of his iced tea.When Trish looked up, she noticed the interaction between the boss and his client.From the moment he entered the door, Matthew didn't take his eyes off Griffin for a quarter of an hour, and Abby's attention was all on him. Even when Trish or Barry were asking questions, Abby was always looking at the horse. Xiu answered.

"How did you meet Judge Griffin?" "At the time I was prosecuting a sexual harassment case. The victim was quite young and the defendant was wealthy, so they wanted to spend a lot of money to settle out of court with the victim's family. Robert was the victim's legal representative at the time, We worked on the case together. He asked me out as a matter of course. However, our relationship became more formal when Robert was appointed to the Supreme Court." "That was about five years ago?" "That's right." "So, was that also when the cracks in your marriage started?"

"No!" She replied without thinking. The whole person was a little cramped in the chair, and she glanced at Trish, and Trish immediately realized that this question made Abby feel awkward.She wondered if Abby would feel more comfortable without the other woman here. "In the beginning, our marriage was pretty good." Abby continued the unfinished words, "at least I think so. I'm not sure if I was too late." "What's the problem?" "I guess you could say that the relationship between the two of us is like the relationship between Robert and his client." Abby said sadly, "He confuses me because Robert's conversation is always very Appropriate. He'd pick out a nice bottle of wine and discuss Monet and Mozart with me. He's a real romantic." Matthew blushed again. "But it was too late when I found out that he was an out-and-out jerk. He talked about the rest of his women in front of me as if they were all his clients." "Judge Griffin cheating behind your back?" Barry asked. Abby's laughter was sharp and piercing, "You can say that. Although I don't know their names, I'm sure that he definitely has more than one woman." "How did you know he was stealing outside?" "He slipped it himself. Once, by accident, I overheard him talking to a woman on an extension phone, and I confronted him face to face. It wasn't a surprise that he would try to deny everything, but I I just knew he was lying. Another time, a friend told me that she saw Robert and a woman walking into a hotel in Portland. He was supposed to appear in court in Sharon that day. As a result, that time, he Admitting that I was with a certain woman, I just beat him to death and refused to say who she was. He kept assuring me that he would never do it again, and I also told him that as long as I found out again, I would Leave him immediately." "And then? He committed another crime?" "Oh! On May 3rd, I got a phone call at work. The woman on the phone told me that Robert was having a tryst with a woman at the Panorama Hotel. Twenty-three miles south on I-5, You can see the motel, about halfway between Sharon and Portland. The woman on the phone won't reveal her identity, and I can't guess who she could be after thinking about it. After hanging up, I drove down immediately, hoping to catch Robert on the spot. But it was too late after all, the woman had already left first, and Robert had already put on his clothes. A quarrel was inevitable. As a result, the next day I moved out." "Remember to look up the 'Panorama Hotel'." Matthew told Barry, "Check their housing records to see if you can find out who that woman is." Flem lowered his head and wrote the memo. "Abby," Matthew continued, "who do you think is the most likely murderer of Judge Griffin?" "Charlie Deam, it must be. It's his way of getting back at me for sending him to death row. And I'm pretty sure he's the guy who tried to kill me at the cabin by the sea. Maybe the guy who tried to break He was also the thief who came into my house." "Tell us about the intrusion," Barry said. Abby recounted everything about meeting Tony Rose that night and then scaring away the attempted trespasser. "Did you report the crime?" Flem asked. "No. Because I think it's a waste of time to report the crime. He has left no evidence and I can't identify him." "Barry," Raynor said, "we have to find Tim." "But these files don't have his address, Matthew." Renault frowned deeply, "It stands to reason that they should include the mailing addresses of all the witnesses to be subpoenaed." "I know. But it just doesn't exist here." Reynolds thought for a moment before speaking again, "Don't ask Guedes, try asking Neil Christensen. He works in the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office." "Understood." Barry immediately lowered his head to write notes. Matthew turned his attention back to Abby. "If Tim wasn't the murderer of Judge Griffin, who else do you think might be involved?" "No. Unless the murderer was a woman, it could have been the woman he played with. But that's just a random guess on my part. If it wasn't Tim, I don't know who else would have done it to him." Let's do it." Matthew looked at the notes he made, "It seems that we don't need to discuss these police reports anymore. Barry, Trish, do you have any other questions?" Both of them shook their heads. "You and Trish go back to the office first." Matthew said to Barry: "First set a time, so that we can filter and examine the specific evidence; we also need to find out where Dim lives. Mrs. Griffin and I still have a few things Something to discuss." "No problem," Barry said. "We'll find our way back by ourselves." "Thank you for your hospitality," Trish said.Abby gave her a perfunctory smile back. "What else do you want to ask me?" Abby asked impatiently when Barry and Tracy were out of earshot. "None of the case. Are these security measures working?" "Probably so! A reporter appeared in the woods, and the siren was detected, so he was caught by the surveillance personnel before he found me." "That's good. How have you been?" "It's okay. But when I'm depressed, I feel very depressed. If I feel depressed, I will keep reminding myself that this place is a thousand times better than the prison in the Justice Center." Abby held up With a flick of the wrist, Matthew saw the bracelet clearly. "I'm even getting used to this stuff." "Do you have some friends who could come over and keep you company?" "I'm not the kind of woman who goes around making friends, Matthew. I'm always alone. The only ones who are close to me and who can be called friends are probably some other prosecutors, like Jack and Dennis Heka. But they can't come to visit me now because I'm being sued now." "But besides your work partners, you should have other friends, right?" With a cold expression on her face, Abby forced a smile and shrugged her shoulders. "Work was my whole life until I met Rob. And now I have to suffer the consequences, except myself, and myself." "Abby, I know exactly what it's like to be alone. All my clients know they can call me anytime and I'm on call 24 hours a day. That's true for them, and it's true for you." "I understand, Matthew." Abby said lazily, "And, thank you for your kindness." "Please, don't give up hope. Promise me one thing, as long as you feel bad and want to talk to someone, you must call me anytime." "I will, I promise you." Barry turned his Jeep onto the McTan Braver Highway and drove straight into downtown Portland.The road follows the river, and occasionally a few small boats can be glimpsed happily swimming on the Wheeling Meadie River.Barry envied these people who were still free to sail on Thursday, and looked at them greedily.But Tracy looked careless. "What are you mad about?" Barry asked. "What did you say?" "What are you worrying about? You haven't said a word since we left that house." Trish shook her head. "Come on! We are work partners! What are you thinking?" "Our principal," Trish said. "What's the matter with her?" "I don't quite trust her." "But Matthew is very believable." "I think you've noticed it too, haven't you?" "As an investigator, I don't think so much!" Barry said. "I mean, it's like a compliment party," Trish went on—"I don't think she even looked us in the eye when we were in that room." "So what?" "Barry, Matthew Reynolds is a very smart lawyer and a good man. He shouldn't be the kind of person who will be attracted by a woman like Abijill Griffin casually. !" "Hey, don't look at your boss belittling you!" "I don't. I like him a lot, but I don't want to see Abijill Griffin taking advantage of him." "How is she going to take advantage of him?" "Using her seductive appeal to convince a vulnerable man to mutter about his innocence when he isn't." "You really think she would do that?" "I think it's possible." "Are you judging by what that scumbag Dim said?" "Based on what I know of Judge Griffin. The affair thing... I don't really believe it. Well, if he did hook up with a woman, I'll bet she forced it." "Why do you think Mrs. Griffin is to blame for the breakdown of their marriage?" "Because Laura has a lot of respect for judges." "Lola is...?" "Sorry, it's Laura Resty, Judge Griffin's clerk, who was murdered before I left the courthouse." "I remembered, you found the body. I'm sorry, I didn't remember the name for a while." "It's okay, I didn't mention it to you." "Have the police found the murderer?" "No. I've called the detective on the case every now and then, and she's told me they haven't got a clue so far." "Go back to our client! You just mentioned that Laura respects Judge Griffin very much. If you talk about it carefully, there may be some clues in it." "It's true. If he's really a philanderer, Laura must feel it. Of course, it's impossible to respect him so much." "Perhaps she was kept in the dark. Laura only sees him when he's at work; maybe he's one way around the secretary and another behind her back." Tracy stared out the window for a long while without saying a word.They turned around a bend, and the boundary of Portland was faintly visible. Towering buildings with steel and glass curtains sprang out one by one, while the original lush green trees were gradually left behind. "You're right. I think maybe I really don't know Judge Griffin well enough. I only see him at work, too. It's just... Barry, he's a really nice guy. He's very nice to Laura." So concerned, I couldn't for a moment connect the guy Mrs. Griffin described with the Judge Griffin I usually see." "So, I can make a small conclusion. You don't know what Judge Griffin is really like, but you don't like Abigail Griffin, so you don't buy our client's account. Trish, this That's not the way to do things! Nothing you've ever said to me can refute what Mrs. Griffin has said. We represent Abigail Griffin and it's our job to protect her as best we can. So, after we get Before further information, we all have to prepare for the worst for the deceased and the best for our client. If other situations arise, we will ponder them carefully. However, for now, we still have to accept Judge Griffin is a liar, a big ass to say, working on the evidence we have seen."