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Back The Hallows Save as PDF
Chapters (89)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. 67
  72. 68
  73. 69
  74. 70
  75. 71
  76. 72
  77. 73
  78. 74
  79. 75
  80. 76
  81. 77
  82. 78
  83. 79
  84. 80
  85. 81
  86. 82
  87. 83
  88. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  89. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

He stood and then hurriedly got his jacket and exited. I didn’t notice any of the confident swagger he normally had. He didn’t even look back at us.

“Next witness, Mr. Graham.”

63

63

The next witnesses were the O’Briens. I had them up to describe the condition of the body and how exactly they found it. Nothing earth shattering. I finished up with each of them in about fifteen minutes and moved on.

The ME from the state crime lab was next, but by the time we took a break, got him sworn in, and had gone through his qualifications, it was almost one. The judge called it a day fifteen minutes early and released the jury, telling them not to discuss the case with anyone else. I asked to have the jury sequestered, and Judge Allred laughed.

As everyone filed out of the courtroom, Jia came up to me and said, “That made Howard look like an idiot, but Russell didn’t contradict anything Howard had said.”

“It’s just the first little gash. He’s going to attack and attack until the gash becomes a gaping hole in our case, and the jury starts thinking they can’t trust us. What do you got on the stalking injunction?”

“It’s legit. It didn’t come up on a regular search, though, so I searched by initials. According to the system, a ‘PW’ tried to take out a stalking injunction against ‘SB’ four months ago. I thought it’s gotta be them. I doubled-checked the birthdays, and it’s Patty and Steven Brown. I don’t know why someone entered it with just the initials since no one searches that way. Probably a new clerk at the court or something.”

“Do you have a copy of the injunction?”

“No. Nothing was there. I’ve never seen that before.”

“It means the report was taken, but no injunction was ever filed.”

“Who would do that? I mean, I can see Nathan Ficco having the ability to get it dropped, but Steven doesn’t have any money or connections besides Anderson.”

“No idea who, but job number one for you is to dig deep and find out who took that report when Patty came in.”

“So can we not use Steven now?”

“We don’t have a choice, he’s our star witness. And there’s no actual injunction, just a report, so it’s not official. We go with the game plan we got for now.”

We walked out of the courtroom, and I turned my cell back on. I saw I had a missed call and a voice mail.

“Lunch?” Will said.

“I’ll catch up. You guys go ahead.”

I checked the voice mail in the hallway: it was from a Dr. Thomas. The doctor that had treated Anderson’s eye injury.

I returned the call. “Doc, hey, this is Tatum Graham with the County Attorney’s Office. Just returning your call to my call.”