Dead to Rights by Jack Patterson (fiction book recommendations .txt) 📕

broke it off about a week before Isaiah came back to town, but the rumor was Jordan was torn up about it all.”

“So, why wouldn’t people think Jordan did it?”

“Jordan might be a pot head, but he’s no killer.”

Kelly turned off the microfiche machine and handed the sheet to Mrs. Kirkwood. “I don’t know, Mrs. Kirkwood. Passion will make you do crazy things—even kill someone over it.”

“But to kill the woman you love?” Mrs. Kirkwood questioned. “People who knew the whole backstory could never believe Jordan would do such a thing.”

“If this is such common knowledge, I can’t believe it wasn’t raised during the trial,” Cal said.

Mrs. Kirkwood cocked her head to one side. “Well, I don’t know if I’d say it’s common knowledge. I do work in the library, and I hear things.”

“I thought people were supposed to be quiet in the library,” Kelly said.

“These new generation kids don’t quite understand such etiquette. I gave up a long time ago trying to make everyone be quiet.” She broke into a wry grin. “I hear so much these days, maybe I can turn this into a lucrative blackmail business.”

Cal stared at her, unsure of what to say.

“I’m teasing, you two,” she said, breaking into a hearty laugh. “I know I said the library isn’t a place where people joke around, but you should’ve seen the look on your faces.”

Cal redirected the conversation back toward his burning question. “So, nobody in Pickett really raised the possibility that maybe Jordan Hayward killed Susannah?”

Mrs. Kirkwood shrugged. “You might find a couple, but most people in this town believe justice was served. And it won’t be fully served until Isaiah Drake receives his punishment in full.”

CHAPTER 18

CAL AND KELLY DECIDED to squeeze in a quick records review at the Pickett County courthouse before they wrapped up their investigation for the day. Kelly remembered something about a marriage license in the court transcripts that she wanted to look at again. Cal agreed that it couldn’t hurt to peruse the files one more time.

On their way to the courthouse, Marsha Frost from The Innocence Alliance called Cal to check in on their progress.

“What have you been able to find out so far?” Frost asked.

“I think you might be able to make the case that Isaiah Drake had terrible representation if anything,” Cal said. “There’s enough reasonable doubt here that I can’t believe any jury of his peers would convict him of this crime, much less receive the death sentence.”

“What kind of evidence could you give me?”

“Nothing concrete yet, but if you were able to get a retrial, I’m sure you could win it. Heck, I think I could win it, and I’m no lawyer.”

Cal waited for Frost’s response, one he expected to excite her. Instead, she sighed.

“I don’t know, Cal. Getting a new trial isn’t easy. Judges don’t tend to just order retrials without good cause. The state spent plenty of money and resources on getting this conviction, and it’s not likely to abandon it on a whim of goodwill.”

“I’ll keep digging.”

“Keep me posted.”

Cal hung up and parked along the street in front of the courthouse. Kelly grabbed her gear as the pair got out together.

“What does Marsha Frost think?” Kelly asked.

“She thinks we don’t have enough real evidence to get a judge to issue a retrial. We need to find more proof that the defense bungled this case.”

Once inside the courthouse, Cal and Kelly obtained permission to sift through the trial transcripts again in the basement archives.

After a few minutes, Kelly shouted aloud. “There you are! I knew I’d seen this before but couldn’t remember where or when.”

“What’d you find?” Cal asked.

“I thought I remembered reading in the discovery that Susannah’s lawyer lover from Jacksonville, Mr. Tanner Thomas, had secured a marriage license two days before her death. That alone was motive enough for Drake to killer her.”

“Good point.”

Kelly nodded and held up her right index finger. “However, there’s something that dawned on me after hearing Mrs. Kirkwood talk at the library: small towns people like to talk.”

“Everyone likes to talk.”

“True. So, based on what Mrs. Kirkwood just told us, aren’t there some other questions we should be asking about this case that apparently never got asked.”

“Such as . . . ?”

Kelly’s eyebrows shot upward, and she broke into a smile. “Such as if Jordan Hayward was upset with Susannah, maybe he found out that she was planning on marrying Tanner Thomas and leaving his buddy Drake in the dust—or himself in the dust.”

“Did Drake know about Susannah getting married? Because he certainly didn’t mention it when we interviewed him.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But if we need hard evidence that creates doubt, this does it.”

“Or confirms it. The only way the jury would know is if Hayward or Drake testified to this. Neither of them were on the stand.”

“So, how did this information come out in the trial?”

Kelly held up her index finger. “Well, initially it was speculative . . . until this piece of evidence got introduced as ‘Exhibit S,’ a photograph of the marriage license log from that day.”

She handed the picture to Cal.

“What am I looking for here?” Cal asked.

“Check the name of the clerk on the log sheet.”

Cal’s mouth went agape.

Kelly smiled and nodded. “Now you’re tracking with me. The clerk who gave them the marriage license was none other than Heloise Hayward, Jordan’s mother.”

Cal shrugged. “That still doesn’t bolster the level of doubt that Drake did it. If anything, it strengthens it.”

“I agree . . . unless the jury didn’t know about Hayward’s fling with Susannah. And it was never brought up in court.”

“Are you suggesting this gives Hayward a motive?”

“Maybe,” she said. “A good defense attorney would’ve brought this information to light in a trial. If anything, they could’ve hatched a plan together.”

Cal nodded knowingly. “Or Hayward was solely responsible.”

CHAPTER 19

CAL AWOKE EARLY FRIDAY MORNING and was careful not to wake up Kelly. He took a quick shower