Lori was living what most people would call the american dream. She lived in a large house on a nice tree lined street. She drove a newer car and her two boys went to a private school.
Other than her brother no one knew of the many problems she and her husband Curt were having. Her husband made enough money so that it was not necessary for Lori to work, and she was involved in many volunteer programs at the boys school.
. She drove a newer car and her two boys went to a private school. Other than her brother no one knew of the many problems she and her husband Curt were having. Her husband made enough money so that it was not necessary for Lori to work, and she was involved in many volunteer programs at the boys school.
It had been the last day of school for Curt Jr and Billy and Lori was running late. The boys had wanted to stay for an after school celebration with some of their friends and Lori had agreed to it.
Lori hurried and made dinner, she had just placed it in the oven when she had heard Curt's car pull into the driveway. She called to the boys and told them to hurry and put their things in their rooms.
Curt came in and right away Lori knew that he was in a bad mood. He came in the kitchen and yelled "Where is my dinner?" With that he opened the refrigerator door and yelled again "Where is the beer that you were supposed to pick up. I told you to get the beer."
Without warning he walked across the room and grabbed Lori's arm. Lori swallowed hard, she had forgotten the beer and she knew that she was in deep trouble. Curt would offer her no next thing she knew Curt had punched in the face and she had fallen onto the floor. She did not get up fast enough so Curt picked her up by the hair. Lori yelled in pain.
Neither Lori or Curt had seen Lori's brother Lonnie enter the room, and quick as lightening he had pulled Curt off of his sister. There was a scuffle and Curt had fallen into the same kitchen chairs that Lori had fallen into just five minutes before.
The problem was , though that Curt didn't get up from the floor and after both Lori and Lennie had tried to wake him up they had to call 911. The last thing that either one of them had wanted to do was to call 911. Lonnie had written a couple of bad checks and was on probation. If he was arrested he might have to go to jail for over thirty days.
At first Lori had high hopes that the police would listen to her story, but they dismissed her and refused to give her any treatment for the black eye and bruises that she had. It would be Lonnie and her word against Curt and his family money, once again he would be free once he was released from the hospital.
The next morning Lori went to the courthouse and was successful in getting a restraining order against her husband. It was just a piece of paper, but it gave her some say if she needed to call the police for protection. The marriage was in shambles and it was time for her and Curt to go their different ways. The boys had been witness to too many beatings.
Sure enough Curt was released from the hospital in three days, and he wanted to come home. It was his home and Lori had no right to keep him from there. He would have a hearing in three days and he knew that at that point he would be returning home. The prospect scared Lori to death. The only family that she had was Lonnie and he was in jail for at least the next month. Curt wasn't charged with domestic assault as the district attorney's office felt that being put in the hospital was enough punishment for having a fight with his wife that had gotten a little out of hand. Without pictures and a police statement, Lori had no proof as to what had happened to her,and the bruises would be gone soon.n
Curt was going to be staying at his parents for the next few days until the court hearing on the restraining order. He came over with the police to pick up some of his personal belongings and had done his best to be allowed to stay. Lori had been firm and he had left mad.
Court was scarey, but the court had a woman there that specialized in domestic violence and she had managed to convince the judge to allow the order for a period of six months. As she left the court Curt mouthed the words 'you'll be sorry.'
Lori had just dropped the two boys off at camp and walked into the backyard when she spotted Curt. He held the gun up and shot her once at close range. Lori died almost instantly. Curt walked out of the yard and calmly back to his parents. If he could not have her no one house.
When Lonnie was told the news he was so angry that perhaps it was good that he was in jail at the time. How ironic that he was in jail for trying to help his sister and the man who had attacked her just a few days earlier, had been given the freedom to commit a murder. Lori had been such a good mother to her boys and a very nice lady. She was in heaven he was sure of that.
The abuse of women had been an accepted practice by law enforcement agencies for too long and it was at that moment that Lonnie had made the decision to do something about the problem as soon as he was released from jail. No family should be forced into this type of situation ever. His nephews would have to face the world with no mother and their father in prison. It was a horrific way for them to spend their childhood. He knew that the best place to start was to contact the district attorney's office Hamilton Bu rger.
Hamilton Burger was a husband and father himself, and although he was the reason that Lonnie was sitting in jail, Lonnie knew that was one of the places that he was going to need to start the changes in the system.
The more that Lonnie sat in jail the more he stewed on the subject . He was not a violent man and had never struck anyone before that night. He had lost his temper when he had seen Curt knock her into the chair and then pull her up by the hair and he hadn't even been allowed to testify to that, he was the bad guy according to the judge not Curt and now his sister was dead.
Time did not go fast enough for Lonnie and he was in a bad mood when he got released on that rainy day. He had been served with a restraining order, ordering him to stay away from his two nephews. Another irony Curt was out on bail and the boys lived with him and yet Lennie was the one deemed dangerous by the court.
Hamilton Burger the district attorney was getting a lot of heat about the Curtis Jefferson case, people were in an uproar about it and were demanding answers as to why this murderer was out on the street. He too was a father and husband and had fought hard to keep Mr. Jefferson in jail, but once again a sympathetic judge and a rich attorney had won out.
That evening as Mr. Burger walked to the parking garage outside of his office he was met by Lonnie Parker, the brother of the woman who had been murdered. Lonnie walked right up to him and tried to speak to him about the injustices in the system. "You are a father, what if this had been your daughter asked.
"There are many organizations out there that are set up to help woman who are being b battered, it is sad that your sister did not contact one of them." Mr. Burger told him.
At this point Lonnie had raised his voice and said "so you are like the rest of the people in the corrupt court system, it is the victims fault."
It was then that Lonnie and the district attorney heard the flash of the camera, a reporter had been there and had witnessed the whole scene. This had not been part of Lennie's plan. But the newspaper man had gotten into a van and had fled the scene.
The two men left the garage knowing that the very private confrontation would be all over the nightly news and that it would be blown out of proportion. With the trial coming up in the next month and all the bad publicity this was all that he needed. He went home dejected thinking of his family and home. He had never thought about hitting his wife or children and he had no tolerance for men that did, it was the view that some people had on domestic violence.
As Hamilton took a seat in his living room and turned on the television, his worst fears were brought forth. The argument between the two of them was on every station and people were calling for his immediate resignation. It was his worst nightmare come true.
His wife and children were watching the shows and looked at their father. They just sat there in silence waiting for their father to say something. "I am going to make it my one job to get justice for Lori Jefferson. I promise you all." he told them.
At this point Hamilton was at his wits end. He needed to do something about the situation and do something fast. People were ready to lynch him, and to make it worse, the phone rang. It was his office and they had the bad news that Curtis Jefferson's family had been successful in obtaining a restraining order against Lonnie for the next six months. They had successfully stopped Lonnie from seeing his two nephews, on the grounds that he was a dangerous man.
He placed a call to Lonnie and had agreed to meet him at his apartment at 8pm that evening. Hamilton went to his home and knocked on the door, but got no answer. He felt the doorknob and found the door to be open. He called out to Lonnie, but there was no answer. That is when he saw the feet on the floor. He had just reached Lonnie's body when he heard the lady scream. She was right behind him and caused him to jump. He turned to tell her who he was but she hit him over the head with her pocketbook and ran to call the police.
The room was in shambles and the knife that had been used by the murderer to kill Lonnie was still lying on the floor. At some point Hamilton must have touched the knife. He didn't remember touching it but later his fingerprints would be found on the weapon.
To his surprise his friend Lt. Tragg was the first officer on the scene. They had been friends for many years but when it came down to business the two of them had always been truly business like. He had asked Hamilton about the reason that he had come to the man's apartment that he had just had the big argument with,. He shook his head letting the da know that he was in trouble this time.
Hamilton Burger was in the habit of being on the other side of the courtroom and the possibility of him ending up being charged with murder was something that he did not take lightly. He was going to need a lawyer, a good lawyer. He knew who to call he would call the best in the business, Perry Mason.
Perry and Della had been out to dinner that night. The talk of the dinner that night had been the story of their friend and fellow lawyer Hamilton Burger. They had just finished dinner and were getting into Perry's car when the cell phone rang. It was Hamilton Burger on the phone, he had been found in the apartment where Parker had been found murdered. He had found him face down in a pool of blood.
Perry and Della went right back to the office and met Mr. Burger there. It was a new experience for them, as he had been to their office many times but never as a client. He had always been on the opposing side mostly on murder trials.
It was then that Perry agreed to represent him if it became necessary. He had called his friend Paul Drake from the Drake Detective Agency and asked him to go to the murder site and take a look around. Paul was the best in the business and would get back to them as soon as he had any information for them.
Perry knew that his friend could easily be charged with the murder, as that everyone within the city and possibly the country knew of the fight that he and Lonnie had that afternoon in the parking garage of the district attorney' s office.
He put his friend at ease by promising that he would look into the murder right away. Hamilton left the office and went home to his family. It was a dark knight in the Burger household, but it was to get darker.
When Mr. Burger arrived at his office the next morning, the room was full of reporters and protesters. The protesters wanted to see him in jail and the reporters had already convicted him of the murder. Fortunately he had handled these types before and he knew better than to speak to anyone, so he just waved and went into the office.
Hamlton Burger had not been in the office for more than ten minutes when he got a call from the mayor. He asked for Burger to go home and to stay away from the press and office until the case had been settled. It was his opinion that Mr. Burger should not be in the office while he was a suspect in a murder case.
When Hamilton got home he called his friend Perry. Perry had been busy for the last few hours looking into the case but still had nothing to report. "Just sit tight Hamilton and I will get back to you as soon as we find anything" Perry told him.
The mood at the Mason office was a worried one. Della got up from her desk to answer the back door knock. When someone knocked on the back door it usually meant it was Paul Drake there. Perhaps he had some information for them.
Paul came into the office and took out his notebook. "I have the security cameras being viewed by two of men looking to see if they see anyone coming in and out of the property, but it doesn't look too promising. There are many blank spots on the film as the cameras are so cheap. There is something odd though, no one in the building claims to be the person that made the call to 911. Hamilton says that he heard a scream from a lady, but she had run off before he had a chance to explain to her what he was doing. She might have seen him in the news that night, he was on all the channels." Paul told them.
"Did anyone see anybody that was a stranger that night? Did you check the neighboring homes?" Perry asked his friend.
"There are still a couple of homes that I have not been able to speak to the people inside. Some of the people weren't at home when I was there. I did leave my card and I hope that something will come of those cards soon." Paul offered. "No one noticed anything out of the ordinary, but two of the neighbors who lived on the same floor did hear a woman's scream."
"Everyone in town saw that tape and perhaps Lonnie had some enemies that we don't know about. They may have taken advantage of the news and murdered Lonnie thinking that Hamilton would be charged and they might get away with it." Della told him.
"Unfortunately, that is all I have for now. I will keep you updated with anything that I do find out." Paul told them. He took one last sip of coffee and left again.
Della and Perry were again alone in the office and they enjoyed the rest of their coffee before they both left for another late dinner. 'Someday I am going to make him a good home made meal' Della thought to herself.
Just as Della reached to lock the office door the phone rang. She reached in and turned on the lights. On the other end was Hamilton Burgers wife Jean. Her husband had been arrested and charged with the murder of Lonnie Parker.
So, dinner was going to be delivered to the office and once again Perry Mason and Della Street were to be in charge of finding out the true murderer in a baffling case. They both knew that Hamilton was not the type of person who would ever harm another, so they needed to find out who the guilty one was.
As for Hamilton he found himself sitting in a holding cell at the main branch of the Los Angeles police department. He was impatiently waiting for his friend Mr. Mason to represent him while he was being interrogated by the police officers.
The questions lasted until way after midnight. He was fingerprinted and photos were taken of him from all angles. It was humiliating but he knew the score. The next morning he would be arraigned on the charges and would have to try to post bail.
Because of the immense interest in the case the courtroom was unusually crowded with news people and photographers from all over the country. Perry and Della stood beside him as he entered the courtroom like he had many times before but this time in handcuffs.
Hamilton looked over in the seats and saw his wife of over twenty years sitting there with a very worried look on her face. Fortunately, she had the good sense not to bring the children there. It was going to be a stressful enough experience already for the both of them.
When his case was called the assistant district attorney Blake Summers did the representing for the city. She argued that there should be no bail due to the heinous way that Mr. Parker had been murdered in his own home. His friend Perry Mason was able to get him bail, but it was set at five hundred thousand dollars with fifty thousand cash up front. This was a huge chunk of change for the Burger family but he couldn't stay in jail awaiting trial. He would have to wear a bracelet on his ankle, so that the court could follow his every move. That had been the policy of his office for the past five years.
Perry and Paul both knew of the rule which had meant that Curt Jefferson had been wearing a bracelet since his release and all of the information would be available as to his locations at all times during the day. Once in a while there would be a small glitch, but the bracelet worked for the most part twenty-four hours a day.
Paul checked with his friend at the local police department and found that there had been a glitch of about two minutes the day of the murder twice, once at 4:30 and once again at 7:30. Both times the glitch had only happened for a short two minute time, so Curt would have been unable to go to Lonnie's house that day. He never came within two miles of Lennie's home and he had the bracelet to prove it.
Perry and Della had invited Hamilton to their office to go over the information that they had so far. It was clear that the lady who had screamed that night was an important witness to the crime, so Perry asked him for a good description. They also went over all of the cars that Hamilton could remember being around the apartment building on that fateful night. He remembered the lady to be a lady in her forties with dark hair and well dressed. She did not look like one of the tenants, as her clothes were designer brands. She was about Della's height and weight, a pretty lady, but she had run out of the room too fast.
Just then the familiar knock on the back door came and Della let Paul in. He acknowledged everyone in the room took a seat and opened his notebook. "I finally got hold of a lady that lives in the house next door. She remembered seeing a lady in her forties running from the building and getting into a fancy new car." he told them.
"I think that lady is the clue to the real murderer, Paul. We need to find her." Perry told him in a worried tone.
With that Paul got up and left out the back door once again. He knew that the woman was an important witness, for perhaps she could identify someone that she saw in the hallway.
Della Street and Perry Mason had been a team for over ten years and they knew what the other was saying many times before the words were said. That is what happened that day. I was wondering about Mrs. Jefferson. I have seen many photos of her in the newspaper, She went over and pulled out an article on the lady and showed it to Hamilton Burger.
Hamilton took one look at the photo and recognized the woman right away. It was her she was the lady that he had seen at the apartment of Lennie Parker that evening. "That's her. What was she doing there?" Burger looked over to Della and Perry in amazement.
Della and Perry promised their friend once again, that they would find out what was going on, and they headed right out to the Jefferson's home. It was a mansion, not a home and the door was answered by the butler. He opened the door and asked them to take a seat in the study.
Mrs. Jefferson was a nice looking lady and when she entered the room she made a commanding appearance. "How may I help you?" she asked. She put forth her best smile, but Perry could see that she was nervous right away.
"As you may know I am representing Hamilton Burger on the charges of murder that he is facing. We are here to speak to you. He has identified you as the woman who had come into the room where the murder had occurred and screamed. Were you also the one that placed the call to 911?" Perry asked her.
Mrs. Jefferson blinked for just a second, but she managed to keep her composure. "Who told you this? This is a ridiculous accusation." she said to them.
"We have two different witnesses that place you and your car at the scene. Please Mrs. Jefferson we just want to know why you were at Lonnie's house on that evening?" Della asked her with a smile.
Mrs. Jefferson turned her back to them and thought for a moment. "Lonnie called me and asked me begged me to drop the restraining order against him. He just wanted to see his nephews. I felt terrible about what my two grandsons were going through. But Curt he is my son and although he has had a few problems, he is the boys father. He and my husband insisted that Lennie not be allowed to see my grandchildren. At first it had sounded like a good idea to me, but once I had spoken to the children, I knew that the decision had been wrong." she told them.
"We understand your dilemma." Perry offered.
"Did you see anyone in and around the apartment that night? Which way did you enter the building from?" Perry asked her.
"I didn't see anyone, in fact I didn't even notice Mr. Burger. There were many cars out front and I am afraid that a car is a car, their make and model allude me." Mrs. Jefferson told them.
"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Jefferson." Perry and Della said good-bye to the lady and walked to the car.
Della looked up at Perry and smiled "Did you see the bruise that she had on her arm? It looked to me like someone punched her on the arm. I thought that she had a lot of make up on also. She might have been trying to hide a black eye."
"I noticed Della." Perry told her and put his arm around her.
Perry looked around the property and the neat garden the new cars and the ugly home inside that was hidden by the beauty of the home on the outside. He had met all kinds of people in his life and he had never understood what would bring a man that was supposed to love his wife to harm her.
As Perry went to bed that evening he knew that they were missing something. Someone had it out for Lonnie and had framed Hamilton. He needed to find out who and why that was or his friend would be facing the court from the defendants side this time.
Paul had spent the last week looking into Lonnie and who and what he was and did for his life. He had gotten into a bit of trouble for doing some local paper hanging, and one time he had been ticketed for walking in traffic after a couple of drinks too many, but for the most part he was clean. He certainly had no hint in his past that he would have been a violent man. He had worked at a local grocery store stocking shelves. He was well liked among the other employees and many of them blamed the system for most of Lonnie's troubles.
He had lost his parents at the tender age of twenty and had to take a low paying job after dropping out of college. Ironically he had been attending college to become a police officer, and perhaps if things had turned out differently he would have made a good officer.
Lori and Lonnie had always been close and once their parents had passed on they had kept in close contact. Lori had covered some of his bad checks for him, but he had gotten into deep trouble when he had written a check for over one thousand dollars to a local landlord from a non existent bank account.
Lori had always allowed him to come over, but by most accounts only when her husband was not at home. Curt had never liked Lonnie because Lonnie didn't like the way that Curt treated his sister. Many times he had seen suspicious things, and it had occurred to him that Curt might be mistreating Lori. That is the reason why when he had heard the shouting coming from the kitchen that night he had walked right in.
Paul had decided to look into Mr. Jefferson. He was athletic was in good shape. From the back it was hard to tell Paul Jefferson and his son Curt Jefferson apart. It appeared that they might both wear the same size clothes also. This made Paul wonder.
With that Paul headed over to speak to his friend who was a detective for the police department. He wanted to find out if it was possible for someone to put a bracelet onto their ankle for another person. Perhaps so that the police wouldn't know that Curt had actually left that night and gone to Lonnie's apartment.
"It is possible, but unless you had a locksmith or a thorough understanding of the workings of the ankle bracelet it would take you too long to do the exchange. Also, it is designed to pick up certain dna so it would have to be a close family member that would do the switching." he offered.
Paul thanked him and headed out to Perry's office. He knew that his friends Della and Perry would be there at work even though the hour was very late. The trial was to start in the morning and they had to get ready.
When he arrived at the office they found Hamilton Burger, his wife, Della and Perry busy going over the different documents on the desk. They had dozens of photos to look over that had been taken from the security camera on the building where Lonnie had lived.
They had also only just obtained a video from the home across the street. It seems that the people who lived across the street had just come back from a cruise. When they had come home they found that their house had been broken into and there was evidence that someone had been observing the building across the street. When Perry and Della had gone there they had discovered that from the neighbor's bedroom window you could see Lonnie's apartment clearly.
Why and who would have been observing the apartment across the street and who knew that the house would be empty for the next two weeks? Paul was going to need the information, so off to the investigation he headed.
The next day was court and Hamilton Burger was very nervous. He was always nervous at the beginning of a trial, but for the first and hopefully the last time, he was the defendant in the case.
Lt. Tragg testified on how he had found Mr. Burger in the apartment leaning on a chair and staring at the body. Mr. Burger's fingerprints had been found on the murder weapon. To this day Mr. Burger had not offered an explanation of how that had happened. He also testified that he had not seen any women in and around the area.
Curt Jefferson was called and testified that he had been home all day. He and his mother had spent the day watching television. He had enjoyed the fact that the news media kept playing the fight between the district attorney and Lonnie over and over again. It was on all of the stations.
"What size pants to you wear sir?" Perry Mason asked.
"Why 32 30." Curt answered the lawyer.
"Do you and your father wear the same size pants and shoes?" Perry Mason asked.
"Why yes, we do." Curt looked perplexed.
"Are you aware that you and your father are almost impossible to tell apart from the back?" Mason asked him.
"No." Curt said.
"That is all." and Curt Jefferson was excused from the stand.
When it was time to call Curt Jefferson's mother to the stand, she came up this time with an obvious bruise to her face. Although it was a very hot day she was also wearing long sleeves and dark hose. She had been brutally attacked by someone. Mr. Mason knew that he needed her to testify and asked the court be cleared. He did not want Mrs. Jefferson to have to testify in front of her son and husband. They did not need to know what she said. He also knew that she would be more forthright with the court if they were not inside at the time of her testifying.
"Mrs. Jefferson, can you please tell the court where you were on the night of Lennie Parkers murder?" Mr. Mason asked.
She cleared her throat and told the court "I went to Lonnie 's house hoping to make some kind of secret arrangement so that he could see my two grandsons," she offered.
"Why did you have to do this secretly Mrs. Jefferson?" Mr. Mason asked.
"It was my husband and sons wish that Lonnie not be allowed to see his nephews. After talking to the boys I felt that perhaps it would be ok for them to see their uncle once in a while. It had been my hope that the two of us could get together with a time and place that the three of them could meet for a short time without being seen.:" she offered.
"When you got back from Lonnie's house that night, who was home?" Mr. Mason asked her.
"Why both my husband and son. There was a man leaving named Joe, he had been doing some locksmith work at the home that evening." she offered.
"Do you know who Joe is? Do you know the name of the company that he works for?" Mr. Mason asked her.
"No, I am not sure but he was driving a white panel truck that said Joe's locksmith on the side. I didn't write down the number either." Mrs. Jefferson told the court.
When Mr. Mason went to his desk in the court he told Paul who had been sitting there listening intently, to go and see if he could find a locksmith that went by the name Joe. Perry wanted to talk to him.
The rest of the day was filled with dna testifying, and more forensics. It was a long day and unfortunately for Mr. Burger nothing had changed. Perry still had no proof that someone else had been the murderer. The only dna that they had found at Lennie's apartment had been Mr. Parkers and Mr. Burgers.
After going through every name in the phone book, Paul now was going through the different work permits that had been issued through the city for a locksmith license, Finally after two days he was able to find the man Joe that Mrs. Jefferson had named in court.
Joe was a husky man who had been in business for just two years. He was a local bunko artist who had served time in prison for breaking and entering of all things. Paul found it comical that he had learned his trade while serving time in jail.
Paul assured the man that no charges were to be made against him, but he was needed in court to testify in a murder trial. Joe wanted nothing to do with a murder charge and reluctantly agreed to appear in court the next morning.
The next day at court Mr. Jefferson and his son Curt sat quite smug, thinking that the truth was not going to ever come out. Certainly Mrs. Jefferson would never have the courage to admit anything and the district attorney was to be sentenced to a long term in the prison. He would not be safe there for long once the other prisoners found out who he was.
Paul came into court just as the court proceedings were starting and told Perry that he had important information that he needed to hear before court started. Perry asked for a few minutes and was granted such by the judge.
"I have found a woman who saw two men going into the house that had been broken into across the street from Lonnie's apartment. They had told her that they were there to take care of the house while the owners were gone. I showed her a picture of the men and one of the men is Mr. Jefferson, the other man's name is Donnie White a shady private eye. Apparently they had both been there on and off for the last few days of Lonnie's life. They had been there for two days when Lonnie was released from jail. Mr. Jefferson came and went at his leisure, Donnie stayed there at the house, sleeping in the bedroom." Paul told him.
"Is she here to testify?" Perry asked.
"She is right outside the courtroom doors. She was a friend of Lennie's and she doesn't want anyone to get away with his murder." he offered.
The first person that Mr. Mason called and asked for Mrs. Brown the neighbor who had seen the two men going in and out of the house across the street from Lennie's apartment. When asked to identify the men she readily pointed to the two men who were seated in the courtroom.
The courtroom became loud with whispers and the judge had to bang his gavel to quiet them down. The judge asked if Mr. Mason wanted to call either of the men and was told "Not at this time your honor. I would like to call Joe Spelznickto the stand please.
As Joe came into the room both Curt Jefferson and his father attempted to leave but were stopped by the bailiff. Joe testified how he had changed the bracelet that had been placed on Curt's ankle and had placed it around his father's ankle. It had taken just less than the two minutes that the ankle allowed to reset itself. Mr. Jefferson had some blackmail that he held over Joe's head and had forced him to help him.
It was then that Mr. Mason recalled Curtis Jefferson. "Mr. Jefferson can you tell me why you would have hired Mr. Seplznickto to change the ankle bracelet that you were supposed to be wearing according to the court order? I think that you and your father had conspired to watch Lonnie and when the time was right you both had made the decision to murder him. Lennie was going to be trying to see his nephews and he was going to testify at the trial against Curt. I thik that you and your father had offered him a sizable chunk of change to get him not to testify but he said no." Mason accused him.
"None of that is true and you can't prove it anyways." Curt Jefferson sneered.
"Oh but I can, you see even though your mother has been a victim of domestic abuse on several occasions, she did testify in the court. She testified that you and your father were the ones that did not want Lonnie to see his nephews. When you found out that she had spoken to Lonnie about visitation you went crazy and beat your mother badly. It was not until last night when you and your father had teamed up and beat her once again that Lonnie's nephew Curt Jr. had helped to get your mother to the hospital. She is with the police right now giving testimony to everything she knows." Mason fired at him.
For just a moment it looked as though Curt Jefferson was going to try to squirm out of trouble once again, but he looked up and smiled. " Lonnie was a jerk, he always was trying to make points with my dad and me. He had begged us for a job, but we used our influence with the community to see to it that he went to jail for writing that check. I had given him the check, it was all a set up. Lori was so mad, but I taught her to keep her mouth shut. It was when I saw the article on the news that my father and I knew that we were going to have to move quickly, we hired Joe to change the ankle bracelets and I killed Lonnie. I don't feel bad about it at all. He was just a little weasel and did not deserve to live." Curt laughed.
With that Hamilton Burger was released from the court and would once again be sitting on the other side of the courtroom. Perry Mason and Hamilton Burger would like to fight another day.
The next day when Mr. Burger went to work the first thing he did was go to work at developing a system that would protect the women. He would make it a point of going over all domestic disputes and make sure that no one ever suffered the fate that Lori Jefferson had.
At the Mason office there was a celebration that evening and once again the three friends left holding hands.