Case Close

Natalie listened attentively to Nora's opening from her seat behind Miles, smirking as an idea formed in her mind thanks to the older woman's persuasive words.

Half an hour later, just after the court was put into recess, she approached Mile's lawyer: "If you don't mind, and I'm sure you've already thought of it, something hit me while Nora was giving her opening statement. . ." she got out in a rush.

"Ms. Buchanan, I'm a professional and quite good at what I do," Howard snapped.

"Yeah, but is Marty?" she shot back.

"What do you mean?" the older man asked annoyed.

"Nora characterized Miles as being obsessed with Marty---- a clinical diagnosis, right?"

"I suppose. . ." Howard replied as he placed a legal pad into his briefcase, wondering where she was heading with this.

"Now, if you were married to a former patient--- one you claimed blackmailed you into said marriage--- and he was seeing your current pyscharitrist who also happened to be one of your friends and whom you claimed he stole the leverage to blackmail you from, what, as a professional, and as a way to discredit his claims that you confessed to murder would you do?"

Howard laughed: "send him back from whist he came," he answered, seeing exactly where she was heading.

"What do you mean?" Miles asked confused.

"Ms. Buchanan might just have figured out our argument for reasonable doubt, handed to us right from the DA herself," he answered his client, "now I just need to come up with the proper questions to pull it off."

"Mr. Thornhart, would you do anything to protect your mother?" Howard asked a few days later, after Nora was done walking the young man though a bunch of carefully worded and coached questions and answers.

"I suppose," Cole answered with a shrug.

"Include lie?"

"Objection!" Nora cried out jumping to her feet seeing hours of work about to be destroyed, not necessarily by the question, and the others she sensed would follow, but by what she knew would be Cole's reaction.

"Overruled."

"Yeah. I lied to Star to protect my mother, but I eventually told the truth to the police," Cole answered, a touch of annoyed defiance in his voice as he remembered Nora's cautioning words to just tell the truth while he was on the stand.

"After your mother confessed to murder?"

"Yeah."

"And you received immunity for testifying against Mr. Lawrence?"

"I'm not lying about what he wanted me to do."

"But, if you had to do it to protect your mother, you would and have lied."

"I. . ."

"What you are is under oath."

"I'm protecting her by telling the truth now."

"But you would've let your girlfriend's father die to keep her out of jail."

"He didn't die!"

"No thanks to you."

"You honor!" Nora started to protest, rising to her feet as her opponent quickly stated: "withdrawn."

hr

"Ms. Lawrence. . ."

"Its Saybrooke," Marty snapped," and its doctor."

"Excuse me, I stand corrected. Dr. Saybrooke," Howard commented as he turned his back to her and the judge to hide the smirk that was forming on his lips at her so quickly starting to fall into his trap. "You're a psychologist, correct?"

"Yes."

"And you treated Mr. Lawrence when he first arrived in Landview?" he asked as he pretended to look over some notes on a pad and turned back towards her.

"For a short time."

"Objection," Nora called out, jumping to her feet, "relevance."

"Your honor, it goes to motive. Ms. Hannon claims my client was obsessed with Ms. . . excuse me, Doctor Saybrooke. I'm curious to find out if she recognized the signs."

"Of course I did," Marty snapped, causing Nora to throw up her hands in annoyance as she plopped back into her seat. "I tried to discourage it."

"Did you or did you like his attention?"

"I told Miles that as long as he was my patient we couldn't be more than that--- doctor and patient."

"And what did he do then?"

Marty exhaled annoyed: "he stopped seeking my medical consultation. He saw another doctor briefly--- to briefly."

"And how did you respond?"

"I tried to make him see that I didn't want anything to do with him."

"Yet you married him."

"He blackmailed me!" she reminded outraged.

"You said he used your son as leverage."

"And Lt. John McBain," Marty added, thinking that naming the police officer would add weight to the judge's sentencing of Miles.

"Ahhh, yes. That came out much later didn't it? After how many interrogations?"

"Objection!"

"Withdrawn," Howard sighed. "How did my client allegedly threaten your son?"

"There's no allegedly to it. He kept going on and on about how Cole would be alone. Using my fear of that against me."

"Which, since you confessed to murder, he is anyway. So why didn't you just confess to begin with if you were so afraid of Miles?"

"I was confused. Wasn't thinking clearly," she hedged. "And I was afraid of Miles. What he was capable of. How obsessed he had become. What he was capable of doing because of it."

"Dr. Saybrooke, once you were married, if you were so concerned about, as you put it, his obsession with you---as well as your son's safety, why didn't you have him committed?"

"Because he was blackmailing me?"

"Wouldn't that have discredited him? Given you a chance to get the so called taped?"

"Objection, speculation," Nora called out, as Marty answered over her: "I don't. . . I don't know."

"Dr. Saybrooke, how long before you were arrested for Spencer Truman's murder did you confess to Lt. McBain?"

"Objection!" Nora called out.

"Overruled."

"It was a repressed memory. We didn't have enough information--- evidence. . ." Marty blabbed wanted to protect John.

"How long?"

"About a month," she muttered.

"What is your relationship to Lt. McBain?"

""We're friends."

"But you'd like to be more, wouldn't you?"

"Objection!"

"Goes to motive your honor."

"I'll allow it."

"John's a good man."

"That's not what I asked."

"I've confessed to murder."

"If you hadn't?"

Marty swallowed: "then yes. I could see myself being with someone like John. . ." she admitted, refusing to look at that man in question, who sat clenching his jaw and fist on the prosecution's side of the courtroom.

"In fact, his ex-girlfriend accused you of interfering in their relationship, didn't she?"

"I don't see what that. . ."

"Didn't she, Dr. Saybrooke."

"Yes," Marty responded annoyed.

"She told you that she felt you were one of the main reasons he had changed his mind about proposing to her, didn't she?"

"They had more in dept problems than me."

"Didn't she?"

"Yes."

"And you told her she was just paranoid."

"Objection!"

"Goes to pattern your honor."

"I'll allow it, but don't take this too far."

"Yes," Marty admitted reluctantly, barely above a whisper.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I said yes," she snapped.

"And how long after their breakup did you and Lt. McBain start seeing each other socially?"

"We've only gone out as friends."

"How long, Dr. Saybrooke?"

"Only a few days," she admitted reluctantly.

"On any of these occasions, did you run into her with Mr. Lawrence?"

"Yes."

"What was Lt. McBain's reaction to that?"

"Objection. Calls for speculation!" Nora cried out rising to her feet.

"Your honor, Dr. Saybrooke was there. Besides, she is trained to judge people's reactions to events," Howard argued.

"You're line of questioning is started where thin. Wrap it up. Now. Objection overruled."

"Again. Dr. Saybrooke, his reaction.

Rolling her eyes, Marty shifted in her seat and glared towards Natalie as she huffed out her answer: "he appeared to be upset. Worried about her being with him. But then most people have warned her about her association with Miles, not that she's listened."

Ignoring her, Howard approached the stand: "So you knew that Lt. McBain, a man known for being protective of the women he cared about, didn't like Mr. Lawrence?"

"I suppose."

"And, in fact, isn't that the real reason you didn't go directly to him of Commissioner Buchanan sooner or have your husband committed?"

"No. Miles blackmailed me. Until he threatened my son I thought I could handle him."

"Until he threatened your son? Didn't he threaten your son before your marriage?"

"I misspoke. I meant to say until he threatened Cole directly. Until he tried to get Cole to help him kill Todd I thought I could control him."

"Until he allegedly tried to get your son to help him kill Todd Manning you thought you had a man obsessed with you under control?" he scoffed. "Tell me, Dr. Saybrooke, if someone came to you--- a patient--- that someone was obsessed with them. Was harassing them. What would you advised them to do?"

"Take whatever evidence they had of the harassment and go to the police to report him or her and file for a restraining order," Marty answered without thinking.

"No further questions your honor."

"This has been an--- interesting case," the judge started. "Although I think you are probably guilty of something, Mr. Lawrence, I don't think that the prosecution has been able to prove without a reasonable doubt that you are guilty of the charges for which you stand before me today, Therefore, I have, I am afraid that I have no choice but to find you not guilty on all counts."

Bailiffs restrained Cole and Todd and pulled them out of the courtroom as John stormed out after them. Meanwhile, Natalie stood beaming behind Miles as Howard closed his briefcase: "Ms. Buchanan, if you ever decide to go into law, give me a call. I could use people who can make a catch like you did working for me."

"I'll think about it," she said simply, surprised at the compliment. "Right now I'm just glad that I was able to help Miles."

"I still can't believe it. I thought. . . I thought I was done for," Miles admitted reaching for her hand.

"Well Marty was stupid. She could've gotten out of this if she had used her head and tried to save herself instead of waiting for a man to save her. As someone who used to do that, it was easy to spot."

"Well, I'm glad you did, otherwise. . ."

"Miles, I told you, you just needed someone to believe in you and to believe in yourself."

"As long as I have you by my side I think I can do anything," he replied, giving her a boyish smile.

Natalie couldn't help but smile back: "you can count on my friendship, Miles. I've told you that."

And maybe, someday, I'll convince you that we're meant to be more. That we're kindred spirits. That's why you saved me when no one else would even talk to me, he thought, but replied: "I'm just glad this is over and I can start focusing on my future. Like that foundation we once talked about starting up.

Do you think that now that I was found not guilty we can go ahead and do it?"

"BE's going through a lot of changes right now, I can't guarantee anything, but we can try," Natalie answered truthfully.

"OK, trying's good."

"Now let's get out of here and go celebrate your freedom from the charges and Marty."

Chuckling slightly, Miles shook his head: "I don't know which you're happier about."

"Yeah, well, neither do I."