Hi everyone. This is the second last chapter to this story. I would like to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and marked the story as favorite. Hope you enjoy this installment.
"Life treating you good in this place?"
"Why have you called this meeting? My client has nothing more to say concerning the charges against him."
"Well perhaps we can help change his mind in that department. Do you recognize this by any chance Mr. Jessop." Tim Gilbert asked as Detective Bailey placed the evidence bagged bat down on the table in front of Julian Jessop.
Julian Jessop was good. To most he would have appeared to have shown no response, but Detective Bailey saw the small flash of emotion. Julian clenched his teeth together ever so slightly.
"I've got you."
"Really! Nothing to say. Perhaps you would like to explain the contents found inside this box." Detective Bailey said as he placed the evidence bagged metal box down and the evidence bags containing the box's contents.
"What is this?" Mr. Jessop's lawyer asked.
"This baseball bat was found in Mr. Jessop's garage by one of Detective Bailey's officers. DNA testing, identified the blood splatter, on the bat as belonging to Dex Davis. The father of Leo Nash-Davis."
"It doesn't prove that my client used that bat to commit a crime."
"The only finger prints found were that of your client."
"Nothing proves that he used it to injure Mr. Davis. Someone else could have worn gloves and used the bat to beat Mr. Davis."
"True, except embedded in the dried blood, are your clients prints. The only way they would be there is if he handled the bat when the blood was wet."
"I would like a moment to speak to my client alone."
"Sure, no problem, but why don't we go over everything else here first. Otherwise you may need to take several of these "moments" to speak to your client. Okay!"
"Alright."
"The box was found in the same location as the bat. It contained the schematics to build a canoe. Exactly like the green coloured canoe that was found on the shore of Lake Simcoe containing Leo Nash-Davis's shoe. You don't like to wear gloves do you Mr. Jessop? There's dried green paint on the plans. Again Mr. Jessop's fingerprints were the only prints found with many embedded right into the green paint. The lab checked the molecular structure of the paint on the plans against flecks of the paint from the canoe. They match perfectly. There are not too many places that sell marine paint. It is only a matter of time before we find the business where you made the purchase."
Mr. Jessop's lawyer glanced at his client before quietly questioning the significance of the contents of the other evidence bags.
"They are family pictures. Photographs of Mr. Jessop beside his canoe at different stages of its construction. These few are of Mr. Jessop and the real Devon paddling the canoe out on a body of water. The last couple of pictures, the Barrie PD in Ontario located during the course of their investigation. They are of Mr. and Mrs. Jessop at a campground in Barrie the day before Leo Nash-Davis disappeared."
"This document is a copy of Mr. Jessop's credit card statement from the time period of Leo Nash-Davis's disappearance. It shows he rented a Tea Green coloured Honda CRV with AJHH as the first four digits of the licence plate. It confirms what Leo's father remembers of the crime. This final document is a copy of the rental return form for the CRV. It clearly states the mileage accumulated on the rental vehicle between the time the Jessop's picked it up till the time they took it back. It's the perfect distance, to cover a round trip, between the city's of Toronto and Barrie.
"We'll leave you alone with your client for a few minutes." Public Prosecutor Tim Gilbert stated as Detective Bailey, Officer Stockwell and himself prepared to leave the room.
Julian Jessop's lawyer simply nodded.
Fifteen minutes later everyone was back in the interview room.
"My client will talk, but first he wants a deal." Mr. Jessop's lawyer said.
"Mr. Jessop, I'm not really in the position to negotiate a deal. You'll be returned to Ontario sometime over the next couple of months. It is where the crime originated. Your trial will be held in Ontario. If you want a deal, you will have to negotiate with the prosecutor in Ontario but, if you want my professional opinion you are in no position to obtain a deal. We do not need your statement to close this case. The evidence against the two of you is already overwhelming." Tim Gilbert stated.
"I don't care about myself. I'll do the time. I want to negotiate something for my wife. She doesn't belong in prison. Theresa should be in a hospital where she can get help."
Tim Gilbert studied the man sitting across from him. Physically he was fit, clean-cut, well-groomed and of average height. Personality wise, Julian Jessop was a calm, relaxed, self-assured, smug Black man who enjoyed "holding all the cards" in every situation.
"That's why he now wants to negotiate a deal on his wife's behalf. He knows he no longer "holds all the cards". In his mind, if he negotiates a deal on his wife's behalf, he feels he once again is "in charge" of the situation. I could use this to my advantage. The Nash and Davis Families only want an answer to one question. Why was Leo abducted? Jessop is the one person who can give an answer. Okay then, let's play his game."
"I could contact the prosecutor's office in Barrie, Ontario and make recommendations. What exactly do you want?"
"Theresa doesn't do any time in a prison. I want her admitted to a hospital."
"We can't drop the charges. This is a child abduction case. She ripped a child from his "life", and basically holding him captive."
"I'll serve both sentences."
"You can't. It's simply not done."
"Look, Theresa...she's not well. Prison...it will make her sicker. She needs professional help. You want answers then you get her out of prison. You get her help and then I'll talk."
"Why didn't you get your wife into therapy? If you knew she wasn't well. This entire mess may never have happened."
"I didn't realize until after the whole thing with the boy occurred. By then it was too late. I couldn't get her help at that point. I couldn't take a chance she would talk in therapy."
"I'm sure your lawyer has told you the Ontario courts have assigned a public prosecutor to this case. They are working on having both you and your wife extradited back to Ontario to face charges. I'll make a phone call. Speak to my counterpart. I can guarantee they will not drop the charges against your wife, but I'll look into them being reduced and I will discuss her possibly spending at least some of her time in a medical facility. The condition, for the deal, will be you talk and answer our questions."
"Okay." Julian replied.
"We'll meet here again in a couple of hours." Tim Gilbert stated as once again Detective Bailey, Officer Stockwell and himself stood to leave the room.
"How much of a deal are you willing to make with this guy." Officer Stockwell questioned as the trio walked out of the prison.
"Look, I need to work on this fast. Dr. Tran's is preparing his report to present to the courts. He feels Theresa Jessop is not fit to stand trial by mental disease. His recommendation will be for her placement in an institution indefinitely where she can receive therapy. I'm sure Theresa's council is in the process of arranging for a psychological evaluation. Their doctor will no doubt come to the same conclusion. My goal is to keep both Julian and Theresa Jessop "away from the public" for as long as possible and to obtain answers. Right now we have the upper hand. I don't believe Mr. Jessop is listening to his lawyer. Mr. Jessop does not appear to know Theresa will, in all likelihood; end up in an institution instead of on trial and in prison. Chances are Theresa will spend more time locked away in an institution than she would spend in prison. I'm not really making a deal to benefit the Jessop's. I'm making a deal to benefit everyone else involved in this crime."
Officer Stockwell gave a small smile and shook his head.
"My obligation is to Leo, the Nash and Davis Families and the public. Leo's parents want to know why the Jessop's took Leo. We can theorize why but, Jessop is the only one who can tell us the real reason. The Families and the Canadian public want these two perpetrators locked away. They want them off of their streets."
"I can accomplish that by faking a deal." Officer Stockwell stated.
"Yea, I have to make a phone call. "
Two hours later everyone was present in the same prison meeting room.
"Mr. Jessop this is your deal. Based on Dr. Tran's recommendations, one of our police psychiatrists, we will move your wife to a locked down mental facility tomorrow. Basically a prison hospital. There she'll be diagnosed and treated. I will recommend some of the lesser charges against her be dropped. It is on the condition you answer our questions. You choose not to answer questions, and then your wife will go through due process of the courts. She could spend months in prison being evaluated over and over before eventually being deemed unfit to stand trial. Then she probably will spend many more months waiting to transfer to a proper facility for treatment. I will recommend all the current charges against her stand. Do we have a deal?"
"His lawyer is not dumb. He knows this is a bunch of bologna, but I'm banking on Julian's need to be in charge. I'm right; he will accept this deal, despite his lawyer's advice."
Tim Gilbert gambled correctly. Julian's lawyer did attempt to protest the deal but, Mr. Jessop waved him off as he shook his head in agreement.
"Good, now start at the beginning and tell us why you and your wife took Leo Nash-Davis."
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