Mystery solved.
Chapter 20
Mike and Connie were just about to reveal to everyone in the room who had murdered Tom Merrick.
"Yes, we know who killed Tom Merrick," stated Mike, "but we mustn't forget about the murders of Cynthia Morgan and juror number 8, Gloria Marchetti. They are all inextricably linked together."
"And there are some other facts we need to straighten out, first, before we get to the actual murder of Tom Merrick," Connie reminded.
The Judge sighed. Placing his elbow on this desk, he rested his cheek tiredly on his hand, "And why am I not surprised that we have to hear more about the case?"
Inexplicitly, Gina Beaumont, the woman who had accused Douglas Merrick of rape, spoke out.
"You two don't think I had anything to do with those murders, do you?" burst in Gina.
"Hey, what about me?" interrupted Harry, "I didn't have anything to do with those murders! I wasn't the one who started all of this! After all it was Tom Merrick's idea to phoney up the charge against his own brother, not me!"
"Mr. Maxwell," James Middleton suggested, "As a practicing attorney, let me give you some sound advice. You need to halt the unattractive excess of verbiage dribbling out of your mouth…in other words, shut up!"
"Actually, we are not quite done with Mr. Maxwell yet," Connie said as she reached into her files and produced another receipt, "Mr. Maxwell drives a very nice automobile, a 2008 red convertible Mustang, to be precise…yet despite owning such a vehicle, he found it necessary to rent a less expensive car on the night Juror Number Eight was run down."
Judge Brown put on his glasses before reviewing the car rental receipt and then looked over to Maxwell, "And what do you have to say regarding this coincidence, Mr. Maxwell?"
Maxwell stubbornly folded his arms again, sitting back, "I'm not saying another word!"
"Then I will fill in the gap, since this is a hearing and not the trial, " Mike theorized to everyone in the room, "The only motive alternate juror Mr. Maxwell would have in renting a car was to kill off a member of the jury so that he might be seated as a juror, thereby helping to insure that Douglas Merrick was convicted."
Douglas Merrick looked shocked at Harry Maxwell, "What!"
Maxwell got into defensive mode, he pointed angrily at Mike, "Don't listen to that damn lawyer! He's just crazy!"
"But what Mr. Cutter stated makes perfect sense," Connie bolstered Mike's stance, "Mr. Maxwell needed to get on the jury because juror Gloria Marchetti was leaning towards an acquittal." (she produced another paper) Here is an affidavit signed by Mr. Marchetti attesting to that fact regarding his late wife."
The Judge glanced at the legal document, took off his glasses and leaned back in his chair. He had heard enough as he then turned to Mike and Josh, "I want your office to prepare charges against Harry Maxwell for perjury and for the murder of juror Gloria Marchetti."
Maxwell stood up and exploded with indignation, "This is outrageous!" he said, "I'll sue everyone in this room for defamation…for libel…for false arrest!"
"Oh for heaven's sake, Harry!" Gina suddenly spoke out, "Give it up already! Can't you see the gig is up? Gawd I'm tired of all of this!"
All eyes went on her. She had a look of defeat plastered on her face.
"I don't doubt that you are very tired, Ms. Beaumont," Mike spoke up, with not the least bit of empathy in his voice, "after all, killing Tom Merrick would take a toll on anyone…"
There were audible gasps in the room.
"What? ME? Not ME!" Gina looked shocked, "Why would I want to kill Tom Merrick? I've never even met the man!"
"You may be tired, but you are not truthful," corrected Connie, "We also had never made a connection between you and Tom Merrick. We figured all your dealings would have been through your boyfriend, Harry Maxwell. But when we spoke to various associates of Tom Merrick's—secretary, cousin, gardener, butler, to name a few, they all recognized your picture. You had been seen various times with victim Tom Merrick. Why, Ms. Beaumont? To what end?"
"I'll tell everyone why!" Harry Maxwell burst in, still angry at Gina.
"Shut up, Harry!" Gina warned.
"Go on, Mr. Maxwell, " the Judge cajoled Maxwell.
"You want to know why Tom Merrick was meeting up with Gina?" Maxwell asked, "He was blackmailing her, that's why!"
This time Gina nodded vigorously, intent on portraying herself the victim.
"That's right! The SOB was blackmailing me!" she shouted the words, "Tom Merrick promised to share the trust money with me, if I would accuse his brother of rape. I did what he wanted and then he didn't live up to his end. Said $10,000 should be enough to cover my trouble or Tom Merrick would turn me over to the police. Ten thousand measly dollars! That trust was worth millions of dollars! Millions!"
"Wait," piped in Josh to Gina, "If all that were true, why not threaten to tell the police on him?"
"Oh, yeah," her tone was sarcastic now, "yeah, they would believe me over the almighty Merricks! You think that would ever happen? Those goddamn Merricks have enough money to buy up all of Boston! You think they would believe me over him? No way! So yeah, I'm glad he's dead and I'd do it again if I could!"
The Judge had heard enough of Gina's guilt. He looked at one of the officers flanking the door, and gestured towards Maxwell and Gina, "Detain both of them, Officer."
Minutes later, Harry Maxwell and Gina Beaumont were handcuffed and led from Judge Brown's chambers.
With the two of them taken into custody, Judge Brown then turned again to Mike and Josh, "Based upon the evidence against Harry Maxwell and Ms. Beaumont's confession, I presume you'll be dropping charges against. Douglas Merrick?"
Douglas Merrick sat up expectantly.
"Yes, "Mike announced, as Merrick breathed a sigh of relief, "the DA's office plans to drop the charges against Douglas Merrick for the murder of his brother, Thomas Merrick."
But then Mike added, "but only for the murder of his brother…" emphasizing the word only.
Douglas turned to Mike with a scowl, "and what the hell is that suppose to mean?"
"…What that means…" Connie injected softly, as Douglas jerked his head in her direction, "…is that you, Doug, are still guilty of murder."
The last statement certainly got the Judge's attention as Douglas turned pale and his eyes widened.
"What? Connie!" Douglas exclaimed, "W-what do you mean? Why are you speaking crazy?"
"Miss Rubirosa," Middleton stated, "Douglas is your client! You owe a duty to him to defend him against murder charges!"
"I was his attorney in the murder of his brother, yes," Connie stated, this time looking over to give Merrick a look of disappointment, "but I am not his attorney if he is accused of a different murder."
Douglas face had a look of sheer surprise and terror, "Connie, say no more!"
"Doug," Connie stated sadly, "I'm sorry to have to do this, but I know you murdered your girlfriend, Cynthia Morgan."
Douglas shook his head vehemently.
"No! No!" he denied it, "that's not possible…I didn't do it!"
Connie took a deep breath in, as she looked directly at Doug Merrick, "You told me when I visited you in jail that you assumed the same person who murdered your brother must have also killed your girlfriend Cynthia Morgan. You had based that assumption upon the fact that both had been stabbed in the chest with a knife."
Douglas gulped, "Yeah…, so?"
"Something didn't sit right with me about what you said, " said Connie, "so I did some research. Along with Mr. Cutter, I spoke to the chief of police who verified that the police had not divulged that fact to the press or to anyone else, for that matter. The only way you could have known that Cynthia had been stabbed in the chest was if you had inflicted the fatal wound yourself."
Now everyone turned to look at Douglas' reaction.
"No, you're wrong!" he shouted defensively, and then desperately asked, "Besides, why would I kill my only alibi?"
"Because, " Mike interjected, "she changed her mind about lying for you. I bet you coerced her into testifying she'd been with you the night Tom was killed. Then one day you must have seen the pictures of her and the woman who accused you of rape, Gina Beaumont. We saw those pictures at Cynthia's house, so chances are, you did too. That's when you realized that Cynthia and Gina were in it together. Your girlfriend sold you out for money. And that angered you. I'm sure, given time, we can come up with enough proof for everything I've just stated."
Douglas Merrick looked jittery, "No…NO! I'm not admitting to anything!" He turned to Connie, "And how could you do this to me? Didn't what we have mean anything to you?"
Connie looked at him emotionless, "Doug, this isn't about a past history. Everything you did, you brought it on yourself."
Douglas then turned to Middleton, "James, I've always considered you my lawyer…tell them I didn't do it! I couldn't have done it!"
With all he heard, James Middleton thought better than to reply. He slumped back in his chair, a blank expression on his distinguished face. He then addressed the Judge, "Your Honor, this court and county has no jurisdiction over the death of Cynthia Morgan, a Cape Cod resident."
"Yes, that is true, " nodded the Judge. He then turned to Connie, "Anything you would like to add, Miss Rubirosa?"
"As an officer of the court," she said, "I must insist that any questions to Douglas Merrick without his having been formally charged will represent a serious Constitutional breach."
"Hey, yeah! That's right!" Douglas accused everyone, included Connie, "Everyone in this room has violated my rights, especially you, Connie!"
"Not at all," Connie said calmly, "I merely accused you. I have that right. We are not interrogating you. Not a single question has been asked. Your rights are still intact, although I can't say the same for your victim."
"Wham!Bam!" Josh exclaimed in sheer delight. He couldn't help himself, "Way to go, Connie!"
Mike then addressed the Judge, "Your Honor, I move that Mr. Merrick be held until the proper charges can be brought."
"Arrest Douglas Merrick for murder!" the Judge demanded of his bailiff.
After Douglas Merrick was taken away, everyone got up to leave. Mike and Connie also stood.
"Not you, two," the Judge said pointedly to Mike and Connie, , "There's something I'd like to tell you two. Have a seat again."
"I hope we're not going to be slapped with another contempt charge, Your Honor," Mike stated respectfully.
The Judge's expression didn't change, "The good news is this is not a punishment. The bad news is that it's awfully close."
Mike and Connie exchanged looks as they sat down once more.
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