***The Next Morning***
Jennifer got up with Jonathan and got ready. They had a quick breakfast and then headed out.
She rode with him to the office, just like the day before.
"I only have one meeting today, so I'll probably be able to come to the courthouse today".
"Great! It's the Courthouse downtown, and it's the 4th floor, room 434".
"Ok, I'll see you there. I love you".
"I love you too. Hope your meeting goes well".
She gave him a big kiss and then he got out and headed inside.
Ten minutes later, she was at the courthouse and in her seat.
Elizabeth Soren came in and sat in front of her.
"Hi. How's the article coming?"
"Wonderfully well".
"I saved you this copy of the other one from Manhattan Daily, and this one from Upper East Side ".
"Great, thank you so much".
"I also brought you this, in case you wanted to include it. It's a printout from the alarm company about what times the doors to the house were open that night".
"Oh good. That will be helpful".
"I gave one to the lawyer and they are going to admit it into evidence. But this one is for you".
"Thank you".
"I was nervous yesterday, but I'm not today. I don't think they are proving their case".
"Well, I suppose only time will tell".
Carter and his lawyer came in.
Jennifer leaned forward and spoke to his lawyer.
"Would it be possible for me to interview you sometime today? Like maybe during a recess?"
"Certainly. Whenever the judge calls one, just go to the room next door, to the right".
"Got it, thank you".
The judge called them to order, and then the prosecution began and summarized for the jury what they had learned yesterday, and implored them once more to find him guilty. Jennifer took notes on the jurors-how many men, how many women, what their reactions were like to what the prosecution was saying.
The prosecutor called Elizabeth Soren to the stand.
"Mrs. Soren, please describe for the court what your activities were on the day before the murder".
"Carter and I had breakfast with the kids, like usual. I took the kids to school, and he headed to the office. I played tennis with my tennis partner, and then got my hair done. I picked my kids up from school and we headed home. My husband got home from work, and we had dinner as a family. He helped our son with his math homework, and then pitched a few balls to him and our daughter in the backyard. After that, the kids wanted him to put them to bed, so he did and then he and I went to bed".
"What time would you say your husband put the kids to bed?"
"Around the usual time of 9:30".
"And what time would you say he came to bed?"
"Around 10:15".
"Was he there when you woke up the next morning?"
"Yes, he was".
"If your husband, or anyone, were to have left the house that night, do you think you would know?"
"Yes, I do".
"How so?"
"Well, our garage door is very loud. You can usually hear it if you are downstairs, and you can feel it if you are upstairs. And we have an alarm system that chirps when you open the door".
"Your honor, at this time, I want to submit into evidence a print out from the alarm company. This shows what times the doors to the home were opened".
He handed it to the judge, and then put it on the screen for everyone to see.
Jennifer began to leaf through her copies and found the one that Elizabeth gave her.
She quickly realized it didn't match up to what she was seeing at all.
"Your honor, members of the jury, Mrs. Soren's attorney brought me the copy I'm holding in my hands last week. They didn't know that I had already called and ordered a printout from her alarm company. I am now going to do a side-by-side and compare the two documents."
He got both of them up there at the same time.
"As you can see, the official document from the alarm company is on company letterhead. The company name is displayed at the top, along with their phone number. Each time a door in the Soren household was opened, the timestamp was recorded. On the one that Mrs. Soren provided me, there is no letterhead. No fancy colors, and the name of the company is spelled wrong. The number of time stamps on her document are significantly less than the number of time stamps on the official document. Now, let's take a look at the actual time stamps. They match up, till just before dinner time. Then, there are a few that Mrs. Soren's document misses, but she picks back up. However, she misses one crucial timestamp. One that the company recorded at 10 p.m. On their document, they simply say "System off". I asked a representative of that company and they explained to me that means that someone in the Soren household turned the system off. We can see by the official document that they turned it back on sometime before 5:49 a.m. the next morning."
He turned to Elizabeth.
"Mrs. Soren, why did you give me a fake document?"
"I simply printed off what came up when I pulled up our account".
"I see. Mrs. Soren, do you think your husband is guilty?"
"No, I do not".
"Mrs. Soren, do you know what the penalty for perjury is?"
"Yes, I do".
"Keeping that in mind, Mrs. Soren, did your husband leave the house that night?"
She hesitated.
"The witness will answer the question".
"Yes, he did".
"How long was he gone?"
"About an hour and a half, maybe".
"Where did he go?"
"I didn't ask him. He didn't tell me".
"No further questions your honor".
"Your honor, can we take a short recess?"
"Sure. We will reconvene in 30 minutes".
As soon as the judge banged the gavel, everyone left the courtroom.
Jennifer headed to the room next door to meet with the lawyer.
Instead, he lit into Elizabeth as soon as she walked in.
"How could you do that? Why aren't you telling me the truth?"
"I told you! I will hold our family together no matter the cost".
"You knowingly gave me a false document! The judge might have bought that phony "I printed it myself" story, but I promise you the jury didn't!"
"I don't care! You said so yourself we have to create reasonable doubt!"
"That's my job, not yours!"
"He's my husband, it's my family I'm fighting for here!".
"This isn't the way to do it! Now, when we get back in there, I'm going to put you back on the stand and you better answer my questions honestly".
"Fine".
Elizabeth and Carter stormed out of the room and headed back to the courtroom while Jennifer and the lawyer stayed behind.
"I'm sorry, I know you said you wanted to talk to me".
"It's ok. I was going to tell you I think she is lying, because I noticed at the house the other day that the door chime was off. But you brought it up before I could, so it's ok".
"Look, I would never presume to tell you how to do your job. But I hope that you print everything and not just the fluff of this case".
"Absolutely. She and I have an agreement, that I will print everything, good or bad".
"Great".
"In your honest opinion, do you think he's guilty?"
"I'm not sure. I can honestly tell you that based off what he's told me, I trust him more than I trust her. But then again, he hasn't told me a lot".
"I understand".
They headed back to the courtroom, and Jennifer took her seat.
Court was reconvened and he called Elizabeth back to the stand. He hammered her with questions about whether or not she believed her husband, when she found out about his affair, how she found out, and if she had ever confronted him about it.
"Mrs. Soren, did you ever drive by Andrea James' house?"
"No, I didn't".
"You never just let curiosity take over and headed to see what her house looked like?"
"No, I didn't".
"Did you ever see your husband and Andrea James out together anywhere?"
"No, I didn't".
"Would you have known Andrea James if you ran into her someplace?"
"Yes, I would have recognized her from the firm. I saw her at the firm's Christmas parties, and at some business dinners".
"So you were aware of what she looked like?"
"Yes, I was aware".
"But you never once drove over to her house to see if your husband's car was there?"
"No. I waited for him at home, with our children".
"Mrs. Soren, when someone disconnects your alarm system, or turns it off, do you get a notification?"
"I wouldn't know, I've never done that".
"Does your husband always park in the garage?"
"Not always, but most of the time".
"When your husband came home that night, did you ask him where he had been?"
"No, I was asleep".
"Have you asked him since?"
"No, I have not".
"Why not?"
"Because he didn't leave the house that night! I did".
There was a collectively loud gasp in the courtroom.
"No further questions, your honor".
"The witness may step down. Any further witnesses?"
"No, your honor".
"Closing arguments. Mr. Prosecutor, you may begin".
The prosecutor gave a very convincing closing argument, reminding the jury that Mrs. Soren had lied for her husband, so there was only one conclusion. Guilty.
The defense went next and poked holes in everything the prosecutor said, reminding everyone that even though Mrs. Soren lied about her husband leaving the house, that doesn't make him a killer. That just because he allegedly gave the victim that scarf, that doesn't make him a killer. That just because they had recently ended an affair, that still doesn't make him a killer.
The jury left to begin deliberating and the judge explained that if they came back within the next two hours, they would reconvene to hear the verdict. Otherwise, they would reconvene the next day.
Jennifer got up and headed out, not wanting to speak to Elizabeth Soren at all.
She headed straight to Jonathan's penthouse and found him sitting on the couch.
"Hi, I thought you were coming to court".
"I thought about it, but I ended up having a lunch meeting so I came back here instead".
She changed clothes and then sat down and began writing out what had transpired in court.
"How was the trial?"
"Insane. Elizabeth lied on the stand, and then admitted she lied. And she gave me and the prosecutor fake evidence and then he pulled out the real evidence and exposed her lies. And then Carter's attorney lit into her in the conference room during a recess, too".
"I can't blame him. Lawyers have a tough job".
"Yes, I agree".
Jonathan dozed while she typed out her article and got it organized.
When she was finished, she put it all away and then raised his arm and laid down with him, snuggling up to him. She covered them with a blanket, and fell asleep on his chest.
They slept till it was dark, and then woke up and ordered a late dinner to be delivered.
"I love lazy nights with you".
"I love lazy nights with you too".
She leaned up and kissed him.
They found a movie on tv to watch and when it was over, finally went to bed.
***The Next Morning***
Jonathan didn't have any meetings, so he went with Jennifer to court.
They sat around in the courtroom for about an hour and then Carter's lawyer came and told everyone the jury had reached a verdict.
Pretty soon, the courtroom filled up and everyone was eagerly awaiting the verdict.
Carter's lawyer turned around to Jennifer and Elizabeth.
"No matter what the outcome, let's meet in the room next door as soon as court is adjourned".
"All rise".
The judge came in, told everyone they could sit, and then the jury came in.
"Mr. Foreman, will you please read the verdict?"
"In the charge of first-degree murder against Carter Soren, we the jury find the defendant not guilty".
"The court thanks the jury for their time. Mrs. Soren, the court has not forgotten about your lapse in memory during your testimony. This court would like to remind you that you could face serious consequences for that. The DA can bring charges against you, and I myself can hold you in contempt. If the prosecutor decides to charge you, that will happen in the coming days. However, in regards to holding you in contempt, I will let you off this time, with a warning. Don't make that same mistake again".
"Yes, your honor".
"Mr. Soren, you are free to go. Court is adjourned".
Jennifer, Jonathan, Elizabeth, Carter, and his attorney all headed to the room next door.
As soon as they were all in there, Jennifer spoke up.
"I think I have all I need. Thank you for letting me cover your story".
Elizabeth put her hand up.
"Please, don't go".
Jennifer stayed to hear her out.
"We are having a party at the house this weekend, to celebrate the verdict. Everyone is invited".
His lawyer spoke up then.
"My advice is for you to cancel the party and get the hell out of town. I highly doubt the press will be kind to you after this".
"I just want to set the record straight. I never left the house that night. My husband never played ball with our kids that night or put them to bed-that's the nanny's job."
"You do realize the DA can still come after you and press charges against you for perjury?"
"I can risk that, because there isn't any evidence that I committed a crime because I didn't commit one. There is no evidence that I was at her house, because I wasn't. And my husband is free to make a statement, thanks to double jeopardy".
It slowly began to sink in that Carter Soren was in fact, guilty.
"We had to create a possibility that it could be someone else, and that's what we did. We got the article to get our version of the truth out there, we convinced the jury that it could have been either one of us".
"I have been your attorney for 10 years and I have served you well. However, in light of your incredible deception, you can find another attorney to serve your needs in the future".
"Oh come on, that's not fair! I told you that I would do anything to keep my family together and I will. That was not a lie, nor was it a deception".
Jennifer spoke up then.
"Either way, you definitely deceived me. I don't appreciate being used like that. I am a reputable journalist because I print the facts, and now that I know the truth, I'll be sure to include that as well."
"If you do, I'll sue you for libel!"
"If she sues you, call me. I'll be glad to represent you".
"So how about the truth?"
"Ok, you want the truth? Fine. Here it is. I ended our affair. She came to me and claimed she was pregnant, which she wasn't. Said she was going to turn me into the professional realty board and do a smear campaign if I didn't pay her $10 million dollars. I refused, she became angry and lunged at me, so I defended myself, plain and simple. And then once I was arrested, I knew we had to conjure up some area of reasonable doubt and we figured if we could get the public to believe it, we could get a jury to believe it as well".
"Well, good luck getting anyone to believe you about anything after this. I am definitely going to mention your lies and deceit in my article. Trust me, it won't be pretty".
"Jennifer, you were an innocent pawn in this. That's all. But you don't have to print everything".
"Yes, I do. And you are a miserable, lying, untrustworthy wife of a murderer. And that's all you'll ever be".
Jennifer and Jonathan walked out and headed to the elevator.
They took the car service back to the penthouse.
As soon as they came in, she immediately headed to take a bubble bath.
Jonathan poured her a glass of wine and took it to her.
"Thank you".
He changed into some comfy clothes and then waited for her in the living room.
"Want to talk about it?"
"I'm fine, I'm just mad at myself for getting involved."
"How much are you going to include in your article?"
"Absolutely everything."
"Good for you".
He kissed her temple.
"I called Jack. We are flying back first thing in the morning".
"Great".
"How about a New York style pizza?"
"Oh, that sounds so good. Yes, please."
They picked a pizza place and called in their order.
She worked on her article off and on all night and finally finished it and submitted it.
"You know, I really like being able to write my own stories and submit them to different places."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. I think I want to get back to that. I had a meeting the other afternoon with a company that wants to buy the paper and turn it into a magazine. I didn't think I wanted to do it, but now I think I do. I've fulfilled Loretta's mission, and exceeded her legacy. And she would be the first one to tell me to chase my dreams".
"She would be right".
"I mean, I'm losing the apartment in a couple months anyways, so maybe it's time to let the paper go too. Maybe it's time to do what I want to do for a change".