Chapter 31

Taggert slumped into his chair at the PCPD. His case against Jason Morgan was slipping away from him. Elizabeth Webber was not the star witness he thought she would be. She insisted Lucky Spencer shot her not Morgan.

Lucky was crazy, she insisted. He went after Jason not the other way around like Taggert had thought. This meant he didn't have strong enough evidence to convict Morgan of killing Lucky Spencer. Alexis was right. The gun wasn't enough to prove guilt. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew Morgan wasn't stupid. There was no way he would keep the murder weapon in his room for the police to find. Taggert had been willing to overlook that to get a conviction, but now he knew a jury wouldn't be able to convict on the gun alone. He needed to get more evidence. He needed a witness.

"Taggert, vice just brought in a hooker who claims she saw Lucky Spencer buy a gun from some guy a week before the shooting," Capelli said walking up to Taggert's desk.

"Dammit," Taggert grunted hitting his desk with his fist. "Is she sure it was Spencer?"

Capelli nodded. "Yeah. She said Corinthos and Morgan have always been good to her and her friends, and she wanted to help him. She said she heard Spencer say 'He isn't going to take her away from him'. Do you think he was talking about Morgan?"

"Yeah," Taggert begrudgingly admitted. "I just left Elizabeth Webber. She said Lucky Spencer pulled the gun on Morgan. That Lucky was obsessed and thought Morgan was coming between him and Elizabeth. Lucky tried to shoot Morgan and Elizabeth got in the way."

Capelli thought for a moment. He knew the importance of her statement. "So we have nothing on Morgan for Elizabeth's shooting."

Taggert didn't want to hear the words. "No, we don't, and unless something turns up we don't have anything linking him to Spencer's murder either."

"We have the gun," Capelli insisted.

Taggert scoffed. "With no fingerprints. Alexis will be able to argue that it was planted. Without evidence putting Morgan at the crime scene no jury is going to convict just because the gun was in his room."

Taggert thought back to Jason's tears the night of the shooting and Elizabeth's guarded answers at the hospital. "I don't think Lucky was that delusional. Something was going on between Morgan and Elizabeth. I'm sure of it. We just need to prove it."

"You think they planned to kill Lucky?"

He shook his head. "No, but if we can prove they were involved then the jury would buy Morgan going after Spencer. No one is going to believe Morgan didn't kill the man who shot the woman he loved.

"I want to interview the dockworker who found Spencer's body again. Maybe he saw something or heard something he doesn't think is important." He looked at Capelli. "I want you to question the regulars at Jake's and Kelly's. Talk to Elizabeth's neighbours at her studio. If they were involved somebody would have seen them together. Canvas the docks as well. I know somebody saw the shooting. We just have to find them."

"I'm looking for Detective Taggert."

Taggert turned to the man standing by the entry gate. He was a short balding man the kind of man most people wouldn't give a second glance to. "What can I do for you?"

"I saw Jason Morgan kill Lucky Spencer."

Both Taggert and Capelli were speechless. They couldn't believe this man had just walked into their precinct from out of nowhere. Taggert was the first to recover from the shock. He pointed to the interrogation room. "Why don't we go inside and you can tell me exactly what you think you saw."

The man nodded and moved towards the doorway without another word. Taggert turned back to Capelli. "Get started on what I told you," he said before following the potential witness into the room.

Taggert sat down and took a deep breath before he began. "Okay, let's start with your name."

"My name is Tom Madigan."

"Okay, Mr. Madigan, why have you waited so long to come forward?" As much as Taggert wanted to nail Morgan, he didn't want some witness who was only seeking fame. For all he knew Madigan hadn't seen the crime at all. He probably just read about it in the news and thought he could make a name for himself by helping to convict Jason Morgan.

Tom looked shocked at the question. "Are you kidding? I know who Jason Morgan is. Only a fool would go against Sonny Corinthos' second in command."

"Then why are you here now?"

"My wife convinced me it was the right thing to do. She said my conscience wouldn't forgive me for letting a murderer go free when I could have prevented it." He nervously played with his hands. "Please, you have to protect me and my wife. I don't want to die."

"Mr. Madigan, you don't have to worry. The police will protect you. I'll make sure of it," Taggert assured him. "Why don't you tell me what you saw."

"I was walking to my office …"

"What do you do?"

"I'm an accountant. I was going to my office when I saw two men arguing on the docks. I recognized Jason Morgan right away, but I didn't know who the other man was. I found out his name from the paper the next day.

"They were arguing over a woman. Mr. Morgan was angry about something the younger man had done. He said he wasn't going to let Spencer get away with hurting Elizabeth. The Spencer boy claimed it was Morgan that hurt the girl. He said everything was Morgan's fault. Spencer pulled out a gun and pointed it at Morgan."

Taggert interrupted, "Are you sure it was Lucky that had the gun?"

Tom nodded. "Yes, but before he could do anything, Morgan knocked it out of his hand. He hit Spencer in the side. They fought for a while then Spencer fell to the ground. Morgan picked up the gun and shot him."

"You're sure when Morgan fired Lucky was on the ground?" Taggert needed to be sure Morgan couldn't claim self-defence. "Lucky wasn't attacking Morgan? They weren't struggling for the gun and it went off?"

Tom shook his head. "No, Spencer was on the ground holding his side. He wasn't a threat to Morgan."

"Where was Lucky shot?" Taggert hadn't released that piece of information to the public. If Tom Madigan were just trying to get his name in the paper, this would tell him.

Tom thought for a second then answered, "In the chest. He didn't have a chance. Morgan stood over him and pulled the trigger."

Taggert smiled. He liked Madigan's answer. "What did Morgan do then?"

"He took off in the opposite direction. Then before I could do anything the dockworker came and found the body."

"Why didn't you say anything at the time?"

Tom hesitated before speaking. "I was frozen. I had never seen anyone kill someone before. I saw Morgan's face. It was cold and unfeeling. He didn't even blink when he pulled the trigger. It was like he was swatting a fly or something. Not a human being. When I heard the police sirens, I ran. I didn't want him to come after me."

Taggert could see how frighten Madigan was. He gave the man a lot of credit for coming forward. It took a lot of gusts to come here and put his life on the line. He would make sure Corinthos would be able to touch this man. He would protect him with his life if he needed to. Morgan was finally going to go to jail.

"I'll make sure you're protected Mr. Madigan. Corinthos and Morgan won't be able to touch you or your wife," he promised.

He left Madigan to call Dara Jensen, the District Attorney. He needed her to come down and speak to the witness, and then start the ball rolling for witness protection. It was amazing how quickly life changes, he thought. Only a few hours ago, he thought Morgan was going to get off. Now they had everything they needed to put him away for the rest of his life. He ignored the voice inside him telling him it was too good to be true. All he cared about was Morgan behind bars, and Tom Madigan was going to put him there.