"Yeah, I need the police, my Dad, he-he-he pulled a knife on my Mom, he attacked her, he-he's dangerous. I-I-I think he might have killed somebody."
"Is he still there?"
"Yeah. He's still, he's still here. Yeah, he's-he's still in the house."
The sound of Skyler crying could be heard in the background, and Marie's hand flew over her mouth.
"Where are you, son, what's the address?"
"We're at 308 Negra Arroyo Lane. 308 Negra Arroyo Lane! You've gotta come quick, hurry! Hur- oh god, god, no! No!"
"Oh my god! No! Walt!"
"Mom!"
"NO! WALT!"
"Son, what's happening?"
"He-he took my baby sister! He-he took her, he just grabbed her and walked out! Oh my god, w-wait…"
"The police are on their way to you. Hello? Are you still there? What's your name, son?"
"C-can you hear me?" The audio became muffled. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes I can hear you, what's happening?"
"I just had to put my phone in my pocket on…speaker phone. I just…heard the squeal of tyres and the truck dr-driving away, a-and Mom was screaming but now she's stopped - she, now I can't hear anything. I'm just going outside. Mom!"
"Son don't do that, don't do that, you need to keep yourself safe!"
"Mom! Mom!"
"Stay where you are, we are on our way to you."
"Oh my god."
"Stay where you are and tell me what you can see."
"H-he…he's taken my sister. I can just see Mom. She's kneeling in the middle of the road."
"Ok, I need you to describe the truck that he was in and the direction it was heading."
"North from our house. Mom's looking north. N-north on Negra Arroyo Lane. From 308 North. M-Mom!"
"What did the truck look like?"
"Grey and old! I didn't see the badge, it's a…pickup truck - it's not his, I've n-never seen it before!"
"Did you see the licence plate?"
"N-no! No I didn't! There was a black barrel i-in the back, a tall one standing up, and D-Dad put a…bunch of suitcases…in there too, th-they were on the tray, be-because he told us we had to leave."
"Do you know which direction it went in when it left Negra Arroyo Lane?"
"Mom, which way did he go? Mom! Did you see w-which way he went?"
"I didn't see anything," said a new voice. "I just heard the noise."
"Mom, the police need to know! Which way did he go? ... She-she's pointing right. He went right out of Negra Arroyo Lane. Th-that way leads to Eubank."
"Alright, we've got two cars that are just a few blocks away from you now son, I'm now dispatching a third and I'll send the first two to try and find your father."
"W-wait, it might not be Eubank be-because you can go through…the little streets back…back to Comanche."
"Don't worry, we've got maps and live traffic cameras and we're looking now."
"They got maps and l-live traffic cameras, Mom. Mom, they've got live traffic cameras and t-two cop cars are…only a few blocks away, they're-they're gonna find Dad and Holly! Mom!"
"Is your mother ok, son, is she hurt?"
"Mom, are you hurt? Mom! ...I don't…I don't think she's hurt, but she's…not moving or saying anything, s-some neighbours pulled her up off the street and n-now she's just… sitting on the kerb."
"Alright. Listen, you are doing really well. You stayed calm and you've got all the information to me, you are doing so well. What's your name?"
"Flynn."
"Good job Flynn, you're doing great. The third car that I dispatched should be at your house within ten minutes. The two others are already looking for your father, and we are sending more now, so don't worry. Just try and stay calm and if you can, you and your mother should go back inside your house. Shut the door and make yourselves safe."
"O-ok."
"APD will be there soon. Don't worry, Flynn."
"Thank-thank you. Thank you."
The recording ended. Kim stood and looked at Flynn, who was looking down, his face set in a scowl.
"Are you ok?"
He looked up. "Y-yeah," he said huskily.
"You ok to answer some questions about that?"
"Yeah."
"You told us on Friday that your parents had been wrestling with a knife, that your father had thrown your mother to the floor and then pushed her down into the floor and risen above her with the knife."
"Yeah."
"You said she was screaming."
"Yeah, j-just a bit then, and then a lot that you heard... that you could hear…in the background on the tape."
"And you said that when you pulled out your phone to call 911, you and your mother were crouching on the floor and your father was standing over you still holding the knife."
"Yeah. H-he dropped it when I started talking to the 911…operator."
"Then what happened?"
"Then he walked away from us towards the front door - w-we were on the floor next to the sofa that was nearest the kitchen, and…Mom was k-kind of in between me and the sofa, s-so she couldn't see what was…happening, but I watched Dad w-walk across the living room and I saw him…pick up Holly from her playpen, which was k-kind of near the front door. The front door was s-still open - everything was so crazy that we had…never shut it when…we got home. So h-he just picked up Holly and the bag that had Holly's stuff in it and h-he walked out the door. You heard me say, 'Oh God,' on the tape; th-that was when he did that. I saw him…pick Holly up. Mom couldn't see it b-but she saw my reaction when I said, 'Oh God,' and she turned around and s-scrambled to get up and she…ran after Dad s-screaming. Which you heard a little bit…on the tape, a-actually she was screaming a lot more than that but I…didn't have the phone on speaker phone yet th-then and I was…s-still on the floor near the kitchen. Because of my crutches, it took me…a while to get up. S-so I didn't see what happened next."
"What did you hear?"
"I heard Mom s-screaming, 'No, Walt, no!' over and over. Th-they were words, but she was…screaming them. She was…panicking because she knew h-he was running away from the police so he wasn't gonna…come back. And he was taking Holly with him. He wanted to…take all of us, but me and Mom said no. He grabbed…grabbed Holly because sh-she was the only one who couldn't… answer back! And he just h-hated it when people didn't do what…he wanted!"
"So you put your phone on speaker phone and you put it in your pocket and you stood up?"
"Yeah, I p-put it in my chest pocket here so th-they could still hear me and I could still hear…them. But meantime I had heard the s-squeal of tyres and…I also heard the sound of M-Mom's footsteps as she ran…after him. She was still s-screaming and I heard her r-running after him and getting further away from me. Th-then everything went quiet. By the time I got to the front door, i-it was all quiet. Dad and Holly had…gone, and M-Mom was kneeling on the road about… f-forty feet away."
"What was she doing?"
"Nothing, she-she couldn't move. It looked like she had…tr-tried to chase the truck and then just…collapsed to the ground, and she was just kn-kneeling there shaking. I was calling to her a-and she wasn't…responding. Then a couple of neighbours came out…of their houses and th-they helped her up and led her to the side of the road and sh-she sat on the kerb. She kind of…collapsed down there a-as well. Sh-she couldn't really move properly."
"Was this while you were still talking to the 911 operator?"
"Yeah, that was w-when he was asking me about the truck and w-what direction it went and all that."
"What happened when you ended the call?"
"I s-said to Mom that we should go inside. And I…and one of the neighbours helped her up. I put my arm around her and sh-she leant on me and we walked back…to the house. Just as w-we were getting there, the police arrived, and then all of a sudden, M-Mom started talking. Sh-she had been in shock before that and she wasn't…able to say anything, b-but as soon as the police arrived, it was like a switch f-flipped it in her head and she told them r-really quickly everything about how Dad was a…drug lord called…Heisenberg and that they needed to c-call the DEA right away because they would help APD…search for him. Because they were looking for him."
"Your mother told the APD officers to call the DEA right away?"
"Yeah. She told them to call the DEA. Then…a-at that point she and I were separated, because one officer interviewed me while the other one interviewed…her. So I don't know what she said after that. But I know she...told them a lot."
"Why do you think she didn't tell the police about what your father was doing until then?"
"Objection!" Prosecutor Martin stood. "Conjecture!"
"Mr Lambert is a character witness, so conjecture is permissible," said Judge Stephens. "I'll allow the question."
Kim nodded at Flynn.
"I think because she…was scared. I don't know what Dad did to her exactly, th-they never let me see it and now she r-refuses to talk about it, but I know that he was a…very controlling person, and I know that sh-she was very scared that day. And when she has…reactions about it now, which has been happening ever since it…happened b-but it seems to have got worse now, sh-she has panic attacks and things like that. Th-that's fear that has continued over from the…trauma that she…suffered because of Dad. A-and it's not like Mom is a fearful person generally, sh-she's actually a really strong person and she n-never likes to accept help with…anything, she's just really strong and…capable with most things, but anytime she's reminded of w-what happened with Dad, sh-she just falls down. Like what happened the other day w-when you had to adjourn the court case."
"Thank you, Flynn. No further questions, Your Honour."
Prosecutor Martin stood. "So, Mr Lambert - that's your name now, is it?"
"Yes."
"And Lambert is your mother's maiden name, is that right?"
"Yes."
"So you've changed your name and she hasn't?"
"She has, sh-she uses Lambert for almost everything now, b-but she hasn't changed it legally yet."
"You have and she hasn't."
"I had to because I wanted to sit my…SATs and apply for c-college as Flynn Lambert. I had to change it legally…for that."
"I see. Mr Lambert, how do you feel about your father?"
"I hate him."
"Hate! That's a very strong word."
"I'm very angry with him for what he's…done to my family, in particular m-my mom."
"Mmmhmm. Hate, wow. You hate him so much you changed your name!"
"N-no, I did that because Walter White is the most…hated name in the entire South West. I-it was not good for me to have that name."
"Mmmhmm. Mr Lambert, I would like to show a video to the court, and then I would like you to describe it to us. Clerk, it's exhibit 917a, if you would."
Kevin pushed a button which caused a projector screen to unfurl in a corner of the courtroom. It took a couple of minutes for the projector to turn on and the video to load.
"Hate. A very strong word," Prosecutor Martin repeated.
"I know what the video is," said Flynn. "I didn't hate him then."
"Mr Lambert, if you could restrict yourself to answering the questions presented to you."
"I didn't know what he was really l-like then."
"Silence, please. Play the video, clerk."
"How much money have you raised so far?"
"S-six…six thousand, three hundred and sixty dollars, but there's more coming in all the time."
"Wow. That's amazing."
"We don't even know what to say, it's just, it's-it's been incredible."
"Judging from the things you and other folks have written about him, your dad must be quite a guy."
"Yeah, he is, h-he's the best."
"You don't want to lose him, do you, Walter?"
"N-none of us do. W-we love him."
"He's a good man, isn't he?"
"A-absolutely. A-ask anyone, h-he - anybody, he's a great father, a great teacher, he knows, like, everything there is to know about chemistry; he's patient with you, and he's always there for you, he's, he's just...decent, and he always does the right thing, and that's how he teaches me to be."
"Would you say he's your hero?"
"Oh yeah. Y-yes ma'am. Totally. M-my dad is my hero."
The video ended.
Judge Stephens spoke. "Members of the jury, that was an edited video and the clip shown was chosen by the Prosecution. If you wish to see the full video, it will be made available to you."
"Mr Lambert," said Prosecutor Martin. "Can you explain the context of that video to us?"
"Sure. My dad had cancer and h-he needed money for the treatment. Me and Mom didn't…know that he was making illegal dr-drug money to pay for it, so we thought there…wasn't enough money. So Mom got a job - a little while before that she got a job e-even though she was about to have a baby - and I made a website to raise money. And someone from…the media found out about the website s-so they did that story to go on TV. That's what the video was."
"And you said that your father was a good man, that he always did the right thing, and that he was your hero."
"Can you imagine how h-horrible it was for me when I found out that that was all…bullshit?"
"It is quite a contrast in your attitude though, you must admit."
"Of course it is. It was…before I found out. My dad was a m-"
"And how did you find out again?"
"Mom told me. Dad w-was-"
"Your mother told you!"
"Yeah, and Aunt-"
"Your mother tells you a few things one afternoon, and less than an hour later you're calling 911 on your own father."
"D-did you hear what happened when we got home that day?"
"Yes, you said that your mother pulled a knife on your father. And yet in the 911 call you can clearly be heard saying that he pulled a knife on her!"
"He did. H-"
"Well which is it, one or the other?"
"Stop cutting me off!"
"I'm just trying to understand why you keep contradicting yourself!"
"I have a speech impediment, alright? You need to…give me t-time to talk. You just asked me, like, three questions in a row, I n-need time to answer them."
"Alright."
"Mom pulled out the knife because she thought it was the only way to make him…listen. She didn't try and stab him, she just held it up i-in front of herself, sh-she put the knife between…him and us to protect us, while she was trying to talk, b-because he was not letting any of us say anything. Instead of letting her talk, he gr-grabbed the knife from her, threw her to the ground, h-held her down and knelt…on top of her and held the knife…in the air o-over her. At that point I said, 'M-my dad pulled a knife on my mom.' It was a summary, because I had to say it v-very quickly to the 911 operator."
"So they both pulled a knife on each other?"
"Yes, but she didn't do it in a threatening way; h-he did, and he threw her down and held her onto the floor! The other question you asked me-"
"But surely he was just disarming her?"
"No he wasn't, if you're disarming someone you grab the weapon and th-throw it away. Y-you don't hold them down and hold the weapon…above them!""
"He did throw it away, though - you said that, didn't you?"
"He threw it away when I was talking to the 911 operator. Before that he held it up above M-Mom and I was scared that he was going to…hurt her with it and I had to-"
"That's just conjecture."
"Stop cutting me off!"
"Objection!" Kim was on her feet.
"Prosecutor," said the judge, "the witness is describing a traumatic experience in which he had to think on his feet. He had to use conjecture. And I have previously ruled that as he is a character witness, conjecture is ok. In addition, as he has a speech impediment, you will from now on wait until he has fully finished talking before you proceed with your next question or statement. Is that understood?"
Judge Stephens looked at Flynn, who was breathing heavily, and at Prosecutor Martin, who nodded very slightly to indicate his understanding. "Mr Lambert, please continue."
Flynn swallowed. "Dad was h-holding Mom…into the ground and ho-holding the knife up above her, and I had to throw m-my entire body at him to get him off of her. I pushed them apart, and h-he stood up, and at that point he was still holding the knife. He had just been in…a physical altercation with his w-wife and his son, and at the end of it he was still holding the knife, he had not thrown it away. At that point, f-funnily enough, he stopped being my hero and I s-started hating him. The other question you asked me, b-back when you were insinuating that Mom was lying or manipulating me, which is the most ridiculous idea ever, you asked me…who told me the truth about my dad. I was trying to say that Mom told me with Aunt Marie. Aunt Marie was…sitting next to her and…telling me that what Mom was saying was true. Then later, of course, the DEA, APD and all the n-news outlets in the entire country started saying the same thing, s-so I don't think my mom was lying about that, do you?"
"No I wasn't suggesting that, it's just that you claim that your father was a manipulative person who was effectively conning you into viewing him as a hero, and I find it strange that just one verbal explanation from your mother was enough to make all the scales fall from your eyes at once."
"It wasn't. The scales fell from my eyes when he threw her to the floor and pulled a knife on her."
"You said that you were angry with her too, you said that you thought they were working together."
"A-at first I wondered that, but not for long, b-because it was pretty clear when he…physically attacked her that h-he was the one in charge!"
"What if it was just a fight between business partners?"
"What?"
"They had a disagreement, she pulled out a knife, he took evasive action to get it off her."
"Ha-have you been listening to anything I've been saying? He…physically attacked her, gr-grabbed hold of her, threw her to the floor, p-pushed her into the floor and then held the knife up above her. A man who does that to a…woman is not in an equal partnership with her! He is controlling her! F-for the first time, she stops taking it, sh-she stands up for herself and says no, we're not coming with you while you run away from the police – f-for the first time she stands up for herself, and he attacks her!"
"So when you switched from hero-worshipping him to hating him, was it a 'just like that' kind of thing? Did you flip a switch in your head?"
"No. It was r-really hard. And just because I hate him now, d-doesn't mean I don't still love him as well, y-you can't turn that off. Neither can Mom, th-that's why she was so confused all the time and…even though she wanted to get help and…not help him break the law, he was able to manipulate her into doing that be-because she loved him. She…started to hate him as well when she realised…how bad it was and that he had tr-trapped her and was controlling her, but he would always b-be able to manipulate her into doing what he wanted because…sh-she loved him too."
"Wait, I think you're contradicting yourself again. Are you saying that you hate him or that you love him?"
"I'm saying both. I don't want to love him, I've tried s-so hard to stop, and I…thought I had stopped, I thought I just…hated him, but then he died and I got really s-sad."
"You got sad when Walter White died?"
"I hated being sad about it! He didn't deserve anyone to be s-sad about him when he died! But it was because you…can't turn love off, i-it doesn't just go away like that. So no, I did not f-flip a switch and suddenly change h-how I felt about Dad. I called 911 because I was defending my mother."
"No further questions, Your Honour."
"Thank you, Mr Martin. Does the Defence wish to re-examine the witness?"
"I do, Your Honour." Kim stood. "Mr Lambert, regarding your fundraising campaign, can you tell the court how much money that raised in total?"
"I-it was more than $14,000. I've actually been…trying to track those people down s-so that I can give them a refund. I think it's…really wrong that Dad was…taking money from good people w-when he was doing the wrong thing and making lots of money for himself…illegally."
"You want to give the donors a refund?"
"Yeah. S-some of them actually asked for a refund when they found out about him. So their banks refunded them, and th-then I tracked down a few through computer and bank records, but…th-there's a lot that just can't be tracked…at all, it's like it was scr-scrambled. I know a bit about tracking things with computers, and I have some friends who know more, and I also…got the banks to investigate it and r-recently I paid for a private computer expert to…do more. He told me that if he couldn't find them it wasn't possible, and…it wasn't. Only about $1300… was traceable. Which doesn't m-make any sense, s-so it looks like before he…bought the car wash, Dad was using m-my website to launder his money."
"Did you just find this out recently?"
"Yeah. For a long time I didn't have the money to refund the donors, because w-when Dad left us my family barely had enough money to eat, b-but I was given some money recently, so I…looked into this and hired the computer guy and…everything, it was just a couple of months ago. I reported it to the DEA. They're gonna investigate it further, b-but they agreed with me that if…that much money is untraceable, i-it probably means there were criminals involved."
"So your father used you to launder his money before he used your mother?"
"Yeah."
...
Marie rushed out the public gallery entrance and around to the corridor that lead deeper into the court building. There were lots of people milling around and she pushed past them and scanned every face until she found her nephew. He was standing near the main courtroom entrance looking at his phone. Marie ran up to him and gave him a long hug.
"Hey Aunt Marie, are-are you alright?"
"Are you?" Marie looked at him with an expression of amazement and awe on her face.
"Yeah, d-do you think that went ok?"
"Yes, you were amazing, but oh my god, I had to cover my face during that 911 call - I couldn't handle it, I couldn't believe it! I am so sorry you had to go through that, and I didn't even ask you! At the time, I didn't even ask you!"
"We…kind of had other things going on…at that time."
"Yeah, but…oh my god, you were 16 and you had to…!" Her arms flailed. "And your mom! I could hear her screaming, it made my blood curdle!"
"Yeah, well, don't tell her that, ok?"
"No. Oh my god. Are you alright?"
"A-a little shaky, but… nothing I can't handle."
"You're incredible. You were supporting me! You had your arm around me practically all night, and I didn't even ask you if you were alright!"
"Y-you had a few other things to worry about that night, A-Aunt Marie!"
"I know." Marie nodded and scrunched up her eyes. "I just wanted to say sorry, and… well done. Oh, Kim!"
Kim had just appeared through the same door Flynn had come out of, carrying a pile of books and folders. She turned around.
"Do you know where Skyler is?" Marie asked. "Is she allowed to have lunch with us?"
"Uh yeah, sure, it's…I just need to have a quick word with her first, though. Oh, I'll take you to her, come with me."
"Oh thanks," said Marie, stepping forward.
Kim waited for Flynn. "Flynn, you were incredible. You are my star witness of the year, I am so impressed."
"You thought it went…ok?"
"Ok? You were incredible! You stood your ground, you stood up for yourself when he was cutting you off, you remembered all the things he'd asked you and went back and answered them, and you reinforced over and over what really happened. He grabbed her, he threw her on the ground, he held up the knife - you said that about four times over!"
"H-he was trying to make it sound like that was ok!"
"He was trying to rile you up so you'd contradict yourself. You didn't. You said the same thing, clearly, over and over. That reinforced it so well and made it clear that that was exactly what happened."
"I couldn't believe want an…ass that guy was! H-how is a man throwing his wife to the floor an…argument between business partners?!"
"You stood up to it really well. Good job." Kim arrived at a closed door with a guard standing next to it. She reached for the handle, and then the guard said, "She's gone for a smoke." He gestured towards a small balcony across the hall, where Skyler could be seen leaning on the railing with a cigarette in her hand and a vacant expression on her face.
"I won't be long," said Kim and walked out to the balcony. Marie and Flynn saw Skyler turn towards her, her facial expression not changing at all. She couldn't see them.
"Flynn's finished, he was wonderful," said Kim. "I mean he really helped your case a lot - I am feeling even more confident now than I was before." She smiled, but again Skyler didn't react.
"So…just to fill you in, we covered his 911 call and then the Prosecution played a clip of the TV interview about his fundraising website, because they were trying to throw him off, but it didn't work, he held his own really really well. And then because they raised it, I was able to ask him about what he recently found out about those donations potentially being money laundering as well. Money laundering which did not involve you at all, so."
"How did Flynn react to that?"
"Very well. He volunteered the information - I didn't even ask him."
Silence.
"So this afternoon we have Dr Murchison, the psychologist - not the one who did the assessment, the one I introduced you to."
Skyler nodded, taking the last drag of her cigarette and stubbing it out on the balcony rail.
"They want you back in for that, at 1 o'clock. Meantime, your family would like to have lunch with you." Kim gestured through the glass door of the building to where Flynn and Marie were waiting. Skyler saw them and her expression changed immediately. She rushed towards them. "Are you ok?" she said to Flynn as she opened the door.
"Yeah, I'm fine. K-Kim said I did well."
"You really did, Flynn," said Kim.
"Did they give you a hard time?"
"It wasn't that bad."
"Do you want to have lunch with us, Kim?" said Marie.
"Oh no thank you, I have things to go over. Thanks for the offer, though." Kim smiled, patted Flynn on the back and left.
Skyler was still staring at Flynn.
"Mom, I'm fine," he said.
"I'm still staring at you too," said Marie. "I can't believe it."