Chapter 78: Desperate for Justice
"Emma, you're certain he shot you?" Peter asks in disbelief.
"It's all right here in black and white," she says, indicating the doctor's documents.
Jack sits in his cell as Emma and Peter walk around it, going over the evidence again to catch Mr. Jamieson up to speed on the case.
"That son of a bitch…" Jack hisses under his breath.
"That's what I said," Emma says.
"Hold on, we can't be sure of it, I mean there was a lot going on that night… Weren't officers firing their guns to stop people from crowding the boats?" Peter suggests.
"Yes, we cannot leave any room for doubt," Mr. Jamieson nods.
Jack swallowed and nodded. He'd heard from several survivor accounts that Tommy had been shot and killed by an officer. It was likely by accident and the officer ended up ending his life shortly after, but it was a possibility that one of those bullets hit her. He remembers the horror of running with Rose away from Cal as he shot at them with a final attempt to keep the two apart.
"But I wasn't anywhere near the lifeboats when I was hit," Emma counteracts. "In fact, there were no officers when Jack, Rose and I were trying to escape."
"I can testify to that," Jack agrees.
"It could have ricocheted though," Peter points out.
Emma stops for a moment. She knew she'd have to go back to the doctor and talk to him about it. She was 100% sure that Cal shot her with intent to kill. He may have been aiming at Rose or Jack, but it was likely that she was the target at that moment.
"I want to hear it from the doctor's mouth though," Emma says. "I hope we can secure him as a witness."
"It will be very likely," Mr. Jamieson says. "It will also add credibility to our case to have a medical professional on the stand."
"The doctor on the Carpathia however, will be harder to secure, he is likely at sea again," Emma adds. "But we still do have the medical records."
"If only we had the bullet to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that those bullets came from Cal's gun," Jack mutters.
"I'll ask the doctor, maybe he saved the pieces," Emma says thoughtfully.
"Let's hope so as that will make our case much stronger," Mr. Jamieson nods. He flips the pages to the incident on the stern. "However, proving that he shot you Emma will be harder. Remember we're trying to prove Mr. Dawson's innocence more than Mr. Hockley's guilt."
"But he is guilty," Emma protests.
"Regardless, let's focus on the strongest parts of the case. We have three eyewitnesses."
"It's our words against Cal's," Peter nods.
"But the problem of putting Jack on the stand is it will make the jury think that he's just trying to save his own skin," Emma points out.
"If only Ms. DeWitt Bukater was…" Mr. Jamieson trails off and swallows. He looks at Jack with concern. "I'm terribly sorry Mr. Dawson."
"It's okay," Jack shrugs miserably. "The sooner we can get me out of jail, the sooner we can find her."
"Which wouldn't be a problem if the police would do their jobs properly," Emma hisses. "They won't even question Cal."
Peter puts his hand on her shoulder and squeezes it. "We'll find her. Once we put Cal in jail for all the other things he's done, they'll force him to release Rose."
"Let's hope so," she swallows.
"The shooting will be no problem with two eyewitnesses, but the theft of a valuable necklace is something else entirely…"
"I didn't steal the necklace," Jack insists. "The only thing I did take was the jacket, but I was going to return it."
"That's easy enough to say, but not enough to prove I'm afraid," the newest lawyer grimaces.
"Cal has the necklace now and I'm sure he'll put it into evidence."
"How many witnesses were there to the alleged theft?"
"Rose, Cal, me, Jack, Lovejoy, the Master-at-Arms, Officer Murdoch, Officer Lightoller and a few others."
"What about Peter?"
"I was unconscious at this point," Peter explains. "The shot sent me backward and I hit my head on the deck. I was out cold for at least half an hour."
"That is slightly problematic because that only leaves Emma and Jack as witnesses in favour of the theft charge. As far as I am aware, Officer Murdoch, The Master-at-Arms, Thomas King, and Spicer Lovejoy are all deceased? Correct?"
"Yes," Peter nods.
"That means that Cal will have Lightoller testify against us."
"Lovejoy put it in my pocket," Jack exclaims.
"We believe you son, but unfortunately they need evidence to prove otherwise."
"I only saw the necklace once, before Rose put it back in the safe and she was with me the rest of the time."
"Are you sure?"
Jack swallows. "There were a few minutes where Rose was changing her clothes and me being the gentleman that I am, stayed in a separate room."
"Why was she changing her clothes?" Mr. Jamieson inquires.
Emma, Peter, and Jack all look at each other nervously. Jack then explains his talents as an artist and how he usually drew nudes… Rose is one of his models. Mr. Jamieson turns red from shock and slight discomfort for having to hear this, but he nods and takes a few more notes. Jack's ears turn red from slight embarrassment too as this had been a very intimate moment with Rose and he'd only chosen to share it with his closest friends.
"And where is this picture?"
"At the bottom of the Atlantic," Jack says firmly.
"Well…" he hesitates. "We should not bring that up in court since Rose was technically engaged to Caledon at the time and it would paint both of you in a bad light."
"Besides, Cal has no proof that the drawing exists anymore," Emma adds confidently.
"We won't bring up the alleged theft of the coat and hat either. Cal might bring it up, but again there is little proof," Mr. Jamieson adds. "And then there is the charge of rape…"
"I did not rape Rose! The time we… were intimate, it was completely consensual and we've been intimate since then. We both wanted it and we did it out of love nothing else. And it's that love that we have a baby on the way."
"Yes, but again it was out of wedlock and with Rose still engaged at the time, this will be viewed as adulterous and put more bad light on you…"
"And only Rose can confirm this…" Emma says trailing off. She sighs once again… their case was flimsy at best, they could only prove a few things, but not everything. So, Jack could still be put in prison for crimes he did not commit. They needed to find Rose as soon as possible, she was the missing link that could clear her beloved fiancé completely.
The group sits in silence for a few moments thinking about everything. Eventually, Emma decides to get in touch with the doctor. She and Peter hug Jack through the bars before leaving, Mr. Jamieson not too far behind.
Alone again, Jack's mind goes back to Rose and their child and how much danger they were in, as he often did... He knew Cal wasn't above killing an innocent baby… the proof of that came from when he threatened to shoot Sybil on the stern. He wouldn't hesitate to kill their unborn son or daughter… or Rose for that matter. Jack knew that Rose would be fighting to get free. She had that fire and the strength to do so, but when in the hands of a disturbed and ruthless man like Cal, she didn't stand a chance.
He had to find her, he had to save her… but he couldn't do anything while locked in this cage like an animal.
As night begins to fall on the police station, the warden comes and brings Jack his dinner, a sandwich, and some water, but like many days before, he had no appetite and didn't really eat anything. Emma and Peter had fought to keep him in the police station holding cells instead of going to a full-fledged prison across town. They knew he would likely be killed in a prison, mostly because he wouldn't fight back… at least unless he was close to being killed. So, from this, the station had to give him any kind of food that they could scrape together. The warden would often say that this was an anonymous officer's own lunch box. Jack knew that it was Joel; it was his co-worker's way of trying to say sorry that he couldn't help more. He knew that Joel was trying, but there was so much more than he could be doing. He decided to have Emma and Peter talk to his co-worker of being the head of Rose's search.
However, tonight, there was a sheet of paper on the tray of his food. The warden said it was a note from someone, but he wasn't sure who. Thinking it might be a message from Emma or Peter, he opens it. His heart drops when he reads over each word, acid climbing up his throat.
Hello, Dawson,
It has been a long time since we spoke and let me just say you should have stayed dead. Thought you should know that Rose is well taken care of, and the brat too. She's being treated as a Dawson should be. Hoping that she'll soon forget about you once the court case is over. Your precious friends won't be able to prove anything. You are where you deserve to be and so is she. Hope you said those goodbyes at the altar and remember that as you are put away for life, your spawn will not have one at all. Like I've said before Dawson
I always win…
Jack crunches the note up, wanting to rip it into pieces. His eyes fill with angry tears, his chest becomes tight, he grinds his teeth together and then punches the wall behind him. He holds his tongue, trying to keep that primal scream of anger from being released. He crinkles the letter into a tiny ball and throws it across the room. He punches at the wall more and more until his knuckles are bleeding, but he doesn't care.
He had to get out of here! The life of their child was at stake. He couldn't wait for the courts to release him. He had to escape. NOW!
A/n: Sorry if this chapter is a little boring, but things are starting to heat up. (Also I am only going with the movie version of Murdoch, not the real thing as his family once had such a feud with James Cameron over it).