Sarah decided that she must talk to the judge of Bartowski's trial. She knew that Diane was in the middle of organising the town fair so she would be in the town council offices building. It took a few polite askings for her to find the judge, who was upstairs in the conference room. Fortunately for Sarah, Beckman was alone.
Beckman was lending over a large table that had small stacks of paperwork on it.
"Miss Walker, have you changed your mind on being a contestant in the Miss Hazard Quest this year?"
"No." Sarah said as she shook her head, "I still believe it should be a local girl."
"Well, there's no harm in asking. Anyway what can I do for you?"
"I'd like to ask if I may about the Bartowski trial. What are your recollections of the trial? Was there anything unusual, something you thought odd?"
"So you have been having late night drinks with Eleanor Bartowski?" the judge said looking down her nose at Sarah.
Sarah just looked back at the Judge.
The Judge sighed, "Eleanor has been holding a candle for her brother for years. Every time a new reporter starts in town Eleanor tries to persuade the newbie to take up the cause. I get asked about it every now and then but the answer is always the same. Look I tried to go easy on the boy, he was still in school, he fronted me wearing his school uniform. It was the only decent clothing he owned. I sentenced him because of the guilty plea to twenty years to life. Surely he must be out on parole by now. And in case you are wondering, the public prosecutor for the case will hopefully be our next governor, Daniel Shaw."
Beckman then escorted Sarah to the door and Sarah knew she had to leave, she gathered her things and politely thanked the Judge for her time as she walked out the door.
After talking to Beckman, Sarah felt obliged to talk to another key figure in the trial. Sarah made an appointment with the State District Attorney Daniel Shaw.
Daniel Shaw was a handsome man with broad shoulders, slick black hair and a sharp chin with a dimple. He had a slick smile to go with the slick hair. Daniel wore the most expensive suit, he obviously had it tailor made.
Daniel was now running for Governor, she was thankful that Mr Shaw was able to make some time out of his busy schedule. Because he was running for public office Sarah had to meet him at his campaign office which was a short walk from his real office at the District Attorney building. She wanted to have a discussion with Daniel about the case in which he was the public prosecutor. Daniel seems intrigued that a case settled ten years ago has picked a pretty girl's interest. Sarah asks him how he saw the trial went.
"Well you always remember your first time," he said with a bit of bravado, Sarah noticed that he had a glint in his eyes. "It was my first time as lead prosecutor and I must say it went very well for me. The defendant confessed to the crime during cross examination."
Sarah nodded her head as Daniel Shaw lent back in his chair and raised his arms and joined his hands behind his head.
"I must say it sort of came by surprise. I was just getting started into the means and motive when he suddenly broke down and confessed. He said he was responsible for Ms McKay's death and then detailed how he tied a scarf around her neck and strangled her."
Sarah listened to the prosecutor continued on with his bragging, the papers listed a different reason for her death and she thought she would grill him on the discrepancies after he finished big noting himself.
"The court adjourned for a recess then when we all returned his counsel cancelled calling any further witnesses for him. It was a quick summing up, his counsel asked for mercy, he got sentenced to twenty years."
Shaw said that Chuck was his own worst enemy; he would not have put him on the stand;
"His lawyer Alexandra Forrest was not capable to defend him, fortunately she left the law soon after. The old adage, Lawyers jail their mistakes rings true. Mr Bartowski had the legal right to appeal but he never did, that alone would make me wonder if he was legally competent."
"So let me get this straight, Mr Bartowski confessed to strangling Ms McKay but the autopsy had her cause of death as a fractured skull?"
"Huh?" Sarah's question caught Shaw by surprise. Shaw suddenly stopped leaning back in his chair and then lent forward with his elbows on the desk.
"Come again?"
"The autopsy had her cause of death as a fractured skull yet Mr Bartowski confessed to strangling Ms McKay with a scarf. Charles when question claimed he purchased the scarf from the discount charity store. The scarf had been donated and for only a dollar Charles had purchased it for a birthday present. Hannah died on her 18th birthday."
Daniel went quiet, waiting to see where Sarah was going to take this.
"I guess in the confusion everybody missed the obvious. Charles confessed to something that didn't happen."
The look on his face seemed to scream 'how dare you', Shaw suddenly seem threaten by a small town reporter that could jeopardise his run for Governorship. Sarah could see a flash of fear in his eyes. Daniel Shaw had to regain the narrative, he didn't want his campaign derailed by the fate he imposed on a snivelling schoolboy a decade ago.
"Yes well, maybe you have something." Shaw said, "How about I get one of my assistants to review what you said to me."
Shaw got on the phone and made a phone call. As he spoke to someone on the other end of the call he was writing down notes, until he ended the call. He ripped the page out of his notepad and handed it to Sarah.
"Go to the DA office and ask for Vivian MacArthur. She will be expecting you."