Read You Think You Know Me Pretty Well Online
Authors: David Kessler
“Your Honor,” the ADA chipped in, “there’s no way the People will consider misdemeanor burglary.”
“Okay, but that still leaves a choice between felony first and second.”
“We’re inclined to go for first, Your Honor – subject to discussions with defense counsel.”
This was just a bargaining tactic, to secure a plea. Setting bail high and threatening first degree burglary was just for added leverage. The ADA was inviting the judge to collude in the enterprise.
“Was it a domestic burglary?”
“That has yet to be determined, Your Honor.”
“Your Honor, my client has no priors for domestic burglary,” said Alex as the judge turned to him. Alex hadn’t even seen the case file, so he was whistling in the dark. “If it
was
domestic, it would be a first.”
The judge turned back to the ADA. She shook her head as if she had seen it all before. The judge looked quickly flipped through the bail schedule for the San Francisco district.
“In the absence of a charge-specification, bail is set in the amount of forty thousand dollars. Does the defense agree to waive the right to a speedy – ”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Okay, we’ll set the preliminary hearing at… October 10. Next case.”
They went to settle the paperwork with the payments clerk and Alex was in such a hurry to get to the Federal District Court for the hearing on the new evidence, that he paid the money on one of his own credit cards, rather than haggling with one of the bail bondsmen. Then he turned to a grateful looking Lee Kelly.
“Now
I’ve
got a little job for
you,
” said Alex as his phone rang.
Juanita was Googling “Edgar Olsen” and “suicide” in an effort to get the date of death.
“Gotcha!”
May 17, 1998.
The phone rang.
“Alex Sedaka’s office.”
“It’s me,” said Alex, sounding glum. “I just had a call from Nat.”
She felt the hope drain out of her.
“What happened?”
“They turned us down.”
“Did they give any reasons?”
“Res judicata, evidence claims not backed by certified documents, evidence fails to prove innocence or raise significant doubt.”
She was about to say something, but she couldn’t trust her voice to speak. Throughout the day she had kept her emotion at bay. She was a professional after all and this was just another case. But this was different. It was a capital case. A man’s life was in their hands … and they were failing him.
Yes, he
may
be guilty. But whatever his faults he was still a human being and… there were increasing signs that he was innocent. Juanita was about to speak, but again she felt the lump in her throat stopping her. For a second she thought that she could hold up. Then she broke down, sobbing into her forearms.
“How’d she take it?” asked Nat.
“As expected.”
Alex and Nat were driving back to the office separately, talking to each other on their cell phones.
“Was she crying?”
“It sounded like it.”
“Maybe
I
should have told her directly.”
“Look, we haven’t given up…”
“No, but let’s face it, Alex, we’re running out of options.”
“I’m going to have to call the governor and try and convince him with what I’ve got.”
“What do you think he’ll say?”
“I haven’t a clue.”
“Will you call him now or from the office?”
“I’ll call him now. One last thing… I asked Juanita to get me the date of Edgar Olsen’s suicide.”
“And?” replied Nat, keenly.
“She told me it was May 17, 1998.”
“Any particular reason for your interest?”
“Well I was just considering the possibility that Dorothy’s father might have killed her.”
Nat hesitated and then spoke again.
“But May 17 was before she left, wasn’t it? And even according to the original trial evidence, she was alive at least six days after his death. So he couldn’t have killed her.”
“I said it was just a theory. And you’re right. The date of the flight was the 24
th
May. But what’s interesting is that she bought the ticket on May 19 –
two days
after Edgar’s suicide.”
“That still rules out any possibility of him killing her.”
“Yes, but it doesn’t rule out the possibility of
her
killing
him
. We know from the poem that she had some sort of grudge against him. Maybe she killed him and staged it to look like suicide. Maybe that’s why she went to England for the abortion.”
“What’s going to England for an abortion have to do with making it look like suicide?”
“I mean, that’s why she went to
England
for the abortion instead of having it over here –
because she had to get out of the country fast!
She was afraid that if she stayed in America she’d be arrested.”
“But if she staged it to look like suicide, she wouldn’t need to run away.”
“Maybe she couldn’t be
sure
. And then there’s all that money she paid to the medical center. That could’ve been a payoff for their silence. They might have found out that she was wanted for murder and blackmailed her.”
“But she
wasn’t
wanted for murder.”
“But she might have
thought
she was.”
“Yes, but she would hardly have told
them
that.”
“What about if she was under anesthetic? Or when the anesthetic wore off? Don’t people sometimes say things at that stage that they wouldn’t say otherwise? I heard it’s like sodium pentothal.”
He was expecting Nat to shoot him down in flames and tell him that he was on a flight of fancy. But Nat’s response surprised him.
“Of course! Now it makes perfect sense!”
“What does?”
“What David said.”
“David?”
“Yes. He called again … while you were out.”
“And what did he say?” asked Alex, excitedly.
“He found another verse of that poem.”
“And?”
“Well it pretty much backs up your theory about Dorothy killing her father. He kept going on about the similarities to a Sylvia Plath poem.”
“‘Daddy’?”
“Yes. But it wasn’t just that. It was the actual words that he found.”
“Well don’t tease me. How did it go?”
“It went: ‘Daddy, I know I am guilty / Though someone killed you first / I killed you as surely as if / I had pulled the trigger myself / Bang Bang! All over.’”
Chuck Dusenbury was now at his home in Sacramento. He had given Alex a special number at the office and he was now having all calls to that number diverted to his home. He was eagerly awaiting developments. He had told Alex Sedaka that he could rescind the death warrant at any time until the execution took place, but he preferred to hear from him before nine.
The phone call came just minutes before nine. It was taken by an aide and put through to Dusenbury.
“Governor Dusenbury,” said Alex.
“Yes.”
“Alex Sedaka.”
“I’ve been waiting for you to call.”
“Yes, I know, sir. And I’m sorry it’s taken so long.”
“So what’s the news?”
“Well, as you know, Clayton told me that he didn’t kill Dorothy and doesn’t know where her body is.”
“Yes.”
“You may also know that initially I was skeptical of his innocence. But now I have found certain exculpatory evidence that puts matters in a different light.”
“Go on,” Dusenbury prompted.
Over the next few minutes, Alex told the governor about the airline ticket, the PDF brochure from the medical center, the oral confirmation from the medical center about Dorothy arriving there, David’s hacking into Dorothy’s bank account and the subsequent payments she had made to the medical center over the course of the next year. He explained that he only had documentary evidence of the purchase of the airline ticket and the bank transfers and he had to admit that the evidence of both had been obtained illegally, although he had not personally sanctioned it or known in advance that it was going to take place. He admitted that the medical center had not sent over any written confirmation that Dorothy was ever at the center and that the person who had provided the oral confirmation was now off duty and currently not contactable. Nevertheless he could vouch for the fact that she had given such oral confirmation and was prepared to stake his own reputation on the authenticity of the information.
After Alex had finished, the governor remained silent for a few seconds. When he finally spoke, his tone was almost apologetic.
“Listen, son, I know you’ve been working your butt off on this case – and I have to confess I always had doubts about Clayton’s guilt, and I still do. I mean, I even accept the oral evidence – which is hearsay. Unlike the courts, I can do that.”
“I know, sir. That’s why I’m appealing to you at least to stay the execution.”
“But you just haven’t given me enough. The only way I can grant a stay would be to rescind the warrant without issuing a pardon or clemency.”
“But you could do that. And if we don’t come up trumps you can re-issue the warrant.”
“I know, and if you gave me enough evidence that’s what I’d do. If we had enough oral evidence I’d rescind the warrant right now and wait to see the written confirmation. But the way things stand now, you haven’t proved Burrow’s innocence, much less that Dorothy’s
alive
. You’ve just shifted the time of her death a year and a bit – just like the court said.”
“I know, sir. But that undermines the entire basis of the original prosecution case. Their case was that he grabbed her on the night of the prom and killed her then and there.”
“That was the theory. But that wasn’t the evidence. It’s important that we distinguish between what the prosecution speculated on and what they actually
proved
. The main evidence against Burrow was the physical evidence. That was pretty much what nailed him. The disappearance gave them a plausible timeframe, but there was nothing sacrosanct about that timeframe. It could’ve been a different time: he’d still be just as guilty.”
“Yes, but the fact that she disappeared on the night of the prom and yet was still alive over a year later suggests
deliberate concealment
on her part. The fact that she vanished and stayed in hiding, suggested that she
wanted
people to think she was dead. That suggests that she was planning to have someone blamed for her death.”
“Or that she was afraid of someone who was already trying to kill her.”
“But why would she play possum? Why not just go to the cops?”
“Maybe because she couldn’t prove it, Alex. Maybe because she didn’t trust anyone. Maybe because she didn’t think they’d believe her – or wouldn’t care.”
“But that’s ridiculous!”
“Is it? Try and think about it from her point of view. A frightened girl, no friends, completely alienated, her father dead, estranged from her mother. Who could she tell? Who could she trust? Who did she feel comfortable talking to? She had no one to turn to. Not her mother. Not her teachers or school friends – she didn’t
have
any friends. She was a loner. Maybe her brother, but he was too young. All she could do was run and hide. And because she had financial resources in the form of her inheritance, she had the means to run away and hide. She had just turned eighteen and had access to the trust fund.”
“Did you – pardon me for putting it like this, sir.” Alex’s voice was now rising. “But did you
know
about this before?”
There was silence again for a few seconds.
“I knew about the trust fund. I knew about her alienation and the fact that she was estranged from her parents.”
“How could you…?”
“Look, don’t forget, son, Est—Mrs. Olsen sat with me for over an hour before you came and she poured her heart out to me. I know all about it because she told me … and because I listened. But if you mean did I know about Dorothy going to London or about those financial payouts, then the answer is no.”
“Is there anything I can say to change your mind?”
“
Say?
Nothing. But there is something you can
do
.”
“What?”
“Bring me proof that someone other than Clayton Burrow killed Dorothy Olsen – or better yet, bring me proof that she’s still alive.”