Chapter Fourteen - High Crimes and Holding Hands

(Previous chapters are linked on the right, below my profile)

J. George Bernard was pre-flighting his Piper Archer III early Sunday morning. He would be flying the two-hour trip from Memphis to Bristol. From the onset of the poacher murders in his home state, J. George had felt sure it would be Bradley Lee Ramer who got tapped to defend whoever eventually stood accused of the shootings. J. George had envied Bradley Lee that probability. And his resentment had grown substantially with the arrest of Theory James—bird watcher, septuagenarian, grandmother of 26—in the case, which tripled the public’s attention to it. He dreaded the thought of that pansy peacock being handed another chance to pop off and strut all over Memphis, acting as if showmanship were nine-tenths of practicing law.

Pushing back his enthusiasm over getting Lawrence Magnussen’s phone call just four hours earlier, J. George focused full attention on his preflight checklist. The Archer was only six months old and he still thrilled to every moment spent with it, from flight planning on through to tie-down. That morning’s cross-state journey promised to be a pretty one. The flightline was lightly frosted under a cold blue sky. He’d be flying into the sun with visors down, an arrangement that would show up the Archer’s lavish interior colors, all cranberry and mauve. Between ten and ten-thirty, he’d be comfortably at altitude to take the call he expected from the lady who was arranging Theory James’ counsel and on whose behalf Lawrence Magnussen had contacted him.

Immediately after that middle of the night call, J. George had roused his office staff from their homes. In the three busy hours that followed, they’d produced five newspaper accounts of the arrest and the reported evidence, made a call to the Loudoun County Jail to announce his imminent arrival and to set up workspace, found background information on Faye Carson and assembled a two-inch-thick folder of information on the hunter murders. Before leaving for the airport, J. George had sent his aides to breakfast at Percy’s, the best restaurant in Memphis, and asked them to remain on cell phone standby for the rest of the day, in case he needed anything else.

The tower cleared J. George for takeoff at nine twenty-seven, and the Archer’s Lycoming engine cooed like a dove as it scooted him eastward to Bristol.

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Apprehension over Theory had kept Faye and Alex wakeful all night. Precisely at ten, Alex rang Chloe. “Good morning, how’d we do?”

Chloe was succinct. “Morning. Looks promising. Daddy called four friends familiar with your part of the country and each came up with the same person. It’s a man. His name is J. George Bernard.”

Alex repeated for Faye, “J. George Bernard,” and Faye shook her head, indicating she didn’t recognize the name. Alex half-shrugged and said, “Okay, Chloe, go ahead.”

“Daddy talked with him for almost an hour early this morning. He likes what he heard, but told me to stress to both you and Faye that this could turn into a lengthy, intense relationship, so keep that in mind before firmly offering him the case. Handling Theory James’ defense is a big opportunity for any firm, so he has plenty of incentive to press for the job. Of course, Daddy made him no assurances. Mr. Bernard is headed to Bristol in his private plane from Memphis as we speak. And he’s expecting a call from Faye as soon as we finish talking.”

“Good job, baby.”

Chloe added, “I’ve gathered what I could about Bernard and have sent you an email, with attachments. You and Faye might want to look all that over before you meet with him later today.”

Faye and Alex had been sitting on ultra, and Alex stood stood up to say, “Then fill Faye in while I get that email and look it over, make sure the attachments came through, before we let you go.”

“Sure.”

Those things accomplished, Faye gave the phone back to Alex. “Chloe, this is all very clear, I don’t have any questions. Thanks for compiling it.”

“Hope it helps, honey. Faye has Bernard’s number. Good luck with him and don’t keep me wondering for too long about how things are going, okay?”

Faye held up an index finger, and Alex said, “Wait, Faye has something more to say.” She paused for Faye to speak.

“If Chloe agrees, I’d like to make this a conference call to Mr. Bernard, with her sitting in.”

Alex spoke into the phone again, “Were you able to hear that?”

Chloe said, “Tell Faye I’d be happy to sit in.”

“She says yes.”

Faye nodded. “Good, then we’ll go over this material quickly and get back together in fifteen minutes.”

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Once the three of them, Faye, Chloe and Bernard, were on the line, Faye began, “Mr. Bernard, this is Faye Carson. I appreciate your prompt action on a Sunday morning.”

The attorney kept his eyes working the visible airspace as he replied, “Good to meet you, and please call me J. George.”

The engine was so smooth that Faye had no trouble hearing. She cleared her throat and said, “Chloe Magnussen is here with us.”

Chloe joined in, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Bernard.”

He repeated, “J. George,” and asked, “Would you be Justice Magnussen’s daughter, then?”

“That’s right. My capacity here is to assist Ms. Carson, however. Go ahead, Faye.”

Faye held the list of points she and Alex had made, but didn’t consult it before continuing, “Mr. Bernard, would you give me a brief outline of your plan for today?”

“First thing will be to meet with Mrs. James. My office has already arranged that with the Loudoun County Jail. Now, that meeting could last quite a while—I can’t estimate when I’ll be out, but you and I should meet as soon as possible afterward, whenever it is.”

“What is the most we can expect to get out of today?”

J. George didn’t mince. “Bail is outside the realm—completely. I can push for a visitation schedule, that’s all. Chiefly, I want to get her side of this, get her talking about the killings, about what the agents and police did and said surrounding her arrest. I need an idea of her understanding of what’s happening. And I have to develop my own take on whether she committed these crimes so I can honestly give her the details of how my own conscience will allow me to represent her, you know, how to plea, etc. But that’s pretty much cart-before-horse. Today, we’re basically doing reconnaissance.”

Chloe stated, “You’re keeping open the possibility that you might not handle the case, then?”

“Yes, Ms. Magnussen, I’m keeping the door open for now. I can’t say yet what I’ll decide.”

Chloe thought that last part sounded a little smug.

Faye observed, “That shows pragmatism—and serves to save us all from the embarrassment of a gracious acceptance before an offer has been made.”

After the slightest pause, J. George said, “I couldn’t agree more, Ms. Carson.”

Chloe admired the line Faye was taking and understood the value of her own role, if she chose to be the ‘good cop.’ She said, “Mr. Bernard, J. George, we’re all very affected by the grave situation Theory finds herself in. I think what everyone will demand of this will be a tightly bound team approach, an atmosphere of speaking our minds, sometimes at the expense of certain amicabilities.”

“That’s how things get done, Ms. Magnussen. I couldn’t agree more.”

Faye said, “Mr. Bernard, unless you have something else, there are a couple of messages we’d like to pass along to Theory, then we’ll let you attend to your flight and will be looking forward to your report later today.”

“I don’t have anything else until after meeting Mrs. James. What would you like me to tell her?”

Faye chose her words carefully. “Say that the Millers have the children and the house under control, and there is no reason to be concerned about them. But ask if she has any specific questions or instructions with regard to them that we should address. And tell Theory that Faye wants to know if anything has, quote, told itself to her, unquote.”

This set off some bells for J. George. “Ms. Carson, that last part. Is this your way of saying we might be flirting with an insanity plea?”

“Divest yourself of that notion, Mr. Bernard. Such a consideration could not be more remote. Would you care for me to repeat our messages?”

“No, I’m clear on them. And I’ll be looking forward to discussing this with you in person. Will you both be at the jail when I finish speaking with Mrs. James?”

Chloe said, “Much as I’d like to meet you in person, too, I’m in Ontario, so I won’t be there today.”

J. George sounded a bit disappointed. “Perhaps sometime in the future, then. Ms. Carson, sounds like it’ll be just you and me later on, then.”

“Actually, I will be accompanied by Alexis Jule.”

J George’s voice went up a note. “The cast grows. May I ask, who is Alexis Jule and what’s her connection with Mrs. James?”

“She will be Theory’s biographer.”

J. George shook his head slowly. “Do you mean to tell me somebody is already calculating the profit to be made from this lady’s predicament through a book deal?”

Chloe’s voice tried to wedge in, but Faye got there first. “No, but a useful goal in defending Mrs. James would be that of getting her exonerated so swiftly that Ms. Jule need make little or no mention of this episode in her book.”

“That’d be a pretty trick to pull off, Ms. Carson. I hope your expectations aren’t set unrealistically high.”

“Your concern is noted, Mr. Bernard.”

“Okey-dokey, then, I’ll see you sometime later today?”

“Yes, we’ll be there.”

“Nice talking with you, J. George.”

“Same here, Ms. Magnussen.”

When Bernard was off the line, Chloe said, “Faye, did you pick up something you don’t like or trust in him?”

“No, so far he seems like quite a solid choice.”

Chloe laughed. “Well, the poor man just might pee in his pants when he has to meet you face-to-face.”

She could hear the smile in Faye’s voice. “That event, or any variant thereof, would inform us early on that he isn’t the person we should place between Theory and these troubles, don’t you think?”

Chloe laughed out loud and said, “Amen.”

Faye got serious again. “Tell me your impression of him.”

“He handled himself well enough. You’ll have a lot more substance to base a judgment on once he’s spoken with Theory, though. I did think his indignation, when he thought the biography was to capitalize on Theory’s situation, sounded genuine.”

“Yes, so did I. Chloe, I don’t know how we’ll be able to repay you for all the assistance. Alexis is here waiting to talk, shall we say goodbye for now?”

“Yes, take care. And, Faye, do your best to keep perspective and a good outlook.”

“I will. Here’s Alexis.”

Alex accepted the phone, at the same time handing Faye her laptop, still which displayed the files on J. George Bernard. “Hey, Chloe.”

“Hey. Alex, you know how, since the very beginning, I’ve shared my parents with you? Shared everything, really?”

Cautiously, Alex said, “Yes.”

“So, I’m wondering if maybe we could both marry Faye. She’s hell on wheels.”

“Power freak.”

“Yeah, well. I like her eyes, too. Remember I already said what killer eyes she has. Don’t tell her I said any of this.”

“You must have been up all night assembling that dossier on Bernard. Thanks for that and for everything. And your dad’s such a saint! Tell him I’m going to let him to win a game of Scrabble someday in return for how wonderful he’s been. I’ll be calling him in a day or two.”

“He’ll be looking forward to the call, and we should probably end this one. You two have a big day ahead.”

“You’re right. I’ll be in touch when we get back, if you like.”

“You better. I’ll be wishing for some encouraging news. And we get to share Faye?”

“No.”

“Good, I’ll put that down as a maybe.”

© 2007 Margo Moon

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Chapter Fifteen will be posted next Sunday.