Chapter 5
Attorney for the Defense
Jack sat silent watching Rachel intently across the table as his Attorney, Ralph Crum, deposed her. She was accompanied by her now attorney, Wilton Porter. Jack could not help but think she was changing. There was no doubt about it. What had been a scared and desperate woman who had come to his office seeking help these short months ago, was now a controlled, even disdainful and haughty person, clearly emotionally disconnected from her ex-husband.
“I don’t even know why I have to be here. It is clear that I was at my former attorney, Skip Jackson at the time of the murder. I’m sure you have his affidavit confirming my presence and then leaving from his office, with Jack, to return to my house, entering with Jack and finding Charles already dead.”
Ralph Crum leaned back in his chair. He had learned long ago that if he stayed silent, people often talked due to nervousness and said things they would not in answer to a direct question.
Ralph was a stocky man of average height. His thick curly hair was going to salt and pepper. He peered out through heavy black horn rim glasses, looking intently at Rachel then over to Milton Porter. He knew Porter from legal associations but had never really encountered him in a court room as Porter specialized in business and corporate law. Plus his large firm had lots of young aggressive litigants, who would have been pleading cases for the firm. Porter would always have been behind the scenes, pulling the strings.
Ralph shuffled through the papers he had in a file on his desk, stopping to read something and Porter broke in. “Come on Crum, we’re here for a deposition. You should have read and prepared your questions before we got here. You know Mrs. Gordon had nothing to do with the murder so just get on with it.”
“Oh, of course”, Ralph replied smoothly as he saw Porter loose his composure. Porters tanned face under his shock of white hair had turned reddish. ‘I’m just trying to understand the complications posed by the preliminary probate of the will. It appears that you, Mrs.Gordon are now the sole inheritor of the estate. Why is your son, William Gordon, left out of the will?”
“I do not know. Charles was making many changes to his estate and affairs prior to his murder. Perhaps Mr. Porter, who was Charles’ attorney can explain.”
“You know Crum, that is covered under attorney client privilege and I cannot discuss it. He had also been using another firm that was rearranging his assets. All I can say was he was undertaking an effort to streamline his portfolio in order to clarify what his personal assets were. That will was done many years ago. I assumed that was the reason why he had asked us to begin to prepare a new will. It was never completed so the old one remains in effect.”
Ralph, looked up, surprised. “You mean, a man, with an estate as complicated as his with family and corporate money involved, had not updated his will as he made a decision to “streamline” his portfolio” as you said? And that his old will made no mention no his son?”
Porter paused a bit, looking over at Rachel before replying. “His estate was encumbered by the prenuptual agreement with Mrs. Gordon. That is where there is reference to William.
”You mean, it was left up to you Mrs. Gordon, from your portion of the estate, or settlement should you be divorced, to care for William? Did you not ever discuss why he did not include William in the estate? Was there a problem between them?”
“Charles Gordon was never much engaged as a father. He was always away on business or behind closed doors in his office. He left the raising of William to me. I had made certain that William would be cared for.”
Jack was an excellent observer of humanity. It was an essential skill of being a detective and watching for subtle signs in people as they answered questions from authority. It was clear that Rachel and Porter were not prepared to answer questions along this line. His background report on the two of them to his attorney had greatly interested Crum in pursuing their relationship.
“So Mrs. Gordon, was William Gordon home on the morning of the murder?”
“William did come home the night before. I had breakfast with him and he left to return to Wabash at about 8 am. He did not return before I left to go to my appointment with Mr. Jackson. And as you know from Mr. Driscol’s testimony, he was outside our house a bit after 9 am, waiting to come to his meeting with Charles. He knows that no cars entered after I left.”
“Perhaps he waited until after Jack left. He does not seem to have an alibi for the time of the death.”
Rachel became very agitated. “Leave Will out of this. He did nothing. Jack, tell your attorney to stop this.”
“Excuse me Mrs Gordon, but this is your deposition and I ask the questions,” Crum stated calmly.
“Now then, if William had left the house, who was there when Jack came for his 9:30 appointment with your husband?”
“I have no idea. There was no one there when I left that I know of.” Rachel replied regaining some composure.”
“Yes, you have written in your affidavit that Charles was in his office when you rose that morning and you never saw him as he was behind his locked door up until you left. Is that correct?
“Yes”
“What did you do after your son left at 8:00?”
“I went upstairs to my room and showered and got dressed to go to my appointment with Skip Jackson. I did not come back down until I left around 9:30”
“Is it possible that Charles had someone with him in his office?
“I suppose it is possible. He was a very early riser and often had business with some of his European contacts quite early. And lately he had been quite secretive, as we now know why.”
“And there was no one else in the house that you know of when you left.”
“Not that I was aware.”
“Your house is a walled compound. Is there any other way to enter?”
“Yes, there is a service entrance gate at the back. There is parking next to the garages behind the house. Charles never liked having trucks and deliveries coming up the front drive and parking in front of the house.”
“And how is that gate operated”
“There is an intercom speaker system with a button. It was wired to Charles’ office and he would push the button to open the gate.”
“Is there any other way the gate could be opened? Did you have to buzz Charles to get your car in or out of the garage?”
“No. We have many cars. Each one has a telecommand. And our service staff has one as does the pool man.”
“So it is possible that someone could have arrived between 8:am and 9:15 and was with Charles in his office when you left and before Jack arrived and parked down the street?”
Porter jumped in again. “Look Crum, this is a deposition, not cross examination. She has made it clear that she did not believe anyone was there and that Will was gone. There is nothing else she can tell you about this.”
Crum looked back across the table at the two. “Of course. Thank you for your time. Oh, just one other question that has occurred to me. Why was William included in a “pre-nuptual agreement signed before the marriage?”
Porter leaped to his feet. “Rachel do not answer that. Crum, you know that has no relation to this case. Jack Driscol is the only one claiming that there was someone else in the house with no evidence at all to back it up. We are done here.”
Porter had one hand on the door knob, the other in the small of Rachel’s back as he began to hurry her through when Ralph asked, “And you Porter? I assume you were a frequent visitor to Gordon’s office. Do you have a telecommand for the gate? Where were you at the time of the murder? ”
“You really are grasping at straws Crum. This deposition is not about me. It’s your client who is on trial. I suggest you focus on that.” Porter said as he exited the room, slamming the door behind him.
Jack and Ralph watched the pair through the glass office window as the they waited for the elevator to the lobby. Rachel began talking rapidly to Porter but he put his hand on her arm with a look back into the office while shaking his head.
“Wow Ralph. I certainly did not expect it to go like that. What does all that mean?” Jack asked.
“It means you are going to have to do a lot more digging on Mr Porter and Rachel. And it means, I think we will be seeing more of them in court. He’ll have to answer my last question about his alibi at some point.”
Chapter 6
Where there’s a Will
Thoughts swirled in his head as he lay abed. He felt powerless and it was an unusual state for him. Of course, he had never been the accused before. He had always been free to pursue the trail of evidence, talk to people, dig into the details and the corners and angles as they turned up. Now he felt constrained.
The facts in the case seemed simple. Obviously he had not killed Charles Gordon and neither had Rachel. And whoever had been in the house when Jack left certainly was known to Gordon. Son Will, while not having a perfect alibi seemed not to have been involved. And where did Milton Porter fit into all of this and why had he bluffed about telling his alibi to Ralph?
And so Jack lay abed feeling almost frozen in his feelings of helplessness. Melba, his big rust colored furry cat was punctual as ever, jumping up onto his bed at 8am, coming up to him with her little chirping “Aaaack” and asking for her morning scratch then leading Jack to the kitchen for her bowl. But Jack was too deep in thought to respond. At first, she circled around to the foot of the bed and settled to wait. As she got more hungry she returned, this time being more aggressive in her urging him to give her a back scratch and then get up. Jack rolled over, ignoring her. Walking over him, she approached his face, another “Aaaack this time louder. His kept his eyes closed, wanting her to leave him alone and into his ruminations. This would not do. Didn’t he realize that cat’s tolerate us as long as we serve them, and she reached out with her left paw and with claws sheathed, swatted Jack on the nose.
“Ok, Ok Melba, I get it” he said as his eyes sprung open. “It’s time I get up and get to work. And the more those words rang in his mind, he realized how he really did have to get out of his enuie and do what he did best which was to find answers to questions. He was going to have to solve this case on his own.
After giving Melba her milk and food, his coffee ready, he sat at the small table at the back of his kitchen and began to make notes transferring the thoughts that had kept him awake into the list of questions he had to answer if he wanted to find his way out of his predicament.
- Who was in the house when Jack left?
- Where was Milton Porter on the morning of the murder?
- Where was Will?
- Who is Will?
- Where does Rachel fit into this other than as the aggrieved wife and now benefactor from the murder?
- What is the relationship between Rachel and Porter?
- Who benefits from Gordon’s Death? Rachel, Will yes…Porter??
- What about the cocaine traces in Gordon and why was he going to Panama that day?
- Why was Gordon liquidating all his local assets and where had they gone?
As Jack finished his second cup and pondered his list of questions, he resolved to start where he could and begin to piece the puzzle together. A quick shower and shave had him out the door but not before giving Melba her morning brush. She purred as he spoke to her, “Melba, thanks for giving me that wake up punch. I’ve been idle too long.” And with that he was out to the garage and fired up the Studebaker heading it downtown the the official records office to seek Benny’s help again.
“Hey Jack? How you hangin’ ?” Benny asked on seeing Jack come through his office door.
“Benny, that’s not actually the question you want to ask a guy accused of murder, “ Jack laughed. “But yeah, I’m doing ok and I could use your help…as usual.”
“Talk to me,” Benny said as his picked up his ballpoint next to a notepad.
“I need to know whatever you can find on Rachel and Charles Gordon and their son William. She reclaimed her family name, “Clark” after we were divorced in 1972 And then is there any connection with Milton Porter, the attorney? Anything relevant you can find on him would be helpful.”
“I’ll do my best Jack. Why don’t you come back at the end of the day and I’ll give you what I have.”
The Studebaker gathered speed to the rumble of the V8 as Jack steered it onto the Interstate heading back to Crawfordsville and Wabash College. He needed to find out all he could on William Gordon. It would be delicate of course, contacting the son of the man he is accused of killing. But sometimes, only a face to face encounter can reveal what is really going on inside a person’s head. Anyway, Jack was tired of being passive. It was time to make something happen.
It was not hard for Jack to find Will’s red Ferrari Mondial convertible, it stood out like a beacon in the parking lot next to the Library. He had no real plan in his head but just decided to wing it as he walked through the large brass doors and up to the desk where the same woman was presiding.
“Ms. Stengal. Hello again. Remember, I’m the guy who was here a couple weeks back gathering information for my nephew who is interested in coming here. He was impressed with all the material. He was hoping to speak with one or two of the current students. The Dean’s office gave me the name of one, who I was scheduled to meet here, William Gordon.
Despite her face being pulled tight up with her hair in a bun, she gave Jack a smile. “Oh yes, Will is a fine young man. He’s quite active and a good student, though he does not apply himself as much as he could, in my opinion But then he has had a recent tragedy. He has come through it quite well, which I think speaks to his character.”
“Ah yes, I was aware of that. Life does go on though. I’m to meet him at his study carrel here. It gives me a chance to see actually where students do research and spend time. Can you direct me?”
“Yes, he is always at the last carrel at the end of the left aisle on the third floor. You will of course be quiet in your conversation. Oh, and before you get on the elevator…may I see some kind of ID? We do not allow anyone into the stacks without logging them in and out.”
That bit of information got Jack’s attention and he filed it away to tell to his attorney to have the records requested. He pulled his wallet from his back pocket showing her his driving license. Ms. Stendal noted his name and address in the log book and the time. “You’ll have to sign out when you leave” she added as Jack walked to the elevator.
Jack took a circuitous route to the end of the hall. He wanted to observe Will for a moment before coming up to him. He noted the heading of the section was Business law and Corporate history. Will had several books open on the small desk and was making notes on yellow legal pad. A large window was framed behind the desk with a view out onto the campus quad giving a lot of light onto the desk and the young man. Will was above average in height with a shock of blondish brown hair, not at all like the black curly hair of his father. But then, Jack saw a lot of his mother in his face and profile. While slender, he did not look particularly athletic.
Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly to calm himself, he approach the corner “Excuse me, William Gordon?”
Will turned his head, looking up then leaning back in the chair. “Your Driscol. I recognize you from the mug shots pics in the papers. My mom told me you would likely come looking for me. You shouldn’t be here you know.”
“Your Mom has known me a long time. I didn’t do it. I did not kill your father.”
“I guess that will be decided at the trial. Anyway, it’s done now.”
“You don’t seem to be too upset or angry over his death.”
“I got over that a long time ago. We were never close. He, he … was not a nice man. He treated my mother abominably.” Will shook his head as if trying to clear away images.
“I know, I was trying to help her. You both were going to be left out in the cold once he moved to Panama and who knows where else, anywhere but here in Indiana.”
“Switzerland”, Will said. “Milton always said that was the place to go if you wanted to protect your wealth. And I saw contracts on dad’s desk recently with the name of a law firm that said Panama and Geneva in the heading.”
“Did you ever discuss your father’s business with him. I see you are studying business here. He must have been able to teach you a lot.”
Will looked up at Jack and laughed. “Yeah he did. He taught me how to mistreat employees, stiff suppliers, renig on contracts, lie on taxes, screw customers and litigate anyone who tried to call him on it. He did all the things these books say you are not supposed to do.”
“How do you know all that?”
“I’d hear Milton talk about it with Mom. He would warn her about being in jeopardy if it all came crashing down.”
“But he was your father’s attorney? Wasn’t he involved?”
“His firm made a lot of money on my Dad’s business. They were complicit in my opinion. But Milton was always nice to my mom… and me. So what do you do? Pretend you don’t see anything and never say anything.”
“Did you know about your Father’s will?”
“Yeah, he told me long ago that I would not get a penny. But Mom always had money and Milton told me not to worry about it. That I would be OK. All my bills go to his firm for payment. And I get a check from Mom each month for my out of pocket stuff.”
“Didn’t you resent that?”
“Look, I’m ok. There’s a lot of guys here who’s families are struggling to send them here. They are going to have to make it on their own. So am I. I’ve always known that. I prefer it that way. I don’t really want to profit off how my Dad screwed everyone anyway. I want to prove that I’m my own person and things can be done the right way.”
Jack stood there for a moment. “I can see why your Mom thinks so much of you. I hope you make it. Just one last thing, when you left to come back to school that morning, was there anyone else in the house with you other than your Mom and Dad?”
“Not that I know of. Dad was in his office as usual so it’s possible. I went up to tell Mom I was leaving. She was on the phone with Milton.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she said ‘Milton says Hi’ as I waved good bye.”
Just then, Jack heard the elevator doors open and several sets of footsteps hurry down the aisle toward them. Ms. Stengal came up in a huff out of breath. Behind her was a uniformed campus policeman. She cried out, “William are you all right. I remembered the news about your father and then the name of the man who was his killer and worried that he might want to hurt you too. I called security right away.”
Will stood and walked to Ms Stengal. “Really Ms Stengal, he’s ok. He’s just leaving.” And turning to Jack, he added, “And for what it’s worth, I don’t think he did it.” He reached out with his right hand to shake Jack’s with firm grip. “ Good luck with finding out the truth of what happened,” he said, releasing Jacks hand as he sat back down. “Now, if you all would leave me alone, I have a paper on “The Governance responsibilities of Corporate Boards” due in two days.”
Ms. Stengal led Jack back to the elevators with the Campus Cop behind. “Mr. Driscol, you should not be here. You have not told me the truth. You don’t really have a nephew who wants to come here do you?”
“I am sorry for that part Ms. Stengal though I wish I did. But the part about having a lifetime love of libraries and the remarkably helpful and important people librarians are was totally true. I can tell you care a lot about the students.”
Somewhat mollified by the time they reached the main desk. As Jack was signing out he looked at Ms. Stengal. “If you really want to help Will, can you show me the page from the day of his father’s murder. He said he was here that morning.”
“Well, I’m not sure I should. I was not on duty that morning.”
“I know how important records are to librarians. It will be subpoenaed anyway and I’ll see it then.”
“Oh well, I suppose since you’ll see it anyway, I’ll show you. What was the date again.”
After Jack gave her the date, she began to shuffle the pages backward. “Oh my!” she exclaimed.”That page seems to be missing!”
At the end of the day, Jack was sitting at his desk at home, a glass of red at the side, making notes of the day to give to Ralph. Melba was sleeping curled up next to his feet. In front of him were copies of documents given him by Benny.
Four dates stood out from the details of the documents. The first prenup was filed by Hotchkiss, her original attorney 6 months before her marriage to Charles Gordon.
That prenup was amended just one week before the marriage. This is the one which added a codicil that any children would be the economic responsibility of Rachel alone. It was filed by Gordon’s attorneys, the firm of Liston and Reed, but the attorney of record as Milton Porter. Then there was the marriage certificate and the forth was William’s birth certificate, dated seven months after the marriage.
Jack took a sip of wine as he listed the dates. “Well Melba” he said as he reached down to give her a scratch behind the ears. “Dates don’t lie. But it looks like some people do.”
Where There’s A Will