Chapter 9
With a quick glance at her watch,
When she emerged, she walked quickly to the receptionist’s desk, barely pausing long enough to grab the handful of message forms from her box.
“Jack was looking for you a few minutes ago,” the receptionist informed her as she continued down the hallway.
“I’m going, I’m going,” Carmichael replied over her shoulder.
She found McCoy sprawled on the sofa of Lewin’s office, chatting amiably with the D.A.
“Sorry I’m late,” she apologized, shrugging out of her coat. “I got held up in traffic.”
“That’s all right,” Lewin said pleasantly. “Jack has brought me up to speed on almost everything. How is the Grayson case coming?”
Carmichael sat at the far end of the sofa, took a deep breath, then let it out slowly before answering, “It’s coming along pretty well. I’ve spent the last two days making phone calls and running from one doctor’s office to another, talking with Sara’s coworkers. According to everyone I’ve spoken with, she never mentioned anything about her husband abusing her. Since she sort of floated from one office to another, no one ever had any suspicions, either. They all said she was rather quiet and kept to herself. But I did some browsing through two of the doctors’ libraries. There was no shortage of medical reference books for Sara to get ideas from. I saw a book on suicide, assisted and unassisted, that gave pretty detailed accounts of the different ways people had chosen to check out, and several on forensics that described victims’ wounds and causes of death. Even though no one could say they saw her reading any of the books, she could easily have found out how to kill someone efficiently.”
“What about hospital records?” McCoy asked. “She claimed her husband beat her up a few weeks ago. Did she seek medical attention?”
“The whole family was covered under Mitchell Grayson’s medical plan. I’ve spoken with someone at his insurance company. They couldn’t tell me what I wanted to know over the phone, but they’re going to pull all of the claims on Sara and send them over. I should know something on that tomorrow.”
“Do you know if Sara has any relatives she might have confided in?” Lewin asked. “It’s possible that she would tell a family member what she wouldn’t tell anyone else.”
Carmichael nodded. “She has a brother and sister-in-law in Vermont. I spoke with the brother yesterday evening and he didn’t know anything about it.”
“What about the sister-in-law? Maybe they were close,” Lewin noted.
“I didn’t speak with her. I’ll make a note to give her a call and see if she knows anything,” Carmichael promised.
McCoy stretched and sat up straighter. “So what’s the bottom line?”
“Well, it’s all subject to what I find in the medical records, but right now, between the statement Grayson originally gave to the police, the attorney who drew up the guardianship agreement two weeks before she killed her husband, and the lack of any corroboration of the abuse, I’d say we have a strong case. Premeditation would be iffy to prove, but murder two is more than viable if we go to trial.”
“I’m not talking about a trial,” McCoy said pointedly. “I want to know what you think is a fair offer for a plea.”
With a sigh, Carmichael answered, “With the way things stand now, I think the offer on the table is very generous. Man one, six to twelve, is more than fair as far as I’m concerned.”
“You know Calea will never go for that,” McCoy said, shaking his head.
“I know,” Carmichael agreed. “And that’s why I’m not giving a lot of thought to a plea. She’s already made up her mind. Unless we drop the charges, this case is going to trial.”
“Let’s not jump the gun,” Lewin admonished. “The medical records are an important factor to consider. See what you can find out from those before you make a decision.”
“They’re supposed to be here in the morning,” Carmichael informed her. “If there were any hospital visits, I may have to track down those reports individually before I know for sure, but I should have a pretty good idea of what we’re looking at by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Jury selection for the Armstrong trial was completed today,” McCoy stated. “They’ll be sworn in tomorrow, and Thursday we give opening remarks. I would prefer to have you fill the second chair, so try to work things out as early as possible. If there is nothing to help Grayson in the medical records, take what you have to Calea and see what she says. Even with what you’ve found so far, I still think you should consider man two as an option.”
He could tell by the looks on the faces of the two women that they both disagreed with him, but Lewin answered simply, “We’ll see.”