The Third Victim Read online

  Regina looked up when Robin and her investigator walked in.

  “We have some good news and some bad news,” Robin said.

  “Give me the good news. I can use some after what happened this afternoon.”

  “Mordessa Carpenter will meet with me tonight. She can testify that Arnold Prater tortured women the same way Meredith Fenner was tortured. And one of the women Prater tortured was Tonya Benson.”

  “You’re not still on this campaign to bring Prater into this, are you?”

  “We have to,” Robin insisted. “After the testimony about the scar, Mason has no chance for an acquittal if we don’t give the jury a viable bad guy alternative.”

  “Prater was my client,” Regina said. “It would be unethical for me to inject him into the case.”

  “That’s the bad news. If you’re convinced that Mason’s only chance is to argue that Prater is Allison’s accomplice, you’ll have a conflict of interest and the firm will have to resign.”

  Regina shook her head. “Not gonna happen,” she snapped. “I’m not deserting my client in the middle of his trial.”

  “You wouldn’t be deserting him. You’d be saving him. Herrera would have to grant a mistrial. A new lawyer would have the transcripts of the trial to work with and time to figure out something to counter the testimony about the scar.”

  “There’s not going to be a new lawyer. Get that through your head.”

  “But…” Robin began.

  “Enough! I won’t have you questioning my judgment. This conversation is over.”

  Regina set her lips in a grim line, and Robin could see that she wasn’t going to win this argument.

  Jeff followed Robin out. “What do you want to do?” he asked as soon as the door had closed behind them.

  “We should talk to Mordessa in case Regina changes her mind.”

  “I’d say that’s a long shot.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  The morning after Meredith Fenner’s devastating testimony, Robin came into Regina’s office an hour before court was to begin, carrying two lattes. She handed one to Regina, who raised a skeptical eyebrow.

  “What do you want, Robin?”

  “What makes you think I want something?”

  Regina folded her arms across her chest, leaned back in her chair, and stared at her associate.

  Robin sat down and leaned forward. “I talked to Mordessa last night and she told me in graphic detail what Prater did to her. It’s so similar to how the victims at Whisper Lake were tortured that I think—”

  Regina sat up and raised her hand, palm out, toward Robin.

  “Stop right there. I thought I made it crystal clear yesterday that we are not introducing any evidence about Arnold Prater.”

  “But—”

  “There will be no more time wasted on this, Robin. We have more important things to discuss.”

  Robin wasn’t used to giving up in a fight, physical or intellectual, but she held her tongue.

  “Do you think we should put Alex Mason on the stand?” Regina asked.

  “I think he’ll make a terrible impression, but won’t the jury think he has something to hide if you don’t call him?”

  “That’s what they teach you in law school’s ivory tower, but this is the real world. I called the first two defendants I ever represented to the stand because of that type of thinking. Do you know what happened?”

  “No.”

  “They confessed. So I started thinking that it might be better if my obviously guilty defendants didn’t make it easy for the prosecutor.”

  “So we’re not going to call him?”

  Regina sighed. “I wish we didn’t have to. I agree with you. He’ll make a horrible witness. But I’ve learned that you have to call your defendant in one particular situation, and that’s when there is powerful evidence against him and he’s the only one who can refute it.”

  * * *

  “Mr. Mason, where were you born?” Regina asked as soon as Mason was sworn.

  “In New York.”

  “Did you attend high school and college in New York?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where did you attend law school?” Regina continued.

  Robin watched Mason turn to the jury and smile.

  “I was fortunate enough to be accepted at Harvard,” Mason said as he puffed up his chest.

  Robin felt uneasy. When Regina had prepped Mason before court, she had emphasized that he had to be humble. Robin glanced at her boss. If Regina was upset by Mason’s deviation from the script they had rehearsed, she didn’t show it.

  “Did you move to Portland to practice law after graduating?”

  “I did.”

  “Why did you move cross-country when you’d always lived on the East Coast?”

  “I married Christine Dickey, a Portland girl, and she convinced me that Oregon was a great place to live.”

  “You’re currently married to Allison Mason, are you not?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why did your marriage to Christine Dickey end?”

  As they’d rehearsed, Alex dropped his eyes and stared at his lap. “She passed away from cancer.”

  “Mr. Mason, are you the senior partner in a law firm that you helped to build?”

  “Yes, and we’re one of the best in the Pacific Northwest,” Mason bragged, forgetting that he was supposed to be sad because he was remembering the death of his first wife.

  Robin glanced at the jurors. Several jurors frowned, and Robin worried about Mason’s egotism alienating them.

  “Did you travel to New York three years ago for depositions in a case you were handling?’

  “I did.”

  “During that trip, did you meet Allison Mason?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell the jury how that happened.”

  “She was a temp at the firm where the depositions were held and she was in the conference room, but we didn’t have any contact then. When the deposition ended, I went back to my hotel. After freshening up, I went down to the bar. She was there with some friends. When her friends left, she came to the bar, sat next to me, and started talking to me.”

  “Your wife testified that you approached her at the table where she’d been sitting when her friends left.”

  Mason turned to the jury box. “That’s a lie. And, quite frankly, my wife has lied to you several times. She’s the one who got me involved in kinky sex. I never suggested tying her up or burning her with cigarettes.”

  This was not how Mason’s testimony was supposed to go. Robin waited for Regina to do something to stop him, but her boss seemed at a loss as to what she should do.

  Kyle Bergland could have objected because Mason was not answering the question Regina had asked and was making a self-serving speech. But the prosecutor seemed content to let Mason hang himself.

  “And I know why she’s lying,” Mason rambled on. “She knows she’ll be rich if I go to prison. She’ll divorce me and get half of my money and our house and anything else she can get her greedy hands on.”

  Robin leaned over and tugged on Regina’s sleeve. “You’ve got to stop him.”

  Regina stared at Robin.

  “Look at the jurors. They’re appalled,” Robin said.

  Regina looked toward the jury box. Then she looked at her client.

  “Let’s move on, Mr. Mason,” she said. “Please tell the jury what happened after you returned to Portland.”

  * * *

  The rest of Regina’s direct examination went as badly as the first part, and Robin was certain that their case was a lost cause by the time Regina turned the questioning over to Kyle Bergland.

  “Mr. Mason, you’ve spent a good part of your time on the stand telling the jury that Allison Mason is a liar. Do you stand by that position?”

  “Most definitely.”

  “And you are still maintaining that you didn’t murder Patricia Rawls and Tonya Benson?”

  “Absolutely.

&nbs
p; “And you did not kidnap and torture Meredith Fenner?”

  “I had nothing to do with that.”

  “May I assume, then, that you can tell the jurors where you were on the evenings that these women were abducted?”

  Mason blanched. “You know where I was. I told you. Allison tied me up and left me for the entire evening.”

  “She says that the exact opposite situation occurred. She testified that you tied her up and left on those evenings.”

  “Well, she’s lying.”

  “And she’s framing you so she can get your money?”

  “Most definitely.”

  “Wouldn’t she get half of what you have if she simply divorced you?”

  “I … Yes.”

  “Wouldn’t that be simpler than engaging in serial torture and murder?”

  “She … she’s a sick woman.”

  “Well, she would be if she did what Meredith Fenner says was done to her, wouldn’t she?”

  “Yes, yes she would.”

  Bergland looked puzzled. “One thing confuses me, Mr. Mason. Maybe you can clear this up for me. Will you help me?”

  Robin could see that Mason knew this was a trap, but he had to answer the question.

  “What do you … Yes, if I can.”

  “Is Allison Mason a man or a woman?”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Mason replied.

  “Of course it is. But tell me. Does Allison Mason have a New York accent and a crescent-shaped scar on her right hand?”

  Mason just gaped at the prosecutor. Bergland stared at him for a moment before turning to Judge Herrera.

  “I don’t think it’s necessary for me to ask Mr. Mason any more questions.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  Regina Barrister stopped in Robin’s doorway. “Let’s go.”

  “Do they have a verdict?”

  Regina nodded as she headed out of the office. Robin grabbed her attaché case and hurried after her boss.

  Neither attorney spoke on the way to the courthouse. There was nothing to say. Within the hour, they would learn if Alex Mason would live or die. As they walked, Robin tried to remember if there was anything that had happened in the case that would have prompted the jurors to show mercy to their client. She couldn’t think of a thing.

  The defense case in State v. Mason had been a disaster. Alex Mason had been arrogant, conceited, and argumentative when he was on the stand. Robin had watched the jurors when their client tried to shift the blame for the murders onto his wife. It was clear that none of them bought his testimony. As bad was the fact that Regina had been unable to rebut any of the scientific evidence, including the most damning piece—the duct tape with Alex’s DNA that had been attached to Meredith Fenner’s body.

  Another problem was the inability of the defense to produce evidence that a man other than their client had kidnapped Meredith Fenner. Arnold Prater would have been a viable suspect, but Regina had refused to call Mordessa Carpenter. As a last resort, Regina could have asked for a mistrial because of the conflict of interest that implicating Prater presented, but she refused to raise the conflict issue.

  Kyle Bergland’s closing argument had been brilliant. Regina had done her best to raise reasonable doubt, but she hadn’t had much to work with. A verdict of guilty of aggravated murder in the Rawls and Benson cases and another guilty verdict in Meredith Fenner’s kidnapping and assault case had been a forgone conclusion.

  The day after the verdicts, the jurors had reassembled to hear evidence on the sentencing issue in the Rawls and Benson murder cases. There were three possible sentences for a defendant convicted of aggravated murder: Death, life without the possibility of parole, or life with the possibility of parole. In the sentencing phase of the trial, the jurors were asked four questions: Was the conduct that caused the death of the deceased committed deliberately and with the reasonable expectation that the death of the deceased or another would result? Was there a probability that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society? If raised by the evidence, was the conduct of the defendant in killing the deceased unreasonable in response to the provocation, if any, by the deceased? And finally, should the defendant receive a death sentence? In order for the court to sentence a defendant to death, every juror had to answer yes to every question. A single no on any question would save Alex Mason’s life.

  Kyle Bergland had shown the jurors photographs of the dead women and Meredith’s injuries and he had argued that Alex Mason’s crimes proved that he was a cold, calculating killer who would kill again without remorse.

  Regina put on the few witnesses she could find who had positive things to say about Mason.

  Robin knew in her heart that the prosecutor had made an excellent argument for sending Alex Mason to death row and that Regina had lacked the ammunition she needed to obtain mercy from any of the twelve people who held Mason’s life in their hands.

  * * *

  As soon as Robin and Regina were seated at counsel table, the guards brought Alex Mason out of the holding cell. Mason was pale and had lost weight since his incarceration. Robin had never liked Mason, but he’d always seemed filled with energy. Now his shoulders slumped and he shuffled toward his seat.

  “Are you okay?” Regina asked.

  Mason’s bravado had disappeared after his conviction and he shook his head slowly instead of answering.

  The bailiff rapped his gavel and everyone stood when Judge Herrera took her place on the dais. As soon as she was seated, she had the jury brought in.

  “Have you answered the questions in the two cases involving the murders of Tonya Benson and Patricia Rawls?” Judge Herrera asked the jury foreperson as soon as the jury was in place.

  “We have, Your Honor.”

  “Please hand your answers to the bailiff.”

  Robin watched the bailiff take the verdict forms from the foreperson and hand them to the judge. When she finished reading the forms, the judge turned to the foreperson.

  “With regard to the first question, ‘Was the conduct that caused the death of Patricia Rawls committed deliberately and with the reasonable expectation that the death of the deceased or another would result,’ what is your answer?”

  “Yes,” the foreperson said.

  “And was this answer unanimous?”

  “It was.”

  The answers to the rest of Herrera’s questions in the Rawls case were the same and so were the answers to the questions in Benson’s case. And with each answer, Alex Mason slumped forward a little more.

  When she was finished, Judge Herrera looked grim. Robin could see that the responsibility of condemning a person to death was taking a toll on her. The judge took a moment to compose herself. Then she looked at the defense table.

  “Please stand, Mr. Mason.”

  Alex hesitated. Then he stood. Robin saw his legs tremble and he touched the table to steady himself. Robin and Regina stood with their client.

  “Mr. Mason, the jury has found you guilty of aggravated murder in the Rawls and Benson cases. They have also answered the four questions posed by Oregon’s death-penalty statute in the affirmative in both murder cases. Therefore, I have no alternative but to sentence you to death for—”

  Mason’s knees buckled. “I didn’t do it,” he moaned. “Not any of it.”

  Regina reached out to steady Mason and Robin walked behind him to assist her.

  Mason’s head dropped. Then he threw off Regina’s hands and twisted around and glared at the jurors.

  “It’s Allison, you stupid bastards. That bitch framed me. Can’t any of you idiots see that? She set me up.”

  One of the guards grabbed Mason’s arm, but he shook off the guard’s hand and staggered back.

  “Please, Alex,” Regina begged. “We’ll appeal. We’re not through.”

  Mason whirled on Regina. “You incompetent cunt!” he screamed. “This is your fault. You let that bitch get away with this.”

/>   One of the guards got Mason in a hammerlock and forced him to bend toward the table while the other handcuffed him.

  “Don’t hurt him.” Regina said as the guards forced Mason onto his chair.

  “This has to stop, Mr. Mason,” Judge Herrera said firmly. “This will do you no good. You’re an attorney. You know your right to appeal. This display won’t help. Please calm down.”

  Mason looked defiant for a moment. Then the reality of his situation struck him and he sagged forward and began to weep. Regina reached out and touched his shoulder.

  “We’re not done, Alex. This is just the beginning,” she said to soothe him. Robin, however, was an expert at appellate law and she didn’t see any light at the end of the dark tunnel that Alex Mason had just entered.

  * * *

  When they left the courthouse, Regina told Robin to go home. Robin felt disoriented during her walk. She hadn’t found one thing to like about Alex Mason and he had treated her like a piece of furniture during the trial, never acknowledging any of her attempts to be friendly and addressing any questions to Regina. But he was a human being and she imagined him pacing back and forth in his cage for years while his appeals slowly wound through the courts. She knew the appeals would fail. In the end, Mason would be put down by lethal injection like a dog. Thinking about Mason’s awful future made Robin sad even though he deserved every second of his torment if he was really guilty. But was he guilty? Was Mason right when he claimed he had been framed by Allison Mason? Was he a monster or the victim of a cold and calculating killer?

  Robin bought a sandwich at a food cart, but she had no appetite and ate only half of it. All she could think about was whether the guilty verdict and death sentence could have been averted by presenting the jurors with evidence about Arnold Prater? Did Regina’s refusal to ask for a mistrial stem from her mental problem? But what really kept Robin awake was the possibility that she was equally responsible for sending her first murder client to death row because she’d lacked the courage to confront Regina.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Harry White knocked on Meredith Fenner’s door thirty minutes after Judge Herrera had sentenced Alex Mason to death.