He looked back at his notes – Friday around lunchtime, after lunch. Elliot’s article – Thursday night. Thursday night was not Friday near lunchtime.
He shook his head, rubbing his eyes. What was he thinking of? Farris wasn’t any kind of suspect in this. He had been Owen Nash’s best friend. All right, so he effectively inherited the business when Owen died, that wasn’t -
Or was it?
But all he had done was tell Hardy one day and Jeff Elliot another. The stress of those first days after Nash’s death had undoubtedly played some havoc with his short-term memory.
But Farris was a detail man.
Ridiculous.
He shook his head again…
Frannie was in the doorway to the office. He hadn’t heard her come in or close the front door or walk down the long hallway. She had turned on the light in the bedroom and it hadn’t registered.
‘You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.’
He came out of his trance, shook himself. ‘More of this madness,’ he said.
‘I thought you were done with it.’
It was as tantalizing as that last cognac, where you knew if you had it you were going to hurt tomorrow. He would, perhaps, mention it to Glitsky. It wasn’t his job.
‘I am,’ he said, closing the file. ‘I was just waiting for you to get home.’
36
JUDGE GUARANTEES BOND IN NASH
MURDER CASE
But Defense Attorney Verifies May
Shinn’s Alibi; D.A. to Drop Charges
by Jeffrey Elliot
Chronicle Staff Writer
In a startling series of developments surrounding the murder trial of financier Owen Nash yesterday, Superior Court Judge Andrew B. Fowler resigned just hours before it was discovered that an apartment he owns had collateralized the half-million-dollar bail for defendant May Shinn.
According to sources in the district attorney’s office, investigators may subpoena a defendant’s financial records if there is probable cause that the money used for bail, or for paying a defense attorney, is the result of criminal activity, such as drug dealing or, in this case, prostitution. Ms Shinn has admitted that she has been a highly paid call girl.
In a related story, however, Ms Shinn’s attorney, David Freeman, produced two young boys as witnesses who have testified that, using a telescope, they saw Ms Shinn in her home during the time the district attorney had contended she was aboard Owen Nash’s sailboat, the Eloise.
District Attorney Christopher Locke last night personally interviewed the two boys and announced that all charges against Ms Shinn related to the murder would be dropped.
‘Two eyewitnesses confirm her alibi,’ Locke said, ‘so there is no case. But remember, her gun was the murder weapon, we believed we had a solid motive. But we are dealing with a very clearly defined window of time in this case, and if Ms Shinn was in her apartment on Saturday afternoon, she could not have killed Owen Nash.
‘This office is, of course, distressed by implications of racism used against Ms Shinn, and we intend to investigate those charges and take disciplinary action if appropriate.’
The relationship between Judge Fowler and Ms Shinn remains unclear. The judge has reportedly left the city, but California Supreme Court Justice Marshall Brinkman, who serves on the state’s Committee on Judicial Ethics, stated that he is ‘deeply concerned’ over reports of Judge Fowler’s purported involvement with the defendant. ‘Where there is any relationship, however tangential, between a judge and a defendant, the judge must immediately recuse himself from the case,’ Brinkman said. ‘Any failure in this area is gross judicial misconduct. At the very least it’s a disbarment issue.’
David Freeman refused to comment on Judge Fowler, although he certainly knew the details of the bail arrangement. Citing the attorney-client privilege, he also defended Ms Shinn’s right to her privacy. ‘My client has been through enough,’ he said. ‘She did not commit this murder. She is an innocent woman, falsely accused, wrongly charged.’
‘Wow!’ Frannie said.
‘Yeah.’ Hardy was on his third cup of coffee. He had read the article twice. He was astounded that Andy had essentially put up bail for May Shinn and hadn’t felt compelled to mention that fact to him during his soul-baring two nights ago.
The sun was coming through the skylight over the stove, shining off the pots and pans hanging from the opposite wall. Rebecca was breast-feeding.
‘I’m sure this has nothing to do with a friend of yours who is in legal trouble that you can’t say anything about.’
The shifting sands of the moral high ground. Hardy smiled at it, had some more coffee.
‘Where do you think he is?’ she asked.
‘I think he’s probably home, holed up, not answering the phone.’
‘How much more do you know about this?’
‘A little. Not much.’
‘I don’t know how you can keep this in. How long have you known about it?’
He pulled the paper back in front of him. ‘This stuff, about fifteen minutes. The relationship a little longer.’
‘So what was the relationship?’
‘What do you think, Frannie?’
Frannie was still in her bathrobe. She had a diaper over her shoulder, the baby against it, patting her gently. Rebecca let out a long, satisfied burp. ‘That’s a girl,’ she said.
‘Let me hold her.’
Hardy took Frannie’s daughter – his daughter – into his arms and made a face that was rewarded with a delighted gurgle. ‘Are you my big girl? Am I not spending enough time with you?’ He put his face down on hers, breathing in her scent, rubbing his cheek against hers. Frannie came around the table and pressed herself against him, looking over his shoulder. ‘We’re the lucky ones,’ she said.
‘I know.’
But the newspaper kept drawing them both back. Frannie reached down and turned it back to the front page.
‘What’s going to happen to him now, Diz?’
‘I don’t know. Since May Shinn didn’t kill Nash, the whole thing might just blow over. Couple of days of bad press. You were right, by the way. Remember his paperweight?’
‘She gave it to him.’
Hardy nodded. ‘Reminded him of his broken heart, so he gave it to me. She dumped him for Owen Nash.’
‘So they weren’t together anymore, Andy Fowler and Shinn?’
‘No, I mean that was kind of the point.’
‘So then why would he put up her bail? Why would he be the judge on her trial?’
‘I don’t know. If he helped her out, maybe he could get her back eventually.’
‘That never happens,’ Frannie said.
‘What doesn’t?’
‘You don’t dump somebody for someone else, then go back to the first one. If you’re the one dumped, okay you might. But if your heart goes cold on somebody…’ She shrugged. ‘It just doesn’t happen.’
‘I don’t know if it was May’s heart that went cold, Frannie. The woman is a hooker. Maybe she really fell for Nash, but it was probably just a better financial deal with him. So Andy helped her out with the bail… it might have just been him putting out the word that he had money too, and he’d spend it on her. Hell, half a million, that’s serious good-faith money.’
‘And he’d be satisfied with that?’
‘I don’t know. I guess so. Anyway, that’s what he had before.’
She was rubbing his back, rocking back and forth against him. ‘Nope,’ she said. ‘He loved her, and however she felt about him, he had to believe she loved him too. The paperweight, remember? That’s a special gift. That’s a message.’
‘So?’
‘So what was it? After she left him I don’t believe he really thought he was buying her back. By then he had to realize she didn’t love him, even if he’d made himself believe it before. So there must have been another reason.’
Hardy shook his head and leaned back into Frannie’s body. ‘Well, until you get it figured out, at least you’ll know why this thing has kept me up nights.’ He stood and shifted the Beck over his shoulder. ‘But it’s not going to anymore.’