Page 108 of The Best Lawyer
“An obituary,” she said. Then she looked up at A.C. “What were you thinking? You’re so stupid! You promised me. You promised this wasn’t going to happen!”
A.C. vaulted to his feet, realizing what she was about to do. To her credit, Jenna understood the position he’d now put her in.
“Your Honor!” Quick shouted. He’d read the obituary too. He seemed to be having the same reaction I did when I read it last night.
Xavier Yancey Zeller. X. Y. Z. There weren’t random letters on that old buck knife. The kind that had been used for generations. If I had to guess, Xavier Zeller had carved his initials into the hilt maybe fifty years ago. It was a good knife with a solid, well-worn handle and a sturdy blade that would last for generations. That could be sharpened to a lethal edge. The kind that would slice through Tom Loomis’s neck like butter.
Chapter 36
Eric underestimated him.So did the four deputies standing between A.C. Dover and the witness box. He launched himself over the small railing separating the gallery from the center of the courtroom and arced through the air, trying to get his hands around Jenna Rodney’s neck.
“You killed me!” he shouted. “You stupid witch, you killed us both! Shut up! I told you to shut up! Liar. She’s a liar.”
Three deputies wrestled Dover to the ground. He spat at them. He arched his back but was quickly immobilized.
“I didn’t do this,” Jenna said from the witness box. “Whatever he tells you. I had nothing to do with this! I didn’t know. I swear. I didn’t know. Mrs. Loomis, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. He promised me nobody would get hurt.”
Addison Quick had turned to stone. He stood with his mouth gaping open, staring at A.C. Dover as the deputies dragged him to his feet and hauled him in cuffs right past the jury and out of thecourtroom.
Castor banged his gavel. Everyone in the courtroom had leapt to their feet, including the twelve members of the jury. In the witness box, Jenna Rodney collapsed into tears.
It waseasy to envision what had happened the morning A.C. Dover killed Tom Loomis after that. Two hours later, in a cold interrogation room, Jenna Rodney agreed to cooperate.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” she said through hysterical tears. “He promised me nothing bad would happen. It was just supposed to be money. He said they were going to kill him. There are people he owed money to. Bookies. It was fifty thousand dollars and they were going to kill him.”
Sharon DePaul sat across from her in the interrogation room. Jenna backed her chair against the wall as the camera above her recorded every word she said. Beside her, Addison Quick took notes.
“He was only supposed to come in after the Loomises left and take the jewelry out of the box in the closet. That was it. Tom wouldn’t have even realized it was gone. Katy didn’t even know he kept it in there. They were all things he bought for some other woman he had been engaged to a million years ago. She never wore that stuff. Some of it belonged to Tom’s late mother.”
Eric and Jeanie went to the police station to observe Jenna’s interview. I went with Katy to expedite her release. Joe and Emma arrived shortly after to take her home.
Home. Not the one she shared with Tom. She could never face going there again. In a few weeks, Jeanie would arrange to havea company clean it out and get it ready to list. In the meantime, Emma would let Katy stay with her.
I got to the station just as Jenna was finishing up her statement. Eric sat next to Jeanie, watching Jenna through the one-way glass. Sharon DePaul and Addison Quick did the questioning.
“Are they going to charge her?” I asked Eric.
“Technically,” he said, “they could get her for aiding and abetting. Accessory after the fact. But she’s been pretty consistent that she didn’t know A.C. would kill anybody. She claims she didn’t realize he had until well after she went home that morning. She found his bloody clothes stuffed in a garbage can.”
“How could she not know?” I asked.
“He was supposed to be in and out before anyone knew he was there,” Jeanie said. “And he was supposed to come after they’d both left. She has no idea why he showed up at four in the morning. Jenna’s reactions that morning when she got to the house were genuine. She actually thought Katy killed Tom and that she walked in on something.”
“A.C.’s not talking so far,” Eric said. “Not to the cops. But Jenna says he talked plenty to her after the fact. Once she realized what he’d done, he threatened to kill her too if she told anyone. So far, she’s been pretty convincing on that.”
“Do not tell me she gets away scot-free,” I said.
“She’ll plead out,” Jeanie said.
“He said Tom started to wake up,” Jenna said behind the glass.
“Jenna,” Sharon said. “You have to help me understand this. I don’t buy it that Katy Loomis slept through all of this.”
“She’s still at it,” I said. “Unbelievable.”
“I wasn’t there!” Jenna wailed. She had probably said that many times up until that point. “I only know what A.C. told me. He said he walked in and the jewelry box wasn’t where I said it would be. I don’t know how he could have missed it. But he went to Tom’s nightstand and started to open it. He must have made a noise or something. Tom opened his eyes. Aaron panicked. He said Tom started to sit up and made a lunge for him. Aaron reacted. He told me it happened so fast. He slit Tom’s throat. He told me he went on autopilot. Like he didn’t know what he was doing. He just reacted. He promised me Tom died quickly and didn’t feel any pain.”
“Oh, he felt pain,” Eric muttered. “He just lost blood so fast he couldn’t have been conscious for very long.”
