Page 91 of The Devil's Advocate

EDDIE

It was two-thirty in the morning and I was still awake, my mind racing, and Harry snored loudly in the bed beside me.

A lot of times I don’t sleep on the eve of a trial. I don’t sleep much anyway, but the thought of going into that courtroom in the morning with so little ammunition, a jury and a whole town stacked against Andy filled me with a dread that sat on my chest. I got up, dressed, and went down one floor to Patricia and Andy’s room. I listened outside the door and heard voices, so I knew they were awake before I knocked.

Patricia let me in, then resumed her seat on the side of the bed beside Andy. A single lamp burned in the corner.

Patricia put her arms around her son. In their trademark embrace, he rocked back and forward, patting her hand that seemed rooted to his shoulder.

I sat down in the chair opposite.

‘Nightmares?’ I asked.

Patricia spoke softly, ‘He’s afraid, and I keep telling him there’s nothing to be afraid of. He didn’t do it, and God will make them see that.’

I didn’t tell her that God doesn’t usually make an appearance in Alabama, and hardly ever in their criminal courts.

‘I’ve been thinking about the case. There’s so much we don’t know. Tell me more about Skylar,’ I said to Andy.

‘She was real nice to me. When I started working in the bar I didn’t really know what I was doing. I didn’t know how the ordering system worked, how to load the dishwasher, or work the register … she helped me. Ryan didn’t want to know me, not really. It was Skylar who taught me the job. She was always talking about what she was going to do when she finished college. Had her eye on a job in Seattle with a company that did research. No matter how she was feeling she always had a smile.’

‘Was she unhappy sometimes?’

‘Rarely. She used to fight with her boyfriend, Gary. I could always tell they were fighting because she typed on her phone with both thumbs when she was mad.’

‘What kind of phone did Skylar have? It wasn’t with her belongings when she was found.’

‘An iPhone, I think. It was pink with little gems on the back spelling her initials.’

‘Did they fight a lot?’

‘Just arguments. He wasn’t violent or nothing. Mostly they argued about politics. Gary was a big supporter of the president, you see.’

‘And Skylar wasn’t?’

‘You could say that. She saw him for what he was, and she got mad that Gary was taken in by it all. He didn’t like me. Gary, I mean. Sometimes I would walk Skylar a little, until her ride showed. If it was Gary picking her up, he would always give me the meanest looks.’

‘Does Gary wear a ring?’

He thought for a moment, said, ‘I don’t think so, no.’

‘Who do you think might have killed Skylar?’

‘Tell you the truth, I’m still in shock. I don’t know anyone who could’ve done that to her. She was the sweetest person, I just don’t get it.’

‘Andy, I know it’s scary. I will need you to be brave. At some stage you might have to tell the jury that you didn’t kill Skylar, and that you were forced to sign this confession.’

I opened the file to the page containing Andy’s confession.

‘They said everything would be alright if I signed it. If I didn’t, my mom would get hurt. And they’d hurt me even more. I was still groggy, I guess. Lomax was hitting me with the baton, cracked one over my head and I must’ve blacked out. When I woke up, they were hammering me for the confession and I … I just wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t want to sign it. I knew I shouldn’t, but I was scared.’

Andy spoke softly. His tone even and full of conviction. He had large eyes that bloomed in the half-light of the room. Those eyes were full of fear.

I wanted to tell Andy that everything was going to be alright. That Harry, Kate and I were going to win this case for him. That this nightmare would soon be over and he could go back to his books, go to college, meet a girl, study hard and make his mother proud, and have the rich and rewarding life he deserved.

But I couldn’t. There is always hope. But right then, eight hours before his trial began, there was no comfort I could give him. This wasn’t to do with the system, which was stacked against him anyway – it was the cops, and the DA, and the biased judge, and the biased jury. I can get past one or two of those problems.

But not them all.