Silent Night Stakeout

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“You have to admit, they had plenty of reason to charge him,” Waters said finally, dragging her attention back to the subject at hand.

“Possibly,” she said, unwilling to concede even that much. “They certainly didn’t have enough for a conviction.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Look at the facts. The first officers responded to a silent alarm at the home of Cole and Tracy Madison. When they arrived, they spotted your client fleeing the scene. He didn’t live in the neighborhood and couldn’t explain his presence, and his fingerprints were later found on the back door window the burglars broke to get in. I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen people convicted on less.”

“That doesn’t mean it was enough to convict in this case. Clearly, the ASA agreed, since she decided to drop the charges.”

“Just because the State’s Attorney’s office decided the case wasn’t a sure enough thing to make it worth their time to pursue doesn’t mean they couldn’t have gotten a conviction.”

“I doubt it, not with all the unexplained questions. There were plenty of grounds for reasonable doubt. For starters, the Madisons reported several items stolen in the burglary, mostly jewelry belonging to Mrs. Madison. Jeremy wasn’t found in possession of any of those items.”

“It was considered likely that the burglary was committed by more than one person. His accomplice could have gotten away with those pieces.”

“Except there’s no proof there was more than one burglar. Then there’s the matter of the fingerprints. Anyone over the age of ten knows about fingerprints, and any would-be criminal would do everything they could to keep from leaving any. Jeremy didn’t even have gloves in his pockets when he was arrested, and there were none discarded nearby. Jeremy wasn’t stupid, nor was he intoxicated or in any way impaired when they found him. Yet we’re supposed to believe he tried to commit a burglary and was foolish enough to leave his fingerprints on the broken window? It doesn’t make sense.”

“People aren’t always smart, especially criminals. They make mistakes. Why else would his fingerprints be there?”

“Maybe he was passing through the alley behind the house, saw the broken window and decided to investigate. He could have touched the glass by accident.”

He exhaled sharply. “You really think that story makes more sense than the official theory?”

“I’m just saying it’s another possible theory. You can’t prove it’s not true any more than you can prove yours is. That’s what reasonable doubt is all about.”

“Be honest with me. After everything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours, you really still think he was innocent?”

“I think it’s not safe to assume he wasn’t. We don’t know that the murder was connected to his arrest.”

“Really? Because as far as we know, Jeremy Decker’s arrest and his murder have one thing in common: you. You represented him, you found him outside your building, and you found his tongue on your front porch. It seems pretty clear somebody doesn’t want you talking about something they thought he told you. What else would someone think he told you about but the burglary?”

“I don’t know,” Regina said. “Believe me, I wish I did.”

“I would guess that there was an accomplice, the person who got away with Mrs. Madison’s jewelry. Most likely that person wanted to silence Decker to keep him from revealing his or her involvement.”