A Stranger on the Beach(97)

“Where does that leave my brother?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe if Mays believes you’re innocent, he’ll believe what you said about Tommy, too.” She raised an eyebrow. “Even if it’s not true.”

“Say I do what you’re telling me and claim I’m innocent. Is Mays gonna believe that?”

“In all honesty, I don’t know.”

“Did you show him the report that proves there was Ambien in my blood?”

“I did. He asked me, where’s the proof you didn’t take the Ambien yourself? And he’s right. We can’t prove that. It’s only your word that she spiked your drink. As for her staging the crime scene, Caroline’s phony hand injury and all, Mays thinks that if it was staged, you were involved. Mays is planning to ask you about it.”

“What about Brittany’s testimony? Doesn’t she prove that Caroline set me up?”

“I told Mays about her, but he didn’t bite. He thinks it’s irrelevant when you met Caroline, whether she came after you instead of you going after her. In his mind, the only thing that matters is both of your prints on the murder weapon. That makes you coconspirators, and that’s what he wants you to admit.”

“You’re saying he’s already made up his mind that I’m guilty,” Aidan said. “So, your plan won’t work anyway.”

“Maybe it won’t. But the point of this meeting is to try to change his mind. Tell your story, Aidan. I believed you, and I’m as cynical as they come. Hopefully, Mays will believe you, too.”



* * *



Aidan sat at the conference table with Lisa beside him, and the cops and the prosecutor across from him. Vernon Mays was dead center, stone-faced as he prepared to question Aidan about the murder. Lieutenant Messina was on Mays’s right. She seemed kind and open-minded, but so young that she reminded him of the girl who babysat his niece and nephew. He doubted she would have much sway in deciding his fate. Mike Castro sat to Mays’s left. Mike’s expression didn’t give anything away, but Aidan knew that Mike wanted Aidan to fry. He always had.

Mays handed Aidan an agreement guaranteeing that what he said today wouldn’t be used against him in court, except to cross-examine him if he testified. Lisa explained it like this: If Aidan said he was guilty today, he couldn’t change his story at trial. Whatever he said today would lock him in, one way or the other. It felt so final.

Aidan knew what he had to do. His hands shook as he signed the paper.

“Mr. Callahan,” Vernon Mays said. “We’re here today because the prosecution is interested in securing your cooperation against Caroline Stark. In order to do that, I need to hear your version of events. What you would testify to if called as a witness. This is a form of truth-testing. You need to answer my questions honestly. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Very good. Now, let’s start with your relationship with Caroline Stark. From what I understand, that relationship was romantic in nature, is that correct?”

Aidan felt sweaty and tongue-tied, like he used to feel in high school when he got called on. Like everybody was going to laugh. But he had to go through with this.

“Yes, sir,” he said, in a low voice.

“Speak up, please.”

“I said yes.”

“At some point, did Mrs. Stark tell you that she wanted to kill her husband, and that she needed your help?”

“She did.”

“Did you agree to help her?”

All eyes were on him. His heart beat loudly.

“No, I did not agree. I refused.”

Mays frowned. “Mr. Callahan,” Mays said, “as the prosecutor, I have a duty to uphold the law and abide by ethical standards. When I put forth a witness at trial, I need to know that he is being truthful. Your lawyer has come to us with a story of you being drugged by Mrs. Stark prior to the murder. She claims that you’re innocent, that Mrs. Stark murdered her husband and framed you. I find this story far-fetched to say the least. Our view of the case is that the two of you were lovers, and you conspired to murder Jason Stark, in order to take whatever money was left in the couple’s bank accounts and collect on a five-million-dollar insurance policy taken out by Mrs. Stark on her husband’s life. I need to hear the truth from you today if we’re going to reach a satisfactory plea agreement.”

The truth. Right. No matter what Aidan said, Vernon Mays would never believe he was innocent. Lisa was wrong. There was no point in going through this charade. Aidan should use whatever limited leverage he had to save his brother.

“You say, a satisfactory plea agreement. But what might satisfy you is different from what would satisfy me,” Aidan said.

“If you want to know the sentence in advance, I can’t make any promises,” Mays said. “What I can do is tell you that, in similar cases, where truthful and effective testimony was rendered, defendants got somewhere between eight and ten years. That’s a ballpark. It may sound like a lot. But compare it to the twenty-five-to-life you’re facing now, and it’s pretty sweet.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

Mays spread out his hands. “Okay. I’m listening.”

“I heard my brother Thomas Callahan, who’s the chief of police in—”