The Murder Rule(33)
Friday, August 19, 1994, 6:00 p.m.
I’m such a mess. I can’t pul it together. I’ve been working, kind of, going through the motions, but I can’t seem to remember much of the last few days so I don’t know what I actual y did in those hotel rooms. I think maybe Rosa fol owed me from room to room, cleaning up after me, doing what needed to be done. I feel broken. I knew him for exactly five weeks. That’s nothing. People wil say that I have no right to mourn him. Not like his real friends. Not even like his shitty family. I am the only person in the world who knows what we had.
I . . . oh God, I can’t write anymore.
Hannah
SEVEN
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2019
Camila and Hannah said nothing as they walked away down the path of the inn toward the car. Hannah had that crawling sensation of being watched, was conscious of Angie’s eyes on their backs until she heard the latch of the door close behind them. They climbed into the car, closed the doors.
“Jesus,” Camila said, with a burst of energy. “That was so risky. I nearly had a heart attack when you asked her if she had any reason to think that Dandridge went to the Fitzhugh house that night. I thought . . . you know, suggesting it even might lead her down a path we don’t want her to go down.”
“Better to know than wonder what she might say when there’s someone other than us in the room.”
“Maybe,” Camila said, frowning. “But you need to be careful. Like I said, witnesses can be suggestible. We’re here to help our client, not find more people who are wil ing to say he could have done it.”
“Right,” Hannah said. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” Camila’s sharp eyes were stil on her but after a moment she moved on.
“We got so much, though. Sean is going to lose his mind that he missed this. Parekh wil be thril ed. I mean, this is major corroboration for Dandridge’s alibi. And did you see her? She’s like the perfect PTA mom. Put her on the stand and the jury is going to love her.”
“I don’t know,” Hannah said. “I mean, she says she went home at ten. And that she went home angry, that she had argued with Neil Prosper. A prosecutor could do a lot with that. Al we can show is that Prosper and Dandridge were drinking and smoking weed together at ten P.M. There is nothing to stop either or both of them from leaving the house an hour or so later, going to the Fitzhugh home, and committing the murder.”
“Except that we know they didn’t,” Camila said.
“Sure,” Hannah said. “But you know, Camila, even if this stuff helped at trial it’s not going to help at the preliminary hearing. We’re the defense. The judge wouldn’t even let us cal her as a witness. I think Parekh’s looking for slam-dunk stuff.”
“We need to get to Neil Prosper,” Camila said. “Have you got the number? Let’s cal Sophia from here.”
“Right now?” Hannah asked.
“No point in hanging around.”
They dialed the number on Camila’s phone, put it on speaker. It went to voice mail and Camila tried again. This time the cal was answered by a harried-sounding woman.
“Hel o?”
“Am I speaking with Sophia? Sophia Prosper?” Camila said.
There was a pause. “My married name is Prosper-Reynolds.”
“My name is Camila Martinez. I’m a law student at the University of Virginia and I volunteer at the Innocence Project there.” There was silence at the other end of the phone. Camila locked eyes with Hannah, made a face, then continued. “I’m working on the Michael Dandridge case, and it would real y help if I could talk to your brother, Neil. I’m wondering if there’s any way you could put me in contact with him.”
“Why are you cal ing me now?” Sophia said.
Camila threw Hannah a pained look. It took her a second before she found the words. “Um . . . According to Michael’s file, his original defense attorney did try to track Neil down, but he couldn’t find him.
No one has ever managed to speak to Neil about that night, and you know, Michael says he was with Neil in his apartment when the murder happened. So for us to be able to talk to Neil, that’s absolutely key to his defense.”
“Dandridge has already been convicted, hasn’t he? What do you mean, his defense?”
Camila’s eyes locked with Hannah’s and she held up crossed fingers. “Michael’s conviction has been vacated, Sophia. That means that the federal court thought that there was so much wrong with the original trial, that the prosecution broke so many rules, that the court decided that the conviction couldn’t stand. But the original prosecutor and sheriff are stil in their positions, and they’ve decided to try to prosecute him again. Right now, we’re getting ready to defend him for a second time.”
“Look, I don’t want to speak to you about Neil, or Dandridge, or anything else. This has nothing to do with my family and I don’t want to get dragged into it, okay?”
“I understand,” Camila said hurriedly. “We don’t want to involve you in anything. We just want to talk to Neil. Even ten minutes of his time would make such a difference.”
“And then what?” Sophia said. “You take whatever he tel s you and you use it and you draw trouble on al of us. Sorry, I can’t help you.” And she hung up.