Beyond A Reasonable Doubt (2012 Watty Winner)

Cold Hard Evidence

"Did you want me to go with you to the courthouse?" Jackson asks as I gather up some papers and the jury questionnaires off my desk.

"No. I got it." I shake my head and tell him. "I need you to talk to your guy about the bullet and see where we are with that, maybe even go over to the Dennison place to help with that." I suggests and he nods.

"Anything else I can do for you master?" He asks jokingly.

"Now that you mention it, you can call and set up an interview with that cop who was the first on the scene, I want to ask her some questions." He nods again and I leave and head to the courthouse.

–

"You nearly used up all your peremptory challenges today." Scott says to me as we walk out of the courtroom.

"I also eliminated nine of your best choices for juror's." I reply with a smile.

He shrugs, "We're seeing the last fifteen people tomorrow. I'm sure I will find some good ones." He adds and laughs a bit.

"You're really confident as of late, Scott." I point out and a sharp laugh rips from his throat.

"You would be too if you were me, Davies." He says then walks away confidently, without another word.

And really, he has every reason to.

My phone rings and I see it's Jackson calling.

"Tell me you got something good." I say to him as I walk out of the courthouse. I've been here for about five hours, interviewing and eliminating potential jurors, so I really need some good news right now.

"How fast can you get over here?"

–

"We were looking in the wrong place." Jackson tells me as I get out of my car and walk up to the front door.

"What?" I ask.

"For the bullet." He tells me and I nod in realization. "We were looking in the Dennison's house, but it wasn't there, it's never been there." He says and smiles a bit. I don't know why he feels the need to drag this out. Why not just tell me already?

"Did you find it?" I ask and he smirks before reaching into his pocket and pulling out an evidence bag with a small silver bullet in it.

"That's silver." I point out unnecessarily.

He smiles wider, "I know."

"The bullets recovered from the victim's body were gold." I say, again unnecessarily. Jackson knew this case inside and out by now.

"Mhm." He nods.

"Where'd you-"

"Lodged in a neighbors tree." He says, this time with obvious excitement. "Can you believe that? It went through his hand, grazed his neck, through the living room wall, through a fence and into tree... sounds like something out of a cartoon if you ask me." He says as a tall dark-complexioned man emerges from the Dennison residence. "Ashley this is Cory Billings, Cory this is Ashley Davies." He introduces us and we shake hands.

"I need the bullet." He tells Jackson in what had to be the deepest voice I have ever heard. I flinched a little and Jackson gave me a puzzled look before handing the bag over to the tall scary man. It helped that Jackson's cop friend also happened to be the lead detective on this case and although his duty is to helping the state prove their case, he's doing Jack a solid and giving us all the information first.

"Is it possible to have the ballistics on that as soon as possible?" I ask him and he gives me a smile, showing his unnaturally white teeth.

"I'll put a rush on it with the lab." He tells me and I nod.

"You're welcome." Jackson says to me as we walk towards our cars.

"Thanks." I smile at him and get into my car.

"So does that mean you'll-"

"No." I cut him off abruptly and shake my head. "Seriously, Jack... never gonna happen." I smile and start my car.

"You keep telling yourself that, Davies, and maybe one day it'll be true." Jackson says to me. I smile and shake my head at my friend as I put my car in drive and pull away.

–

After leaving Jack, I got a call from Kyla asking to meet up with me.

"So what did you need to discuss with me?" I ask Kyla as we both take a seat across from each other. We met up at this little coffee house about ten minutes from my office. I informed her that I only had a few minutes to spare and she told me that was enough time to say what she needed to say.

"It's about the case." She tells me and I shake my head.

"Kyla, you know I can't-"
"I know." She cuts me off and nods.

"Then..." I trail off.

"I need to tell you something they may help." She says and I sit back in my chair and examine her.

"What is it?" I ask after a moment.

"Aiden was cheating on, Spencer." She nods for emphasis and my breath hitches. Is she telling me that he was cheating with her? Spencer's best friend since birth. Twenty-five-years of friendship and this is how she repays her. "Oh, God no. Not with me." She shakes her head, reading my thoughts. I let out a breath I wasn't even aware I was holding and she smiles.

"You care about her." She says narrowing her eyes, scrutinizing my face for a moment. I clear my throat and sit up.

"How do you know for sure that he was cheating then?" I ask and she looks as though she's recalling a moment in her head.

"Once, about a month ago Spencer and I were cooking dinner at her house and I needed to go to the bathroom, when I was making my way up to the bathroom I overheard Aiden in the bedroom on the phone with someone."

"Do you remember what time this was?" I cut her off briefly, recalling the number that was dialed everyday, twice a day for over eight months and not once before then at 12:30pm and 8:30pm.

"It was around eight thirty maybe." She says a little unsure.

"Think hard Kyla, I need to know the exact time." I tell her and she racks her brain for an answer.

"It was eight thirty, I'm sure of it because we'd just finished watching an episode of The Office." She says in a more confident tone. I can't help the smile that appears on my face. So the number that has now magically been disconnected, belonged to a mistress.

"How do you know that he was cheating though?" I ask and I can tell she's replaying the moment in her head to give me accurate details.

"Well, he was speaking in a hushed voice and he sounded like angry or something. He kept repeating over and over that he was gonna tell her, that he needed more time."

"Tell who?" I ask.

She shrugs, "He never said any names." She tells me and I sigh.

"I need more than that Kyla." I tell her and she smiles.

"Oh, did I forget to mention he kept calling this person on the phone baby?" She says and I smile along with her.

"Yeah, you might have left that little detail out." I say in a playful tone.

"Silly me." She matches my tone.

"Thanks Kyla, you have no idea how much you've helped me out here." I tell her honestly and she nods.

"Anything I can do to help Spencer, I'm willing to do it." She tells me as we stand up from our seats.

"Okay, I'll be in touch if I need anything else." I let her know, she hugs me before leaving.

Looks like this case is getting back on track.