Easy Innocence

Chapter 31

***

Friday morning Georgia went to the gym to work out. Afterwards she stopped for a cup of coffee at a gas station. A radio inside the mini-mart was tuned to the all-news station. She had just forked over a dollar to the guy behind the counter, congratulating herself that she wasn't springing for a three-dollar latte, when the female anchor came on in the tense, breathy voice that says they have important news. "This just in. State's Attorney Jeff Ramsey has announced he will recuse himself from the murder trial of Cameron Jordan. Jordan, if you remember, was indicted for killing teenager Sara Long in the Cook County Forest Preserve last month."

Georgia looked up, startled. The man behind the counter didn't notice.

"In a statement, Ramsey said the situation has turned out to be more complicated than first thought. Ramsey admitted that his teenage daughter was present in the Forest Preserve during the hazing incident that preceded the homicide. Monica Ramsey is a senior at Newfield High School.

"Ramsey turned over the prosecution of the case to his second in command and said his daughter will cooperate fully. He hastened to say she is not a suspect in the homicide, nor is she directly connected to the crime. He made the decision to recuse himself to avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest. Stay tuned for more developments in this breaking story."

The broadcast cut to a commercial about a car dealership in Arlington Heights. The man behind the counter absently handed over her change. He hadn't heard a word. Georgia pocketed the coins and took her coffee outside. She thought back to the bail reduction hearing. Ramsey had won. No contest. Then she flashed to his conversation with Kelly in the courtroom afterwards. Ramsey hadn't looked like a winner then. He'd looked worried.

Sliding the coffee into the cup holder in her car, she pulled out her cell and punched in Paul Kelly's number. The call went to voice mail. She left a message.

Kelly had berated Georgia about going after Monica Ramsey. So what if the girl was at the Forest Preserve, he said? You don't make a case out of innuendo and hearsay. They couldn't go after the State's Attorney's daughter. Evidently, something had changed.

By evening she still hadn't reached Kelly but at least now she knew why. He'd been giving interviews to the press all day. The story was all over the news, with dueling sound bites from both Ramsey and Kelly. First, Ramsey: "The most important thing to remember is that nothing that's happened has altered the facts of Sara Long's murder. We have the offender. We believe he did it, and that he acted alone. However, our office will make every effort to get all the facts."

Then, a quote from Kelly: "It was clear from the beginning that the State's Attorney's Office was attempting to rush Cam Jordan through the system without the proper investigation and care. Now we know why. I think the charges against my client should be dropped." Kelly turned his head so he was looking at the camera when he spoke, which gave the impression the he was talking directly to the people. Slick, Georgia thought.

Sandwiched between the sound bites were reporters, most of them broadcasting live from the Skokie Courthouse. However, one enterprising woman was staked out at Sara Long's Wilmette home. The Longs wouldn't comment on camera, but issued a statement that read, in part: "We hope today's developments will not deter the course of justice. There is not a minute of any day that we do not grieve the loss of our daughter and what she suffered. We want to see justice served, no matter where it leads."

Did they really? Georgia wondered. What if the pursuit of justice revealed that their daughter was a whore?

She switched to the public television station and found pundits shouting at each other in the rude discourse that passes for debate these days. Republicans clamoring for Ramsey's head suggested he pack his bags and go back to New York.

"Don't be absurd," countered a woman with long hair and a dour expression. "He'll ride this out. And rise above it. It was a gutsy thing to do."

"It was the responsible thing to do," someone else said.

"It was the only thing to do," said someone else.

A discussion about ethics followed, and a florid-faced man with white hair pronounced the real winners the people of Cook County. The system worked, and we were all the better for it, he proclaimed.

Georgia snapped off the TV and went into the kitchen. Rummaging through the fridge for something to eat, she settled on a grilled cheese sandwich. She threw bread and cheese into the frying pan. She didn't know who was right about Ramsey, but she did know one thing. It was easy to be gutsy when your back was up against the wall.