I 've Heard That Song Before

51

The fact that I was expecting a baby both thrilled and saddened Peter: “It’s wonderful, Kay, but you must get plenty of rest. This terrible stress you’re under could hurt both you and the baby. Oh, God, why did all this happen? Why can’t I be home with you, taking care of you?”

He also had decided that the defense he had chosen would help explain him to our child: “Kay, when our child is growing up, I want him or her to understand that the crimes I probably committed happened when I had absolutely no control of myself.”

He pressed the lawyers to make a motion to the court to have him tested at a sleep disorder center. He wanted to have it on record that he was, indeed, prone to sleepwalking, and that, while he was in that state, was unaware of his actions.

The issue became a battle between him and his legal staff. “To have it out in open court that sleepwalking is or may be your defense is the same as saying, ‘Not guilty by reason of insanity,’ ” Conner Banks told Peter. “It’s skywriting so everyone can see it. ‘Guilty. I did it, but I can explain it.’ ”

“Make the motion,” Peter told him.

It meant another day in court before Judge Smith. I pressed my hand against my abdomen, seeking comfort in that tiny being growing inside me, as I saw my child’s father led into court once again, manacled and shackled, wearing his orange jail jumpsuit.

It was Conner Banks who made the argument. “Your Honor,” he addressed the court, “I know these are extraordinary circumstances, and I am not denying that Mr. Carrington left his premises, which, on the surface, is a violation of the conditions of his bail.”

Vincent Slater was sitting with me; I knew he did not approve of having the lawyers make this motion.

“However, Your Honor,” Banks continued, “I believe that even the police reports explicitly detailed Peter Carrington’s dazed condition at the time of his arrest. Subsequent tests have shown that there was no evidence of either alcohol or drugs in his system. It is imperative to our defense to have Mr. Carrington properly evaluated at a sleep disorder clinic at Pascack Valley Hospital. That would require an overnight stay in which his sleep patterns would be monitored.”

“Imperative to our defense,” Vincent whispered to me. “Those are the words that the media is going to leap on.”

“We implore Your Honor to allow this test. We would be willing to post twenty-five million dollars in bail if this test is allowed. We recognize that it is not the Sheriff’s responsibility to escort the defendant while he investigates possible defenses in his case, and so we would compensate the state for the salaries of the sheriff’s officers assigned to guard him. We are also willing to retain a private security firm which will hire several retired police officers who will restrain Mr. Carrington if there should be any attempts to escape, which I assure you there will not be.

“Your Honor, one in two hundred people is a sleepwalker. The potential danger of a sleepwalker to himself and to others has not been recognized or understood by the general population. I doubt that many in this courtroom realize that sleepwalkers are not allowed to serve in the armed forces of the United States. The fear is that they may be a risk both to themselves and to others because they may have access to weapons or vehicles and are unaware of what they are doing when they move about while asleep.”

Conner Banks’s voice became stronger and firmer as he punched those last words home. Then, when he spoke again after a brief pause, his voice was quieter. “Allow Peter Carrington to establish once and for all that his brain waves indicate that he is the victim of sleepwalking disturbance. Give him this chance.”

Judge Smith’s face was impassive. I didn’t know what to expect. But I knew what Peter was feeling, and it was satisfaction. He was getting his message out. He was beginning to try his own case in the media.

Banks and Markinson were worried; I could see it. During the recess following the request, they came over to talk to me. “The judge is not going to grant this request, and we’ve tipped our hand. There isn’t a person in this room who doesn’t think that this is just an insanity defense with a new twist.”

The judge returned. He began by saying that in nearly twenty years as a criminal judge, he’d never had an application that included these kinds of circumstances. He said that while the state was concerned about the risk of flight, the prosecutor did not dispute the police report that indicated Mr. Carrington was in a dazed condition when apprehended on the Althorp lawn. He said that on the condition that a member of the defense counsel would always be present, and private security ready to restrain Peter if he attempted to leave, a twenty-four-hour stay at a sleep disorder center was approved.

Peter considered the judge’s ruling a victory. His lawyers did not. I knew that even if the medical cause for his sleepwalking was confirmed by experts, it would not make a difference in the verdict at trial. So in that sense, it was a no-win.

After court recessed, I wanted to talk to Banks and Markinson, and asked them to meet me back at the house. Once again I received permission to visit Peter in the holding cell before leaving.

“I know you consider this a Pyrrhic victory, Kay,” he said.

“There’s only one victory, Peter,” I told him fiercely. “We want you home with us. And it’s going to happen.”

“Oh, love, you look like Joan of Arc. Everything but the sword.” For just a moment Peter’s smile was genuine, a reminder of the look I saw when we were on our honeymoon.

I wanted so much to tell him that I was digging into every aspect of the evidence surrounding the deaths of Susan and my father, and that I was beginning with the premise that perhaps it had been Susan I overheard in the chapel that day. But I knew that to put those thoughts into words would have a negative effect-he’d only start worrying about me.

Instead, I told him that I was spending time going through the third floor of the mansion. “Peter, those rooms are a refined version of Maggie’s attic,” I said. “Who was the art collector?”

“My grandmother, I think, although my great-grandmother was responsible for some of it, too. Anything that’s any good is on the walls downstairs. My father had everything appraised way back.”

“Who collected the china? There’s a ton of it up there.”

“My great-grandmother collected most of it.”

“There’s a set of Limoges that’s really gorgeous. It’s still in the crate. I unpacked a few pieces. I absolutely love the pattern. That’s the china I want to use at our dinner parties.”

The guard was standing in the doorway. “Mrs. Carrington.”

“I know.” I looked at Peter. “Of course, if you don’t like that pattern, we’ll look at the others. Plenty to choose from.”

I could see the expression of sympathy in the guard’s eyes as I passed him. He might as well have been shouting, “Lady, he’s no more going to eat off that china than I am.” I wish he had said it aloud. I would have told him that when Peter comes home, I’ll invite him for dinner.

Conner Banks and Walter Markinson were already at the mansion when Vincent dropped me off. There was a meeting later that day of the board of directors of Carrington Enterprises, and he was sitting in as Peter’s representative. Peter now referred to Vincent Slater as “my eyes and ears.” He had no voting power, of course, but he did keep Peter apprised of everything that was going on in the multifaceted corporation.

As usual, Jane Barr had brought the lawyers to the dining room, where I joined them. I decided to share with them my growing belief that it was possible that Susan Althorp had been the woman I overheard in the chapel twenty-two years ago.

They had not known about my escapade as a six-year-old, but when they did, their response stunned me. They looked horrified. “Kay, do you know what you are saying?” Banks asked.

“I am saying that it may have been Susan in the chapel that day, and that she may have been blackmailing someone.”

“Maybe she was blackmailing your husband,” Markinson snapped. “Have you any idea what the prosecutor could do with that information?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, genuinely baffled.

“What we’re talking about,” Conner Banks said gravely, “is that, if your supposition is true, you have just provided a motive for Peter to kill Susan.”

“Did you ever tell Peter about being in the chapel and overhearing that conversation?” Markinson asked.

“Yes, I did. Why?”

“When did you tell him, Kay?” Banks demanded.

I was beginning to feel as if I were being cross-examined by two hostile prosecutors. “I told him the night of the literacy benefit reception in this house. My grandmother fell. Peter went with me to the hospital and waited until she was all right, then brought me home. He came in for a while and we talked.”

“That reception was held on December sixth, as I recall,” Markinson said, flicking through his notes.

“That’s right.” I was beginning to feel defensive.

“And you and Peter Carrington were married on January eighth, less than five weeks later?”

“Yes.” I realized I was becoming both frustrated and angry. “Will you please tell me what you’re driving at?” I demanded.

“What we’re driving at, Kay,” Conner Banks said-and now his tone was both serious and regretful-“is that we’ve all wondered about your whirlwind romance. Now you’ve just given the reason for it. If that was Susan Althorp in the chapel that day, and she was blackmailing Peter, the minute you told him you had overheard the quarrel, you became a threat.

“He couldn’t take the chance that you might talk about that encounter to someone else who would put two and two together. Remember, that reception was right after Celeb magazine did that big story on him. By rushing you into marriage, he made you unavailable as a witness in case he was ever brought to trial. He could invoke the marital privilege in court, and besides that, he probably worked to make you fall in love with him so that emotionally you’d never give him up.”

As I listened, I become so enraged that if I had had something to throw at both of them, I would have done it. Instead I shouted at them. “Get out! Get out and don’t come back. I’d rather have the prosecutor defending my husband than either one of you. You don’t believe that even if he did kill Susan and my father, he did it while he was unaware of what he was doing. Now you’re saying that his marrying me was pure calculation, just a way to shut me up. Go to hell, both of you!”

They got up to leave. “Kay,” Banks said quietly, “if you go to a doctor, and he finds a cancer, but tells you that you’re doing just fine, he’sa liar. The only way we can defend Peter is to know every possible factor that could influence a jury. You’ve just delivered a blockbuster that fortunately we are not obliged to share with the prosecutor because it’s something that we uncovered. We only have to tell the prosecutor if we plan to use it as defense evidence at the trial. Obviously, we won’t do that. But for the love of God, please don’t tell anyone else what you’ve just told us.”

The fight went out of me. “I already have,” I said. “The night Peter came home after he was arraigned.”

“You told someone you thought that it might have been Susan in the chapel? Who heard you say that?”

“Elaine and Richard and Vincent Slater were here. I didn’t say I thought it might have been Susan. In fact, I told them I didn’t know who it was. Elaine even joked that it might have been her and Peter’s father because they had been fighting all day about the money she was spending on the party.”

“That’s a relief. But never mention your visit to the chapel again to anyone. If one of them brings it up, stress the fact that you have no idea who was there because in truth you don’t know.”

I saw the two lawyers exchange glances. “We’ll have to talk to Peter about this,” Banks said. “I’d like to persuade him to cancel that sleep center business. His only prayer of ever getting home is ‘reasonable doubt.’ ”

I had confided to the lawyers that I was expecting a baby. As they left, Markinson said “Maybe now that he knows he’s going to become a father, he’ll let us take control of his defense and have a shot at getting him acquitted.”