Guilty Party
By Peg Keeley
Part 4
Jones
prowled the room again for a minute. "So, Mr. Williams, you did discuss
potty training with Ms. King?"
"It was mentioned."
"You are an officer
of the law, a detective, and the defendant mentioned potty training
to you. Why?"
"She was afraid her
son would be uncomfortable."
Jones gave a slight
smile, noting Danny had parleyed his stab well. "Mr. Williams, why would
she seek child rearing support from you?"
He lifted his eyebrows
and shrugged. "Ask the defendant."
"To your knowledge,
do you and the defendant have anything in common?"
He gave a blank look.
"In common like what?
Jones was growing irritated.
"In common like children, Mr. Williams, sons to be exact. Do you have
a son?"
He flexed his jaw muscles.
"Yes I do."
"How old is he?"
"Two."
Jones turned towards
the jury. "I'm afraid the jury may not have heard your response. Would
you repeat that for the court, please?"
"He's two years old,"
Danny answered angrily.
"Your son is exactly
one week younger than Cam King, is he not?"
"Yes," he said through
tight lips.
"And you told the defendant
this?"
"She asked." He manipulated
the question.
Jones nodded. "What
led her to ask?"
"I don't know."
"Oh, come on now!" Jones
stormed to his brief case and pulled out the photo Danny instantly recognized
from his office desk. "If it please the court, this is the photo Officer
Williams keeps on his desk as confirmed by this signed affidavit by
Virginia Harris, the Five-0 secretary. It was this photo Amanda King
saw on the morning of her son's disappearance that led her to believe
Officer Williams might actually understand her situation. This and his
comrade-like behavior made her trust him." He waved the photo around
before he'd allow the bailiff to admit it as evidence.
Danny stole a look towards
Manicote and Steve and it was disturbing to see they were both surprised.
Jones let the murmuring
die down a moment. "Officer Williams, on the day you spoke so candidly
with Ms. King about child care, you remained in the back of that car
with her nearly thirty minutes. Were you not trying to convince her
that you were her friend, her confidant?"
"I felt sorry for her.
She was hurting. I wanted to comfort her. Nothing more."
Jones looked away with
a look of scorn. "So, after you comforted her, got her to trust you,
you tricked her into a lie detector test and arrested her for murder."
"Objection, defense
is drawing a conclusion," John pointed out.
"Sustained," the judge
commented. "Mr. Jones, you are on thin ice."
Jones stopped his questioning
a moment, walked the length of the jury box in silence, then back. When
he was again across from the witness stand he said, "You felt sorry
for her. Are you sure?"
Jones pursed his lips.
"As a professional," he again lingered over the word as he had earlier,
"you are familiar with the defense mechanism of projection?"
John squirmed in his
chair.
"Yes," Danny replied
with apprehension.
"Would you be so kind
as if provide the court with an explanation of the term."
Danny took a slow breath.
"It is possible for a person to project feelings he or she is having
regarding a person or situation onto another unrelated party and attribute
those feelings to the third party."
"Thank you," Jones said
cordially. "Hypothetically, now. If an examiner had such projected feelings,
would it not color his or her interpretation of events?" He glanced
at Manicote and repeated, "hypothetically."
Danny glanced at John
who just jammed the pen into a pad of paper.
"Your question is pretty
vague," Danny replied. "Hypothetically, almost anything is possible,
but may not be probable."
"Let me redefine the
question," Jones leaned towards Danny across the railing. "Would it
be possible for an examiner who experienced a severe tragedy in his
own life to subconsciously react in hostility to a situation with similar
undertones? That prejudice would color his interpretation of events
in that similar situation, would it not?"
"Are you discussing
a possibility or a likelihood?" Danny tried to turn the question back,
knowing where it was leading. I knew this would happen, John warned
me about it. I'm supposed to be prepared. I guess now I find out.
He consciously maintained an expression devoid of emotion.
"Is it possible?" Jones
demanded more loudly.
"Yes," Danny replied
simply.
"You were involved in
a situation not unlike this one almost a year ago. Except in that event,
it was Malama Kanea, the mother of your son, who became involved with
Communist spies, ended up getting herself killed and very nearly your
son, too! Aren't you venting the feelings of anger you felt towards
her neglect onto Amanda King who is really nothing more than a victim
and not the child killer you would have her be?"
"Objection!" John shrieked
so loud his voice cracked. "The witness is not on trial here!"
"Your honor, my client's
entire case of guilt or innocence rests plainly on the shoulders of
how this man interpreted the events of that fateful day! Not only did
he interview my client, but it was he himself who pulled the dead child
from the water. He even spent part of the evening in a car comparing
child rearing tips with my client to entrap her!"
The judge was rapping
loudly with the gavel to bring order as the two lawyers hung over the
railing towards his bench. When silence reigned at last, he slowly cleared
his throat. "Mr. Jones, this is not a Perry Mason episode. They may
carry on these theatrics in Los Angeles, but not in Honolulu."
"Your Honor," Jones
said in a quiet, respectful way. "My client is being tried by circumstantial
evidence. To defend her best interests, I must establish the true creditably
of her accuser. The State has established Williams as a professional.
There is a question about personal interests clouding that professionalism
that is imperative to my client's defense."
Haroldson sat for a
moment considering his choices before speaking. "I'm going to allow
you to continue, Mr. Jones. But no theatrics. If in my opinion your
line of questioning is out of place, I'm going to cut you off. Got that?"
"Yes, Your Honor," he
replied politely, with a gloat towards John who headed back to the state's
table.
"John?" Steve whispered
to him.
He shook his head.
Jones crossed back to
the witness stand, pleased and feeling like he was in control. He hoped
to intimidate Williams, but one look at the officer told him that would
not be as easy as he'd hoped. He reminded himself of those psych credentials
and realized this might be a bit tougher than he'd thought. "Mr. Williams,
you defined projection for the court a few minutes ago. In light of
your own recent past, is it not possible you might have, even for a
moment, considered the similarities?"
Danny tried to appear
at ease, but knew he was sweating. "Any parent is sympathetic with another
in distress."
Jones snatched up a
collection of newspaper clippings from the defense table. "It is a matter
of public record that Malama Kanea became pregnant with your son and
lied to you saying she had aborted him. Did you feel sorry for her or
were you filled with anger at her deceit? She endangered your son; he
nearly met the same fate as Cam King. Did you feel sorry for Malama
Kanea --or were you inwardly glad she'd gotten what she deserved when
it was she who died!"
"Objection!" John shouted.
This time Danny did
not wait for the judge or Manicote. "No one should have their life cut
off. Mali's loss was tragic. No way could I have felt glad for her death."
"I put it to the court
that you were not glad for Kanea's death because you felt she got off
too lightly. But Amanda King is here!" He pointed at her, sitting pale
and wide-eyed at the proceedings. "She is here, Mr. Williams, waiting
for you and the state to take your vengeance."
"Objection! Your Honor!"
John shouted.
"Sustained!" Judge Haroldson
agreed pounding his gavel. "Mr. Jones, these tactics will end now or
you will be fined for contempt of court."
Tension was so thick,
it was like electricity. Everyone in the room sat bolt right up, waiting
for Jones' next move. He glanced at his notes. He seemed to relax, the
hostility melting away. And as it did, the courtroom seemed to calm
down with him. He knew he had them on his every move. He suddenly broke
into a friendly smile. "Mr. Williams, under oath, can you swear to this
jury that the events last year in your own life did not effect the interpretation
of this case at all?"
"The state's case against
Ms. King was not developed by my emotional ties to the death of Miss
Kanae, my son, or anything else. The evidence was collected by investiga-"
"You, Mr. Williams,
you," Jones interrupted. "You questioned this mother more than once
and under less than perfect circumstances. You found the dead child.
You ordered the polygraph tests, and it is your name that appears on
the arrest report. Your name, not some other investigator. You cannot
wash your hands of the responsibility."
"The evidence still
speaks for itself."
"Does it? Does it, Mr.
Williams? Or can evidence speak differently to each of us?"
"Objection," John commented,
"this is not a philosophy class."
"Mr. Jones?" the judge
looked at him expectantly.
"Noted, Your Honor."
Jones gave a smile. "I have no further questions for this witness."
"Mr. Williams, you may
step down." Haroldson glanced at his watch. "Court will recess for lunch
and reconvene at 2:00 PM." He rose and so did the court.
Danny grouped with Steve
and Manicote and heaved a deep breath. "I thought he'd do more than
that."
"Yeah, so did I," John
commented, slightly puzzled.
Carrie Donagan pushed
forward with her recorder on. "Mr. Williams, is it true that Child Protective
Services has served you with a citation for child endangerment and emotional
abuse?"
"That's emotional trauma,"
he corrected.
She glared at him. "--For
the third time?"
McGarrett stepped in.
"There are no charges and even if there were, that is not related to
this case or of service to the public."
"But CPS was--" she
started
Yes, Counselor Fitch
was by our offices because the media is harassing Child's Play Day Care
and frightening the children and their parents. Why don't you put that
on the news?" Steve fired back. He grabbed hold of both Danny and John
and started moving them towards the door.
"Hey, Williams!" Carrie
called after them, "I'm just trying to give you equal time. Sarah Lulia
was interviewed by KOHU for the six o'clock news tonight."
He turned back in shock.
"What?"
"Want to see the tape?"
She cracked a grin.
-----------------------------------------------
Any thoughts of lunch
and appetite had long been forgotten. Danny stared at the now silent
snowy television screen in John Manicote's office. Steve stood, also
silent staring out of the window down into the sunny parking lot.
"I want your rebuttal,
Williams," Carrie commented, sounding genuine.
"What the hell do I
say?" Danny murmured. "How do I answer her?"
"If I was your lawyer
I'd tell you to say nothing," John remarked.
McGarrett turned towards
Donagan. "Why all this circus, Donagan, and why now? Why in the middle
of a trial?"
"This trial and the
people involved in it are hot, McGarrett. The Kings are news, Danny
is news, and anything associated with them including Sarah Lulia and
Lonnie Williams are news, too. If I don't bring in the news, I don't
have a job for very long. This is what the people want to see."
"That doesn't mean they
have a right to it. This trial is serious business about a horrible
death for an innocent child and we are dealing with the life a his mother.
Her life!" Steve chided. "It isn't some game for ratings polls."
"Maybe that's true,
but it doesn't change the way it is," Carrie replied. "Lulia came to
us offering information and a statement that she could back up. Now
it's Danny turn to refute it."
"I can't. She's right.
Yes, I have a psychiatric past. Yes, I am a recovering alcoholic. But
that doesn't make me a bad parent," Danny answered.
"Let me bring out a
camera guy and shoot you playing with your son and you say what you
just told me?" Carrie suggested.
"No way. Let her say
what she wants. I'm not playing this game," Danny decided.
-----------------------------------------------
Court let out by 4:00
with John's hope that there would be just one more day before it went
to the jury.
"Can't come soon enough,"
Steve remarked as he and Danny headed down the back hallway to the underground
garage where the cars were housed. McGarrett hesitated at the newspaper
box as the headline caught his eye. Force feeding the slot a quarter,
he yanked out the paper and held it up. "Didn't take long, did it?"
The headline read "King Kid Killing Kop Charged with Child Abuse."
Danny sighed. "A little
exaggerated, don't you think?" Why can't they just leave us all alone
and let justice have its way? Why all this soap opera frenzy? Isn't
it tragic enough for them?
"This paper is Donagan's
competition," Steve commented. "She must have aired that video of Sarah
as soon as she left John's office at lunch time."
Danny shook head. "Am
I compromising the department? The case? Maybe I just need to be doing
something else."
"This isn't your fault,"
Steve assured him, "you know that. It will all blow over. In a week
they'll be chewing on something else. We've all been target of the media
at one time for another."
"But this is different,"
Danny said hotly. "This time I have a child to consider. It isn't just
me. It's Lonnie. It's Sarah Lulia in the shadows just waiting for one
wrong step. And you know what? Someday I'll make it. And what then?"
He raised his hands in a helpless gesture. "I can't do this. I just
can't do it anymore, Steve." He started to walk away.
"Danno," Steve called
gently, "don't make any big decisions till after this trial is over.
I assure you, it will be all right."
He did not respond.
"Danno, just promise
me you'll wait a week."
He glanced back. "Okay,
Steve. One week." He got into his car.
Steve watched him pull
out of the space and leave. As the echo of the car died away in the
garage, Steve opened the door of the Lincoln and picked up his radio.
"Central, this is McGarrett. I'll like you to locate a phone number
and connect me to a Sarah Lulia."
-----------------------------------------------
Danny pulled out of
the parking garage and waited through the traffic to make his left turn
onto King Street. This thing is out of control. Maybe Steve's right,
maybe in a week this will all be yesterday's news. He grinned inwardly
at his pun. But what about next time? Am I just kidding myself? Can
I really keep on working for Five-0 when I need to consider the effect
on Lonnie? His thoughts were interrupted as he noticed the dark
green car slide in behind him. He turned left onto Punahou Street and
the green car turned as well. Hundreds of car turn onto this street,
it's a main artery through Honolulu, he told himself. I don't
have time to get paranoid. One eye on the rear view mirror, he increased
speed just slightly, and moved into the left lane to pass the truck
ahead of him. The green car did not change lane. See, it's nothing.
He took the entrance ramp onto Lunalilo Highway headed for the south
part of town where Lukelas lived. He'd gone about half a mile when,
he glanced back and gasped in surprise. The green car was two cars behind
him, well back, but there. He took the first off ramp onto University
Avenue. A few minutes later, the green car did also. He turned back
into town on King Street knowing that no one would have gone up onto
the highway, then naturally turned back towards the north. He made three
random turns onto side streets and the green car, still a short distance
behind, made each one. He made a quick cut onto a narrow one way street,
then into the blind alley. By the time the green car made the turn,
the driver was looking down an empty one way street lined by old buildings,
trash dumpsters and junked cars. The green car slowly moved down the
street.
Danny waited until it
had passed the alley he was in, then spun backwards out of the alley,
roared up to the car, bouncing over the left hand curb on the narrow
street, then cut right. Metal squealed as the right side of the Mercury
scraped the green Ford, shoving it to the right, glancing off brick
wall before it slammed into a trash dumpster. The overfilled dumpster
poured refuse across the green hood. The Ford was boxed in, wedged between
the wall, the Mercury, and the dumpster.
Before the driver could
react, Danny had slid across the seat, opened his passenger window and
had his .38 leveled on the man's head.
The guy stared at him
wide-eyed.
"Who are you?!" Danny
demanded.
"God! Hey, wait, wait!
Don't shoot!" he begged, truly panicked. He started to grab into his
jacket.
"Keep those hands on
the wheel!" Danny shouted and the man complied instantly.
"Hey, cool it, man!
Please!" the man stammered. "Look, I'm a news reporter. Rex Thacker."
"What?!" Danny demanded,
the gun still between them.
"A reporter, I'm a reporter."
Danny's racing heart
started to slow. "Reporter?"
"Yeah--like I write
news columns?" Rex sounded a bit pathetic. "I've got my press pass right
here." He very gingerly pulled it from his inside jacket pocket. "Um,
could you put away the gun?"
Danny relaxed just a
little and lowered the police special. "Why were you following me?"
"I was supposed to get
some shots of you with your kid for the late news."
"What?"
"I had orders to find
out where you had stashed your kid."
Danny decided he might
just shoot this idiot after all. "Stay away from me. Come within a hundred
yards of me or my son and I'll kill you. You got that?" He slammed his
car into gear and hit the gas, tearing the front fender off Thacker's
Ford on the way out.
"Hey!" Thacker shouted
after him, "what about my car!"
-----------------------------------------------
"Thank you for coming
down here, Sarah," Steve said cordially, offering her a chair in his
office.
"I come, Mr. McGarrett,
but it won't change nothing," she stated flatly.
He quietly sat down,
not behind the desk, but in the chair opposite her. "You must feel pretty
strongly about Lonnie's welfare."
"I promised his mama,
rest her soul, I would see to it he got good raising," she declared.
"And you don't think
Dan Williams can do that?"
"Why should he want
to? He's no mama."
"But he is Lonnie's
father," Steve replied quietly.
She jutted out her chin
stubbornly. "What do you want, McGarrett?"
"I want to understand
what your concerns are," he explained.
"Danny is a good man,
but he not able to raise a child good. He's a bachelor, no woman, he
don't know how to take care of a baby."
"They seem to be doing
okay," Steve offered.
"Okay not the same a
good, McGarrett. What in this for you?"
"Me?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I think I am about to lose the best detective I've ever had on this
force. If I have to give him up, I'd at least like to understand why."
"What you mean?"
"He's ready to throw
away his career in order to keep Lonnie."
Her features weakened
slightly, then toughened again. "That don't change nothing. He no good
for Lonnie."
"Sarah, don't you think
there are hundreds of fathers across this state, thousands across the
country that are doing their best to raise their children alone? You
could be offering him your support instead of making it harder for him."
"Lonnie is better with
me. Let Danny come visit him."
"Sarah, you are missing
the point. Danno is his father."
"Is he?"
Steve stared her, a
deep scowl crossing his features. "Sarah, what are you saying?"
Before she could answer,
the phone on Steve's desk rang. He wanted to let it go, but being the
only one in the office; he needed to accept the distraction. "Excuse
me, a moment." He picked up the receiver. "McGarrett."
"Steve, this is Officer
Yung."
"Yes, Mike."
"I'm at an accident
scene on Makahiki Way with a...Rex Thacker. He claims that Danny ran
his car off the road and left the scene of the accident."
Steve could hear Thacker's
voice shouting, "He stuck a gun in my face!"
"Did Danny come back
to the office?" Mike asked.
"He's not here, Mike."
The outer door of the
office slammed and Steve looked down the hallway to see Danny storming
up towards his office. "I need to call the Lukelas," Danny said hotly,
then stopped, spotting Sarah in the chair in Steve's office.
"Ah," Steve hesitated.
"How bad is it?" he asked of Yung.
"Car's pretty well totaled."
"Get the paperwork done.
Take a statement. Tell Thacker to come up to Five-0 in the morning and
Ginny will get it filed with the insurance company."
"Right, Steve."
He hung up the phone,
noticing the confused look on Danny's face to find Sarah in the office.
Danno thinks everyone's pulling a fast one on him right about now,
maybe even me.
"Evening, Sarah,"
Danny murmured cordially. Why did Steve bring her here? Trying to
make a deal to get her off my back? He's trying to help, but this is
my business.
"I invited Sarah
here to discuss what her concerns were about you and Lonnie," Steve
explained. "Seems like this is a discussion that should have occurred
a long time ago. Sarah, do you mind if Danno joins us?"
She shrugged. "No matter.
It the same thing."
Steve motioned Danny
to the chair by his desk. Sarah, when I just made the point that Danny
was Lonnie's father, I thought you questioned that. Am I right?"
She shuffled her feet,
less sure of herself with Danny present. "I don't know."
"What do you mean, you
'don't know'?" Danny demanded. "Sarah, you are the one who told us right
here in this office almost exactly a year ago that Lonnie was my son.
My name is on his birth certificate. Mali herself said I was his father.
What more proof do you need?"
She scowled. "He is
Hawaiian child, not hoale," she stated. "He needs a Hawaiian home. You
know Mali, she was half-loco sometimes. Maybe he's not your boy. Just
cause she said it -- you know how she was."
"Yes, I do," Danny responded,
"but I also knew when to believe her. He is my son, I know he is. And
since he is my son, you have no rights to him."
"Maybe I say he not,"
she replied. "If you not his father, then he is my blood."
"Sarah, why? Why all
this?" Steve asked quietly. "You have six children of your own. What
is the point here?"
"I already say, but
you no listen. Lonnie is Hawaiian boy."
Danny sighed. "So the
this is all about racial prejudice. I'm not good enough because I'm
not Hawaiian."
"Oh, I know your friend
Kono. He tell me about you. I know you Hawaiian, somewhere just a little,
but you all haole now. What you gonna do when those boys make fun of
your Lonnie and call him kanaka, half-breed?"
"I'll deal with it when
-- and if -- it happens. I love him, Sarah, and I won't give him up
just because you don't like the color of my skin."
She rose from the chair
and crossed her arms. "Then I say he never was your boy. Mali made it
up. That birth record just paper. She could put any name on it, but
that don't make it so."
Steve rose also. "Are
you asking Danno to prove by blood tests his parentage?"
She glared at him with
suspicion. "Blood tests?"
"Yes. There are tests
that can be done to prove people are related," Steve told her.
Cornered, she had no
choice but to agree.
"Danno?" Steve glanced
at him.
"If she insists on putting
Lonnie through getting a blood test, and it will get her to leave us
alone, yes, I'll do it."
"All right. Tomorrow
I'll have Che do the work and have it verified through Queens Medical
Center. Is that good enough for you?" Steve asked.
She nodded.
"And in the mean time,
you stop talking to the press," he insisted.
She nodded again, then
turned and left.
Danny sank back in the
chair. "I need to have Mary keep Lonnie till this mess is over. I had
a reporter tailing me tonight."
"The same one whom you
threatened at gunpoint and wrecked his car?" Steve guessed.
He gave a smirk. "That's
already made the news?"
Steve sighed. "No, not
yet, but by eleven o'clock Ms. Donagan is sure to have a new update."
He sighed. "Danno, some of the choices you are making are not good ones.
You are just reacting."
"Steve, you don't know
what it's like! I'm being hounded every step, my child is threatened,
I'm being accused of setting up Amanda King. What did I ever do to deserve
all this?" he exploded.
Steve waited to give
more emphasis to his response. "I want you to listen carefully, Danno.
There are no explanations for this. Don't look for them. Deal with them.
We will get through this, understand? We will. You are not alone.
This will be over -- and soon I'd think, but you've just got to get
through it thinking instead of reacting. No more Bruce Willis stuff,
okay?"
He managed to crack
a grin. "Sure, Steve."
-----------------------------------------------
End Part 4
Return to List
Part 5
Contact Author
|