Trail of Secrets(55)
“It doesn’t matter what you or I would say—all that matters is what can be proven at trial. I know at times the police don’t agree with what this office does. My only response is if the arresting officers would be more careful about what they do then we here at the prosecutor’s office might have an easier time when we went into court.”
Seth frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that several times when I got ready to prosecute Carlos it was suddenly discovered that the evidence against him had disappeared from the evidence room. There’s no way I can get a conviction just because an officer believes something to be true. I have to have hard evidence. Once he was denied a lawyer after he’d asked for one, and the last time Carlos was arrested, the case was thrown out because nobody read him his rights. Those kinds of cases can’t be won, Detective.”
“So you’re saying the police are at fault in a lot of these instances?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. With the weak evidence that I had, there was no way I could win those cases, so I took plea bargains that kept them from being complete acquittals. I thought I was doing a service to Carlos and to society by getting him to agree to do community service, and the judge authorized it.”
Seth pondered what she’d said for a moment before he spoke. “Do you assign all of your offenders who do community service to the Midtown Mission?”
“No. Why?”
“I noticed that all of Carlos’s time was spent there.”
“Really? I wasn’t aware of that, but it doesn’t surprise me. The Midtown Mission is one of my pet charities. They do a great job, and I feel confident they’ll work with the people I send to them.” She glanced at her watch. “Is there anything else? I have a meeting with the District Attorney in his office in ten minutes, and I need to get my notes together.”
He stood and stuck out his hand. “Then I don’t want to take up any more of your time. Thank you for seeing me today. I’ll see myself out.”
She smiled and shook his hand. “I hope I was of help. Come back anytime. My door is always open to the police.”
At the door he glanced over his shoulder, but she was already looking at a piece of paper she’d pulled from a folder. He exited the office and stepped into the hall where Callie waited. She rose from the bench when he stepped into the hallway and smiled, but her lips trembled a bit.
He frowned and stepped closer. “What’s wrong? You look pale.”
She laughed and shook her head. “I’m okay. I was thinking about Uncle Dan.” She inhaled and swallowed. “How did your meeting go?”
He glanced around as a door down the hall opened, and two women stepped out. “I’ll tell you when we get in the car,” he whispered.
They walked to the elevator, and as they waited the two women ambled up behind them and stopped. “I’m glad you suggested a break,” one of them said. “I’ve been working on those files all day, and I still haven’t finished.”
“Donna, you don’t have to do it all today. You’ve got until next week.”
“I know, but I have some other things I need to work on before the D.A. gets back from his trip. I promised him the files would be my priority.”
Seth’s body stiffened at the words he’d just heard. He turned, faced the women and smiled. “Excuse me, but I couldn’t help but overhear. I’m Detective Seth Dawtry with the Memphis PD, and I was hoping to get an appointment with the D.A. I just heard you say he’s out of town. When will he be back?”