Before I can interject anything, she says, “But later—after she got cancer—she was overwhelmed by guilt. She’s facing an early death and failure as a mother. Her son’s a disbarred lawyer, no prospects. She wants to leave him some security, give him the best life she can.”
“So she tells him Dad is his father?”
“Yep. But it’s not what she told Lincoln that’s important. It’s what she told Tom that matters.”
The heat of recognition flushes my skin.
“You know your father. Atticus Finch with a stethoscope. If Viola told him they’d had a son that she’d kept secret for forty years to protect your family—what would he do?”
“Whatever Viola asked him to.”
“Exactly! Tom probably called an attorney the next day to start setting up a trust fund for Lincoln.”
I have the feeling Caitlin’s scenario may be close to the truth. “None of that weakens my theory about Lincoln killing his mother. Both he and Dad would be acting in the belief that they were father and son.”
“I don’t pretend to know exactly how Viola died,” she says. Then she holds up her Treo. “But my money’s on the Double Eagles, under orders from Brody Royal.”
Caitlin seizes my wrist and looks hard into my eyes. “Penn, you’ve got to forget all this Gothic crap. We’ve got a recording of Brody’s daughter saying he committed murder, and Viola’s included in that. The only question is, what are we going to do with it?”
I do my best to suppress my personal issues and analyze the evidence. “The recording is problematic. If Katy doesn’t come out of that coma, she can’t be cross-examined, and she’s clearly got mental issues, as evidenced on the tape. Plus she’s under the influence of a potentially suicidal dose of narcotics. The recording would be a lot more effective with her alive on the stand to verify and elaborate on it.
“If she would verify it. She’s clearly been terrified of her father for years. Her husband, too. If she doesn’t wake up from the coma, could this stand as a dying utterance?”
Caitlin’s ambition is like a third person in the car.
“I doubt it. But if you could get it admitted, the circumstances might lend weight to her statements. Except …”
“What?”
“She said her father killed Henry. Didn’t she?”
“Yeah. ‘Mr. Henry,’ she said. Like a little girl.”
“Henry Sexton’s not dead.”
Caitlin shrugs as though this is inconsequential. “I’m sure she meant that Brody ordered the hit on Henry. They did try to kill him, right?”
“Yes, but that’s a big problem, as far as using this recording as trial evidence. It calls everything else she said into question. God, I wish she’d spoken Viola’s name.”
Caitlin turns and stares out at the darkened courthouse. “Are you saying I shouldn’t use it?”
“No. But what are you thinking of doing with it?”
“If this were any other case … I’d go straight over to St. Catherine’s Hospital and interview Brody Royal right now—if he’s even there. That’s what Henry would do, if he could.”
I strive to keep my voice level. “But this isn’t any other case. And given Royal’s past, and what you just did to his daughter—and her husband—that could be suicidal.”
Caitlin whirls on me. “I’m sorry the woman tried to kill herself, okay? But she’s been mentally unstable for years. And I see no reason not to use this recording as the linchpin of tomorrow’s stories.”
I draw back in surprise. “You want to publish the contents of this recording? Tomorrow?”
“Maybe,” she says defiantly.
As I try to think of a way to prevent this, a revolutionary idea comes to me. “You know something? From an evidentiary point of view, that recording has serious problems. But as an existential reality … it’s one hell of a weapon.”
She looks suspicious. “What exactly do you mean?”
“I know you’re focused on tomorrow’s story. But tomorrow is a world away right now. At this moment, Dad and Walt are being hunted as cop killers. Their lives are measured in hours, maybe minutes. The only way to save them is to get that APB revoked. And the only way I can see to do that is to go to the very men who want Dad dead and blamed for Viola’s murder.”
Caitlin’s eyes narrow still further. “Brody? And …?”
“Forrest Knox. Knox issued the APB. They’re the only ones with the stroke to change the public narrative and stop that manhunt.”