Redress of Grievances (47 page)

"Sustained.
Move along, Mr. Lassiter," Landers instructed.

"What
is the name of the main character in your manuscript, Ms. Harmon?"

"Janet
Rutherford."

"And
as is common practice, she is usually called by a shortened version of Janet,
isn't she?"

"Yes."

"And
what would that be?"

Frowning
slightly, Lou once again looked at Sharon, as if asking forgiveness in advance.
"Jan," she finally answered in defeat.

For
the next half hour, Lassiter had Lou read portions of the manuscript he had
marked aloud to the jury. No one could have missed the similarities with the
case. When Lassiter completed his questions, he turned to Judge Landers.
"Your Honor, the prosecution requests that People's Exhibit Number
Nineteen be admitted into evidence."

"So
ordered," Landers intoned.

"The
prosecution has no further questions for this witness, your Honor."

As
Lassiter turned the witness over to Harriett, she wasn't sure there was
anything she could do to rehabilitate the succinct testimony. As she cleared
her throat to ask her first question, Sharon leaned closer and whispered,
"Don't hurt her. I've already done that."

Patting
Sharon's hand, Harriett turned back toward the witness. "Ms. Harmon, how
did you feel when Mrs. Taggart told you she was getting married?"

"I
was hurt, but I understood why Sharon did it," Lou answered, the hurt
apparent in her eyes. She clearly still loved Sharon.

"Did
my client confide anything about her childhood to you?"

Seeming
to brighten somewhat, Lou leaned forward as she answered. "She told me she
had been abused as a child by her brother. It was difficult for her to talk
about."

"Do
you know Mrs. Taggart's parents and her husband?"

"Unfortunately,
I do."

"Why
unfortunately?"

"I
got along fine with Mr. Collins, but Sharon's mother is a real piece of work.
There was no way in hell anyone could have lived up to her standards. I knew I
couldn't and didn't even try, but Sharon...," she paused. "Sharon
lived in fear all the time that she would disappoint Clarissa. Nothing she
seemed to do was ever good enough for that bi...biddy."

"And
Mr. Taggart?"

"I
never liked him. It wasn't simply because I was jealous, although I admit that
I was. Even if I wasn't the one she chose, she deserved so much more than Frank
Taggart. Only good thing he ever did was help create two kids." Lou
blushed slightly, glancing at the jury. "Sharon told me each one took
about thirty seconds and four or five drinks on her part to accomplish."

"How
does Sharon feel about her children?"

"I
think she thought they would be someone who would love her and never hurt
her."

"Studies
show that abused children often become abusive parents. Do you know whether or
not she ever hurt her own children?"

Shaking
her head, Lou answered firmly. "No, she would never hurt them. There were
a couple of times when I know she wanted to, though, and that frightened
her."

"What
did she do when that happened?"

"She
locked herself in the bathroom until the feeling passed except once. That time
she called me in a panic and asked me to take her to a clinic for help."

"And
did you?"

"As
quick as I could get to her house. They didn't do anything for her, though, and
she seemed to get over whatever had triggered her anger."

"Was
she always like that, angry?"

"Not
much until after Laurel was born. Then Sharon's emotions would be up and down,
almost manic."

"Objection,"
Lassiter said. "The witness is not an expert in psychiatry."

"Neither
was your other witness,
Mister
Stevenson," Harriett shot back,
reminding the jurors of the earlier testimony.

"Objection
sustained," Landers frowned. "The jury will disregard the witness's
statement. Move on, Ms. Markham."

"No
matter what, Sharon wouldn't hurt anyone in her family," Lou volunteered.

"Do
you think, based on your intimate relationship, that Sharon would hurt anyone
else?"

Pausing
for a moment and looking at Sharon, Lou said, "I don't know."

Chapter
Forty-Seven

HARRIETT
PULLED HER glasses off and tossed them on her desk, leaning back in her
well-worn leather chair and pushing her hair over her head. "This case is
giving me a headache," she said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Nick
chuckled, "Well, at least it will soon be over. What do you think the
jurors are thinking right now?"

"That
we're all freakin' nuts," she laughed.

"Lassiter
got you pretty good with Lou Harmon. I'd still like to know what led them to her."

"So
would I," Harriett said, puffing out her cheeks as she exhaled. "So
would I. But it wasn't all bad. She made Sharon look sympathetic, if not a
little crazy."

"Why
do you think she did it? Kill those people, I mean?"

"She
didn't kill anyone, remember?" Harriett smiled. "They just
overreacted and killed themselves."

"Maybe
there was something to what Lou Harmon said. Maybe they were just substitutes
for the ones who really hurt her."

"So
what the hell does that make me? Her avenging angel?"

Nick
shrugged. "Maybe that was all she was looking for, her own kind of justice
for everyone who had hurt her. After everything you brought out during the
trial, Senator Collins's career is pretty much over. He probably won't be
getting either married or re-elected. Mrs. Collins should drop in esteem in
social circles, and I'd volunteer to be Sharon's divorce attorney. Frank
Taggart has been branded as a wife beater and a probable rapist. And Alexis
Dunne's reputation was certainly damaged as well. They all hurt her in one way
or another, either physically or emotionally, and she found a way to get
even."

"And
you think she was willing to go to prison or worse for that?"

"I
still think she's crazy, Harriett, but you're not going to be able to convince
the jury that she's insane. Not after Lou Harmon's testimony."

"I
know," she said, slipping her glasses back on. "But maybe I can still
save her life."

Nick
looked at his watch as he flipped another page on his legal pad. "It's getting
close to dinner time. Why don't you call Jess and see if she'll pick something
up for us? Then we can work through and get out of here at a reasonable
time."

"I
can call someplace that delivers.” Harriett said. "What would you
like?"

Setting
his pad down on the coffee table, Nick watched Harriett as she leaned her head
on her hand and continued working on her closing statement. "Come to think
of it," he observed, "I haven't seen Jess around in a few days."

"She
has a job, you know. Probably got behind when she was babysitting me,"
Harriett said, hoping she sounded nonchalant enough. She wanted to pick up her
phone and call Jess but wasn't sure what kind of reception she would receive.
She had spoken to Helen briefly the night before about the way they had parted
and her reaction to being touched. Even though she had wanted Jess to touch
her, her mind wouldn't allow it. She wasn't sure it ever would, but she
resolved to call her as soon as Sharon's case was sent to the jury.

"LADIES
AND GENTLEMEN, you have sat through an emotionally draining case, and my client
and I appreciate the attention you've paid to the evidence and testimony
presented. Sharon Taggart is a woman who has endured a lifetime of abuse at the
hands of those closest to her, people she should have been able to trust to
protect her. But they all failed her. I have presented you with expert
testimony that Sharon Taggart suffers from a treatable mental illness, which
rendered her incapable of making sound decisions. Unable to strike out at those
who hurt her, she instead chose to hurt other people. Rather than hurt those
who deserved to be hurt in return for their actions against her, she chose to
put them all on trial here, along with herself. You cannot render a verdict
against those who knowingly harmed her, but you must decide her fate. What
Sharon Taggart did was wrong. We know she shot at those vehicles, which
resulted in four deaths and serious injury to others. A witness testified that
she saw her do it. Experts testified that it was a weapon readily available to
her and that she purchased the ammunition used to commit the crimes.

"Mr.
Lassiter will tell you that she planned to shoot at those vehicles by bringing
up the testimony that she patterned the crimes after something she had read. I
suppose that's possible. However, Sharon Taggart had no way of knowing when her
husband would rape her, when her daughter would accidentally be injured, when
she would have to have her pet euthanized, or when her lover would unexpectedly
end their relationship. Mr. Lassiter would like for you to believe that Sharon
Taggart read something and then filed it away to be used at a later date, just
in case something or someone hurt her. I submit that we all do things that we
have read about." Smiling and briefly catching the eye of each juror, she
continued, "I once read that during the Second World War, the military
included a bar of chocolate in every soldier's rations on the battlefield
because the sugar gave them energy when they were tired. Using Mr. Lassiter's
line of reasoning, the only reason I reach for a Hershey bar when I'm feeling
tired is because I read in a history book that it would increase my energy
level.

"None
of us can be sure when we will finally reach the end of an intolerable
circumstance or how we will react to it. Sharon Taggart managed to hover at the
edge of stability longer than anyone could have expected only to slip over the
edge and into severe postpartum depression brought about by the birth of her
second child. A depression so deep that she couldn't find her way out without
help, and then was turned away by medical professionals who could have helped
her. Even though she pulled the trigger, the deaths of four innocent people and
the injuries to three others were assured twenty-five years earlier when the
defendant's brother, a sadistic sexual predator, began molesting her and
allowed others to hurt her while he profited from her suffering. Through a
second personality, Jan, Sharon Taggart protected herself until even Jan could stand
the pain no longer."

Taking
a deep breath, Harriett lowered her voice slightly for effect. "We all
have a dark side, ladies and gentlemen. Some hidden part of ourselves we hope
will never surface, never be let loose. But, rest assured, if sufficiently provoked,
that darkness will surface into the light of day and it will strike out, just
as Sharon Taggart's did. Thank you."

As
Harriett listened to Sean Lassiter's closing arguments, she hoped the jurors
would remember what she had said. She had no doubt that Sharon was mentally
disturbed. Relatively few people were just plain evil like Jared Wilkes had
been. He had never been mistreated by anyone, had everything he wanted with
good and loving parents, and yet he had become an indescribable evil. She thought
it had been a miracle that Sharon had maintained her stability as long as she
had.

THE
JURY BEGAN its deliberations in the afternoon session after hearing the charge
to the jury by Judge Landers. Their choices seemed simple enough. Either the
defendant had a mental defect or she didn't. If she did, a mental institution
awaited her. If she didn't, she was guilty of murder in the first degree and
could receive either the death penalty or life in prison without the
possibility of parole. Somehow, Harriett couldn't believe that imprisonment
would upset Sharon very much. It would finally give her what she had probably
been longing for her entire life. The chance to be away from everyone who had
hurt her, left alone in peace with only her own thoughts.

Once
the jury began its deliberations there was nothing to do but wait. It was
impossible to concentrate on other work. Finally dropping her pen on her desk,
Harriett picked up her phone and punched in a familiar number.

"Sex
Offenders, Davidson," a deep male voice answered mechanically.

"Jess
Raines, please," Harriett said.

"Detective
Raines isn't in the office right now. Can I help you or take a message?"

"This
is Harriett Markham. Would you ask her to call me when she returns? She has my
number," Harriett said.

"I'll
leave a message, ma'am, but it might be a while before she gets back to you.
She took a leave of absence."

"Did
she say when she would be returning?"

"No,
ma'am, she didn't. Sorry."

As
soon as she disconnected, Harriett punched in the numbers for Jess's cell
phone.
I can always be reached at this number,
Jess had told her. But
after four rings, Harriett was instructed to leave a message by an automated
answering device.

TWO
DAYS PASSED and Harriett was beginning to feel hopeful. "The bailiff said
they have sent out notes asking to see evidence or clarification four
times," she said, joining Nick in the office kitchen for a snack.
"What do you think?"