The Alligator Man (28 page)

I
t took less than an hour for Judge Thorpe to instruct the jury on the law. When he was finished, they retired to deliberate. It was not yet one o’clock in the afternoon.

Kevin took his Snickers bar and his water to the jail and hung around with Billy in his jail cell, waiting for the verdict.

“I think you did a great job, Kev. No matter how this turns out, I want you to know how much I appreciate what you and Tom did for me.”

“Well, let’s hope we can send you back home so you can raise those kids.”

“They’re almost raised. They just need a few more years—those formative years. I was a little older when I lost my dad. Your father filled that void for me.”

“Well, Billy, I’m going to live in St. Albans and Kate is still there, along with your sister. No matter what happens, we’ll take care of those kids and make sure they get plenty of guidance.”

Billy smiled. “It’s kinda like what goes around, comes around.”

They were only out three hours. Kevin got the call at the jail.

“It’s time, Billy. The jury’s got a verdict.”

Billy started to shake a little as he stood up. “I’m glad you came back with me and I’m glad we had that conversation. My mind is at ease no matter what happens.”

It was all very formal when they arrived at the courtroom. The gallery was full. The reporters and the runners for the television stations were gathered in the back of the room ready to bolt out and either broadcast or file their stories immediately upon the announcement of the verdict. The judge waited until everybody was seated before addressing the bailiff.

“It is my understanding that the jury has a verdict?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Bring them in.”

As the jurors filed in, Kevin tried to glean something from their faces and their body movements. Nobody made eye contact with him. When they were seated, the judge asked for the foreperson. One of the women stood. Kevin didn’t know if that was good or bad. He could see them clearly now. Two of the women had been crying. Some of the men were visibly agitated, holding their arms, rubbing their hands. This had been hard on them, that was clear.

“Have you reached a verdict?” the judge asked.

“Yes, Your Honor, we have.”

“Would you hand the verdict form to the bailiff?”

The bailiff took the verdict form from the woman and handed it to the judge, who read it.

“The defendant will rise.”

Both Billy and Kevin stood up.

“Madam Clerk, will you publish the verdict?” the judge asked as he handed the verdict form back to the bailiff, who handed it to the clerk.

“In the case of State of Florida versus William Fuller, defendant, we, the jury, find the defendant William Fuller
guilty
of murder in the first degree.”

For a second or two it seemed that everybody held their breath in a silent collective sigh. Then all hell broke loose. Reporters raced for the door. The gallery exhaled and everybody started talking all at once. By the time Judge Thorpe reached for his gavel, the situation was already out of hand.

“Order in the court! Order in the court!” the judge yelled at the top of his lungs, all the while banging his gavel. The bailiffs dispersed into the gallery, telling people to sit down or they would be removed. Gradually the situation started to die down.

Kevin put his arm around Billy as soon as the clerk read the verdict. He instinctively felt Billy starting to fall. Billy didn’t say anything, he just kind of let go. Kevin eased him into his chair.

“Don’t worry, Billy,” he said. “This is just the beginning. We’ve got several reasons to appeal and we can get a new trial.”

Billy wasn’t listening. It was like the events all around him were happening in a world he was no longer part of. He was in a cocoon and Laurie was beside him now. He could feel her hand inside his. He turned to look at her and she smiled at him. Then, as quickly as she came, she began to fade away.

“What about the kids?” Billy asked her, but she was already gone.

“The kids will be fine,” Kevin told him. “Your sister and I will take care of them until we get you out of jail.”

The sound of Kevin’s voice told him he was back among the living. He longed for that other place, though—the place where Laurie was.

“Mr. Wylie,” Judge Thorpe interrupted them.

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Do you want the jury polled?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

One by one, the judge started asking each juror the same question: “Juror number one, is this your verdict?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Juror number two, is this your verdict?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Before he reached juror number five, someone started banging loudly on the courtroom door, which one of the bailiffs had locked after the verdict had been entered and the chaos and the reporters had been ushered out.

The judge stopped the proceedings and addressed the bailiff at the back of the courtroom.

“Open those doors and see who’s causing that commotion.”

The bailiff went to the door and opened it. Sheriff Cousins entered the courtroom accompanied by two uniformed police officers. They each had a hand on the arm of a handcuffed man. Sheriff Cousins led the way as they proceeded to walk up the middle aisle.

“Sheriff, you’d better have a pretty good reason for interrupting these proceedings,” Judge Thorpe said.

“I do, Judge,” Sheriff Cousins replied.

“And that reason is?” the judge asked, anger still in his voice.

The sheriff took the handcuffed man from the two deputies and walked with him inside the bar so that he and the man were situated in front of the lawyers’ tables, looking up at the judge.

“Judge, I’d like you to meet Mr. Roy Johnson.”

The commotion started again, only this time there were fewer people. The press had already vacated the premises, thinking they already had the story.

“Clear the courtroom!” the judge yelled to the bailiffs, who immediately started ushering people out. It took a good fifteen minutes to empty the place.

“Everybody be seated,” the judge said after the courtroom had been vacated. Only the lawyers, the jury, and the court personnel were left, along with Billy, the deputies guarding him, the sheriff, his two deputies, and Roy Johnson.

Kevin looked at Billy, who still appeared to be in shock. He put his left hand on Billy’s right forearm. He was a little bit shaky himself. He looked over at Jeanette, who held her head down, shaking it from side to side.

“Sheriff, are you absolutely sure of this?” the judge finally asked.

“Yes, Judge. We identified him through photographs and we checked his fingerprints with the FBI database. There is no doubt about it.”

“How did this happen?”

“I found him practically on my doorstep this morning, Judge. He was in a blue body bag and he had been drugged. I have no idea how he got there.”

“We will discuss this in greater detail at a later date. For now,” he said, raising his right index finger and pointing it at Roy Johnson, “get this man out of my sight.”

After the sheriff and his deputies walked out of the courtroom with Roy Johnson in tow, the judge addressed Kevin.

“Mr. Wylie, do you have a motion to make?”

“I do, Your Honor. I move to vacate the verdict entered against my client.”

“Any objection, Ms. Truluc?”

“No, Your Honor. The State joins in the motion.”

“So ordered.”

The judge next turned his attention to the jurors.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you have witnessed something in this courtroom today that I have never seen before in my many years in practice and on the bench, and probably will never see again. It shows you that even when the evidence appears to be overwhelming, you can never be absolutely sure of a person’s guilt or innocence.

“I just dismissed your verdict against Mr. Fuller because he is innocent. I am going to release him to go home in a matter of moments.

“I thank you for your service. This is part of your duty as citizens and you have done it well. I know that you will take this experience with you for the rest of your lives. It will hopefully imbue you with a healthy skepticism about all things that seem certain.

“You can go home now.”

The jurors stood up and filed out of the courtroom. A few of them, including the two women who had been crying, stole a sympathetic glance toward Billy on their way out.

It was now the lawyers’ turn.

“Ms. Truluc and Mr. Wylie, you both conducted yourself as true professionals in this courtroom. Things got heated from time to time but you made sure it never got personal.

“Mr. Wylie, I must say that you surprised me with your tenacity. You never let go. You were prepared to go to jail for your client. You knew there was another story. You didn’t know what it was, but you kept picking and probing and prodding until the dam burst wide open. I don’t know how, but I believe that what happened in this courtroom today is a direct result of your efforts.”

The judge then looked at Billy.

“Mr. Fuller, the State of Florida owes you an apology. I have based my entire career on the belief in the judicial process. I have known for a long time that it is an imperfect system, but the events of today have given me greater insight into that fact. You are free to go home to your children.”

The judge tapped his gavel lightly. “Case dismissed!” he said and stood up and limped out of the courtroom.

Jeanette immediately came over to Kevin. “I apologize for putting you and your client through this,” she said. “And for what it’s worth, I’m with the judge on this one. You did a great job for your client.”

“It wasn’t me,” Kevin replied, shaking her outstretched hand.

“I beg to differ,” she said.

“I need to talk to you about something very important in the near future,” Kevin said. “I have to go to St. Albans for a few days to see my father. After that, I can come back.”

Jeanette looked at her watch. “I’m catching the six o’clock flight to Tallahassee and I’ll be there for a few days. If it can’t wait, I can meet you in St. Albans or Tallahassee tomorrow or the next day.”

“I’m leaving tomorrow morning so I won’t get to St. Albans until the early afternoon.”

“You’ve got my cell phone number. Give me a call.”

Kevin had an idea right at that moment. “Do you think there are any seats left on that Tallahassee flight?”

“There usually are. Why, are you thinking of flying back tonight?”

“No. I’ve got a carload of stuff to transport, but I know Billy wants to get home to his kids. You wouldn’t have a problem being on the same plane with him, would you?”

“Absolutely not.”

She turned to Billy, who was standing a few feet away from them. He had just finished shaking hands with his guards and was talking to them while Kevin and Jeanette were conversing.

“Congratulations, Mr. Fuller. I wish you all the best in the future and I’m sorry for the terrible inconvenience we caused you.”

“You were only doing your job,” Billy said to her. “And you did it very well.”

T
he circus was still going on outside in the street when Billy and Kevin emerged from the courthouse. The talking heads were delivering the news of the stunning events inside the courtroom, along with their expert commentary, to the rest of America. Everything stopped when they saw Kevin and Billy. They all rushed to the top of the courthouse steps, jockeying for position in front of the microphones, hoping to get that all-important first interview.

Kevin stepped up to the microphones with Billy at his side.

“Justice comes in many forms,” he said. “Today it came in the form of a lightning bolt from heaven. My client is both relieved and gratified that justice has prevailed. Now he simply wants to go home and be with his children.”

Having said his piece, Kevin grabbed Billy by the arm and together they muscled their way through the crowd.

“I’m going to try and get you on the plane to Tallahassee tonight, Billy,” he told him when they were in the car. “I’ll pick up your stuff at the jail later tonight and bring it home with me.”

Jeanette was correct. There were seats available. Billy called his sister’s house and talked to the kids. They were going to pick him up at the airport. Billy was beaming when he got off the phone.

“They’re so excited,” he told Kevin.

It was time for Kevin to leave. The two men had not yet acknowledged what had happened between them.

“You saved my life,” Billy told Kevin as he hugged him.

“Few people get a second chance like you’re getting, Billy. Make the most of it.”

“I will, Kevin. I absolutely will.”

Kevin did not call his father until after he left the airport. He wanted to be totally alone when he told Tom about the events that had transpired earlier in the day. By the time he made the call, however, Tom knew most of it.

“We weren’t even close in our analysis,” Tom said.

“That’s true. But we peeled the layers back and uncovered enough facts for this to happen.”

“You did that, son.”

“We were a team, Dad. A good team.”

He picked up Billy’s stuff at the jail and headed for Gladestown, calling Rosie on the way to let her know he was coming.

They had a quiet dinner that night after Rosie closed down. Just the three of them—Rosie, Carlisle, and Kevin. Rosie served broiled fresh red snapper with mashed potatoes and green beans.

“Okay, Carlisle,” Kevin said when the meal was on the table and they were just starting to eat. “Tell us how you figured this out.”

Carlisle smiled sheepishly. “Well, it all really came together from our last conversation, Kevin, when you told me that Billy had been at Roy Johnson’s house four nights in a row observing him in his backyard. I did that once—went in the backyard. Roy’s bodyguards were all over me, so I knew Billy couldn’t have gone back there four times undetected.

“Then when I was in Roy’s backyard in my mind, down by the docks looking at the yachts, I saw it.”

“Saw what?” Kevin asked.

“The Sea Ray.”

“Will you talk straight, Carlisle,” Rosie said as she buttered a piece of bread. “’Cause I’m not following you.”

“I go out to the Dry Tortugas every week to fish. I saw a sixty-foot Sea Ray out there for a month. I don’t know why I was attracted to it. Maybe Scotch was leading me there. Anyway, I never saw anybody on it and I knew I had seen it somewhere before. I just couldn’t remember until I went back to that dock in my mind.

“I still didn’t put it all together until I recalled that Sylvia was the one who first suggested that I look for her husband in the swamp. Then I knew it was a setup.”

“Old Roy Johnson wanted her to get close to you,” Rosie said. “So she could feed you information and find out what you were doing in the investigation. He didn’t plan on his wife getting under the sheets with you, Carlisle. I think she decided that part all on her own.”

Kevin and Rosie laughed while Carlisle looked a little embarrassed.

“So how did you get him?” Kevin asked.

“I just went out there, parked my boat a little ways away, waited for nightfall, and rowed over in my dinghy. It was perfect because it was a moonless night. I anchored right beside the boat, put my night goggles on, and waited for the rat to come out.”

“Ha!” Kevin exclaimed. “You are something else, Carlisle.”

“And for your heroic actions,” Rosie added, “you’re going to get some of my famous homemade cheesecake tonight.”

Carlisle beamed at her words, as if nothing, no accolade of any kind, could have made him any happier than a piece of Rosie’s cheesecake.