One Life for Another, page 19
“A new trial?” Scottie repeated, stunned. “I don’t want a new trial. I want out of here”
“Well, first we have to get you a new trial,” Steve said, “Then we can worry about getting you out of here by winning that one.”
“Oh. Ok. How are we going to get me a new trial?”
“We would get there under an ‘ineffective assistance of counsel’ claim. The job Hixon did at trial was very poor but probably not enough to get a new trial under the strict standards set forth by the Supreme Court for constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel. However, an attorney is not just supposed to do his job in-court proficiently. He or she is also constitutionally required to properly investigate and prepare for trial out-of-court. In Wiggins v. Smith, the Supreme Court spelled out the standards for effectiveness of trial counsel in regard to investigation. One of the primary jobs of the defense attorney is to investigate any mitigating or exculpatory evidence. If we can show there was evidence pointing to a different suspect, and if we can prove Hixon did nothing to even investigate those people, we may have enough to get you a new trial.”
“Wow…” A tear filled with hope and joy began to form in the corner of Scottie’s left eye. “You really think I might get out of here alive?”
Steve nodded in affirmation. “Yes, I do. Now, I’m not guaranteeing anything, but I think we have a very good chance. The second thing we want to see is if Deputy Blackburn is telling the truth about originally seeing the picture of the bedroom door intact and dismissing it as irrelevant. If he lied to us about that,
then we have to try and figure out why.”
“I see,” Scottie said. “But it sounds like we have the killer. Whitmore is threatening you. He must be the one. You just have to prove it.”
“It definitely looks that way,” Steve said cautiously.
Scottie gestured wildly as his voice rose in vindication. “It has to be him! That’s why he is threatening you. I told you I didn’t kill Ashley! I told you it was him!”
“Calm down,” Booger said. “Right now, we have four suspects: you, Whitmore, Walters, and the X factor.”
“Wait, what’s the X factor?” Scottie asked.
“That’s either for someone we are missing or the slim possibility that some totally random person happened to show up and kill her right after you left. Until somebody confesses or we find a video showing who did it, we aren’t going to eliminate any possibilities. One reason you are sitting here is because the police got tunnel vision in their investigation. They only looked at evidence that pointed to you and dismissed any evidence that pointed to someone else. That’s not how I do my job,” Booger said. “I keep all options open until I have all the evidence. Otherwise, you don’t go down the paths that may end up leading you to the true culprit.”
“I’m still on the list?” Scottie asked. “I thought you believed me?”
“We do believe you,” Steve answered, “but like Booger just said, you have to be a suspect until we find more evidence against someone else. It is our hope the police file will eliminate someone from the list, maybe even a couple of people, hopefully you. We hope there is something showing Whitmore was there that morning. A statement showing someone else was in the house that morning will give us a stronger case.”
Scottie looked down and said, “I see.” He sat with his head down in silence for a few seconds before saying, “Well… there is one thing I have been keeping from you. I’m not sure if you will discover it from the file or not, but I want to tell you now so you will hopefully continue to trust me.”
Steve looked at Booger, who gave him a knowing nod as if to say, Here we go. The final truth, revealed.
“After all we have done for you, you still haven’t told us everything?” Steve said.
“No, I haven’t. I feel really bad about it, too,” Scottie said earnestly. “I was honestly just trying to protect Heather.”
“Heather? She helped get you here with her testimony,” Steve said. “Is this the last thing you have kept from us?”
“Yes, I promise. This is it. I have told you everything else,” Scottie assured them.
“Before you begin,” Booger said, “I want you to look us both in the eyes and tell us this will be the last time you have something to come clean about. No more untold stories.”
Scottie looked Booger squarely in the eyes and said, “I promise you. This is the last thing I have been keeping from you both. Scout’s honor.” He raised two fingers and held his hand out in front of him like a boy scout. He then did the same to Steve.
“Were you ever even a Boy Scout?” Booger asked.
“No,” Scottie admitted. “I was a Cub Scout once, and it is just something I have said ever since when I am being 100 percent honest.”
“Okay, continue,” Booger said. He gave Steve a look that showed he was finally satisfied that this would be Scottie’s final confession.
“On the morning of the murder, I told you that I met Heather at the hotel when I was supposed to be golfing. Remember?” Steve and Booger nodded as they stared at Scottie.
“Well, what I didn’t tell you is that she went to my house after we finished in the hotel room—”
“What?!” Steve exclaimed. “You knew she went over there? When she told us that, we assumed you didn’t know about it.”
Booger said nothing, but the look on his face clearly conveyed the displeasure he felt inside.
“I know, I know… I didn’t think it was important because she left before I even got home,” Scottie said.
“She was in your house the morning of the murder, and you didn’t think it was important?” Steve sat still while his voice rose in frustration. “Why in the hell did she go over there?”
“Heather and I agreed that she should go see if Ashley knew who my mistress was. We knew Ashley had discovered that I had one, but we didn’t know if she knew it was Heather. So, Heather left before me and went to the house. The plan was for Heather to go there in the role of Ashley’s best friend, to see why she had seemed so upset lately. She knew Ashley would tell her I was having an affair because they had been friends long enough that
Heather could get Ashley to spill all her secrets.” Steve began taking notes as Scottie continued.
“Heather got to the house, talked to Ashley, and texted me that Ashley had no idea she was the other woman. That is when Heather left, and I went home. The only reason I never told you this before is because I didn’t see how it mattered. But now that you are going to see the police file, I think she gave a statement to Deputy Blackburn during his investigation. She didn’t tell him anything about our affair, of course. She just told him she had gone over to see her friend that morning after her workout. I wanted to tell you before you saw it for yourself. I don’t want you to stop believing me because of this one piece of meaningless information.”
“Thanks for telling us. But for the record, nothing is meaningless,” Steve said firmly. “Are you positive there is nothing else you consider unimportant that happened that morning?”
Scottie stared at the wall for a second and then said, “Heather and I also decided that morning to end our affair. She was feeling guilty about cheating on her husband, and I was feeling guilty, too. We both decided it should end. We figured, as long as Ashley didn’t know Heather was the one, I could just make up someone to be the other girl. Then we could all go back to living our lives as we had before Heather and I hooked up. Heather agreed that was the best plan.”
“What were you going to do if Ashley did know it was Heather?” Booger asked.
“We didn’t actually get that far. We just hoped she wouldn’t know, and then we could both go on with our lives.”
“Thank you for telling us everything,” Steve said as he jotted things down on his legal pad.
“Are you sure Heather wasn’t upset about ending the affair?” Booger pressed. “That seems like something that might set her off.”
“Yes, I am sure. Hell, it was her idea. She brought it up in the first place. I just agreed. We both had been thinking about ending it for a while. There were times I actually threw up in the hotel toilet from the guilt I felt in my stomach after we finished having sex. Heather often said she felt the same way.” “But you still kept doing it?” Steve asked.
“Yeah…” Scottie lowered his head in shame.
Steve reached up and hit the intercom button to signal the guards their meeting was over. Soon, Steve and Booger were headed out of the prison, back through all of the sliding walls of metal bars.
On the drive home, Booger asked, “What do you think about our boy’s confession?”
“You mean about Walters?”
“Yes,” Booger said. “I find it very interesting. I even think maybe she killed Ashley. Regardless, I think it’s time we confront her about the affair.”
After a few moments of silence, Steve said, “I agree we need to confront her, but, for the record, I don’t think it was her. I think there is still something we aren’t considering. If she sets up Scottie to go to death row, how does that help her? She doesn’t get to end up with him. Even if she were a killer, she would want someone else to take the fall, so she ends up with Scottie. Remember, at trial, she was a key witness against him. It just doesn’t add up to me.”
At an intersection, Steve pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Walters. He told her they had a few follow-up questions and asked if she would be available the next morning. Walters said she could meet them at her house at eight thirty, after she got home from dropping her kids off at school.
Then, Steve called Deputy Blackburn and let him know they wouldn’t be at the sheriff’s office until sometime between nine and nine thirty the next morning.
CHAPTER 32
Walters opened the door, wearing tight black yoga pants with a red Lululemon top that accentuated her muscular arms and full chest. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she almost seemed to prance as she moved.
“Please come in. Can I get either of you a cup of coffee?” Walters asked as she led them inside.
“Yes, please. Just black would be great,” said Steve.
“No, thank you, ma’am,” said Booger.
They sat on the same couch as last time, and Walters soon joined them with Steve’s coffee. Walters had fixed herself a drink as well; her glass was filled with some type of dark-green juice.
After a few pleasantries, Walters said, “I am not sure what you came here to ask me about today, but when you left last time, you asked me to tell you if anything came to mind that you might find interesting. After you called yesterday, I began thinking about it, and I remembered something. I am not sure if it will help you, but I thought you might like to know.”
“Please,” Steve said, “anything could be helpful.”
“Well, there was one time in high school when I think Ashley cheated on Scottie. It was during our junior year. Scottie and Ashley were not getting along so well. They may have even broken up at some point; I’m not sure.” Walters settled back in her seat. “Anyway, Ashley disappeared on several weekends during a two- or three-month stretch. I remember it drove Scottie crazy because she wouldn’t tell him where she was going. She would just leave on Friday, after school, and come back late Sunday.”
“Her parents let her disappear all weekend without knowing where she was?” Steve asked.
“No. She told her parents she was visiting Tracy Phillips down at OU. Claremore is such a small school; you knew everyone in every grade. Tracy was a senior when we were sophomores, and we knew her freshman year as well. We were all on the cheer team together.”
Steve followed up, “Her parents didn’t tell Scottie?”
“No. She asked them not to. She told them she was thinking about breaking up with him and didn’t want him just showing up out of the blue. She knew he was possessive and jealous enough to do that if he knew where she was. Her parents were never big fans of Scottie. So, they kept her secret from him.” “Is that where she went?” Booger asked.
“Well, I am pretty sure she went to Norman, but I don’t know if she stayed with Tracy. I remember Tracy came to the funeral. We spoke a little afterward, and I mentioned something about that year Ashley went and visited her at college. She said Ashley never came and stayed with her. I was so upset about Ashley’s death that I didn’t press Tracy on it. I hadn’t honestly even thought about it again until yesterday.”
“Is there anything else out of the ordinary you can remember?” Steve asked.
“No. That was the only thing that has popped into my head. It just made me wonder who she was actually visiting on all those trips to Norman.”
Booger gave Steve a nod, and Steve quickly moved the conversation to Scottie and the affair.
“I think I have told you that we have met with Scottie on a few occasions, and there is one thing he told us that we didn’t want to bring up in front of your husband,” Steve began tactfully.
Walters’s face remained steadily blissful.
She would make a great poker player, Steve thought. “We know you and Scottie were having an affair at the time Ashley was killed. He told us all about it.”
The words broke her instantly. Tears immediately began to flow out of her eyes. “I am so ashamed of what I did. Please don’t tell anyone. Jim and I are now in a much better place. We are happy. Please don’t ruin that for me.” She reached for the tissues on the side table.
“We don’t plan on telling anyone. We just need you to answer some questions for us,” Steve said reassuringly. “When was the last time you saw Ashley alive?”
“That morning. The morning he killed her. I was at their house. Steve and I had decided to end the affair. I went to see if Ashley knew I was the other girl. Once I found out she didn’t know it was me, I left. I texted Scottie and told him what I had found out as I was pulling out of their driveway. That was it. Next thing I know, I am getting a phone call telling me that Ashley is dead, and they think Scottie killed her.”
“What exactly did she tell you that morning?” Booger asked.
“She told me she knew Scottie was having an affair, but she didn’t know who the other woman was. That was about it. She was crying a lot. I tried to comfort her, but it felt kind of wrong knowing I was actually the one causing her pain. So, I left as fast as I could.”
“Are you sure she didn’t say anything else?” Steve asked.
“Like what? It seems you are expecting me to say something in particular,” Walters said intuitively.
Steve clarified, “Did she say anything about her plan to get Scottie in trouble?”
“No. I mean, she was devastated. Hurt. Mad. Like I said, she was crying a lot. But no, she didn’t say anything about getting him into any kind of trouble. What do you mean plan?”
“After you left, did you go back to their house that morning?” Booger asked.
“No… I didn’t go back.” Her tears stopped as she slowly discerned the meaning behind Booger’s question. “Wait, you think I….no, I didn’t go back and kill her, if that is what you are getting at.”
Walters stood abruptly and motioned at them. Steve and Booger followed her silent instruction and stood as well.
“Listen, I know I’m not perfect,” she said as she shepherded them to the door. “I made a huge mistake cheating on my husband and doing it with my best friend’s husband makes it even worse, but I could never kill someone. The Bible says ‘thou shalt not kill,’ and I walk with the Lord. I don’t appreciate you coming into my home and insinuating that I am capable of murder, let alone that I am the person who killed my best friend.”
As Walters opened the front door, she said, “Not that you two deserve this, but on the second Saturday of every month, for the last nine years, I have worked the church bake sale at the First Baptist Church of Claremore. When I left Ashley that morning, I went straight to the bake sale, which starts at 10:00 a.m. Anyone who goes to the church can tell you that. When it happened, there were two other ladies working with me—Eloise Blackburn and
Florabelle Martin. “
“Eloise Blackburn,” Steve said. “Any relation to the deputy?” “Yes. Eloise was his grandmother,” Walters said.
“Can you give us a way to contact them, so we can confirm your story?” Steve said.
“Eloise passed away six years ago, but I think I know where Ms. Martin is living.” Walters left them standing by the opened front door and walked back to the kitchen. From there, she spoke loud enough for them to hear her say, “I have a church directory in a drawer back here, I am pretty sure she is still listed in it. Ah, here it is.”
She returned shortly with a piece of paper containing an address: Restful Meadows Assisted Living Center, 1547 Blue Starr Drive.
“She suffers from Alzheimer’s, and she has been living at Restful Meadows for a while now. You can go talk to her, but I’m not sure what she will remember.” As she handed Steve the paper, she simultaneously ushered the two men completely out of her house. She paused in the entryway, holding the door, as they stood on the front porch.
“Look. I may not have been the best friend to Ashley. I know that. But I didn’t kill her. The more you guys stir this up, the bigger the chance that whole deal with me and Scottie will get discovered. I don’t want that to happen. Please, just stay away from my home, and let me get on with my life. Like I said, Jim and I are doing great now. We have two wonderful kids, and we are happy. Please don’t ruin that by bringing up ghosts.” Walters shut the door without giving them a chance to respond.
Steve looked at the slip of paper in his hand. “Do you want to go check this alibi now or after we review the file?”
Booger shrugged. “It’s only 8:53. Let’s make a quick stop at the nursing home, then go to the sheriff’s office. I don’t think visiting with Ms. Martin will take long.”
Steve and Booger pulled into the parking lot of the Restful Meadows Assisted Living Center a few minutes later. The front entrance had two doors, with handles in the middle, that swung outward; they were wide enough that a medical gurney could easily fit between them. Steve reached for the door on the right. It was locked. So was the door on the left. Then, he noticed the intercom and keypad on the left side of the portico.
