Nodding, I let her go, before leading Tristan into my living room, stepping over all of the boxes.
“What’s all this?” he said, with a lot less edge to his voice.
“Case files on State of Connecticut vs. Ben Walton on the kidnapping, rape and murder of Savannah Van Allen,” I said as I sat back down on the couch and rubbed my eyes.
It was already seven in the morning, and I didn’t see myself sleeping anytime soon.
“You’re going to need to connect the dots for me here Levi.”
“It’s one fucked up story,” I laughed bitterly. “According to the state of Connecticut, my ex-wife’s mother was murdered by my now ex-girlfriend’s father.”
“Holy shit,” Bethan gasped, already back downstairs.
I lifted my empty glass up and tipped it in her direction before finally pouring myself a shot of brandy.
“How many of those have you had?”
“Don’t worry,” I drank again, “this is my first one. I’ve been waiting for you guys to come back, and now that you’re here, I think I’m just going to go ahead and get drunk… because I’m fucked.”
“You’re trying to get him out?” Tristan asked, looking at my notes. “Levi, have you lost your damned mind?”
“He didn’t do it,” I replied, as I finished off my glass and poured another one.
“Levi, I understand you like her—” Bethan began.
“Love. I love her. We’re telling all truths today,” I cut her off.
She sighed, starting again. “Okay. I get that you love her. But she’s his daughter. Of course she thinks her father is innocent, but that doesn’t make it so.”
“That was the very first thing I thought until I started to find out more about Margaret The Shark Cunning. Spoiler Alert; she’s the devil, and believe me, if I could criminally prosecute her, I would a thousand times over.”
“Levi, tell me this isn't just because you love her, and I will back you up one hundred percent. You know I will. So tell me, what do you know that we don’t?”
“Ben Walton and Savannah Van Allen were having an affair. When Margaret found out, she, from what I can gather, tampered with evidence and left him out to hang. She confessed to this eight months ago before dying of stage four-lung cancer. That’s why Thea’s in law school.”
They didn’t say anything for a moment. Bethan slowly sank onto the couch.
“Is there any proof of this?” Tristan asked, as he reached for my notes.
“Only God knows at this point. Thea has been combing over these files for months. I haven’t touched them, because I knew the minute I did, I would have to tell her.”
“So you told her?” Bethan questioned.
“Yes, and she walked out.”
“And you’re still looking into this?” she whispered. “This is Pandora’s Box, Levi. The moment you open it, bad shit is going to coming flying out at you from every direction. Mom… Oh my God, Mom will just lose it. Not to mention Odile.”
As she sat there staring at me, Tristan spoke up, “But if the man is really innocent, I can’t imagine not doing anything just because we will piss a few people off. They should know the truth, and the right people should be jailed for their crimes. That’s the point of the justice system.” Tristan looked to me. “I’ve spent my career with you, helping people stay out of prison. Sometimes rightfully so and other times not. I’ll support you on this, but there’s a great chance we will lose, and lose badly.”
“I’m prepared for it.”
“You might not get her back either,” he added.
That I wasn’t as prepared for.
“I’ll deal with that.”
“Can I just play devil’s advocate for one second?” Bethan frowned looking at us both. I just nodded for her to go on. “Aren’t you being a little too trusting? Levi, babe, these are your careers, careers you’ve both spent years, and hundreds of thousands of dollars crafting. I’ve been here from the beginning. I’ve seen the shit you’ve both put yourselves through just to get this far.