Chapter 11

I t took a bit, but eventually Doreen found a number for the Freedom Project, and, armed with the information she had so far, she contacted them to find out why Brandon’s request had been turned down.

When the lady on the other end, Lucy, realized that Doreen had no legal right to ask all these questions, Lucy wasn’t very forthcoming. Doreen pressed her a bit. “But the fact of the matter is, your project is here and is not necessarily just for people who are lawyers,” Doreen argued. “You’re here for anybody who has been unjustly treated. Is that not correct?”

“Yes, of course it is,” Lucy agreed. “However, we’re also very short on time and man-hours, so we must put our energy into the cases we have a good chance of winning. I won’t say any more about that.”

“Ah, so not necessarily the cases you believe or don’t believe in but the ones that have the best chance of surviving the legal system.”

“Something like that, yes. Also we understand that Brandon is now deceased.”

“Yes, that’s quite correct. I just wondered how far any of his requests went.”

“It didn’t go anywhere,” Lucy stated firmly. “We looked into his request, and it might have been something we could have dealt with, but he was admittedly guilty of plenty, which doesn’t help his case. And now, seeing that Brandon is no longer with us, it’s definitely not something we have any interest in pursuing.”

“Just like that?”

“Not out of callousness,” she said sharply, “and I know it may sound insensitive, but it’s simply a matter of a lack of time and energy.”

“Of course. I do understand that.”

“It would be nice if more people did,” Lucy said ruefully, “because honestly, a lot of people hold those decisions against us. They have zero understanding of the investment we make in these cases. Now, if we had the money, we could and would do so much more. Yet we just don’t have those kinds of resources.”

“So, it really comes down to a funding issue?”

“Yes,” she declared. “It’s definitely a money issue. Like everyone else, we must live within our means, and that comes down to limited manpower, which limits the cases we can take on. So, any time you want to donate, feel free.”

As Doreen ended the call, she stared out at the world around her, realizing she may well have money that could be put to good use and donated to the Freedom Project. But how did she figure out how to do it, without messing it up, spending it all and losing the financial security it appeared she would have? Again she was reminded that she should speak to Nick and Bernard about these financial issues. She added it to her notepad to remind her to deal with this later.

She tossed that into the back of her mind, as her phone was buzzing. It was Mack’s brother.

“Hey,” Nick greeted her. “I tried calling earlier, but the line was busy for a while.”

“Yep, a busy day,” she said.

“I’ve never quite understood that,” he muttered. “How is it that you are always so busy?”

“You would be surprised,” she muttered.

“Who were you calling this time?” he asked curiously.

“The Freedom Project.… You know? The people who help those who have been incarcerated wrongly to get out of jail.”

After a moment of silence, Nick asked, “Are you on another case?”

“Kind of. Maybe, maybe not. I’m just bored.”

“Bored?” he asked in astonishment.

“Yes,… bored. And that apparently is something nobody else really understands.”

“I can understand it in theory,” he replied. “Still, it’s not something I typically have any experience with, though.”

“Meaning, you’re never bored?”

“Meaning, I’ve never really had a chance to get bored. Being a lawyer, there’s always so much work to do. We do live in a litigious world.” He chuckled. “So, boredom is not something I get to experience with my schedule. Lots of other things, but never boredom.”

“And I suppose that’s fair,” she muttered. “I mean, it’s not as if any of us get a chance to do things the way we want.”

“ Uh-oh . Sounds as if you’re heading off on a crusade again.”

“No, no, I’m not.… Well, maybe I am.”

And he burst out laughing. “Does Mack know?”

“Maybe.” Then she added, “Speaking of Mack. Remember those watch collections we were talking about? You know, that Mathew had?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Mack would like a new watch for Christmas? If I could get one out of Mathew’s collection?”

Nick paused. “I know Mack would love a new watch for Christmas. He’s mentioned a couple times that he needs to get a new watch.”

“Right,” she agreed. “The thing is, I don’t know if one of Mathew’s watches would do. Mathew didn’t wear them very much. Plus, it would be Mathew’s watch, and maybe that’s a big no-no for Mack.”

“What kind of watches were they?”

“I don’t really know, but I do remember when he bought one of them. He spent an outrageous amount of money on it, but he was really happy with it.”

“What do you consider an outrageous amount of money? I mean, you’ve called a grand outrageous many times since we met.”

“I’m thinking he paid $175,000 for this one watch,” she muttered.

There was dead silence on the other end. “Doreen, we really need to get a full accounting of everything in his place, like today. Are you sure you don’t want to fly down there and go through everything? I’m thinking now that maybe I need to go in person as well.”

“Only if you think we need to,” she replied. “I mean, I don’t really know whether that’s a lot of money for a watch or not. I did a quick search on Google, and they go from about twenty bucks on eBay to hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

“Exactly,” Nick replied. “Yet I can tell you that, when Mack’s talking about a watch, he’s talking about a watch he could actually wear.”

“And why wouldn’t he wear one of Mathew’s?” she asked, frowning. “What’s the point of spending that kind of money if it’s not even a watch you can wear?”

He laughed. “You certainly could wear it,” he declared.

She was more confused now. “But that’s what I’m asking about,” she said in exasperation. “Why is everything so overly complicated?”

“It’s not intended to be complicated.” He chuckled. “Just some things get a little more complicated than you expect.”

She stared down at her phone. “Meaning, I make it more complicated, is that what you’re saying?”

He burst out laughing. “No, I don’t even want to say that. What I am saying is that sometimes you have rings that you can wear anywhere, and then you have the ones that are so valuable that you don’t want to wear them in case it might get damaged or stolen.”

“Oh.” And the thought continued to ring in her mind. “So, you think those watches from my ex will be too valuable to wear? Which means, that’s not a normal price for a watch, is that what you’re saying?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” he stated. “I’m not saying that Mack wouldn’t like it, but it won’t be something he would use daily without having to worry about it.”

“No point having a watch if he won’t wear it. I just want him to have something he would like and use.”

“Then why don’t you go for something that is still a good watch, but is a whole lot less money?” He mentioned a few brands that she didn’t recognize.

“Hang on. Let me write those down. And does anybody in town sell these?”

“Sure, and that’s a good idea. If you get it from somebody local, you can get a warranty and hopefully trust them to look after the watch and to keep it in good running condition.”

“Right, so maybe I’ll go to the jewelers.”

“Don’t you know a couple in town?”

“I do know a couple. I’m just not sure they’ll be happy to see me.”

A choked-off laugh came first. “You know that issues like these always arise when you tend to put people behind bars, right?”

“I do know somebody who could help me. Remember the guy who evaluated your mother’s jewels?”

“Right, so, in essence, you do have somebody you can talk to. Just confirm you get Mack a watch he can wear on a daily basis.”

“Versus?” she asked in confusion.

“Versus a watch he would take out and admire every once in a while but would never wear.”

“But that would be useless,” she cried out.

“Exactly, and that’s what I’m saying. Get something useful. That would suit Mack a whole lot more.”