CHAPTER 34

The following days of the trial moved past in a blur of activity.

Garrett called several more witnesses who were involved in Palin Accounting. One former employee testified Palin used to grope her bottom on regular occasions. Another said he would often make sexual comments and talk about how much he’d love to see photos of her naked. A third employee said Palin tried to kiss her at work one evening. She quit the next day.

None of it proved his guilt about embezzling money from the Foundation, but it added to the character assassination the prosecution was pushing. Not that it was hard. After one woman testified, Palin turned his head to watch her leave the room. When he turned back around, he licked his lips. It was a horrible look, and the disgust on the female juror’s faces was clear.

At the start of the second week of the trial, once Palin’s character was clear to the jurors, Garrett began calling in the experts. He called accounting specialists, who all testified that the transfer to the account could not have happened in error. He called ethics experts, and they detailed how bad stealing from a charity foundation was. And he called fraud experts, who testified about the changes in records.

Garrett called a document examiner, a compliance expert, and a computer technician. He called forensic specialists, criminal investigative accountants, and fraud investigators. As the expert witnesses testified, Hennessy objected at every opportunity. With each witness, Hennessy crossed examined, but it was of little use. Their testimonies were factual, focused, and involved little emotion.

They all said the same thing—this could not have been an error.

By the second Friday of the trial, the case was firmly in the prosecution’s favor.

Law enforcement made no indication that they had found Witnesses Two and Three, and Garrett was doing their best to prevent Hennessy from referring to them.

Berkley was their star witness to bring everything together, and Hennessy expected him to hit the stands after the weekend.

Hennessy had done everything he could to prepare for his testimony. He read the witness statement so many times that he knew it word for word and knew everything about Berkley’s previous indiscretions. To discredit Berkley on the stand, Hennessy would have to place his questions well. Berkley was a former judge, intelligent, and he appeared trustworthy. Hennessy couldn’t accuse Berkley of fraudulent behavior but instead had to allow the jury members to come to that conclusion themselves.

The closer the trial came to exposing the truth, the more Hennessy could feel the threats. There were people who needed to protect Palin. There were people who needed to ensure their names weren’t mentioned in court. And there were people who had no care for the rule of law.

Publicly, Garrett was going hard after Palin. He repeated the term ‘stealing from children’ over and over and over again. He knew what he was doing. He thought the case was an easy win, and he was painting Palin as the worst sort of criminal. The public was outraged, angry that someone could stoop so low. It all looked good for Garrett and his boss’s re-election chances.

Hennessy dug deep into Stanwell Construction and their activities. He found Palin had been embezzling money from the construction company under invoices paid to the fake firm ‘JR Concreting Supplies,’ which matched Palin’s bank account.

Tony Stanwell didn’t know it, nor did the Rebel Sons.

And Hennessy hoped they never found out.

The nerves were beginning to show for Palin. There were bags under his eyes, and he was slouching at the defense table.

Before Hennessy returned to his apartment after another long Friday night in the office, he entered The Blind Tiger, a legendary bar in downtown Charleston. The bar was a captivating alehouse that opened in 1803 and was almost always full. It featured a brick-walled courtyard at the rear and dark décor inside.

Hennessy greeted Lockett with a handshake and a pat on the shoulder. He then went to the bar, ordered two locally brewed Pale Ales, and returned a moment later.

“I have a lead on Tilly and Fisher,”

Lockett explained. “John Tilly’s brother owned three cars. When I checked, there were only two in his driveway. I’ve put out feelers on his brother’s car, got a hit in Texas. Someone has put the car up online for sale in Austin. If it’s Tilly, he must be trying to ditch it and buy another one. I can contact them, arrange to meet up, and bring them back here if you need it.”

“They’re two consenting adults who have fled town, and I don’t blame them. With everything that Palin is connected to, I’m surprised the prosecution hasn’t charged them with being accomplices.”

“Don’t need me to drag them back?”

“Leave them there,”

Hennessy said. “Right now, the jury believes they’ve run away scared. Let’s not break that myth.”

Lockett nodded. “Think you can win it?”

“It’s in the prosecution’s favor. Right now, Palin looks guilty,”

Hennessy said. “But Clarence Berkley is about to testify. He’s the key to the prosecution’s attack and if we can break him, we might have a chance.”