Clayton and Krystal: Churches and interview rooms

***As some of you may have guessed, I got a lot of help on the lawyer bits. While the person who helps me is extremely modest, I am comfortable pointing out that I have no imagination and Ken Aarons' name resembles that of the brilliant lawyer (and blogger) who guided me through these bits.

All errors are mine.***

 

“Have you ever gone to a church?” Krystal asked Alice, out of the blue.

“I used to go pretty regular, back in the day” Alice admitted.

“Why did you stop?” Krystal asked.

Alice thought back. “I got busy and just sort of fell out of the habit” she said.

“If I wanted to go to a church, where should I go?” Krystal asked.

“That is a tough question” Alice admitted. “They aren’t all the same just like folks aren’t identically the same. Some will be a better fit than others. There are a bunch of them in town. Any one of them would be happy to have you show up.”

“Where did you go?” Krystal pressed.

“Just down the road” Alice said. “Missionary Bible Church. It was the closest one and it fit good enough to help me out.”

“What’s it like?” Krystal asked.

“It probably changed some since I went” Alice said. “But folks would start showing up fifteen, twenty minutes before the service started. They don’t have pews, just folding chairs so you might have to get your own chair.”

“The preacher writes the chapter in the Bible that he will be talking about on the chalk-board so folks have time to find it in their Bible” Alice said.

“What if I don’t have a Bible?” Krystal asked.

“Don’t worry, honey. They got extra” Alice said.

“Why, do you think you want to go to church?” Alice asked.

Krystal blushed. “One of my patients told me that I have too much pain in my life, that I have to make some room for God. I figured going to church might be a good way to start.”

“You know, it has been a while since I have seen some of my church friends. Whaddya say you and I make a morning of it this Sunday?” Alice said.

“How long will it last?” Krystal asked. She had heard horror stories of people spending the whole day at church.

“The service will last about an hour, maybe an hour-and-a-half. The preacher knows them folding chairs ain’t the most comfortable, especially for us older folks” Alice said.

“I’m in” Krystal said.

***

The interview with the police was anticlimactic.

Ken Aarons, Clayton’s attorney had a pad of legal paper and a folder and sat to Clayton’s left. Taped to the top sheet of the legal pad was a sheet of copy paper covered with lists printed in very tiny font. The detectives sat on the other side of the table.

Aarons made a small check-mark on his paper with a pencil after each question the detectives asked. Clayton stayed on-script.

At one point Detective Willis asked “Why did you move to Lolium Township?”

Clayton responded “Because my Uncle Ed and Aunt Alice invited me to move in with them”

A short time later Willis asked “Why did you move out of Lansing?”

Aarons pressed his right knee against Clayton’s leg to stop him from answering while he scanned the check-marks on his list. Then Aarons said “You already asked that question and Mr Cummins already answered it”

Willis asked, “So what is the answer”

Aarons answered “Responding as his paid legal representative, the answer is the same as last time.”

Another time Willis went fishing “So, if you didn’t torch your own house, do you have any idea who did?”

Aarons again stopped Clayton from answering. “Your question implies that if he cannot implicate somebody else then he is admitting to arson. That is an improper question. Ask it again but ask it properly.”

Willis rolled his eyes. “Do you have any idea who torched your house?”

Clayton responded “No.”

The interview took less time than Willis expected because Aarons cut off any rabbit-holes that Willis would have led Clayton into. In a way, Willis was glad. It meant that he could cold-file the case and move on to more promising cases.

Near the end of the interview, Aarons informed the Detectives “I have sworn statements from Clayton's Aunt and Uncle that he was in Lolium Township the entire day before the fire and the entire night of the fire.”

“I have sworn statements from the neighbor who called the fire into 9-1-1 that Clayton was not at the scene. The neighbor stated that the exits were boarded up when he became aware of the fire and they had not been boarded up during the day." Aarons said.

 

"I also have a sworn statement from a neighbor who is a night-owl who did not hear Clayton’s diesel truck that night...and she was not watching TV she was reading on her Kindle by the window.” Aarons was holding the sealed envelope in his hand and swishing it through the air as he spoke.

 

"Can we make copies of the statements from the neighbors?" Detective Willis asked.

 

"It usually doesn't work that way. I don't OWE you this information but since it all exonerates my client, I am willing to make an exception in this case." Aarons said. 

“I assume you pulled his phone records and they verify that he was not there and none of his texts suggest he was coordinating the fire with anybody else.” Aarons said.

“To charge my client, you need proof that a crime was committed and you need to convince the prosecutor that my client was the most likely person to have committed it. While I agree that Attempted Murder may have been committed, it could not have been committed by Mr Cummins.” Aarons said.

“Is it safe to assume that my client is not a suspect and will not be charged?” Aarons asked.

“I never said he was a suspect” Detective Willis said.

 

Aarons waited.

“At this time, your client is not a suspect” Willis’s partner, Detective Toast finally said.

“Please send us contact information if anything changes in case we need you as a witness later on” Toast said.

“Thank-you for your time. You are free to leave.”

 

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