SHELBYVILLE
- THAT NIGHT
Kim and her mother are finishing
supper. Kim hurriedly clears away the dishes.
"I've got to run, Mom. I want
to stop at the store before I go to work."
Her mother sniffs in disapproval.
"When
you work at Golden Needle, you not have to work all night."
"I like my job at Burger King, Mom. All my friends work there."
"Huh, all your friends, they make money, then go to mall and
spend. Should save your money! When you be home?"
"I'm not sure. I may have
to work late," Kim hedges.
"When you study? When you work at Golden Needle…?"
"I'll study when I get home."
"Grace Woo daughter respect her mother. She work at Golden
Needle. She tell me she in important society, this National Honor Society."
"I respect you too, Mom, but I have my own life to live. The
whole point of being in America is to be free. To think for ourselves.
To follow our dreams."
"What kind of dream is it that you go out with that boy? You
can't find nice Chinese boy?" Kati asks, flushed, a hand over her racing heart. "Rosanna Hwang is already apprenticed as dental assistant.
She has future."
"Oh, Mom! Some future--like I really
want to be cleaning people's teeth!" Kim replies softly, but scornfully.
"You thinking always about what you
want. You no care anymore what I want for you? Where is my daughter--born
in Taiwan? I see only American girl now,"
Kati says harshly.
"I've got to go," Kim says, ignoring the rest of the dishes. She grabs her
coat and runs out the door. She waits impatiently for the elevator, then heads
for the stairwell, where she sinks down on the landing, crying softly.
Hearing the door shut softly behind
her, she looks up to see Kimble and realizes he must have heard the whole
argument. With an embarrassed look, she turns away. Kimble
hesitates, then sits down on the top step beside her.
"My father never understood my dreams, either."
"I bet your father wasn't
Chinese!"
"No," Kimble says with
a smile, "but he had very definite opinions."
"My father died in a car accident last year. I know he would
have understood. He loved America. My mother still thinks we live in Taiwan.
She thinks I've turned my back on everything
Chinese. I know I'm disappointing her, but
if I don't choose my own destiny, I'll be disappointing myself!"
"Just because you disagree doesn't mean you stop loving each other."
Kim looks at him in surprise and
sees a sad look on his face. Confused, she looks at her watch. "I've got to go. I'll be late for work."
As Kimble turns to go back to his apartment, she calls after him. "Thanks."
Kimble hesitates then calls after
her. "Kim?"
She gives him a questioning look.
"I wonder if you could do me a favor. I have a post office
box and I'm expecting a package, but its
hard to get away from work during the day to pick it up. Do you think you
could…"
"Sure," she offers readily.
"Its just a few blocks from school."
"Great. Here's the box number
and combination. I'll owe you one," he says, handing her a piece of paper.
"No problem," she says
with a smile.
CHICAGO, GERARD'S OFFICE, NEXT MORNING
Kari Holmes is sitting beside the desk looking across at the coroner. Capt. Gerard and Eve Hilliard are standing behind her. It is apparent that a conversation has been taking place. Kari has a file in her hand and is looking at it. She looks across the desk to Dr. Alexander with a steely eye.
“Dr. Alexander, have I heard you correctly? You are recanting the statement that you made to me and the statement that you made under oath in a court of law?”
Dr. Alexander looking uncertain and very nervous says, “Agent Holmes that wasn’t really a court of law, it was mock trial.” The man looks like he’s going to be physically ill but Kari does not care.
Kari leans in and says, “Dr. Alexander, I have here the report on the fire in the coroner’s office. It conclusively says that the fire was caused by arson, which means it was deliberately set. What can you tell me about it?”
He shakes his head and says, “Agent Holmes, am I under arrest? Please clarify that so I can call a lawyer.”
Gerard and Eve look at each other as Kari slowly stands up and demands, “Dr. Alexander, who threatened you?”
“Agent Holmes, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Kari, barely able to maintain her composure, says with murderous calmness, “Dr. Alexander! There was an arson fire at your morgue…specifically in your records division. Now can you explain to me why the evidence that you and I uncovered ended up in a non fireproof cabinet?”
He shakes his head and says, “That was unfortunate. Sometimes things get misplaced.”
She walks around to the front of her desk and sits on the edge of it and says, “Dr. Alexander, the information that was sent to Syracuse regarding that mock retrial is now missing. The original documents are now destroyed. We have copies of the documents here but without the originals or your testimony to certify that they are true and exact copies, Kimble is as good as dead!”
Gerard
interjects and says, “Agent Holmes, if the man is recanting his statement
there’s nothing we can do at this point.” He looks at Alexander. “You’re
free to go.”
He gets up, but as he slinks out of the office Kari says, “Dr. Alexander, please explain to your daughter when she’s old enough to understand how you helped send an innocent man to his death!”
“That’s enough Agent Holmes!” Gerard interjects. Dr. Alexander walks out without saying a word.
Kari looks at him in disgust and turns to Capt. Gerard. “I suppose you’re happy, aren’t you Capt. Gerard? This puts a big damper on Kimble’s appeal.”
“That evidence was ambiguous, at best, Agent Holmes.” He sits down behind at his desk, dismissing them both.
Eve then says, “Philip, how can you be so flippant about this? Evidence has been lost…perhaps deliberately. Doesn’t that seem just a little strange and convenient?”
“Kimble
was convicted. Its not our job to overturn that conviction. Our job is to
bring him in. Try to remember that,” he adds with emphasis.
Kari can’t contain her emotions any longer and says with conviction. “Where’s the rest of the Helen Kimble file?” Eve hands it to her. Kari grabs the death certificate and says, “All right, if the autopsy records have been destroyed, I’m ordering a new autopsy. I’ll call a judge and get an exhumation order for the Chicago Memorial Cemetery.”
“Agent Holmes, were you just listening to me?” Gerard explodes.
Kari ignors him, while Eve looks closer and the death certificate. “Agent Holmes, you can’t do another autopsy.”
Gerard nods his head, glad at least Eve is displaying common sense.
“Why not?!” Kari demands.
Eve points at the death certificate. “Because according to this Helen Kimble was cremated.”
Kari’s eyes get wide. “What? That’s not possible! I’ve been to her grave. She’s buried in the Ross family plot, it even shows that’s where she’s buried.”
Eve shows her another line on the death certificate. “She was cremated after her funeral. Her ashes are buried in the family plot. It’s kind of a new trend. People are telling their loved ones that they want to be cremated when their time comes but the people left behind still wish to go visit a grave.”
Kari truly looks like she’s been punched in the stomach at this news. There is a long silence between the three of them and then Kari picks up her purse and starts to walk out. “Where are you going?” Gerard demands.
Kari turns to him and says, “I’m going to find a witness who saw what happened that night. Someone out there knows what happened and I intend to find them!”
She starts to walk out but Gerard puts his hand on her shoulder, stopping her. “Kimble killed his wife!” he says emphatically. “The jury believed that. And any witness you find will only verify that. I looked for evidence of a one-armed man and I asked everyone who lived in that apartment complex and in the apartments surrounding that area. Nobody saw anything because there was no one-armed man.”
Kari shakes Gerard’s hand off of her and she says very defiantly and with a raised voice. “Then you didn’t look hard enough! Now I am going to find everyone who lived in that apartment complex the night Helen Kimble was murdered and I will talk to every one of them fifty times if I have to and don’t you dare try to stop me!” She walks out.
Eve turns to Gerard. and says, “You’re being awfully quiet. I half expected you to slap handcuffs on her and restrain her.”
Gerard looks dangerously thoughtful. “Holmes is obsessed with proving that Charnquist is guilty. I’d like to know why. If she’s fallen under Kimble’s spell like all the other people who think he’s innocent, she may cross the line someday. If she helps him in anyway, I will see that she pays for it, just like Becca Ross did. If she gets in my way, she will be sorry.”
Gerard sees the look on Eve’s face. “What are you thinking?”
Eve walks up to Gerard and says, “I’m thinking you’re a fine person to be talking about obsession.” Before he can object, she holds up her hand to silence him.
“How can you not question everything that’s happened, Philip? The evidence that she uncovered was sound along with my evidence that Smith282 was a real person. There was a time you thought Ben Charnquist did not even exist, yet witnesses at the hospital confirmed Charnquist’s existence before the students did at Alex’s school. The only person who claimed to be a witness to Helen’s murder was killed while Charnquist was in the vicinity, and now the autopsy evidence has been destroyed. Yet you still believe beyond a reasonable doubt that Richard Kimble killed his wife?”
“There is no evidence that Charnquist was in that apartment that night!” Gerard shouts, his patience at an end. “Kimble’s using him as a scapegoat! Maybe Charnquist and Walsh knew each other. They had an argument and Walsh was killed. Tell me how that ties Charnquist to Helen Kimble’s murder, other than Kimble’s say-so.”
“You know, Captain, if I had the immunity that Holmes has because she’s reporting to DC, I’d go help her!” She turns and walks out the door without a backward glance.