Page 104 of The Right to Remain

“You can’t interfere.”

“I know. There may be nothing I can do. But maybe I can stop something terrible from happening just by being there. That’s all I ask.”

“All right,” he said, seeming to acquiesce. “I’ll see what I can do.”

She thanked him, they shook hands, and Andie started for the door. Then she stopped. Being too specific carried some risk of outing Francine as her source, but she wanted no misunderstandings.

“And by the way,” said Andie. “To me, Theo Knight is family.”

Tidwell showed little reaction. She waited for a response, which came finally, and even though he spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, he seemed to be on her side.

“I knew it wasn’t Jack you were worried about.”

It was more than the “bone” Andie had thought he might throw her way. She gave him a quick thumbs-up and left the ASAC’s office.

Chapter 38

Jack returned to Turner-Guilford-Knight Correctional Center on Wednesday for the deposition of Elliott’s mother.

Florida rules of criminal procedure allowed both the prosecution and defense to depose key witnesses before trial. First on the prosecution’s list was Serena Carpenter. Jack knew from a simple background check that she was a convicted felon serving a ten-year sentence at a maximum-security penitentiary, but her exact role in the case against Elliott was unclear. A guard had tipped off Jack that she’d seen Elliott speaking to his mother in the cafeteria, so Jack arrived early and tried to speak to his client before the deposition. The conversation went nowhere. At least as to Jack, the “speech strike” was ongoing.

“Please swear in the witness,” said the prosecutor.

Jack was seated opposite the prosecutor at a rectangular table in the center of a windowless room. A videographer stood at one end of the table to record the deposition. The witness sat facing the camera, dressed in a prison jumpsuit, flanked by the stenographer to her right and her attorney to the left. Jack didn’t know Racquel “Rocky” Horford well, but her reputation was to avoid trial by cutting deals for her clients. Jack suspected that a deal was already in the works for a “good word” from the prosecutor to the parole board in exchange for truthful but helpful testimony against Elliott.

The room was silent, the stenographer’s fingers frozen on the keys, as the witness pondered whether to “swear to tell the truth.” A simple “I do” was the well-worn formality, but Elliott’s mother had her own way of doing things.

“Sure, why not?” said Serena.

The prosecutor introduced herself to the witness, then made a statement for the record:

“Because the witness is incarcerated outside Miami-Dade County, she may be unavailable for trial. If that is the case, this video-recorded deposition testimony will serve as her trial testimony. Defense counsel should comport himself accordingly.”

Jack took the warning to heart: This deposition might be his only chance to cross-examine Elliott’s mother. “Understood,” said Jack.

The prosecutor began with the usual formalities and quickly established the witness’s relationship to the defendant. Then her questioning focused on a very specific moment in time.

“Ms. Carpenter, I was to ask you about the day Elle Carpenter gave birth to a baby boy.”

“I remember it well,” she said. “I was with her in the hospital room when it happened.”

“On that day, was it your understanding that Elle would be giving up the baby for adoption?”

“That was everyone’s understanding. We had a written agreement with Mr. and Mrs. Pollard. They were in the waiting room.”

“Did that understanding come into question at any point in time?”

“Yeah. Elle changed her mind.”

“When?”

“It was pretty quick. Even where the adoptive parents have been picked and are outside the room waiting, they don’t just whisk the baby away from the mother the moment she gives birth. Elle got to hold the baby. When the nurse came to take him, Elle looked at me and said, ‘I’m keeping him.’”

“What happened next?”

“We argued, but Elle wouldn’t budge. So, I went to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Pollard in the waiting room. I told them Elle had changed her mind.”

“They were upset, I assume.”