A Long Road to Redemption

Chapter 25

It was late as Shelia began reviewing the information on the Lawson Pierson murder. Everything was so cut and dry. The story featured a rich heir to a fortune, a jilted lover who snapped, a quick confession, and a swift move to put the killer away. It would be a great episode if this were a TV show, but something wasn't sitting right with her. Was rejection enough to cause a young woman with no history of violence to snap? Somehow, Shelia didn't think so. This whole thing with the missing flash drive bothered her. How could such a valuable piece of evidence not be used in her defense? Worse yet, why had so few heard of its existence in the first place? The police should have made every effort and more to locate such an important piece of evidence. It was almost as if almost everyone dismissed it as a story cooked up by a desperate defense.

She decided to start by doing a little homework on Lawson Pierson. On the surface, he seemed like the picture the prosecution painted him to be, so she had to look a little deeper. If it were true that he was a womanizer, that information would open up new doors in pulling apart the façade he'd carefully built. That was easier said than done.

Lawson was certainly wealthy, but it wasn't like he was a movie star. Sure there were society pieces in the local news, but it's not like he was always making a scene. It was possibly also a waste of time to track down any of the women he'd supposedly been with over the years. Then again, one of his friends could provide information on that subject. Still, she would have to figure out how to get close to one of them without arousing suspicion.

The next thing that bothered her was the differences between the official report and Roger's story about what he saw on the scene. If what he told her was true, and she had no reason to doubt it was, then there was a major corruption problem in the Warrenton Police Department. It also meant that the District Attorney's Office collaborated with the Piersons to put Sidney away without the usual due process of law.

Why would Sidney herself go along with that in the first place? Given that she did hit him on the head with a scuba tank, why were there two wounds when she said in the official report that she only hit him once? If she is telling the truth, which wound was the cause of death? Was it possible that she hit him once, and then the second could have been self-inflicted in his fall? Possibly, yes, but that's not what the official cause of death was listed as. Officially, Sidney hit Lawson in the back of the head, killing him, but that didn't make sense. For whatever reason, this young woman took a plea that has landed her in prison for at least 12 years.

What if there was a flash drive with precisely what she said was recorded on it? That could change a lot for her. Maybe it was not murder but manslaughter. She would almost certainly get locked up, but probably for far less time when one considers the case's extenuating circumstances, like the mental stress and the intoxicated nature of Lawson that night. Then again, almost none of her side of the story made it into the official account. It's as if the prosecution was allowed to build whatever case it wanted, and the defense was fine with signing off on it—end of story.

The place to start was with Luke Brady, the attorney, or maybe from the source herself. No, Brady would be able to shine more light on her case than Sidney Lewis would. Some of his decisions were odd. Why would you agree to a plea on a case that could make your career, especially one in her estimation he had a chance to win? It was time for some answers and Luke Brady might be the only one who could provide them.

The following day, after checking in with the studio, Shelia went to the office of Luke Brady. He was still meeting with a client when she arrived, so she waited about a half hour for the meeting to end. A man in a suit came around the corner carrying a briefcase. He gave a nod to the secretary and walked out the door. Another ten minutes passed before Luke Brady came around the same corner. "Hello, I'm Luke Brady," he said as he offered his hand, "please come back to my office."