The Professor's Defender

Chapter 7

Declan reheated a bowl of chilli and sat at the dining room table. There was a box with his name on it. Curiosity warred with propriety, but propriety never really stood a chance. He pulled out the first file labelled crime scene photos. He knew he shouldn't, but he forced himself to open the one labelled with Autumn's name.

First there were photos of her bed. He could see the handcuffs used to restrain her, the sheets which were badly twisted, the underwear which had been cut from her body, the stains of blood and urine. Two days, Chantale had said. Autumn had been alone in that state for two days. What had he been doing? Probably sipping red wine and watching a foreign film.

When he flipped to the next photo, he blanched and then quickly shut the folder.

"It's pretty grim," Chantale remarked and Declan's gaze shot to hers. He hadn't even heard her come in.

"It's..." His voice drifted off. "How do you do it? How do you look at this and not go crazy?"

She sat heavily. "That's not an easy question to answer. I debated going into the prosecutor's office for a while, but found myself pulled by the lure of defending the innocent."

"But they're not all innocent," Declan said. "Would you represent the man that did this?"

"Yes, I would."

He dropped the folder to the table with more force than was necessary, but Chantale didn't budge.

"I don't expect you to understand, Declan, but this is what I do for a living and I'm good at it. I don't always enjoy my work, but I respect the system."

"Why? Why respect a system that would allow a monster like this a defence? There is no defence for this, Chantale. There's no excuse for this."

"I didn't say there was. What I said was that everyone deserves representation. If I didn't do it, then someone else would." She met his gaze. "If I hadn't taken your case then someone else would have. I just happen to know I'll fight harder than anyone else because I believe in your innocence."

That brought him up short. He hesitated for a moment. "Do you defend the guilty as vigorously as you defend the innocent?"

She nodded. "But I also do it differently. If my client is guilty I might try to get them a reduced sentence, fight to get them credit for time served, encourage the prosecution to consider rehabilitation."

"Have you ever gone to trial with a guilty client?"

"Yes."

"Was your client found not guilty?"

"She was."

"Did she re-offend?"

"She did."

Her answers were clipped, but Declan didn't buy the indifference. "What did she do?"

"The first time, strung out on meth, she held up a little old lady who had just cashed her pension cheque."

"And you got her off?"

To his horror, she nodded. "The old lady's vision wasn't so good and she wasn't able to hold up under my questioning."

"Then what happened?"

"I secured my client a bed in a rehabilitation facility and went on with my practice."