Be My Baby (16 page)

"It is."

"In the particular forensic post-mortem
conducted on the remains of Ms. Renaud, how did a forensic
toxicologist, such as yourself, know what to look for in her tissue
samples."

"Ms. Renaud made it very easy for us. She
was buried with a locked metal box which contained among other
things sealed samples of the various seeds, powders and roots that
had been purchased previous to her death. The authorities
transferred the evidence into our custody for analysis. Once
identified, we simply analyzed the tissue samples taken from Ms.
Renaud and confirmed the presence of those poisons. Her cause of
death was officially changed to homicide by poisoning."

There was loud murmuring within the court. I
watched as Matthew kept looking around as if waiting for someone to
show up. The judge banged his gavel on the bench.

The prosecutor had no further questions. The
doctor remained on the stand while the defense attorney questioned
him. He tried to establish the margin of error that could exist. He
grilled him on the possibility of contamination in the samples and
the poisons. He asked about the degradation of my mother's tissue
through decomposition. The doctor held his own stating how
perfectly preserved my mother's body was when he had witnessed the
coroner's post-mortem. I didn't feel the defense attorney scored
anything with the jury.

The judge called a short recess and the jury
was escorted out before anyone else could leave. Trey and I left to
go out into the hallway.

"Are you doing okay, sweetie?" he asked
me.

"Yes, I'm fine Trey. I wish that Dad could
have come here today. I'd like to see how he felt the witness did
on the stand."

Trey cocked an eyebrow at me.

"What?" I asked.

"So my opinion doesn't count now that you
have a judge that loves you?"

"Oh Trey," I laughed. "I didn't mean it like
that, honey. Of course I want your opinion."

"It's a little too early to tell but I
definitely think that the forensic evidence that established a
clear-cut cause of death is irrefutable. That's a plus especially
if they can link those poisons directly to Matthew. That will be
the tough part."

"Do you think Matthew will take the
stand?"

"Not if his lawyer has any sense. Though
Matthew could insist on taking the stand in which case, anything is
possible. They threw out the insanity plea bargain, so it could get
interesting."

Trey and I returned to the court room after
the recess and the next witness was called to the stand. It was
another expert witness. Her name was Dr. Pamela Waters a forensic
pathologist with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Headquarters
located in Decatur, Georgia. She was sworn in and took the
stand.

The prosecutor questioned her about the
post-mortem conducted on Ms. Maggie Preston. The witness explained
that the initial cause of death had been listed as 'pending' on her
death certificate.

"Why was 'pending' listed as the decedent's
cause of death?"

"Well," she replied, "She officially died of
respiratory failure but medical conditions which would have been
listed as secondary or contributing factors just did not
exist."

"I see," the prosecutor said. "At what point
would the cause of death be changed? In other words by definition
the word 'pending' alludes that more investigation would be
conducted to search for the actual cause. Is that correct?"

"Yes, it is. Our office had received
notification that in the case of Ms. Maggie Preston the official
cause of death could be deferred pending the outcome of the
impending exhumation of the decedent's sister, Marla Renaud."

"Do you have knowledge of where this
notification originated?"

"Yes. It came directly from Judge
Westfield."

"Judge Westfield?"

"Yes sir. He is a district judge located in
Jackson, Mississippi. Ms. Renaud's burial site is in his
jurisdiction. He had apparently signed the order for exhumation at
the request of Judge Preston Tylar, who was acting on behalf of his
daughter and Ms. Marla Renaud's next of kin, Tylar Sinclair."

"No! I am Marla's next of kin!"

Everyone's head snapped up and looked to
where the screaming had originated. It was Matthew. His attorney
was trying to get him calmed down. He had twisted around in his
chair. He eyes narrowed as he looked at me. He pointed his finger
at me snarling.

"You aren't her daughter!" he screamed at
me. "You're just someone pretending to be her daughter! My mama
told me that!"

(Oh my God! What the hell is he saying?)

The judge was pounding his gavel on the
bench calling for order. I had buried myself into Trey's chest
sobbing. I felt him stand as he pulled me from my seat. He wrapped
his arms around me and led me out of the courtroom into the
hallway.

He located a bench down one of the corridors
and pulled me down next to him on it. I was still sobbing my hands
covered my face.

"Hey Tylar, please don't cry, honey. He's
full of shit or his 'mama' is sweetheart; he's still playing the
insanity card okay?"

Trey pulled his linen handkerchief from his
pocket and started dabbing at my wet cheeks. Just then we were
approached by a woman with a portable microphone. She was dressed
in a suit with the emblem of a local Baton Rouge television station
on the lapel. The guy behind her was in jeans and an oxford shirt.
He had a video camera on his shoulder and I noticed the green light
was illuminated.

"Tylar Sinclair?" she greeted with a smile,
"Jane Jessup here from WBRL Baton Rouge. Can we have a couple of
minutes of your time?"

She didn't wait for an answer as she fired
off her first round.

"Is it true you had your 'alleged' mother's
dead body exhumed for the purpose of proving with DNA that you are
indeed her daughter?"

"No that's not---"

"And isn't it true that your mother was
buried with evidence which purportedly named her murderer?"

"Get away from my wife and turn the camera
off," Trey ordered, shielding me from the guy with the video
camera. "Now," he said in his no-nonsense voice.

The guy switched it to pause; the red light
was now blinking. He looked bored with the whole situation.

"You are?" she asked.

"I am Trey Sinclair her husband. My wife
can't speak to the media during this trial I'm afraid. She may be
called to offer testimony after what just transpired in the court
room. Please excuse us now."

They both backed away as Trey took me by the
arm and hustled me out of the courthouse. We didn't speak until
after we were in the truck and on the highway going back to my
father's estate.

Trey finally reached his hand over to take
mine into his.

"Are you alright, sweetie?"

"I'm just numb Trey. I mean where the hell
did all of that come from in there?"

"I don't know Tylar. It took me by surprise
as well. You know that it is likely just an attempt for him to look
insane, right?"

"Yeah I mean I look just like her,
right?"

"Yes, you do. I think he rattled you though.
I think that is exactly what he intended to do."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure. Hell, maybe
he
is
nuts. Maybe
that's what his mother
led
him to believe. Who the hell knows with that
bunch."

"This has been a total nightmare from the
start."

"I'm sorry, sweetie. What can I do to make
you feel better?"

"I'm tired of not knowing for sure where I
came from. I want this put to rest now. I want DNA testing to prove
my dad is my dad and Marla is my mom."

"You know," he said slowly, "That is not a
bad idea. If Matthew's plan today was to make it look like the
exhumation was an attempt to nail him for something that he will
then claim Maggie did, or that he was not approached as being the
verified next of kin prior to the exhumation of your mother, we
should have our ducks in a row."

"I don't understand, Trey. I mean a judge
has the right to order an exhumation without permission of the
family right?"

"Well, yes and no, depending upon the rules
of civil and/or criminal procedure in the particular jurisdiction
My money is on the fact that Matthew is hoping through some
loophole in the system with the various jurisdictions involved that
he or his attorney I should say, can attempt to throw out all
evidence and testimony relative to the findings on both
post-mortems by citing due process wasn't followed in the gathering
of said evidence."

"What? Trey, that is what the grand jury
used in order to indict him!"

"Exactly, Tylar; but, if in some way, his
attorney has found some obscure loophole which would indicate that
the 'evidence' was secured outside of the rules of procedure
governing it then it can be thrown out and the case can be easily
dismissed."

"Okay, so what if that happens? Can't we
then follow whatever rule of procedure that wasn't followed before
and once again gather the evidence? I mean, I hate the thought of
disturbing my mother's resting place again but it would be worth it
to make sure that bastard is put away for life."

"I'm afraid not, Tylar. The '5th Amendment
to the Constitution governs the principle of double jeopardy. This
means that an acquittal due to a mistrial cannot be prosecuted a
second time for the same criminal act if it is based on the same
facts."

(Holy shit. I was not feeling good about
this.)

"Look," he said, "Let's not jump to
conclusions on this. I really need to talk to your father about
this and research the law library to understand which jurisdiction
has ultimate authority. I mean your mother died in Louisiana; she
is entombed in Mississippi; Maggie died in Georgia, but was likely
poisoned in Mississippi. I hope your father is more familiar with
all of this than I am."

"I'm actually surprised that the D.A.'s
office hasn't subpoenaed you as a witness?"

"Why? What testimony could I provide?"

"Well you were a witness to Maggie's
deathbed confession naming Matthew as her killer as well as your
mother's."

"Isn't that considered 'hearsay' or
something?"

"Not if you recorded it, which you did. Did
Maggie make any protest to your recording her last wishes?"

"I'm not sure that she was even aware of
it."

"But you didn't hide it from her did
you?"

"No, clearly she could see that I had my
phone on holding it up to video record her instructions. It was in
plain sight."

"Good," he said. "You provided that
video-recorded conversation to them already, right?"

"Yeah, I believe that my father did when he
made the request for the exhumation."

When we arrived home I was surprised to see
that my father's car was there. He didn't generally arrive home
this early when he had court.

He immediately came into the entry hall as
Trey was helping me off with my jacket.

"I'm glad you're both here," he said, "I've
got quite a bit of news to share."

CHAPTER 13

My father shared his news with us first as
we sat in the living room. I was curled up next to Trey; there was
a fire crackling in the fireplace.

My father had received a report from the
private investigator he had hired after Matthew's arraignment. He
had been curious when Matthew had blurted out 'Mama' in the
courtroom looking directly at Karen Deeny as she had fled the room.
Ms. Deeny had resigned suddenly from her position as the head of
staff at my father's estate just prior to Matthew's arrest for
murder.

"Tylar," he said hesitantly, "The
investigator was successful in clearing up some of the confusion
relative to Matthew Renaud's background. Apparently the story
amongst your mother and your aunt was that your maternal
grandmother had given birth to Matthew at a young age out of
wedlock, correct?"

"Yes Dad, that is what Maggie told Trey and
I when she was in the hospital. Then when she met Carson Renaud a
couple of years later, he adopted Matthew and raised him as his
own. He was only a half-brother to my mother and Maggie."

"Well the part about Matthew being their
half-brother is true. However Matthew was not your grandmother's
son; he was your grandfather's son born out of wedlock."

"I don't understand," I said frowning.

"Matthew's mother is Karen Deeny, not your
grandmother."

"What?"

"Yes, it's true. I suppose the purpose of
the fabrication was to somehow protect Matthew from the truth
though I suspect it failed to do that at least after your
grandparents were killed."

"Dad - I am not following any of this. I
need details please."

"It seems that Ms. Deeny had a brief affair
with your grandfather. In the hopes of snagging herself a husband
she purposely got pregnant. By this time, your grandfather had
already met and fallen in love with your grandmother. He was honest
about having a son that he supported financially. Your grandmother
insisted that he do more than that. She insisted that the child
carry his name and that he establish a parent-child relationship
with the boy. Your father did just that. When the boy was around
four years of age, they noticed during one of his weekend visits
that it appeared he had been abused. They immediately alerted the
county family service agency and an investigation was
initiated."

My father came over and sat down in the
chair opposite of us. He clasped his hands together as if he was
reluctant to divulge the rest of this story.

"The investigation uncovered the fact that
the boy's mother had been sexually abusing him. After a thorough
medical examination was conducted the findings indicated that this
had been going on for a long period of time; it had escalated to a
larger degree as Matthew got older. The court immediately removed
the boy from her home. Ms. Deeny claimed she had no knowledge of
who could have been abusing the boy. Eventually, permanent custody
was granted to your grandfather. Your grandmother legally adopted
him as her son. Ms. Deeny was legally ordered to have no further
contact with the boy again, ever."