“I’m sorry, that’s not why I’m here.” He didn’t say more. Most lawyers liked to talk, to hear their own voices. Sean had learned that you get more information if you wait and listen.
Chadwick sat back and considered him. After a long silence, he said, “Then why are you here?”
“You had several calls with my daughter and I was, well, surprised. She’d never told me about you.”
Chadwick sighed, a drawn out audible exhale. “You don’t know anything? She didn’t mention me?”
Sean shrugged.
“Abby was going to try to reopen my conviction—get it thrown out. Get me out of here. Prove I’m innocent.”
Sean narrowed his eyes.
Chadwick said, “Look, I know how that sounds, believe me. Everybody in here is innocent. But I really am. And the DNA is going to prove it.”
“There’s DNA evidence?”
Chadwick leaned forward and rubbed his chin with the back of a chained hand. “I was a senior in college and I had a bad drinking problem. My girlfriend, Natalie, was murdered.”
Sean looked into Chadwick’s eyes, but said nothing.
“The night she was murdered,” Chadwick continued, “we’d had a fight. She didn’t like that I was going to a party. She’d been trying to get me to stop drinking. As usual, I didn’t listen and went out. I woke up the next morning in my dorm room. I had no idea how I got there. And I had a bruised hand. The next thing I know, the police are knocking on my door. Natalie was found dead, beaten to death, and she’d been sexually assaulted. And I’ve been locked up ever since. But I didn’t kill her, Mr. Serrat. I loved her.”
“You didn’t mention the part about being found guilty at trial after your parents hired an expensive defense lawyer,” Sean challenged.
Chadwick locked eyes with Sean. “So you do know about my case,” he said. “You’re right, I was convicted. But that was before DNA testing was routine and as sophisticated as it is now. Natalie scratched whoever attacked her. She had skin under her fingernails. Six months ago I learned that they still have the evidence samples. The blood type was A positive, the same as mine. But DNA can prove it wasn’t me. Abby was going to help.”
Sean examined the man. If he was lying, it was Oscar worthy. But Sean found it hard to believe that Abby wouldn’t have mentioned this. And she wasn’t even licensed to practice law, so unless the representation was through a law school clinic, something was off here.
“Do you know how Abby found out about your case? Did you contact her?”
Chadwick lifted his gaze to the ceiling, thinking. “I’m not sure how she found out. I didn’t contact her. She just showed up one day and asked to speak with me. I don’t get many visitors. It was a chance to talk to a woman who wasn’t my mother, so I said why not?” Chadwick cocked his chin at the door. “And then this delightful young woman came in. I felt terrible when I heard what happened, and not just because she was helping me. She seemed like a nice person, a good person.”
Sean nodded. On that much the two men could agree. “What did you and Abby talk about when she visited? Maybe there’s something I can do.” It was a cruelly hollow offer, but he needed information.
“She just wanted to know anything and everything she could about my life back then. What happened the night Natalie was killed, what happened with my trial, who my friends were then, pretty much everything I could remember.”
“How many times did she visit you?”
“Twice in person, but we mostly talked on the phone, though she stopped accepting my last few calls.”
“Do you remember if she took notes when she interviewed you?”
“Oh yeah, she sat right where you are, scribbling away.”
“Was there anything in particular she focused on? Something she kept coming back to about your background or your case?”
Chadwick moved his eyes to the ceiling again. “She seemed most interested in who could have actually killed Natalie. That’s the problem my lawyer at trial had. I mean, if it wasn’t me, then who? Abby was obviously focused on the DNA, but she said we needed to give them another reason to reopen the case.”
“And do you have any ideas about who might have killed Natalie?”
Chadwick shook his head. “I don’t. Trust me, I’ve had years to think about it. So me and Abby just went through everyone I knew. Everyone Natalie knew.”
“Can you give me those names?” The officers had allowed Sean to bring in a white notepad and pencil, issued to him at the security check point. He would have to return the unused portion of the pad and the pencil before he could leave the prison.
Chadwick perked up. “Absolutely.” He looked Sean in the eyes. “I’ve spent my entire adult life behind bars. I was guilty of being a spoiled kid, guilty of drinking way too much, and guilty of being, pardon my language, an asshole. But I didn’t kill Natalie.”