beat him with whatever she could get her hands on.”
The same footage of the brothers before and after release appeared on the screen, along with collages of them in earlier times.
“Can you pause that?” Kate disappeared out the front door and returned with a box of files. “The one with the mole on his chin is Gary, the eldest and the gang leader.”
“How many others are there?”
“In total, six boys and three girls, with Gary, Bruce, Rick, Patrick, aka Paddy, Keith, Savannah, Amber, and Tiarna. Ian’s currently serving three years for robbing a gun store. They range from eight to thirty. That mother’s womb is in and out more often than an accordion.” She sorted through the box and removed a manila folder. “Among them they have over twenty-five convictions for armed robbery, aggravated assault, extortion, drug and firearm offenses. Prison’s got a revolving door on it just for them, thanks to bleeding heart judges.”
“At the time of Giverny’s rape,” Anya said, “Gary must have had a beard.”
“She didn’t remember seeing a mole and we assumed it was because it was dark and she didn’t get a chance. We thought Keith, the middle one, was the only one who had a beard. Why didn’t anyone think to check?”
More photos were pulled out and laid on the floor. Some of them were taken outside court and were accompanied by lengthy charge sheets. Facial hair made both of these men appear more menacing outside court. Anya wondered what legal advice they had been given. Usually, defendants were clean-shaven, to give the impression of respectability for judges and juries. It was the same reason they wore suits.
“This is Phil clean-shaven for trial,” Kate said.
Anya didn’t follow the logic. Why would one grow a beard when facing trial?
“Surely some jurors wouldn’t find that face sympathetic.” She pointed to the screen image of the oldest brother.
Kate crouched down and grabbed another photo. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. See in this other one. It’s their tactic. I’m guessing their lawyer put them up to it.”
Anya shrugged. “Why would you want to look guilty if the witness describes one with a beard, why would he shave it off but his brother grow one?”
Then she realized why. A clever defense lawyer could confuse a witness by asking her to identify in the courtroom the bearded man she claimed had attacked her. Given the strong family resemblance, chances were she would point to the brother who had the beard, rather than the actual attacker, who by now would be clean-shaven. The jury would see she’d made a mistake and suddenly there might be enough doubt for acquittal.
“We thought the problem with identifying which brother did what was because of how similar they look. These bastards committed crimes knowing they’d take on another brother’s appearance if caught. That’s how they’ve got away with so much before, like the two other trials Natasha was involved with.”
If there were twenty-five convictions among them for violent crimes, the mind boggled to think what else the career criminal family had got away with.
More importantly, if the appearance ploy was so successful, then what did they have to fear in Giverny’s testimony?
8
Jeff Sales was performing Rachel Goodwin’s post-mortem and invited Anya to attend. It wasn’t necessary, but she felt as though she should be there. She could comment if there were any similarities to the sister’s injuries.
Beforehand, there was just enough time to check on Sophie in intensive care. Anya stood outside the double plastic doors and buzzed. Through the doors, she made out the figure of a uniformed officer, guarding the victim in case her attacker returned. A nurse appeared in corporate uniform with a white plastic apron on top.
“How can I help you?”
“I’m Doctor Crichton, forensic physician. I examined Sophie Goodwin yesterday.”
“Detective Farrer said you might pop in and put you on
The same footage of the brothers before and after release appeared on the screen, along with collages of them in earlier times.
“Can you pause that?” Kate disappeared out the front door and returned with a box of files. “The one with the mole on his chin is Gary, the eldest and the gang leader.”
“How many others are there?”
“In total, six boys and three girls, with Gary, Bruce, Rick, Patrick, aka Paddy, Keith, Savannah, Amber, and Tiarna. Ian’s currently serving three years for robbing a gun store. They range from eight to thirty. That mother’s womb is in and out more often than an accordion.” She sorted through the box and removed a manila folder. “Among them they have over twenty-five convictions for armed robbery, aggravated assault, extortion, drug and firearm offenses. Prison’s got a revolving door on it just for them, thanks to bleeding heart judges.”
“At the time of Giverny’s rape,” Anya said, “Gary must have had a beard.”
“She didn’t remember seeing a mole and we assumed it was because it was dark and she didn’t get a chance. We thought Keith, the middle one, was the only one who had a beard. Why didn’t anyone think to check?”
More photos were pulled out and laid on the floor. Some of them were taken outside court and were accompanied by lengthy charge sheets. Facial hair made both of these men appear more menacing outside court. Anya wondered what legal advice they had been given. Usually, defendants were clean-shaven, to give the impression of respectability for judges and juries. It was the same reason they wore suits.
“This is Phil clean-shaven for trial,” Kate said.
Anya didn’t follow the logic. Why would one grow a beard when facing trial?
“Surely some jurors wouldn’t find that face sympathetic.” She pointed to the screen image of the oldest brother.
Kate crouched down and grabbed another photo. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. See in this other one. It’s their tactic. I’m guessing their lawyer put them up to it.”
Anya shrugged. “Why would you want to look guilty if the witness describes one with a beard, why would he shave it off but his brother grow one?”
Then she realized why. A clever defense lawyer could confuse a witness by asking her to identify in the courtroom the bearded man she claimed had attacked her. Given the strong family resemblance, chances were she would point to the brother who had the beard, rather than the actual attacker, who by now would be clean-shaven. The jury would see she’d made a mistake and suddenly there might be enough doubt for acquittal.
“We thought the problem with identifying which brother did what was because of how similar they look. These bastards committed crimes knowing they’d take on another brother’s appearance if caught. That’s how they’ve got away with so much before, like the two other trials Natasha was involved with.”
If there were twenty-five convictions among them for violent crimes, the mind boggled to think what else the career criminal family had got away with.
More importantly, if the appearance ploy was so successful, then what did they have to fear in Giverny’s testimony?
8
Jeff Sales was performing Rachel Goodwin’s post-mortem and invited Anya to attend. It wasn’t necessary, but she felt as though she should be there. She could comment if there were any similarities to the sister’s injuries.
Beforehand, there was just enough time to check on Sophie in intensive care. Anya stood outside the double plastic doors and buzzed. Through the doors, she made out the figure of a uniformed officer, guarding the victim in case her attacker returned. A nurse appeared in corporate uniform with a white plastic apron on top.
“How can I help you?”
“I’m Doctor Crichton, forensic physician. I examined Sophie Goodwin yesterday.”
“Detective Farrer said you might pop in and put you on
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