Read Online Perfect Victim by Carla Norton, Christine McGuire - Free Book Online
Authors: Carla Norton, Christine McGuire
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bail. Mrs. Hooker, a tall, dignified woman with sad eyes, declined to talk to reporters except to state that the media had “been having a field day with this.”
Mr. Hooker, looking gaunt and worn, told reporters, “We’re almost sick over the situation.”
However, he took the time to try to defend his boy. “We thought we had the greatest son in the world,” he said. “He was a good, easy kid to raise, no trouble at all. He never, ever let his temper get away with him.”
The Hookers found it impossible to believe that “Kay” had been kept against her will. She’d come over with Jan and Cameron a number of times, and they’d seen no evidence that she’d been kept by force — nothing strange, no bruises, no scars, not the slightest indication that she was anything but a babysitter. It seemed to them that she got along well with the girls, with their son and daughter-in-law, and that she was free to come and go as she pleased.
Asked about his daughter-in-law, Janice, whose allegations had led to Cameron’s arrest, Mr. Hooker said, “She won’t say anything that makes sense. She’s really upset.”
Now, Mr. Hooker worried, “it seems like the publicity’s got him guilty before they even get him to trial.”
Some of the loveliest buildings in the area are located in the heart of Red Bluff. These handsome old Victorians bespeak a more elegant past — when the railroad and the river were the main arteries of transportation, long before Interstate 5 would pull commerce to the other side of the river, spawning graceless housing developments and shopping centers surrounded by asphalt.
There’s little time or money today for the craftsmanship that went into these old Victorians, and few can even afford to heat their spacious, high-ceilinged rooms. Many are becoming shops and law offices — like the large and impressive office of Rolland Papendick, on the corner of Washington and Hickory Streets.
Papendick, like his office, commands respect. Tall, good looking, and almost inevitably dressed in a suit — not so common in this rural area — Papendick looks the part of the prosperous, capable attorney. He can be charming and smooth, but he’s not all refinement and solemnity. There’s an athletic quality to him, a youthfulness that goes beyond simply having a full head of dark hair going into middle age. His quick movements reveal a strained energy that sometimes makes him seem about to spring out of his chair — less like an attorney than a basketball player waiting to be called into the game.
But perhaps it’s more tension than athleticism that fuels Papendick’s energy, for it’s surely not clean living that has left Mr. Papendick so apparently fit: He smokes, he drinks, and a brooding temper lurks behind those snappy blue eyes. In court or out, his words can be curt, abrasive, and sarcastic. He’s not a man you’d want to cross, and he’s definitely someone you’d want on your side.
Shortly after Cameron’s arrest, his younger brother, Dexter, hailed Mr. Papendick on a street corner and asked how much he charged as a retainer for a criminal case. Papendick mentioned a figure, and Dexter had the check waiting on his desk that afternoon.
“Then I found out what I’d gotten myself into,” Papendick recalls.
Papendick spoke with the Hooker family at length. After learning some background and the charges against Cameron, he was inclined to accept the case, but he told them that the final decision was ultimately up to the actual client. “First,” he said, “I’ll have to talk to Cameron.”
But before Papendick even had a chance to approach Cameron Hooker, he was visited by Hooker’s wife.
Perhaps the only way to understand Janice Hooker’s actions during this period is to imagine her on an emotional see-saw. She had turned Cameron in, but now she was shaken by the resulting commotion. The father of her children was in jail, she felt guilty for putting him there, and when he phoned
Mr. Hooker, looking gaunt and worn, told reporters, “We’re almost sick over the situation.”
However, he took the time to try to defend his boy. “We thought we had the greatest son in the world,” he said. “He was a good, easy kid to raise, no trouble at all. He never, ever let his temper get away with him.”
The Hookers found it impossible to believe that “Kay” had been kept against her will. She’d come over with Jan and Cameron a number of times, and they’d seen no evidence that she’d been kept by force — nothing strange, no bruises, no scars, not the slightest indication that she was anything but a babysitter. It seemed to them that she got along well with the girls, with their son and daughter-in-law, and that she was free to come and go as she pleased.
Asked about his daughter-in-law, Janice, whose allegations had led to Cameron’s arrest, Mr. Hooker said, “She won’t say anything that makes sense. She’s really upset.”
Now, Mr. Hooker worried, “it seems like the publicity’s got him guilty before they even get him to trial.”
Some of the loveliest buildings in the area are located in the heart of Red Bluff. These handsome old Victorians bespeak a more elegant past — when the railroad and the river were the main arteries of transportation, long before Interstate 5 would pull commerce to the other side of the river, spawning graceless housing developments and shopping centers surrounded by asphalt.
There’s little time or money today for the craftsmanship that went into these old Victorians, and few can even afford to heat their spacious, high-ceilinged rooms. Many are becoming shops and law offices — like the large and impressive office of Rolland Papendick, on the corner of Washington and Hickory Streets.
Papendick, like his office, commands respect. Tall, good looking, and almost inevitably dressed in a suit — not so common in this rural area — Papendick looks the part of the prosperous, capable attorney. He can be charming and smooth, but he’s not all refinement and solemnity. There’s an athletic quality to him, a youthfulness that goes beyond simply having a full head of dark hair going into middle age. His quick movements reveal a strained energy that sometimes makes him seem about to spring out of his chair — less like an attorney than a basketball player waiting to be called into the game.
But perhaps it’s more tension than athleticism that fuels Papendick’s energy, for it’s surely not clean living that has left Mr. Papendick so apparently fit: He smokes, he drinks, and a brooding temper lurks behind those snappy blue eyes. In court or out, his words can be curt, abrasive, and sarcastic. He’s not a man you’d want to cross, and he’s definitely someone you’d want on your side.
Shortly after Cameron’s arrest, his younger brother, Dexter, hailed Mr. Papendick on a street corner and asked how much he charged as a retainer for a criminal case. Papendick mentioned a figure, and Dexter had the check waiting on his desk that afternoon.
“Then I found out what I’d gotten myself into,” Papendick recalls.
Papendick spoke with the Hooker family at length. After learning some background and the charges against Cameron, he was inclined to accept the case, but he told them that the final decision was ultimately up to the actual client. “First,” he said, “I’ll have to talk to Cameron.”
But before Papendick even had a chance to approach Cameron Hooker, he was visited by Hooker’s wife.
Perhaps the only way to understand Janice Hooker’s actions during this period is to imagine her on an emotional see-saw. She had turned Cameron in, but now she was shaken by the resulting commotion. The father of her children was in jail, she felt guilty for putting him there, and when he phoned
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