Presumed Innocent

At Dr. Robinson’s office, Rusty told the psychiatrist about his affair with Carolyn. Every day, he waited to be with her, but Carolyn wouldn’t reveal her feelings. He likened his feelings to “turmoil,” and felt like he opened Pandora’s box.

Rusty went to Carolyn’s apartment three or four nights each week. He found their affair a relief from his relationship with Barbara, which was complicated. After sex, they talked office gossip and politics.

When they discussed Nico’s campaign, Rusty realized that Carolyn understood Nico better than him. She saw what Nico did: Raymond was tired, and people wanted him to step aside. Carolyn thought Rusty should run, and when he said no, she got angry. When he jokingly asked if she had wanted to be his chief deputy, she didn’t answer.

Rusty goes to the 32nd District police station, whose cases are heard in the North Branch, to see Lionel Kenneally, who worked with him on the Night Saints case. Lionel calls Rusty by his nickname, “Savage.” Rusty updates Lionel on Carolyn’s murder investigation. Kenneally thinks that the killer must be someone in law enforcement who knew how to stage the scene.

Lionel is familiar with Carolyn’s investigation into the B file and tells Rusty that she didn’t find anything. He also reminds Rusty that before Carolyn worked at the prosecutor’s office, she was a probation officer at the North Branch, where all the men arrested in the sweep were processed. He believes that Tommy Molto worked there at the same time Carolyn did.

Rusty, Lionel, and another officer look through the arrest files from the sweep, which Carolyn also looked through. They realize that a file missing from the sequential number order. Rusty writes down the number, knowing that a copy of the missing file will be available on microfilm through the North Branch court.

Rusty watches his son Nat’s team play tee ball. When the weather is warm, everyone picnics after the game. Rusty relishes the games and sitting with the other fathers. Afterward, Rusty and Nat meet Barbara for dinner, a new effort to spend more time together as a family. She seems angry with Rusty, but overall, things seem better lately. She doesn’t talk about divorce, as she had directly after he confessed his affair with Carolyn.

Rusty tells Barbara about the mayor’s endorsement of Nico’s campaign: Raymond will most likely lose the election. Nico will become the prosecuting attorney, fire Rusty, and make Tommy his deputy chief.

Rusty and Barbara fell in love in college, when she tutored him in calculus. Rusty loved Barbara for her intelligence, her looks, and “the fact that she was a doctor’s daughter, and thus, I thought, someone ‘normal’” (127). He loved her all-consuming love. He never felt like he was able to give her what she needed. He deeply regrets this but doesn’t believe he can change.

After the election for prosecuting attorney, the winner usually brings their own people into the office: Election Day is a waiting game. Most of the office isn’t there, and the people who are there do paperwork while waiting for the results.

Lip calls Rusty: Raymond has lost. He also tells Rusty that the police chief has asked for the files on Carolyn’s murder investigation. Lip is going to search the North Branch court’s microfilm for the missing file from Carolyn’s investigation into the B file.

That night, Rusty is at Raymond’s campaign headquarters when the final numbers come in. Judge Larren Lyttle is with Raymond, who seems at peace with the outcome. Speaking with Rusty alone, he apologizes, saying he should’ve helped Rusty become prosecuting attorney instead of running, but Rusty brushes it off. People ask Rusty what he will do next, but he says nothing.

Lip tells Rusty that the police chief and Tommy have requested an interview the next morning. They’ve also taken the evidence receipts connected to Carolyn’s case. Lip has good news, too: He found the microfilm copy of the missing file. In it, they find a complaint for a Leon Wells, whose name is an inversion of the “Noel” in the letter. A bond order that shows that Carolyn was his probation officer. It also contains the form filed when the prosecuting attorney dismisses a case, which is signed by Tommy Molto. Rusty and Lip realize that they are unraveling the mystery of the B file.

In a meeting with Dr. Robinson, Rusty discussed how things ended with Carolyn: One week, she spent less time with him, and the second week, none at all. The third week, Rusty confronted her in her office. She told him that it was over.

Afterward, Rusty looked back on their relationship and realized how much he’d lost his perspective. He confessed, crying, to Barbara, and she withdrew. Carolyn avoided him at work. In March, Rusty called her a few times from home but could never speak when she answered. Finally, one night at a bar after work, he asked her what to do about how he felt. Carolyn told him to “[g]row up” and walked away. At that moment, Rusty wished she was dead.

When Rusty comes into the office, Tommy and Nico are there, whispering. Nico is officially in charge, but looks uncomfortable, as if not quite sure what to do now that he’s gotten what he always wanted. Rusty goes into his office as usual, and then gets word that Raymond, who is still in his office, wants to see him.

When Rusty enters Raymond’s office, he, Nico, Tommy, and Mac are waiting for him. Raymond tells Rusty that he is resigning as prosecuting attorney, rather than staying until his term is up. His last day will be Friday. Nico takes over, explaining that there will be a criminal investigation into Raymond’s staff, specifically, Rusty’s handling of Carolyn’s murder investigation. Tommy confronts Rusty, saying that his handling of the investigation looks like he was covering for himself.

Tommy says that Rusty was at Carolyn’s house the night of her death. Rusty offers his alibi—he was home with Nat, and Carolyn was at the university’s computer lab, working on her dissertation. Tommy tells Rusty that they’ve discovered that two of the fingerprints on the glass are Rusty’s, making his delayed calls to get the analysis look suspicious. Rusty also told Lip not to get the MUDs from his house, but they know about the calls from his home in the month before her death.

Rusty leaves, but Tommy follows him out, threatening him with an arrest warrant. Rusty thinks he is talking about an obstruction of justice charge for his handling of the case, but Tommy tells him it is for Carolyn’s murder.

Rusty has been charged by Nico with the first-degree murder of Carolyn Polhemus. When he was indicted three weeks ago, two months after the conversation with Raymond, Mac, Tommy, and Nico, he hired a well-known defense lawyer, Alejandro Stern, or Sandy. When the indictment arrived, he and Sandy opened it together. Sandy proclaimed his disbelief, which he says everyone in the Kindle County justice system community shares.

On July 14, Rusty’s arraignment date, the prosecuting attorney must give all evidence and their witness list to the defense. Sandy’s associate, Jamie Kemp, brings in the box of state’s evidence for the case against Rusty, and tells him not to worry. Rusty will see the case they have built against him.

Rusty theorizes how the case will go. The prosecutor will go after him for the delayed fingerprints, the MUDs, and the fact that his blood type matches that of the sperm found in Carolyn. They have also connected the carpet in his home, a standard type, to fibers found on Carolyn’s body. They will interview Lip, Raymond, Rusty’s assistant Eugenia, possibly Dr. Robinson, and some experts, such as Kumagai. However, the case is still circumstantial—no one saw him kill Carolyn, and he hasn’t confessed. Rusty hasn’t testified or made a statement. Sandy told him to take the Fifth. Rusty hadn’t wanted to plead the Fifth and refuse to answer questions, but he did.

Now, Sandy asks Rusty to theorize about the prosecution’s case based on the state’s evidence. When Rusty hired Sandy, they worked out a deal where Rusty would work on the case with Sandy and Jamie. However, Sandy has never asked him if he murdered Carolyn. Rusty knows that Sandy doesn’t ask because everyone knows that the defendants lie to everyone.

Rusty summarizes the prosecution’s potential case: They will argue that after Rusty’s affair with Carolyn ended, he stalked her. He appeared one night at her house, she relented, and they had sex. When he wanted more than she wanted to give, he lost his temper and hit her with something blunt, killing her. Then, he set up the scene to look like a rapist that Carolyn put in prison came after her. They will argue he forgot about the drink, left the fingerprinted glass, and didn’t know about the spermicide.

The familiarity of running through the case in this way comforts Rusty. Sandy points out that the prosecution doesn’t have a solid motive, which is crucial in a circumstantial case. The case also looks politically motivated because Rusty was Raymond’s deputy chief. The evidence, however, is damning.

Rusty, Sandy, and Jamie go through the state’s evidence box, starting with the fingerprinted glass. Of the three prints, two are identified as Rusty’s; the third is unidentified. Rusty thinks that they should ask for all the fingerprint reports for everything in the apartment. Jamie adds that they should get the apartment inventory, and specifically wonders where Carolyn kept her contraceptive jelly. They also decide to subpoena Carolyn’s doctors.

Next, they look at the MUDs for Carolyn and Rusty’s home phones. There are four specific calls from Rusty to Carolyn’s phone, and they must make a reasonable explanation. Sandy says that Rusty, who often worked at home in the evenings, might have called her regarding a case. Rusty will backtrack to figure it out. The call on April 1, the date of the murder, is troubling—it was made early in the evening, and Rusty made no additional calls, meaning he cannot prove he was at home.

Jamie asks if the MUDs could be manipulated, and Rusty admits they could. However, Sandy decides to hold off on checking into it; if they challenge the records and find them correct, the prosecution could use it against them. Next, they go over the witness list. Sandy isn’t worried about the testimony of Eugenia, Rusty’s assistant, but he is worried about Raymond’s testimony. The prosecution calling Raymond to the stand, despite his connection to Rusty, concerns him. Sandy decides to arrange for a meeting between Rusty and Raymond. Rusty is shaken by the idea that Raymond would testify against him, especially because he hasn’t spoken to Raymond since that day in his office.

There is another witness on the list who claims to have seen Rusty on the bus from Nearing on the night of Carolyn’s murder. The prosecution plans to use her to prove that Rusty could’ve gotten to Carolyn’s apartment even though Barbara took the car to the university that night. Dr. Robinson is also on the witness list. The police have already attempted to interview him, but he refused, citing privileged communication. Sandy points out that if Dr. Robinson testifies, the prosecution could use anything from his sessions with Rusty, which Rusty admits wouldn’t be good.

Rusty tells Sandy about his investigation into Carolyn’s B file, which ended the day Rusty was put on leave. When he reveals Tommy Molto’s name is on the motion to dismiss, Sandy decides they may want to investigate, but only if it serves their case. Rusty tells Sandy that he’s innocent and realizes that Sandy has heard this “too many times before” (175).

Rusty, Jamie, and Barbara enter the courthouse together for the arraignment, pushing through the media. Rusty knows a back entrance but doesn’t want to use it yet, as he won’t be able to use it again. They sit down in the courtroom as Nico arrives. Rusty squeezes Barbara’s hand as he feels a rush of anger seeing Nico as the PA.

Rusty and Nico started in the prosecutor’s office together. When they met, Rusty recognized Nico’s type and knew that he was a good networker. Rusty reflects that Nico was “a better lawyer than [he] expected” (178), particularly effective in the courtroom. Rusty can tell that Nico is enjoying the trial’s publicity, but he is also forced to admit that Nico has been fair in his handling of the case. Sandy told Rusty that Nico spoke convincingly about his admiration for Rusty and their history together.

During the arraignment, they go through the usual motions until Rusty’s defense team breaks from tradition and requests a speedy trial. It is an unusual move, as most defendants opt to delay, but time would only help the prosecution, who could continue to investigate. The judge for the trial is chosen at random—it is Judge Larren Lyttle, Raymond’s old partner, who is known as being a “defense lawyer’s dream” (184).

Rusty and Barbara discuss the case on the drive home to Nearing. He thanks her for coming to the arraignment—it is crucial to his defense that they appear united. Rusty is surprised by how supportive and caring Barbara has been. His being home often during the day has shifted their relationship, and they have been having sex again. Rusty still feels the gap between them, but he catches glimpses of the life they had when they were first married.