Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 01 - Blood on White Wicker (27 page)

When the court was called to order, and the jury and judge seated, Mr. Graham called his next witness, Hannah Rogers. When she came toward the witness stand, I looked at Mr. Reynolds who was talking to his lawyer and shaking his head. He looked like he could kill someone.

“Your honor, this witness is not on the witness list the prosecution gave me. Is there another list I should have?”

“You don’t need to get sarcastic counselor. Mr. Graham?”

“Your honor, we just found this witness.”

“The counselors will both approach the bench.”

So, here we go again, I thought, in some ways it was like watching a teacher settling an argument between two kindergarten kids. When they came back to their tables, Mr. Crocker started talking to Mr. Reynolds. He kept turning his palms upward and shrugging his shoulders like he was trying to explain the unexplained.

“Swear in this witness,” said the Judge.

After Mr. Graham had her state her name and address he said, “Mrs. Rogers, during what period of time did you work for the McCain family?”

She looked at Mimi, “Wasn’t it about 1945 when I started working for you, you were still living in Montrose.”

“Mrs. Rogers,” the Judge chuckled, “You don’t talk to someone else while you’re on the witness stand.”

“Ok, but I don’t remember exactly and I don’t want to commit purjis.”

“You won’t commit perjury if you say ‘to the best of my knowledge.’”

 
“Oh, okay, to the best of my knowledge, I worked for them from 1945, when their son Phillip was born until 1970 when the twins were kidnapped.”

“And what was your job there?”

“To the best of my knowledge, I was the nanny.”

Everyone, including the Judge laughed. Hannah looked confused.

The Judge cleared his throat and said, “Mrs. Rogers, you don’t have to say, ‘to the best of my knowledge,’ when you’re stating something you’re sure about. You know that you were the nanny so you simply say yes.”

“Oh, okay, forgive me your Honor.” Then she turned back to Mr. Graham and said, “Go ahead and ask me some more. I’ll answer truthful.”

“So you were the nanny for Phillip Jr. and then for the twins?”

She looked at the Judge and then leaned over the microphone and said, “Yes.”

“How did you know Mr. Reynolds, the defendant?”

“Him and his wife used to come over a lot to the McCain’s house. Mr. McCain and Mr. Reynolds were in business together. Mrs. Reynolds and Mrs. McCain were friends in college but I don’t think Mrs. McCain liked Mr. Reynolds.”

The judge interrupted again, “Mrs. Rogers, just answer the questions.”

“Didn’t I just do that?”

“Well, you did but then you started giving your opinion. You can’t do that.”

“I can’t? Oh, okay.”

The judge shook his head but he looked amused. “Continue, Counselor.”

“Did there come a time when you were approached by Mr. Reynolds?”

“He used to come into the nursery to play with the twins, give them piggy back rides and like that. Is that what you mean?”

Mr. Graham looked like she was confusing him now, “Uh, did he talk to you when he came into the nursery? Did you get to know him during these visits?”

“Not very well, he didn’t seem to be interested in me at that time. It wasn’t until after he left that he started calling me on the phone and asking about the twins. And later he would take me out to dinner when he came into town.”

“Really, he came back into town to take you out?”

“Yes. I fell in love with him even though I knew it was wrong.”

“Objection, relevance?”

“The relevance is that I’m trying to establish what their relationship was like at the time of the kidnapping.”

“It sounds like you’ve already established that he took part in the kidnapping. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? I still object your honor.”

“Your objection is overruled. Sit down.”

“Mrs. Rogers, did there come a time when Mr. Reynolds approached you with a plan?”

“Yes.”

“And what was that plan? And did you agree to take part in it?”

She looked down and then looked at Mimi and mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.”

“The witness will answer the question.” said the Judge.

“I did a very bad thing, may God forgive me. After I agreed to it I tried to tell him that I didn’t want to do it. He thought I wanted more money. He sent me a letter to threaten me.

“This was when I became so scared of him that I didn’t love him anymore. I began to think he was a bad man. Oh, I’m sorry, I just gave my opinion. It won’t happen again.”

“Why did you agree to do this at first?”

“He said there was going to be some men who were going to pick the twins up and take them for a ride just to scare the parents and grandparents. He said it was revenge, and didn’t I want revenge?”

“Why would you want revenge?”

She looked at Mimi and said, “Mark, my son, was Mr. McCain’s son. Mr. McCain never acknowledged him as his son. Mark had to live in the servant’s quarters with the servants. One night at dinner I told Mr. Reynolds this and he asked me didn’t I want to have revenge. I told him yes, and then he told me about this plan.”

She looked at the Judge, “He didn’t tell me anyone was going to get killed. He said they would hit me on the head so the police wouldn’t think I had anything to do with it, but the police still suspected me.”

“When you tried to call it off and he threatened you, why didn’t you go to the police?”

“I was terrified of him. He told me he had people everywhere and they would watch me. I have been so scared all these years, and I’m so sorry.”

“No more questions, your honor.”

Mr. Crocker stood up and smoothed his pants legs, “Mrs. Rogers, isn’t it true that you were infatuated with Mr. Reynolds and he was never interested in you?”

“He liked me fine after he left Houston. He started calling me all the time and he would come to town and take me out to dinner.”

“I think you’re calling sex, love. Didn’t you, in fact, try to seduce Mr. Reynolds just like you seduced Mr. McCain? And after he turned you down, you decided to cook up this whole kidnapping along with your friend Mr. Mackey, thinking you would eventually pin it on Mr. Reynolds.

“Only it backfired on you didn’t it? You haven’t been running from Mr. Reynolds, you’ve been running from the police, isn’t that true Ms. Rogers?”

“No. It’s just like I said. I will not commit purjis. I promised the Judge.”

“Ms. Rogers, what kind of deal are the FBI giving you to testify against Mr. Reynolds?”

“No deal. They didn’t offer and I didn’t ask. I did a very bad thing and I’m going to jail for it, like I should. It wouldn’t be right now to ask for special favors after what I did and God will punish me also which will be worse than what man can do to me.

 
“So if you think I’m testifying against Mr. Reynolds to get a deal, you’re wrong. I’m testifying against myself and Mr. Reynolds because what we did was wrong and we both need to be punished.”

Mr. Crocker looked embarrassed when he said, “No more questions for this witness.”

“This looks like a good place to break for lunch,” said the Judge.

When we started across the street, I said, “It looks like we’re winning, but I almost feel sorry for Hannah. I know what she did was just horrible but I think she’s punished herself enough all these years.”

Mimi agreed. “I’m going to talk to the judge and see if he can give her a lighter sentence. I think she got in over her head with that slime and didn’t know how to get out. I keep remembering how she took care of Phillip when he was a little boy and then you two.

“I can remember her sitting up all night with you when one of you was sick. She never once complained. I think she’s a good person who can be easily misled because she’s kind of dumb.”

The diner we went to serve breakfast all day, and since we left that morning without getting anything to eat, I decided to order breakfast. I had ham, eggs, grits with lots of butter, and coffee. I ate the whole thing and found Mimi and Julia staring at me.

“I was starving,” I said. They both got the giggles. They had ordered salads and Julia finished hers off with a big piece of chocolate cake.

When we got back to court, Mr. Crocker had another stack of motions and went to the judge’s bench and went through them one by one. It was so long and boring that I caught myself nodding off.

This went on for most of the afternoon and the jury was never called in. At around four in the afternoon, court was dismissed. Mimi went to ask the bailiff if she could talk to the judge. He left and when he came back, he motioned us all into the judge’s chambers.

I almost didn’t recognize the Judge without his black robe. He had been wearing a golf shirt on under the robe.

The Judge smiled at Mimi and I noticed, for the first time, that he was a very good looking man, “What can I do for you Ms. McCain?”

“I’ve come to ask for some leniency for Hannah.”

“You surprise me Ms. McCain. The things she has done are atrocious.”

“I know, and at first when I found out that she had slept with my husband and that she had a part in taking my granddaughters away from me, I would have gladly seen her hung. But I believe she’s basically a good person who is easily led. I’ve seen her when she was totally selfless, when she sat up all night with one of the girls, or my son when they were sick. She always went beyond the call of duty and never complained.

“I believe her when she says that she didn’t know anyone would be hurt. She loved the girls and my son like they were her own. Besides, I think she has already punished herself enough during the last thirteen years. She’s basically been in a prison of her own making.”

“I’ll take this under consideration Ms. McCain. And thank you for your compassion,” the judge said.

CHAPTER 27

We were in the evening paper, The Florida Times Union, and on TV, channel 4. We had seen reporters hanging around but, for some reason, they hadn’t been obnoxious like I had seen them do in movies or on TV. We saw ourselves coming out of the courthouse and head across the street. The camera moved to the steps of the courthouse where Mr. Crocker stood behind the podium.

The woman standing in the front facing the camera was saying, “…calling it the most sensational case of the century. Thirteen years ago the twin girls you saw crossing the street a moment ago, with their grandmother, were kidnapped out of their home in Houston, and their parents were gunned down.

“The defendant in this case is Charles Reynolds of St. Augustine, the well known Real Estate broker. He is charged with hiring two men to kidnap the twins and kill the parents. Mr. Reynolds used to be business partners of the twin’s grandfather, Phillip McCain, now deceased.

“The FBI arrested him before Christmas last year and is claiming that he arranged these crimes out of revenge. We do know that one of the twins, Julia was adopted by the Reynolds’.

“Today in court, we heard the testimony of Hannah Rogers, the twin’s nanny at the time of the kidnapping. She claims that she had been in love with the defendant at the time and that he had convinced her to help him. The defendant’s lawyer is getting ready to speak.”