Revenge in Advance - Derby's Dose

"Fair enough, Oscar," Bill said. "By the way, thanks in part to you, we have a lot more information about Pat and the inner workings of MMAS. Her real name is Pat Witherspoon, and it turns out she has lots of government contacts. I can't tell you much more than that, but we're working on a plan to take her into custody. You want in?"

"Hell yeah," Oscar said.

"Good. I'll fill you in on all the details when the time comes, but I suggest very strongly that you get in touch with Don Williams. He's the husband of the third woman who went to that spa weekend with Renee. Talk to him, get to know him, do what you need to earn his trust. You don't need to hide anything from him, though. He knows what happened to you and Renee but he doesn't know about Dave. He will in a few days when the news hits, though," Bill said.

"Okay," Oscar said. He met Don once, but didn't know anything about the man.

"Meanwhile," Bill said, "You did a good job with the Johnson murder. I think that's going to be a slam-dunk. That's one sick woman."

"She's got issues alright," Oscar said. "One last thing, Bill. I still have Renee's old computer boxed up. I never used it after the trial, so there could be something there the tech folks can use."

"That's right, Renee said she got in touch with MMAS through a website. I'll get our IT forensics people on it right away. Thanks for the reminder. Get that system over to the lab as soon as you can. And take a few days off, while you're at it. Reconnect with the kids, okay?"

"I will, thanks, Bill," Oscar said.

Chapter 7:

Madison's trial went smoothly, at least for the District Attorney, who ended it by showing the jury the video of Dave Johnson's last two hours on earth. Her attorney didn't refute the video and offered what could only be seen as a minimal defense. Madison was mostly to blame for that, angrily insisting that her husband was a cheating scoundrel and deserved to be punished. In short, her own words convicted her.

The jury, predictably, found her guilty of all charges against her, which included first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, sexual assault, accessory to rape and conspiracy to commit rape.

She refused to turn state's evidence against MMAS and was sentenced to death by lethal injection. At least Dave, who, by the way, had to have a closed-casket funeral, finally got a bit of justice.

Mark Franks, the public defender who represented both Renee and Madison, was interviewed by Bill and a group of local and federal investigators after the trial. As it turned out, Franks was also a victim of MMAS and had been handling certain cases in a way favorable to the company. According to Franks, MMAS had an operative in both the DA's office and the Public Defender's office. It was their job to ensure that certain cases were handled the way MMAS wanted. Sometimes, that meant evidence that could be used to harm MMAS or reveal MMAS operatives sometimes got buried or "accidentally" misplaced. That's apparently what happened to Renee's audio.

Franks, the group decided, did not violate any laws and was therefore not asked to resign, although he did volunteer to do so. Instead, it was decided that Franks would work with the task force to help root out MMAS' influence.

True to his word, Bill contacted a very good defense attorney who took a long, hard look at the evidence in Renee's case. He met with Oscar shortly after Madison's trial.

"I've had a chance to look over everything Bill gave me regarding your wife's case," Alan Jacobs told Oscar. "It's a long shot, and it'll take a lot of time, but I think we can do something, based on the mitigating circumstances and the fact that her defense didn't have all the evidence."

"Like what?" Oscar asked.

"The convictions will probably stand, based on the evidence the DA's office presented. There's a slight possibility, though, that we can maybe get her sentence reduced somewhat. It's still a long shot, though, given the way courts view the subject of hypnotism."

"What are we talking about, bottom line?"

"There's a possibility that we might be able to knock off, say, ten years, plus make her eligible for parole in about eight years. It's not great, but it certainly beats a 30-year sentence with no possibility of parole. The entire process could take up to two years to complete. You tell me, is this something you want to pursue? After all, you were the victim of this," Alan said.

"Yeah, I was the ultimate victim, but I think Renee was also victimized. MMAS played on her emotions, manipulated her, used her for their own benefit. Get the ball rolling, okay?"

Alan nodded his head, shaking Oscar's hand.

"I'll get on it. And for what it's worth, Oscar, you're a far better man than I. If it were me, I'd leave her there to rot."

"She'll pay for what she did, Alan, I just want it done right," Oscar said before leaving.

The next day, Oscar met with Don Williams. That was one advantage of having federal credentials - Oscar didn't have to wait in line for an appointment. Williams, an executive with a local bank, was quite influential in certain financial circles and wasn't one to normally take impromptu interviews.

"What can I do for you, Officer Warren?" he said as Oscar walked into the office.

"Please, call me Oscar," he said, shaking Don's hand. "I understand you're aware of MMAS."

"Yes, I am now. I wish I had never heard of them, but after those two trials I cornered my wife. I'm sure you know she went to that retreat with your wife. Anyway, I started taking a closer look at our mail, and noticed the 'invoices' from them. I now know, thanks to your friend Bill Jackson, what MMAS really is. Evelyn finally confessed the real reason for her little 'spa weekend' with Renee, but she didn't say anything more than that."

"Have you arranged your appointment with MMAS yet?" Oscar asked.

"Not yet, I was hoping to get some more information, maybe get some backup," Don said.

"Well, I can tell you that it's more shocking than you can imagine. I don't know Evelyn, so I can't say how vindictive she can be, but I was floored with the punishment Renee lined up for me. And I was told it was the easiest punishment they'd ever dealt with," Oscar said. "Be straight with me, Don, are you having an affair? I won't judge you over it, I promise."

"No, Oscar, I've never cheated on Evelyn and I've never even thought about it. I do have to go out of town from time to time, and I sometimes have to hob-nob with clients and their wives who sometimes act a little inappropriate, so I can see how Evelyn might think I could cheat. But I have never cheated," he said.

"That's good to hear," Oscar said. "Why don't we do this. I'll talk to my folks and see if we can't wire you up and see if we can't arrange to get you some backup. I'd love nothing more than to put Pat in handcuffs and this may be our best chance."

"Okay," Don said, handing Oscar a business card. "Talk to your people then call me on my private number. It's on the card."

Oscar took the card, thanked Don and left for home. He had one errand left.

"Hey, guys, want to go see your mom?" he asked his two children after he got home. They readily agreed so Oscar loaded them up and headed out to the women's prison.

Renee was overjoyed to see the three of them and the children were equally happy to see her. Oscar used his status as a federal officer to get them some privacy, although a prison guard was close by just in case.

"Thank you so much, Oscar," Renee said with tears in her eyes. "I've missed you guys so much," she told the children, hugging them tightly to her.

"You're welcome, Renee," Oscar said. "I just wanted to give you a heads-up. I talked to a defense attorney who's looking over your case. I can't promise anything, but there may be something he can do to reduce your sentence."

"Why would you do that, Oscar?" she asked. "After everything I did to you, why?"

"Because I think you were manipulated, Renee," Oscar said. "You have no idea what this has done to all of us. My counselor says I suffer from something similar to PTSD, and I still have nightmares about that video Pat showed me. But I think that you were also a victim. I've got one more thing coming up and then I'm taking the kids on vacation to get away from all this crap. Who knows, we may go to Disneyland. But I want you to work with this attorney, okay?"

"I will, Oscar, I promise," Renee said. "I'm also making headway with my counseling and I'm starting to understand why I did what I did. Do you think we could ever be back together again?"

"I don't know, Renee," Oscar said. "There's still a lot we have to deal with and it's way too early to even think of that. Let's just take things one day at a time, okay? I promise you this, though. I'll do everything I can to keep the kids in your life. You're still their mother, after all."

"Thank you, Oscar," she said. "I'll do whatever I have to, promise."

Oscar told the kids to say goodbye and gave Renee a quick hug.

"We'll be in touch, Renee," he whispered as he let go. "Be good in here and take care of yourself."

And with that, Renee found herself on the road to redemption. And Pat? Let's just say her pain was just about to begin...

*****

Note:

There really was a punishment known as "Derby's Dose" that was used on slaves back in the 1700s. According to Wikipedia, it was "...a form of torture used in Jamaica to punish slaves who attempted to escape or committed other offenses like stealing food. According to Malcolm Gladwell in his 2008 book Outliers, 'The runaway would be beaten, and salt pickle, lime juice, and bird pepper would be rubbed into his or her open wounds. Another slave would defecate into the mouth of the miscreant, who would then be gagged for four to five hours.' The punishment was invented by Thomas Thistlewood, a slave overseer and named for the slave, Derby, who was made to undergo this punishment when he was caught eating young sugar cane stalks in the field on 25 May 1756."

The punishment was referenced by former MSNBC host Martin Bashir in 2013, when he suggested that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin be subjected to it. He noted at the time that "if anyone truly qualified for a dose of discipline from Thomas Thistlewood, [Palin] would be the outstanding candidate." He ultimately resigned as a result of the controversy raised by the comment.