Redress of Grievances Read Online Free PDF

Twenty-five years old, six feet, a hundred
seventy pounds, no distinguishing scars or marks. Placed under arrest and
charged with four counts of rape and murder. Victims were listed as Lydia
Marshall, age sixteen, a high school student; another high school student,
Tiffany Watson, age seventeen; Laurie Mitchell, an eighteen-year-old high
school senior; and Carrie Margolis, a nineteen-year-old college freshman at
SMU. The investigator's report showed four nearly identical crimes, each
involving extreme brutality. Apparently the victims had been beaten into
submission and then raped. Marks on the girls' necks indicated that each had
been strangled to death. However, due to the extensive amount of bruising on
the victims' necks, the medical examiner speculated each girl had been
strangled nearly to the brink of death during repeated rapes over an extended
period of time. Furthermore, it was possible that the rapes may have involved
some form of autoeroticism occurring as the victims lost consciousness. From
the report, it seemed to Harriett that the medical examiner had done quite a
lot of speculating.
    Nearly
fifteen minutes later, the door of the interview room opened, and Jared Wilkes,
handcuffed to a waist chain and wearing leg shackles, shuffled into the room.
The bright orange prisoner's coveralls fit loosely on the young man's body, and
his dark hair hung down slightly onto his forehead. Harriett stood as Wilkes
was led into the room, accompanied by two Dallas County jailers.
    "Please
remove the cuffs," she instructed.
    "You
sure?" one of the jailers asked.
    "Since
you're going to be right outside the door, I doubt Mr. Wilkes would be able to
do anything very drastic," she said.
    Wilkes
rubbed his wrists as the cuffs were removed and smiled at Harriett. He was an
attractive young man with blue-gray eyes that stood out under his dark hair and
eyebrows. As soon as his hands were free, he ran them through his hair. He had
a quick smile and had probably benefited at some time in his life from the
services of an excellent orthodontist. Pulling out a chair opposite Harriett
and sitting down, he took a cigarette out of his coverall pocket and stuck it
between his narrow lips.
    "Got
it from another prisoner, but the guards won't allow us to have matches,"
he shrugged. "Go figure."
    Harriett
pulled a small lighter from her briefcase and shoved it toward him.
    "My
name is Harriett Markham, Mr. Wilkes. Your father has requested that my law
firm represent you. But first, I need to get a little information."
    "When
can I get out of here?" Wilkes asked as he lit the cigarette.
    "Considering
the nature of the crimes you're charged with, I wouldn't bet on any time
soon."
    He
extended the lighter toward her, and she glanced up when she saw him move. She
held her hand out, and he set it gently into the palm of her hand, allowing his
index finger to run the length of her palm as he withdrew his hand. The action
startled her momentarily, and her eyes met his. He seemed pleased that he had gotten
a reaction from her.
    "Why
do the police think you're a suspect in these killings, Mr. Wilkes?"
    "Bad
timing, I guess," he said as he shrugged.
    "The
police usually have a little more than that."
    "I
knew the girls who were killed."
    "In
what capacity?"
    "Just
acquaintances. You know, hanging around."
    "Do
you usually hang around with sixteen and seventeen year olds?"
    "A
lot of them go to the clubs and have fake ID's, Ms. Markham. With the way girls
dress and act these days, it's hard for a guy to know how old they really
are."
    "So
you met these girls at clubs?"
    "Yeah."
    "Ever
take any of them out?"
    "I
take out lots of girls. I might have asked one or two of them out."
    "Did
you have intercourse with any of these girls?"
    "You
mean the ones who were killed?"
    "Yes."
    "I
don't believe so. I'd have to see pictures of them to know for sure. I don't
always catch the names of the women I have sex with."
    Harriett
wrote four names on her legal pad and