Chapter 11

Ex-cons have all the time in the world to practice their acting skills in prison. In fact, you might say that their major daily activity is acting. They act tough when they're weak. They act happy when they're miserable. They act like they're reforming while planning all the capers they're going to pull when they get out. They act like they don't want drugs, when the only thing they can think of is getting a rock of crack, as soon as possible, and something to smoke it with.

Wally's only real talent, it turned out, was in the acting arena. As soon as he started talking I understood why he'd pulled the wool over Eva's eyes.

He spun a tale of getting out of jail based on his good behavior and the fact that he passed several self-help courses and took vocational training. He admitted that he failed to control his desire to taste alcohol, which he hadn't had for so long. He wasn't used to it anymore, which was why he got so drunk on so little. He didn't realize how incapacitated he was when he decided to go back to the place he had been living at when he was arrested and apologize to Eva for being such a jerk. Along the way he was unstable and bumped into people. He remembered almost falling and grabbing somebody to try to avoid that. He said "Maybe when I tried to stop from falling I accidentally grabbed a lady's purse, but it wasn't to steal it." People yelled at him, and that scared him, so he ran away and ended up bumping into somebody else! Then, when he finally saw the lights of home, the place he had so many fond memories of, with sweet Eva and little Timmy, he'd gone in, only to find a huge man in a Santa suit looming over Eva and Timmy. He'd heard in jail how a new scam was to dress up like Santa and offer to give someone something so you could get in. Once there it turned into a home invasion. So he tried to protect Eva and Timmy from this unknown man, who cursed at him, whereupon he knew the man was a danger to them. He said he didn't know where the knife came from, and that it must have been planted on him, because they certainly hadn't given him a knife when he got out of prison. And he insisted that no one had said anything about police until he found himself outside, handcuffed. He said he had tried to explain to the police, but he was tortured with a stun gun.

He even showed the judge the marks from multiple electrode strikes, and half-healed cuts on his forearms and wrists he said happened while he was being handcuffed.

"It was all a big mistake," he said. He said he had written Eva a letter, telling her he'd be home on Christmas Eve. He intended to apologize to her and get a job to help her, because he knew she was having a tough go of things. And this heavy handed cop had railroaded him into trouble.

When he was finished, Casper asked him about the restraining order.

He said that when he was in jail he learned that all such orders expire after two years, and since he'd been in prison almost that long, he thought it had expired. He'd learned his lesson in jail, and was going to be a good boyfriend and supporter of her. But he hadn't gotten the chance to show her he had reformed.

It was the kind of lie that resulted in a classic he said / she said situation.

On cross, Denny stood up looking like he might have a coronary at any second. He was obviously in disbelief that this guy was even trying to pull off something this crazy. He was also unprepared to deal with it.

"Who told you that restraining orders expire after two years?" he asked.

"Gee, I can't remember now."

"It's not true," said Denny. "The restraining order was still valid."

"Well I sure didn't know that, sir."

"Well then, Mr. Gardner, why didn't you knock before you entered?"

"Because I lived there. I still got clothes there as far as I know. And I needed a place to stay while I looked for work. I was gonna explain all that to her except that detective wouldn't let me."

"Mr. Gardner, are you aware that getting drunk is a violation of your parole agreement?"

He actually hung his head and looked devastated. "Yeah. I know that. And I'll take my licks for that. I know I got to be responsible for my actions. I learned that in jail."

"One of the men you 'bumped into', as you say it, is still in the hospital with a concussion!" yelped Denny.

"I'm real sorry about that," said Wally, looking mournful. "When I get a job I'll help pay his medical bills. I promise."

Denny looked frustrated. He faced Judge Pickett and said "Your Honor, I'm going to have to recall Ms. Sinderson as a rebuttal witness.

It was two-thirty-five.

There was a delay, and we all sat around as a bailiff went to try to find Eva. If anybody would have asked me I'd have told them her shift was over at two and she might be home by now. Soon enough, the bailiff was back, whispering to the judge, who said "Well tell her to take a cab then!"

Pickett then called a twenty minute recess.

I was standing in the hallway when they hurried in. Eva had changed clothes, and looked harried. Timothy was obviously having fun seeing new things. She saw me and headed straight for me.

"I had to bring Timothy," she said. "Carla wasn't home when they called."

"He can sit with me," I said. "Just go on in."

"Why are they calling me back?" she asked. "I already told them everything."

"Wally's telling a different story. They always do. Don't worry about it. Just tell the truth."

I let her go in and then took Timothy in. We sat on the back row where I had been before. I told him to be quiet, and that if he had any questions, to save them for later.

Denny went over again with Eva the sequence of events in her home on the night of Christmas Eve. She confirmed that she had never vacated the restraining order. He asked her if she'd ever written to or visited Wally in prison, which she replied to negatively. Then he asked if she'd received any mail from him, and again she replied negatively. She remembered I had told her to call 911, which was the first time that information had come up. The problem was that she really had told the court everything she remembered. There were things I could have reminded her of, but it had to come from her, and witnesses forget things all the time.

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