The Sapphire Brooch Katherine Logan (best beach reads TXT) 📖

Braham stared, fixing her with his brilliant green eyes, full of turbulent thoughts she couldn’t read. “Ye don’t?”

She shook her head.

He turned slowly red and seemed to swell. He opened his mouth in a futile search for words. After a long moment he asked, “Ye don’t have any memory of growing up at the plantation?”

“Why would I? I didn’t grow up there. We lived in Richmond a few blocks from Virginia Commonwealth University, where our parents taught history and philosophy.”

“Ah, lass, ye did grow up there.” His voice was scarcely louder than the beating of her own heart. “Yer parents weren’t teachers. They were United States senators. So were yer grandsires, back six generations. The Mallory name is the most prestigious name in the Commonwealth, and ye’re an heiress.”

She flapped her hand, dismissing him. “Impossible. Where did you hear this wild story?”

“I’ve been to yer mansion. Stayed there while I recovered after Chimborazo. I’ve seen the family portraits. I’ve read the history of the plantation from the mid-sixteen-hundreds to the deaths of yer parents.”

Silence filled the room until his words, short and brutal and impossible, echoed off the walls. Her brother was in prison for conspiring to kill the president, and the life she had known didn’t exist, according to Braham. As soon as they exonerated Jack, they would return to a life she knew nothing about, but if they lost the case and lost Jack, she’d return to the life she knew without him. Could anything be more screwed up? Although Elliott had warned her that could happen, she hadn’t truly understood the significance.

David came over to her with the whisky decanter and refilled her glass. “Drink, Charley. Ye said it didn’t matter if yer histories might be different. What mattered was freeing Jack. We’ll save the plantation, too, if we can.”

“I’ll send my man to Richmond to warn Doctor Mallory. If he knows there’s a plot to burn the house, he can be prepared. When does it happen? Do ye know?” Braham asked.

“Soon, I think,” she said. Then she realized what he intended to do. “But don’t you need Gaylord to help with the investigation here?”

Braham cocked his head in David’s direction. “I think that’s what David intends to do.”

Charlotte put down her glass and sat forward in her seat. With her fingers linked, her thumb rubbed nervously at the first joint of her index finger. “But Gaylord has contacts who might prove helpful.”

“It will only take him a few days to get there, warn Mallory, and return.” Braham nodded as though verifying something to himself. “David’s a very resourceful lad. I’ve seen it for myself. He’ll make contacts of his own. By the time Gaylord returns, David will know what needs to be done.”

Charlotte quit worrying the joint of her finger, picked up a small pillow on the sofa, and hugged it to her chest. “Elliott worked up an identity for me so I could appear in court as counsel, too. But I’ll need something to do.”

“I don’t know what Elliott had in mind, but ye will not go to court. Can ye imagine the trouble we’d have if ye were recognized? I beg of ye, for Jack’s sake, please don’t do anything rash. We’ll give ye assignments every day so ye won’t feel helpless, but I can’t defend yer brother if I have to worry about where ye are and what ye’re doing.”

She glanced up and caught Cullen’s eyes. He gave her a faint, tired smile. “I’ll need yer help in handwriting the motions we’re going to file. I intend to read all forty-six hundred pages of testimony, and I’ll need ye to summarize the documents.”

“Ye brought all those documents with ye? How?” Braham asked.

“David has a…” Cullen used his hands to form a longish square. “A magic box. Ye read the index, click on the document ye want, and magic takes ye there.”

“An iPad?” Braham said.

“A MacBook,” David said.

“I’ll read every page, too,” Braham said. Then he raised an eyebrow. “But don’t ye need a charging device?”

“We’ll use solar power,” David said.

“We know the identity of the one hundred ninety-eight witnesses the prosecution intends to call. We’ll interview the ones they haven’t sequestered,” Cullen said. “And file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with Judge Wylie of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.”

“How do ye intend to get around the Habeas Corpus Act of 1863?” Braham asked.

“The act specifically states the president can suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus under certain conditions during the present rebellion. Our position is the present rebellion should be considered over when the last battle is—was, by the time we file—fought on May 13, which lifts the suspension.”

“Let me see it,” Braham said. Cullen handed him a copy of the act and he quickly reviewed the short document.

“We have a three-pronged approach. One, Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 is no longer in full force and effect because the present rebellion is over; two, military tribunals do not have jurisdiction over civilians in states where civilian courts are operating; and three, torture is forbidden under the Eighth Amendment. We’ll be breaking legal ground with the cruel and unusual punishment argument.

“The petitioner in Ex parte Milligan prevails with the question of jurisdiction. Here’s a copy of the case,” Cullen said, handing the document to Braham. “In writing the opinion for the majority, Justice Davis said, The Constitution of the United States is the law for rulers and people, equally in war and peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances.”

“What’s the date of the case?” Braham asked, flipping pages.

“The decision’s dated April 3, 1866,” Cullen said. “Elliott’s research team drafted a brief based on the Milligan case, but with facts relevant to ours.”

“If Stanton can exert power over the United States Supreme Court, then he’ll be single-handedly undermining the United States Constitution.