Chapter 20
Friday morning I met with Cory, who had nothing new or unusual to report on Nigel. He had dinner with two men in business suits, drank lightly, and returned home after the meeting. I instructed Cory to stay with him for the time being.
I spent the rest of the morning pouring over Nigel’s financial records. From what I could ascertain, Nigel lived beyond his means for the past five years. His spending spree began when he inherited a large property in Northern Ireland from his aunt, Winona Choate. Nigel leases the property to a private drug and alcohol rehab group that is comparable to the Betty Ford Clinic in the US. In spite of the fact that he receives a large monthly rent check, he refinanced the property twice and took out a second mortgage two months ago.
The report gave me the impression Nigel would try to avoid a protracted court battle over the third CD. His best option would be to hire a top negotiator and get the CD to market ASAP. On the one hand, it seemed that killing Terry would throw his future earning potential into serious jeopardy. On the other hand, Terry was much more financially secure and could afford to go to war with Chofsky.
As I was about to leave for lunch, I got a call. “Mr. Duffy, this is Attorney David Stein. I represent Chelsea Tucker. Chelsea was arrested this morning and she asked me to meet with you. Would it be possible to get together later this afternoon?”
“Let me check my calendar,” I replied. After about 30 seconds I said, “I have an opening at 3:00 PM. Can you make it to my office in La Jolla at that time?”
Stein paused a few seconds, then asked for the address.
I immediately called Shamansky, but reached only his voice-mail. At 2:15 he returned my call.
“I guess you got the news, Duffy. I hope her bill is paid,” he said.
“Last time we talked the DA wasn’t ready to move forward with an arrest. What changed?”
“Remember the fight Terry and Chelsea had in the restaurant shortly before the murder?”
“Yeah, it was about how Terry screwed Chelsea’s father and made him look bad in front of his money people.”
“That’s what we thought, too. But I went through all of the credit card receipts from the restaurant and found a couple that had the adjacent table. According to the wife, while they were bickering, Chelsea threatened to take him to the cleaners in a divorce and Terry told Chelsea he built a loophole into their prenuptial agreement,” Shamansky said.
“Did you check it out?”
“Of course,” he replied. “I have a copy of the agreement on my desk. The DA’s office took it to two of the top family court judges in San Diego and they both agree that Terry could have divorced Chelsea without surrendering any future earnings, including the CD he was working on at the time of his death. If Terry lived and either of them filed for divorce, Chelsea would have been cut out of royalties from the third CD and, out of future sales from the first two CDs.”
“I didn’t think that was possible under California law.”
“I didn’t either,” he said, “but the DA says it’s so and that was enough to get an indictment when linked to the fact that she bought the headphones and had opportunity to rig them with the explosives.”
“How is the interrogation of Nazaroff going?”
“I’ve had cadavers that are more cooperative. I’m getting called into a meeting. I’ll talk with you more tomorrow,” Shamansky said and hung up.
David Stein arrived at 3:00 PM and was shown into my office by Jeannine.
“Thanks for taking the time to see me today,” he said and shook my hand.
I motioned to the chair across from my desk. “My pleasure.”
“I would like to start by expressing an apology from Chelsea. She said she fired you a couple of days ago and sincerely regrets doing so,” he said.
He reached into his briefcase and produced a document, signed by Chelsea, requesting my return to the case and full disclosure to her attorney. As I returned the document to him, Stein handed me a check for $25,000.
“This is a retainer for your services”
“Mr. Stein, I didn’t appreciate being fired, but I can understand why she did it. I’ll be glad to help with the defense.”
“What can you tell me about the case against Chelsea?” he asked.
I spent the next half hour giving him the details that appeared pertinent, as well as the California Confidential situation. Stein agreed I could meet with Chelsea.
“I already put you on her visitor list. The bail hearing won’t happen until Tuesday afternoon since we’re heading into a long holiday weekend.”
“Is she going to make bail?”
“Almost certainly, but we can’t control the court calendar. So, she’ll be a guest at our women’s detention facility until the hearing.”
“How is she holding up?”
“Not well,” he replied. “She grew up in an affluent home and never saw the inside of a jail cell until today. She’s scared to death.”
“I have a lot of experience with juveniles of the same background in similar situations.”