Solution in a Pinch -- Flutterby Moments

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: [1] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 21:11:24 03/15/05 Tue
Author: Lexx
Subject: Solution in a Pinch

Disclaimer: I don't own JAG. Consider this fic disclaimed.

Author's Note: I can't really take credit for the break in the case, as I got it from last night's episode of NBC's Medium. The other ideas belong to the voices in my head.

Mac's office

Harm leaned against the corner of her desk, facing the window, perusing the file she had just handed him.

"Let me get this straight, Mac...you believe your client is innocent of the charges, yet he has already agreed to sign a confession and take the brunt of the punishment, which is brig time? What makes you think he's lying about being guilty?"

Mac heaved a weary sigh. "I don't know, Harm. It's just a feeling."

Harm made a noncommittal noise acknowledging that he had heard and understood, but not indicating whether he agreed one way or the other.

"Anyway, I have to go meet with him, you know, try and convince him one more time to let me fight for him."

Again Harm made a sound of concurrence.

Mac nodded, heaved another sigh, then stood up and made her way past Harm.

"Hey, Mac, hang on a sec," he said, his right arm shooting out to block her path, his hand gently clamping the left side of her abdomen to stop her momentum.

He glanced almost absently at where his arm had ended up, then looked back down at the file as he pulled her to face him, his hand not breaking contact with the warmth he felt through her uniform shirt.

"It says in these reports that his wife just bought a brand new vehicle two days ago."

"Yeah, I saw that. So what? Last I checked, he wasn't accused of theft. Buying a new car isn't a crime, Harm." For the first time in the last few minutes, Harm really took notice of Mac's tone. He could tell that she'd been poring over this case trying to find an answer to the question of why a young Marine, with a promising career ahead of him, would confess to murdering someone, when there was little but circumstantial evidence and a signed confession.

"My point, Sarah," he used her given name, in addition to lightly pinching her side, in an attempt to wake her up from her self-induced lethargy, "is that he is a newly commissioned officer, fresh out of OCS, and that far from being able to afford to buy even a nice used car, his wife went to the dealership yesterday and bought a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee, and..." here Harm paused for effect, "she bought it without financing..."

"Which means she probably payed cash," Mac finished.

Harm nodded enthusiastically, giving her side another encouraging squeeze.

Mac's brow was creased in thought. Harm watched her face as she took the file wordlessly from his hands so that she could study it again. He finally realized that he had been touching her the whole time, and he let his hand fall down to his side as he read the file upside-down.

Harm figured it out a split-second before Mac. She suddenly breathed in quickly and said, "I know what happened!"

She looked up excitedly at Harm, who was grinning proudly at her. "He has no prior criminal record, he was in the top ranking in his class at OCS! But his mother is sick. She needs advanced healthcare, and he's not getting promoted fast enough! So, when someone is murdered, and the real killer has a record that is sure to get him a severe sentence, he pays the unsuspecting Marine a huge amount of money to say he did it! Williams would have to be in the Corps for twenty-five years before he'd earn that kind of money, and his mother needs it now! I guess a few decades in the brig were worth it if the treatment saves his mother's life."

Harm was impressed with her quick thinking skills, considering how little sleep she had gotten over the past few days.

"Harm," Mac started, throwing up her hands in an effort to find the words she was looking for. Instead, though, she settled for planting a kiss on his mouth, pulling back, and saying a quick, "Thank you," before running out to meet her client.

Harm stood motionless, eyebrows encroaching on his hairline, then muttered a low, "You're welcome," to the empty office, shutting the door as he walked out, a small grin on his face.

**End**

Please review!

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Very cute! I love these moments! (NT) -- Manda, 23:27:25 03/15/05 Tue