Of Murder and Memory

Living in Canada, Sally Linden and her current husband Leonard Bast are both published authors, Leonard who has just published his latest book, while Sally has not had anything published in ten years. Some repressed memories are reawakened in Sally upon the discovery of a yellow notebook in their basement. In that notebook, Sally wrote her daily thoughts about being a juror in the murder trial of Theresa Nichol in Honolulu in 1993. Theresa and her husband Vincent Nichol admitted that they routinely robbed tourists to survive, but in the shooting death of one of their tourist targets, Bobby Gordon, it ended up being a "he said/she said" case as Vincent was the only eyewitness upon which the prosecution based their case. On the last day of the trial, Sally was dismissed from the jury on a technicality. Theresa was eventually convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Sally was leaning toward a not guilty verdict as beyond believing that Vincent was the one who pulled the trigger, Sally could relate to everything about Theresa in her relationship with Vincent, as Sally was feeling the exact same way with her then abusive, shyster husband, Danny. In discovering the notebook, Sally realizes that Bobby Gordon's murder is the source of her frequent nightmares, anxiety and insomnia. In investigating, Sally discovers that both Theresa and Vincent are still in prison. As such, Sally decides to visit Theresa in prison, after which she is not only determined to write a book on Theresa's story, but somehow ensure that true justice is rendered for Theresa, who she believes should not have been convicted based on the evidence provided in the trial. Sally's following actions are affected by some information that comes to light about the case, and in she dealing with her mother's illness, her parents with who she always had a difficult relationship.—Huggo