November 3, 1936: Chicago, IL:
The trial - if you could call it that - had been a circus. Bobby Barrell was still seeing spots from all the flashbulbs that had gone off in his face.
The newspapers were the reason of course. Some wit had dubbed Lucy the "Femme Fatale of Whitney Hall" and everyone else had taken off and run with it. That Lucy was not a femme fatale and that Whitney Hall was the engineering building on campus (which was nowhere near where the shooting occurred) were deemed of no importance. Plus, it didn't even really rhyme!
Rufus pointed out to his son that a case like this: an attractive 19-year-old coed had shot both an Olympic gold medalist and a professional ballplayer. That was something bound to get people's attention.
Bobby was, to put it bluntly, in a bit of a snit about the whole thing. Harry, who stayed with his brother throughout was of a mind that no publicity was bad publicity. Bobby figured this was because Harry was, at heart, the world's biggest ham.
The time between the shooting and the start of the trial had gone by in a blur. It was a period full of some shocking revelations about Lucille Bea Traynor (she had been quickly arraigned and a $50,000 bail set). The high profile of the case, involving a Philadelphia native shooting a player of the Philadelphia Keystones in Chicago had ensured that the police in Philadelphia would be involved. The Philly cops had duly searched the Traynor residence as they cooperated with their counterparts in Chicago. The police had found that Lucy was a disturbed young woman. Her room was covered in photos clipped from newspapers - some of Bobby, but the majority were of Bobby's team mate Rankin Kellogg.
The star first baseman of the Keystones had been an obsession of Lucy's according to her sister who had been interviewed by the police in Philadelphia. "She was over the moon crazy for him. She'd send him letters all the time, but never heard back. Then she met Bobby, and he replaced Kellogg, who suddenly became someone she 'despised' as being unfriendly. But we never thought she'd hurt anybody."
Bobby found out that the Keystones secretary, acting on a standing request from Rankin Kellogg himself, never passed on the letters to the ballplayer. Rankin Kellogg was a massively popular player in Philadelphia and received a lot of mail. Rankin was happily married and devoted to his wife and had asked the secretary to open his mail and dispose of any "inappropriate letters" from women. As someone who received some... rather interesting letters from women himself, Bobby was not surprised that Rank would have made that request.
When the police interviewed Lucy, which took place while Annette O'Boyle and Bobby were at the hospital being treated for their wounds, the young woman had been joyful. "I showed them!" she exclaimed. "You don't steal my man and get away with it!" Asked why she had called Bobby to the room she said, "Well, he had to see, you know. He needed to know what would happen to anyone who tried to come between us."
"Did you plan to shoot him too?" the detective had asked.
"Well... no, not specifically. Though I was willing to do so if it had proven necessary." All of this said with a small smile and a gleam in her eye.
"And Miss O'Boyle?"
Lucy's eyes had narrowed and she'd said, "Oh, she had to die. There could be no punishment more fitting."
Naturally both Bobby and Annette had also been interviewed. Bobby had given the same report he'd told Tom over the phone. Annette's account supported Bobby's. Lucy, whom Annette knew from school, had left a note in Annette's room at Whitney College, asking her to come to the hotel for "a chat" and had signed it "Affectionately yours, Bobby Barrell." Lucy admitted she did it precisely this way because she believed that if Annette showed up, it would prove the other young woman was trying to steal "her man."
When Annette had shown up, Lucy brought out the gun, forced Annette to sit in the armchair and then had her call Bobby. The rest of the events occurred exactly as Bobby had explained. He'd shown up, gone for the gun, and Lucy had shot Annette in the shoulder. Then, in a struggle for the gun, a second shot had been fired, this one hitting Bobby in the right hand and arm.
The Grand Jury had quickly handed down an indictment for two counts of assault with intent to murder
Bobby sat on the aisle in the first row behind the prosecution table. Next to him was Annette O'Boyle. Both Bobby and Annette had one arm in a sling. On Bobby's other side sat Harry and beside him, Rufus and Alice Barrell. Tommy had elected not to attend - he was back in Brooklyn, ostensibly taking flying lessons with James. Bobby figured Tom had other reasons for staying away.
Lucy, wearing a plain navy-blue dress, sat with her attorney at the defense table. She had pointedly looked at both Bobby and Annette when they had entered, her expression stony. Behind her sat her parents and sister. Bobby had heard that one of the Chicago papers had paid for the Traynor family's train fare and was also footing the bill for their hotel. In return for an exclusive. He didn't want to believe it... but he did.
The judge entered and everyone stood. After muttering, "Please be seated," as he sat himself the judge gazed around the courtroom, staring over glasses he had perched on the end of his nose. He had a sheaf of papers in his hand.
He raised the papers and said, "I've got the report from Dr. Goldstein here." He frowned a bit and quietly sighed. "Though it goes against my inclination to prosecute this case, I am going to follow the doctor's assessment that Miss Traynor is," he glanced down at the papers and read, "Miss Traynor is judged to be legally insane and thereby the recommendation is that the court remand her to a mental institution for treatment."
Lucy's mother began weeping. Lucy herself didn't move and though Bobby's vantage point was off to side and slightly behind her, he thought her expression didn't change one iota. The judge could have been talking about the weather for all she seemed to care.
"Therefore, taking into account the results of Dr. Goldstein's review of the case and examination of the defendant, I am going to declare Lucille Bea Traynor legally insane and remand her to the state hospital at Kankakee until such time as she can be found sane. I also reserve the right for Miss Annette O'Boyle and Mr. Robert Barrell to press charges at that time, if they so wish. Attempted murder is not something this court takes lightly." The judge glared around the courtroom, his thick bushy eyebrows making a vee on his forehead. He picked up his gavel, barked, "This court is adjourned" and banged the gavel.
As soon as the door closed behind the judge, the media circus exploded into action. The bailiff had grasped Lucy by the arm. An intrepid photographer leaped over the rail and sprinted out in front of the court reporter, snapping a shot that ran in dozens of newspapers the next day: Lucy Traynor, a barely perceptible grin on her face, starting at Bobby and Annette, who were standing and looking at her with blank expressions. Even Harry's expression in the photo was stoic. Everyone was too stunned by the abrupt end to the proceedings to show much emotion.
"They cropped me out!" Rufus groused the next day when he saw the picture as he sat at a table in the hotel restaurant. He, Alice and Harry had just come down for breakfast and Rufus had grabbed the paper on the way in.
Alice slapped him on the arm, her left arm was barely in frame in the photo. "This had nothing to do with you!" she snapped at him.
Harry laughed. "Come on Mom," he said. "Any publicity is good publicity, eh, Pop?"
Rufus shook his head, but was smiling. Alice glared at her son. "You're incorrigible," she said.
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I've started a YouTube channel! I'll be talking about OOTP and other sports games (and some wargames too) but also will be focusing on the Figment Universe. I did a post yesterday featuring a complete play of the 1941 Figment All-Star Game.
Check it out at the Legendsport channel!