1989 (#18) - The clandestine flirt between Adrian and Cassandra, the arrest of Paul

Released on bail with Victor's help, Paul tries to understand and reason with his father Carl about what happened. Carl, to whom Paul guarantees his total innocence and extraneousness to the facts, firmly believes his son's version and, together, they realize that the man was framed. But what neither Carl nor Paul support, however, is that in all this time that Paul has been dating Cassandra, he has not been the only lover of the woman. Cassandra, in fact, also frequents a certain Adrian Hunter, a shady individual of Ukrainian origin that Victor, by chance, meets in the company of the woman, thus exposing their relationship. Convinced that somehow the two have plotted against Paul, Victor offers to help Paul and Carl, who in the meantime is forced to work unofficially on the case, having been taken away because of his personal involvement. Cassandra in the meantime informs a now suspicious Paul that it is better, for them, not to meet again to arouse suspicion; the meeting, in fact, was arranged by the woman to connect the man with the place where the murder weapon was found, left at the very spot where Paul waited for Cassandra. And so, when an anonymous call informs the police where to find the murder weapon, the fingerprints on it cause Paul to be entered in the register of suspects. Paul, thus, is arrested again, this time on charges of voluntary manslaughter. Paul proclaims his innocence once again, now realizing that he was framed by Cassandra herself who, during a visit to the prison, confides to the man his belief that the man would soon be found innocent. Convinced that he had to do something, Victor decides to seduce Cassandra to try to collect some evidence, but is unable to get any information from her, even though he realizes that the woman is still dating Adrian. The latter, meanwhile, incites Cassandra herself to leave the city with him, but the woman refuses, warning him that she wants to wait until the end of the trial and the conviction against Paul, so as not to arouse suspicion. Soon, Carl manages to track down Adrian and, looking at his phone records, to prove his connection with George, realizing that Adrian himself is probably the author of the murder, although there is no evidence to suggest Paul's innocence. Paul's position, meanwhile, becomes more complicated when during the trial, under oath before Judge Richard Hodges and the prosecution represented by Patrick Sullivan, Cassandra admits that there was a relationship between her and Paul: and it is at this moment that Carl, overcome with despair, begins to realize that nothing, at the moment, seems to be able to save Paul from a wrongful conviction.