A Fool for a Client (24 page)

A heavy silence fell between them.
Nancy
saw pain on Parker
’
s face.

“Do you think you can save her?”

“I
’
m pitching for all it
’
s worth.
But I
’
m not sure if I have his measure.
Abrams is a good lawyer... and I have a very uncooperative client.
Hell, she
’
s not even my client.
I
’
m on standby.
Strictly speaking I
’
m not even supposed to open my mouth without her permission, although I
’
ve done so a couple of times and got away with it.”

“Couldn
’
t you work out one of those deals?”

“No way.
I wanted her to cop a plea but she refused.
And even if she did, Abe and his boss are using this case as a springboard into politics.”

“How do you mean?”

“The DA
’
s got his sights set on State Attorney General and Abrams is all keyed up to step into his shoes in
Manhattan
.”

“Surely there are other cases they could exploit?”

“Not with this much ready-made publicity.”
He shook his head wearily.
“They
’
re going to milk this one for all it
’
s worth and then they
’
ll throw her dried-out carcass to the wolves.”

“Tell me something Rick, what exactly are
you
after?”

“I told you.
I
’
m trying to build up a picture of my enigmatic and uncommunicative client.”

“That
’
s what I
’
m getting at.
Is it only Justine Levy the
client
that you
’
re interested in, or Justine Levy the
person
?”

Parker
’
s arms slid off the parapet slowly as he turned to look at her.

“Is
that
what you think?”

She stepped back from the parapet and turned to meet his eyes.

“You said before that you wanted a
woman
’
s
perspective.
Well I
’
m giving it to you.”

He turned back to look at the city, resting his arms on the parapet once more.

“Did she tell you anything else that might help me?

She edged closer to Parker.

“Rick Parker,” she blurted into his ear, “are you changing the subject?”

She smiled, expecting Parker to do the same.
Instead he frowned and clenched his fists.

“Let
’
s just say I prefer not to want what I can
’
t have.”

“I wouldn
’
t write her off as a lost cause just yet.”

“I can
’
t have her unless I can save her, and even if I save her she
’
ll see me as just another schmuck like the kind she brushes off as if they were fleas.”

“Well now we
’
re making progress, said
Nancy
mockingly.
“At least you
’
re ready to admit to
your
feelings.”

He spun round.

“OK you
’
re right, I like her a lot.
But I
’
m fighting a losing battle.”

“Now you
’
re selling yourself short,” she said gently.

He forced a brave smile and met her eyes.

“Are you talking about Rick Parker the lawyer or Rick Parker the person?”

The proceedings of the last two days had been fairly routine, taken up with police testimony and formality.
Parker would have loved to put the police witnesses under the pressure of a barrage of technical questions, but all he could do was sit and watch while Abrams led his witnesses through their laborious testimony, with not the slightest trace of resistance from Justine.

It seemed to Parker that Abrams himself was drawing out their testimony to unnecessary lengths, although he couldn
’
t think why.
Justine appeared to be suppressing a smile as she watched the proceedings, almost as if she knew what the prosecutor was up to. It wasn
’
t until the afternoon however that the speculation came to an end.

The first sign came when the press began filing into the courtroom for the afternoon
session, filling up their rows of seats.
There seemed to be more of them than usual.
This was not in itself surprising:
the press contingent had been growing steadily since the start of the trial, as the networks started picking it up.
But it had dwindled briefly during the more mundane parts of the testimony.
Now it had risen abruptly.

But
what
, Richard Parker wondered, was the DA doing in court?

“Your Honour, in deference to my learned colleague the District Attorney for
Manhattan
, I am stepping aside for the examination of the People
’
s next witness.

So that was it, thought Parker.
That was the name of the game.
The whole cornball production was to enable the DA to cash in on a high profile case with minimum risk to himself, by conducting the examination of one minor witness who could hardly put a foot wrong.
The arresting officer was a fairly routine witness, and even though Parker knew that routing witnesses could be shaken by a smart lawyer like himself, there was little likelihood that Justine would take advantage of the situation.

The strategy was that the DA would lead the witness through a series of routine questions to reveal his excellent service record and then get on to the nuts and bolts of the arrest to establish its legality for the record.
That would fill about an hour.
If Justine declined to cross-examine, as she almost certainly would, they could all go home early to enjoy a relaxing Friday evening and a pleasant weekend.

True to form, the opening questions elicited the patrolman
’
s name and number, the number of years he had served in the force and his citations for bravery and initiative.
It was just when the DA was beginning to get confident that Justine rose.

“Your Honour, may we inquire what this witness is being called upon to show?
The defence is interested in saving time and I am quite willing to stipulate as to the legality of my arrest, that my Miranda rights were read to me and that I indicated that I understood them.
If there are any problems about the fingerprints, I
’
m ready to stipulate to them if and when the file with the prints is introduced.”

The judge looked over at the DA quizzically.
The DA looked round at Abrams and whispered a word in his ear.
For a few seconds they appeared to be engaged in frantic conversation.
Finally Abrams rose.

“Your Honour.
Those are precisely the things that this witness was called upon to show and we are grateful to the defendant for her cooperation.”

“In that case the witness is excused.”

Abrams remained standing.

“Your Honour, we had expected the direct and cross-examination of this witness to take all afternoon.
In consequence we have no other witnesses available to testify this afternoon.”

“That would appear to be a very serious oversight,” said the judge gravely.

“I apologize to the court, Your Honour.
This is really quite unexpected.
We were given no indication at the pre-trial that these stipulations would be forthcoming.
I
’
d like therefore to move for an adjournment.”

“The Court does not look kindly on such unnecessary delays in the proceedings, especially when the defendant is being so cooperative in expediting matters.
However in view of the incompetence of the DA
’
s office in coordinating its business I have no alternative but to grant the motion, albeit with the gravest of reluctance.
And I feel duty bound to censure the Assistant District Attorney for his handling of the matter and I hope that in the future he will take greater care in the preparation of his case.
This Court is adjourned until Ten O
’
clock Monday morning.”

The police had dragged their heels over bringing Declan McNutt before a judge for arraignment because of the trivial nature of his offence.
The approach of the IRA and INLA in
England
had always been to give away as little as possible.
In spite of his refusal to cooperate, the police made no trouble about granting his right to make a phone
call, not wanting to jeopardize their case against him.
He had tried to call a contact whose name he had been given back in
Belfast
, making sure that the police
officer didn
’
t see the number.

He knew that if they were really determined, they probably had other ways of checking.
But he suspected that they weren
’
t going to try.
To them this was another minor case of illegal possession of a firearm, and possible possession of marijuana for personal use.
There was no answer from the number.

They had told him that they were looking for drugs.
At first he thought that this was just a ploy, certain that they were onto him, even though they were Irish themselves.
But after they checked him out with the FBI for previous convictions, they actually became quite friendly, asking him the obligatory
“what part of
Ireland
do you come from?” and going on to inquire what life was like under British occupation.

The sleazy building where he had been sta
ying was obviously a den of low-
l
ifes.
Declan had seen the type hanging around the corridors.
It was perfectly natural that the police should periodically raid apartments in a place like that.
This was probably just a case of mistaken identity. In all likelihood they were tipped off about another apartment and simply g
ot the apartment number wrong.

Declan assumed that he had simply got taught in the tangled web.
This would explain why they didn
’
t even know his name.
They didn
’
t know
who
they were looking for.
All they had was the number of an apartment.
Just his luck that they caught him with a firearm.

He had thought of keeping the gun stashed in baggage lockers ready for use when he needed it.
But he liked to be ready for action at all times, ready to make a run for it if necessary. In
Northern Ireland
the purpose of army raids was not always to arrest but to execute.
And INLA was also in a state of constant alertness against another IRA crackdown like the one that had almost liquidated them.
It may have been different with police raids here, given the high level of sympathy and public support that they enjoyed with a sizable section of the American public.
But old habits die hard.

The question was, had his cover been blown?

“Paul O
’
Brian,” the young man from the DA
’
s office said perfunctorily as Declan was brought forward.
“Possession of a concealed weapon without a permit. No priors but a foreign citizen.”

The arraignment judge leaned forward.

“Is the defendant represented by counsel?”

“Not yet Your Honour,” said Declan.
“I
’
ve been trying to get in touch with a friend who can get me a lawyer but I haven
’
t been able to contact him yet.”

“Are you aware that if you desire an attorney but cannot afford one the Court can appoint one free of charge?”

“Yes they told me that.
But I
’
d like to keep my options open.
If I can get in touch with this friend he should be able to get me one.
If not there
’
s an organization I
’
d like to contact.”