Trap (9781476793177) (38 page)

Karp now turned to deal with the dying declaration issue. “You heard during the defense's summation, quite cleverly and ably explained by Mr. Mendelbaum, that his client is innocent and Lars Forsling is guilty because he said so as he lay dying. The trustworthiness of a dying declaration is based upon the notion of a shared value system of right and wrong, good and evil. The idea is that when facing death, God-fearing people will confess their sins. However, the more you heard about Mr. Lars Forsling from the witness Mr. LaFontaine, and what you heard and observed about Mr. LaFontaine, would it offend your common sense if I suggested to you that neither individual had a shared value system with us? And of course, given the context in which that statement by Mr. Forsling was made, the answer is they don't.”

Karp then brought up what he called “the unholy alliance between the corrupt teachers federation administration and the public school system that it controlled. You heard the defendant in this case malign the charter schools by stating they are elitist and racist and basically private in nature. But like the rest of her testimony, of course, none of that is true. Rose Lubinsky on many occasions made it clear that charter schools are the salvation of children in inner cities, the minority neighborhoods of our town. Charter schools, she made clear, are public schools. They outperform substantially their failing and dangerous counterparts, the federation-controlled public schools. In order to ensure the expansion and continuation of the charter school movement, Rose Lubinsky had an important bill in the state assembly that this defendant and Monroe feared. And Rose Lubinsky was murdered because she was telling the truth about outstanding achievements of the charter schools, and threatened the power and the wealth of Monroe and Stone as well as the pathetically corrupt politicians they bought off to try and dissolve the charter school system at the expense of hundreds of thousands of children.”

The jury had returned with its verdict after only three hours of deliberations. The defendant Olivia Stone saw the decision on their faces when they walked back into the courtroom for the last time and collapsed into her seat. She couldn't, or wouldn't, stand when Judge Rainsford asked the foreman how the jury found as to the charge of murder. “Guilty,” he said over her sobs and pleas.

When it was over, the jury excused, the murderer led away to await sentencing, and the media had left the courtroom, Mendelbaum walked over to Karp and sighed. “I think it's time to take the shingle down.”

“Why? You're still sharp as ever,” Karp said. “The evidence was overwhelming, but you made us fight for it.”

“Thank you, my friend,” Mendelbaum said. “But it's not just losing the case, or even feeling like a dinosaur around all this computer talk. I don't know, the world has changed and I think not for the better. This one just left a bad taste in my mouth.”

“Well, take some time to think it over,” Karp said. “I'd miss doing battle with you.”

“You'd miss my Snickers bars, you mean,” the old man said, tossing one to Karp. “But I'm going to go visit my daughter and grandchildren down in Florida. Maybe I'll just stay there. Either way I'll let you know.”

In the fall, Karp had driven with Marlene and the boys to Albany for a session of the state assembly. There Micah Gallo revealed what Simon Lubinsky had passed to him from his wife. “It's the speech she was going to give,” Gallo said, pulling the sheaf of papers from the manila envelope. “How she'd known I'd come around and give it for her, I don't know. I guess she had more faith in me than I had in myself.”

“She was a great judge of character,” Simon said.

Gallo gave the speech and closed with “those are the words of Rose Lubinsky. I am just the messenger she chose and a poor one at that. I'm also a convicted felon, allowed out of prison for this purpose, and I'll be returning for at least two more years. My sentence has been long and difficult, but it's not as long and difficult as the sentence we are handing down to the children if we don't seek every opportunity to improve the state of education. So I'm asking you to pass the Rose Lubinsky Charter School Fairness Act on their behalf.”

Gallo had received a standing ovation from the members of the state assembly. As he prepared to be driven back to a minimum security prison, he turned to shake Karp's hand. “Thanks for the letter you sent the judge,” he said. “I think that's the reason I got the minimum.”

“You did the right thing, Micah,” Karp said. “I was happy to do it. So, what do you plan on doing when you get out?”

Gallo shrugged. “I won't be able to get back into teaching with a felony on my record. But maybe something with disadvantaged kids. Something that would make Rose proud.”

“I think she already is . . .”

A month later, Karp had felt his own sense of pride watching his sons at long last chant the words from the Torah and take that symbolic step into Jewish manhood. There'd remained just one more task and that was the special presentations each boy had been asked to do.

As expected, Giancarlo had sung beautifully. But Karp wondered when the rabbi asked Zak to step forward and his son sat still for a moment.

Then his son rose and walked to the spot where Rose Lubinsky had stood when she told the congregation her story. His head was down and he seemed to be searching for the words Karp had heard him practicing the night before. He looked up and found his parents in the audience, then Moishe and Goldie Sobelman, and finally Simon Lubinsky.

“I am a Jew and proud of it,” he said, and tapped his chest. “I feel it in here and I have my parents, my brother, and Rose Lubinsky to thank for it. Now let me tell you a story about two other Jewish heroes who made a difference in my life, Moishe and Goldie Sobelman . . .”

ALSO BY ROBERT K. TANENBAUM

Fatal Conceit

Tragic

Bad Faith

Outrage

Betrayed

Capture

Escape

Malice

Counterplay

Fury

Hoax

Resolved

Absolute Rage

Enemy Within

True Justice

Act of Revenge

Reckless Endangerment

Irresistible Impulse

Falsely Accused

Corruption of Blood

Justice Denied

Material Witness

Reversible Error

Immoral Certainty

Depraved Indifference

No Lesser Plea

NONFICTION

Echoes of My Soul

The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer

Badge of the Assassin

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2015 by Robert K. Tanenbaum

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