The Justice Game

64

Judge Garrison gave the jury another stiff lecture about not discussing the case with anyone, then dismissed the panel and invited the lawyers back to his chambers. When they arrived, Garrison took off his black robe and motioned toward two unoccupied chairs.

“We’re off to a good start. But, Mr. Noble?”

“Sir?”

“We could have done without your asking the jury that question.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You don’t have any stunts cooked up for tomorrow, do you?”

“Not yet.”

Garrison had been glancing through some papers on his desk but the comment stopped him cold. “Say what?”

“Just a little humor, sir.”

“Yes, well… let’s try to keep this thing on track and keep the showmanship to a minimum.”

Jason wanted to ask if that applied to judges as well, but he let it go. For the next few minutes, they discussed scheduling matters and how long the case might take.

“Have the parties discussed settlement?” Judge Garrison asked.

Kelly responded first. “My client’s not willing to settle. It’s a matter of principle.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard that a few times.” He turned to Jason. “Why don’t you put some money on the table so we can find out how much those principles cost?”

“I’m sorry, Judge. For my client, it’s a matter of money-and she’s not willing to pay any.”

Garrison sighed. “Well then, be ready to start opening statements at nine.”

After he warned the lawyers not to make any inflammatory comments to the press, he sent them on their way.

Kelly stopped Jason in the hallway and handed him a manila folder.

“These are some documents responsive to your discovery requests,” she said. The look on Jason’s face must have telegraphed his suspicion at not receiving them earlier. “Before you blow a gasket, you should know I just received them myself,” Kelly continued. “Most lawyers wouldn’t even produce them to you-they would just surprise you with them on cross-examination.”

“Cross-examination of whom?” asked Jason.

“The documents speak for themselves,” Kelly said.

Jason ignored reporters on his way out of the courthouse and walked straight to his truck. When he opened the truck door, it felt like a blast furnace inside. He threw his suit coat over the passenger seat and loosened his tie.

He started the air-conditioning, braced himself for the worst, and opened the manila folder. He perused the bank documents-an offshore account under Ed Poole’s name-and the pages of cell phone records.

Jason didn’t recognize any of the phone numbers and didn’t understand the full significance of the offshore account, but he did know one thing-if Kelly Starling intended to use the documents on cross-examination, they must be bad.

Which in turn led to another sickening conclusion-Luthor had set Jason up. Jason’s main expert witness had a serious Achilles’ heel. Luthor had undoubtedly known about it all along. And now, like an idiot, Jason had dug an even deeper hole by keeping Luthor’s suggested jurors on the panel.

He cursed and pounded a fist on the dash. Why hadn’t he seen this coming?

Perhaps because he didn’t want to see it. He was so intent on keeping his past a secret that he had closed his eyes to the obvious and stepped right into the middle of Luthor’s trap.

A tap on the window shook Jason out of the fog. He looked at Case McAllister and rolled down his window.

“You okay?” asked Case. “You look a little peaked.”

“I’m fine. It’s just been a long day.”

Kelly Starling didn’t check her phone messages until she was on her way to the Hilton Oceanfront hotel, her temporary headquarters for the next two weeks. Sometimes being part of a big firm had its privileges.

The fourth caller had called from an unidentified private number during lunch. Kelly had returned to the courtroom early and shut off her phone. She must have just missed him.

The voice sounded like a male’s, but it was hard to tell because it had been digitally altered. The connection wasn’t the greatest, and Kelly had to listen twice in order to make out exactly what the person said. What she heard made her heart stop cold.

“Kelly. This is Luthor. Keep Juror 3 and Juror 7 on your jury. If you do, your secret’s safe with me.”

After listening the second time, she hung up the phone without checking her other messages. She had kept both jurors on the panel-why wouldn’t she have?-but that’s not what bothered her. Luthor was interfering with the case. Giving her direct orders. If he had been watching jury selection, he would think that he had her, that she had acquiesced to his requests.

In truth, she had resolved to do just the opposite. She was going to represent Blake Crawford to the best of her ability no matter the cost.

From the looks of things, the price could be high. She had gone along with this demand, albeit unintentionally. How long before Luthor made another demand that she couldn’t comply with?

She called Judge Shaver to let him know she had heard from Luthor again. He didn’t answer his phone, so she left a cryptic message.

“This is Kelly Starling. I just heard from a mutual friend named Luthor. He’s fine right now, but I’m afraid it might just be a matter of time. Thought you’d want to know.” She left her cell number and hung up.

She wondered what she had missed about Jurors 3 and 7. She had frankly been a little surprised that Jason had not struck Juror 3, Rodney Peterson. Now she wondered: Were they plants for the other side?

It seemed unlikely. Luthor appeared to be on her side. He had already provided the damaging cross-examination material for Ed Poole and the copy of Case McAllister’s cost-benefit analysis. But how could she know for sure? Maybe Luthor was just trying to gain her trust in order to betray her in the end.

She still didn’t have the foggiest idea who Luthor was. The only thing she could do was focus on the case. Maybe in the meantime Luthor would slip up and Kelly would learn his, or her, identity.

Either way, if Luthor thought he could control Kelly Starling, he had another think coming. If her affair with the judge ever became public, it would get ugly, but Kelly would survive. After that, Luthor would wish he had never met her.

That was all for later. Right now, she needed to focus on her opening statement.