California Fire And Life

27

The story on Jack Wade, Part Three.

Jack's on the stand in Azmekian's criminal trial.

Jack listens to the DA's question, turns to the jury and says, "The modus operandi of the fire matched that of several known arsonists, including Mr. Kuhl. We brought Mr. Kuhl in for questioning, confronted him with the evidence against him, and he wrote a statement confessing to setting the fire and implicating Mr. Azmekian."

"What sort of evidence?"

Jack nods. "Mr. Kuhl left behind one of the gasoline cans at the scene, and we found fingerprints that matched Mr. Kuhl's."

Jury's eating him up.

"Was Mr. Kuhl under any duress to sign the statement?"

Jack smiles. "None."

The DA calls Kuhl, who looks properly criminal-like in jailhouse Day-Glo orange. Kuhl's in County awaiting his own trial, so he has a lot riding on his testimony. He doesn't get the job done on Azmekian, he gets to carry the dead night watchman. They get through the preliminaries and then the DA throws the big fat pitch across the plate.

"Did you set the fire at the Atlas Warehouse?"

"No."

Goddamn Billy's in the gallery and he about swallows his teeth because Cal Fire has denied Azmekian's fire claim based on Teddy Kuhl's statement. Azmekian filed a lawsuit, of course, and they're three months from the civil trial. Which will be a slam dunk if Azmekian has to shuffle to the stand in ankle bracelets.

The DA isn't all that thrilled, either. He gulps and asks a question that provides commuter entertainment in the Greater Orange County legal community for weeks to come.

He asks, "You didn't?"

"Nope."

The DA goes back to his table and starts scrambling through his papers. Comes up with Kuhl's statement, and starts reading it out loud. Then asks, "Didn't you write this statement and testify to its truth under oath?"

"Yeah," Kuhl says, and pauses with a jailhouse joker's perfect timing. "But I lied."

Jack gets this sinking feeling.

His career, going right through the floor and into the shifter.

As the DA croaks, "No further questions."

Azmekian's lawyer has a few, though.

"You said you lied in that statement, Mr. Kuhl."

"Yeah."

"Why did you lie?"

Kuhl grins at Jack, then says, "Because Deputy Wade there was beating the crap out of me."

He goes on with great glee to say that Wade threatened to really hurt him if he didn't give up Azmekian. How he would have said anything to stop the beating. How he doesn't even know Azmekian. No, sir, never set eyes on him before today.

Jack's sitting there watching this performance and wondering who got to Kuhl. Who was so scary that Teddy would trash his deal and risk a murder conviction?

Then he hears the lawyer ask, "Do you recognize Deputy Wade in this courtroom?"

"Sure," Kuhl says. "The cocksucker's sitting right there."

The predictable hell breaks loose.

The judge bangs his gavel, the defense attorney moves for dismissal, the DA demands that Kuhl be arrested for perjury on the spot, the defense attorney demands that Jack be arrested for perjury on the spot, the bailiff whispers to Teddy he better not fucking say cocksucker on the stand ever again or he'll whale the living shit out of him in the van, the defense attorney moves for a mistrial, the DA moves for a mistrial, the judge says there's not going to be any mistrial, not on his damn calendar, anyway, and the next thing Jack knows the judge has sent the jury off and is holding an evidentiary hearing where Jack is the star witness.

Superior Court Justice Dennis Mallon is one pissed-off judge.

He has the dark suspicion that someone is jerking his leash here and he thinks that person might be Deputy Wade. So he gets Jack in front of him, reminds him that he's still under oath and asks in no friendly tone of voice, "Deputy, did you coerce this statement from this witness?"

Jack's problem – well, one of Jack's many problems – is that he doesn't have time to think this through. If Jack were more experienced he would have taken the Fifth, which would have tubed the prosecution but probably saved his own ass. Jack's not thinking that way, though. What he's thinking is that he has to protect his witness. He's also thinking that it's Career Felon and All-World Scumbucket Teddy Kuhl's word against his and Bentley's – like, they're up against a guy who's got a teddy bear with a hard-on on his arm – so Jack decides to gut it out.

"No, Your Honor."

"Is there any truth to what this man Kuhl is saying?"

"None, Your Honor."

Me and him, we're lying motherfuckers, Your Honor.

Judge Mallon scowls and then the defense attorney asks permission to approach the bench. He and the DA and the judge all whisper and hiss stuff that Jack can't hear and when the huddle breaks, it's the defense attorney asking Jack the questions.

"Deputy Wade, how did you come to suspect my client of this arson?"

"His modus operandi matched that of the fire."

"That's not true, is it?"

"Yes, it is."

"You said you had a gas can with my client's prints on it, is that your testimony?"

"Yes."

"And did you?"

"Yes."

Which strictly speaking is true, because he and Bentley went out and got a gas can, jammed Teddy's hand onto it, placed it on the site and "found" it.

" You planted that evidence, didn't you?"

"No, sir."

"Did you beat up my client?"

"No."

"You beat this so-called confession out of him, didn't you?"

"No."

Jack hangs tough.

Billy Hayes is watching this and thinking that Deputy Wade is a genuine tough guy.

Judge Mallon lets Jack off the stand but instructs him not to leave the courtroom. Jack sits in the gallery sweating bricks while there's another endless huddle at the bench, the clerk makes a phone call, and twenty minutes later Brian Bentley walks in.

Walks right past Jack without looking at him, and the back of his jacket is soaked.

He takes the oath, and the stand, and the judge asks him how the statement was obtained and Bentley tells him that Jack Wade beat the confession out of Theodore Kuhl.

Bentley is sweating like a sauna as he turns into a Chatty Cathy doll on the stand. Tells about how Jack told him to leave the room and when he came back in Wade was stomping on Theodore Kuhl and threatening to really hurt him. How he had pulled Wade off the suspect, explained to the suspect that they had an eyewitness No, no, no, Jack's mind is screeching.

– who could place him at the scene, so he might as well try to help himself, and how based on that, Kuhl had written his statement. How Jack had forced Kuhl to put his prints on the gasoline can and then planted that evidence, and it was all so unnecessary because they did have an eyewitness "I want that witness produced," Judge Mallon tells the DA.

No, no, no, no.

"Yes, Your Honor."

"What's the witness's name, Deputy Bentley?"

"Mr. Porfirio-"

Jack stands up and yells, " No!"

"-Guzman."

Jack, he wants to race out of the courtroom and get to Guzman first, except he's in handcuffs because the judge orders him arrested for perjury. Teddy's sitting there grinning at him. Azmekian is smiling at Billy Hayes, who's calculating how many millions it will take to settle his lawsuit. Bentley's on the stand wiping his brow with a handkerchief as he reaches for his spiral notepad to give up Guzman's address.

Which he does, in front of God, the judge, and the defense attorney, and when the sheriffs go to pick up Mr. Guzman – surprise, he's disappeared.

Dropped off the face of the earth.

Jack always hopes that he's in Mexico somewhere, in some village by the sea, drinking cold beer to some sweet canciones. He knows it's far more likely that Teddy's crew took him out.

And it's my fault, Jack thinks.

I didn't do the job.

I didn't do it well.

And I got that good gentleman killed.

As Teddy Kuhl walks, as Kazzy Azmekian gets two million bucks from California Fire and Life, as Jack pleads out to perjury in exchange for unsupervised probation and his uncontested dismissal from the department.

All through this Jack doesn't say shit. Doesn't rat out Brian Bentley, doesn't say a word in his own defense, doesn't offer any explanations. Just takes the ass kicking and goes.

Worst thing is, he can't get a job.