Polar Quest

26

The door on the prisoner’s side of the visitation room opened and a deputy ushered in Oswald Eames. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit that was at least one size too small. Eames nodded to the deputy politely and walked over to the Plexiglas window.

‘Nolan, this is quite a surprise,’ Eames said as he sat down. ‘I was expecting my lawyer. When did you get back?’

‘Late last night. I…’ Kilkenny stopped, struck by the irrelevant direction of this conversation. ‘Look, I was in the back of the courtroom today.’

Eames sighed. ‘Didn’t go so good in there, did it?’

‘No, it didn’t.’

‘I swear to God I didn’t kill Faye and Lloyd,’ Eames said passionately.

‘After what I heard in court, I’m having a real hard time believing that. If you didn’t do it, how the hell did they get a DNA match on you?’

‘Lab error,’ Eames shot back. ‘It’s the only way.’

‘Didn’t you and Lloyd just help the state police make their lab procedures damn near perfect?’

‘Yeah,’ Eames replied defensively.

‘So you’re either a murderer or a lousy consultant. Either way your reputation is toast. At least you’re not claiming this is all a police frame job.’

‘Fuck-ups are lot easier than conspiracies to pull off.’

Through the window, Eames looked angry and frightened. ‘You think I did it.’

‘You know I have to consider that a possibility. At this point, I’m honestly not sure what the hell I think.’

‘Are you going to pull the plug on UGene?’

‘No, the company’s too big for that now. I’ll run things until this is all sorted out, then we’ll decide what to do from there. I have to take care of the shareholders.’

‘What few there are left.’

‘The sellers were mostly speculators — they would’ve bailed as soon as the next big thing showed up. The real investors, the ones who understand our business, are in for the long haul. Admittedly, losing both Lloyd and you would be a terrible hit, but we’d find some way to recover from it.’

A deputy opened the door behind Kilkenny and Eames’s lawyer entered the room.

‘You must be Nolan Kilkenny,’ Balogh said as he approached. ‘I saw a picture of you in your father’s office. I’m Tiv Balogh.’

Kilkenny shook Balogh’s hand. ‘I’ve been a bit out of the loop. What’s the situation?’

Balogh pulled up a chair and sat beside Kilkenny in front of the Plexiglas window. ‘Mr Eames was arraigned on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of criminal sexual conduct involving penetration.’

‘Where are we in the case?’ Kilkenny asked. ‘Does it go to trial next?’

‘No. We’re in the discovery phase right now, going through everything the prosecution has and looking for ways to build a defense. The next formal proceeding is the final examination. If I can find any holes in the prosecution’s case — improper handling of evidence or violations of my client’s rights — I’ll file motions with the court. If I can’t stop things there, then we go to trial.’

‘What about the DNA test?’ Kilkenny asked. ‘Doesn’t that pretty much trump everything else?’

‘It’s true that the courts view DNA testing as highly reliable,’ Balogh replied, ‘but there’s always the possibility of lab error or contamination of the samples.’

‘There has to be something wrong with the lab work,’ Eames said.

‘If there is, I assure you I’ll find it. Actually, I was quite surprised that the prosecution brought up the DNA tests so early in the game.’

‘Why?’ Kilkenny asked.

‘Trial law is all about strategy. As you said, DNA evidence is a trump card, one the prosecution normally holds back until the trial. By presenting it now, the prosecution has told me they don’t have much else to support their case. It won’t be easy to get the DNA test thrown out, but I’ll do what I can to raise a reasonable doubt.’