The Last Innocent Man

5

David looked down at the stack of papers scattered across his desk. He had brought home a legal memorandum in the Stafford case to proofread, but he was too tired to go on. He closed his eyes and massaged his eyelids. The pressure felt good.

He stood up and stretched. It was ten-thirty. He looked out his den window. A pale-yellow half-moon was peeking around the side of the hill.

It was two weeks after the bail hearing, and the case was starting to shape up nicely. Conklin had secured a copy of Ortiz’s medical file, and it had proved interesting reading. His idea about the Mercedes had panned out, too. Most important, Terry Conklin had finally got around to taking the shots he wanted at the motel. The pictures had not been developed yet, but Terry was confident that they would show what they both thought they would.

David had learned a lot about Larry Stafford, too. He and Terry had talked to people who knew Larry. A picture had emerged of a person who was always under a little more pressure than he could handle. Larry was a striver, never secure with what he had, always reaching for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Larry’s father had divorced his mother when Larry was in his teens. Larry stayed with his mother, who was never able to cope with the destruction of a life she had built around one man.

Larry’s father was a military man and a stern disciplinarian. Larry idolized him. Although there was no truth to it, Larry half believed that his father had left because Larry had not lived up to his expectations. He had spent the rest of his life trying to prove himself.

Larry had not just joined the Army, he had joined the Marines. In college and law school he had studied constantly, pushing himself to the point of exhaustion. Socially it had been the same story. He read all the books on self-improvement, drove the latest sports cars, often piling up debts to get them, and dressed according to the latest trends. Anyone who did not know Larry well would assume that he had achieved the success he sought, but Larry had achieved only a state of perpetual fear that drove him toward goals he could never reach.

David had come to feel sorry for Stafford. Jenny was right when she said he was like a little boy. He had no idea of what was really important in life, and he had spent his life running after the symbols of success. Now, just as he had grasped those symbols, they were going to be stripped away.

Stafford had married wealth and beauty, but his marriage would not last. Jenny was protective of her husband, but David knew that it was out of a sense of duty, not love. He felt sure that when the trial was over, no matter what the outcome, Larry Stafford would lose his wife.

Larry would never make partner at Price, Winward, either. David had talked to Charlie Holt about that. Before his arrest there had been no clear consensus among the partners. Stafford did not have a first-class legal mind, but he did well in matters that required perseverance. Stafford’s arrest had unbalanced the scales. The firm could not afford the publicity. If acquitted, Larry could look forward to a year more as an associate to give the appearance that the firm was fair, but it would be made clear to him that there would never be an offer of a partnership.

The doorbell rang and David went to answer it. Jennifer Stafford was waiting when he opened the door.

“Can I come in?” she asked, a bit unsure of herself.

“Of course,” he said, stepping aside.

Jenny was dressed in jeans, a black turtleneck, and a poncho. Her long hair was tied back in a ponytail. She looked very beautiful.

“I was going to call,” she said hesitantly, “but I was afraid you would tell me not to come.”

“Don’t be silly,” he said a little too quickly. “I’ve been locked up with my law books all evening, and I can use some human companionship.”

David watched her wander across the living room. There was a fire in the fireplace, and Jenny stood in front of it, her back to him.

“Can I get you a drink?” David asked.

“Please.”

The liquor was in another room and he wanted a chance to settle down. Jenny had not been to his house since the night they had made love. Now she had come to him, and he was very unsure of himself. There had not been a moment since he had seen her again at the courthouse that he had not wanted her, but there was an unspoken understanding between them that made any personal discussions taboo.

Jenny was sitting in front of the fire, leaning against a large pillow, when he returned with her drink. He sat beside her, listening to the logs crackle and watching the flames twist and curl.

“How have you been?” he asked.

“Busy. School’s back in session. I’ve had lesson plans to prepare, and they’ve given me a class of exceptional children. They really keep you on your toes.”

“Have you had any problems because of the case?”

“No. Actually, everyone has been very kind. John Olson, our principal, told me I could stay out for the whole trial.”

“That’s great.”

“My folks have been unexpectedly supportive, too.”

“Why, didn’t you expect them to be?”

“Mom’s never approved of Larry. You know how mothers are.” Jenny shrugged. “Anyway, Mom even volunteered to go to the jail with me on visiting day.” Jenny laughed suddenly.

“What’s so funny?”

“Mom at the jail. You wouldn’t understand unless you knew her.”

Jenny laughed again. The laugh was warm and open, without a trace of the self-consciousness that had characterized their relationship from the start. David wanted to hold her very much at that moment. She must have sensed this, because she stopped and her smile faded.

“David, I want you to be honest with me. Are you going to win? Will Larry be acquitted?”

“I think so. The State’s whole case rests on Ortiz, and I think I’m going to be able to take him apart.”

David expected Jenny to ask him how he planned to get to Ortiz, but she didn’t. Instead, she stood up and walked toward the window. He rolled onto his side and watched her.

“If Larry was convicted…” she started. “If you didn’t do your best to…”

She didn’t finish. He stood up and walked over to her. When he spoke, his voice was firm.

“But I wouldn’t do that and you wouldn’t want me to. That’s not the solution to our problem, Jenny.”

“David, I-”

He stopped her by placing the tips of his fingers against her lips.

“We’re both under a lot of pressure, Jenny. I should never have taken this case, but I did. I’ve tried to kid myself, but a lot of the reason was so I could see you again. That’s a very bad reason, but there it is and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Oh, David,” she said, and it sounded like the sigh of a lost soul. David put his arms around her and they stood there, her head on his shoulder, not holding tight, but holding soft and caring.

“You don’t know how much I’ve wanted you,” she said, “but I couldn’t hurt Larry. After that evening…I felt so confused and guilty. And I didn’t know what the evening meant for you. You were so self-assured, as if you had done…been to bed with other women so often. I was afraid that it had just been sex for you and that I would make a fool of myself.”

“It was never just sex,” David whispered.

“Then Larry was arrested and Charlie told me to hire you. It made it worse for me, but Larry needed you.”

“And I need you, Jenny, very much.”

She looked up at him. She was frightened. They both were. Then their lips met, and they sank down on the soft carpet and made love in front of the fire.

Afterward she slept curled up in his arms. When David was certain he would not wake her, he eased her down and covered her with a blanket. Flame shadows played across her face, and she looked as peaceful as a sleeping child.

David put another log on the fire; then he sat across from Jenny so he could see her. She had come so close to saying something he did not want to think about. He could lose the trial, and their problems would be solved. But he would not. He would win an acquittal for Larry Stafford by trying the best case he had ever tried.

What kind of life could he and Jenny have together if he intentionally lost Larry Stafford’s case? Even if no one else ever knew, they would know, and that knowledge would destroy them.

Jenny said that Larry was innocent, and Terry Conklin’s pictures would prove it. Larry Stafford would be acquitted. Then Jenny would make her choice. A free choice.