The Underground Man

22

Tracy Garvin looked up from her desk when Steve Winslow came in the front door.

“Get me Mark, Tracy,” Steve said. “We are in deep shit.”

“Yeah, that’s what Mark said.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, he said to call him as soon as you got in. He’s got bad news, and more coming every minute.”

“He say what?”

“No, he was on another line. But I’ll tell you, he didn’t seem happy.”

“That makes two of us. Give him a call, get him down here.”

Steve Winslow pushed open the door to his inner office, went in and flopped down in the chair at his desk. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. Jesus Christ, what a fucking disaster. Defending some sniveling punk kid who looked like he stepped out of a science fiction magazine. Christ, what was he thinking of? He hadn’t even told the kid to ditch the hair. Have to shave it off, more than likely. Maybe it would grow back before trial. If not, better shaved bald than that fucking green fringe.

Steve chuckled. Christ, what a hypocrite he was. Going into court with his own long hair, looking like a refugee from the sixties, but damned if he’d let his client look like teenagers did now. Well hell, he had good reason, didn’t he? The kid’s liberty was at stake. He’d be guilty of malpractice if he didn’t advise the kid according to his best interests.

If he wasn’t guilty of malpractice already. For giving Jack Walsh advice. For letting him write that fucking holographic will.

The door opened and Tracy Garvin ushered in Mark Taylor.

“The shit’s hit the fan, Steve,” Mark said.

“Yeah, same here. I just hope it’s the same shit.”

“Did Jeremy tell you about the will?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Then that’s no surprise. My pipeline from headquarters’s been checking in all morning, and that’s the first thing he got.”

“All I know is Jack Walsh made a holographic will leaving everything to Jeremy Dawson and gave it to Jeremy to keep. You got anything more than that?”

Taylor shook his head. “That’s the scoop on the will, all right.”

“Any chance of seein’ a copy?”

“Not a prayer. The cops have it sewed up tight, and they won’t give it out till the D.A. says so. And from what I gather, that won’t be until they show it to the grand jury.”

“At which point I’ll be able to get a copy,” Steve said. “Big deal. Is that the bad news?”

“That’s just for starters. You know Walsh picked up Jeremy at his school yesterday?”

“Yeah. They got witnesses to that?”

“Sure thing. And that ain’t the half of it. They got a witness saw them in the subway station.”

“66th Street Station?”

“Yeah.”

“What time?”

“That’s the only saving grace. No one’s sayin’. And you’d think if it was around the time of the murder, they would.”

Steve frowned. “Yeah, maybe. Who’s the witness?”

“That’s hush-hush, and that’s the other good news. The cops won’t say.”

“Oh?”

“Right. And the way I figure, that means it’s unreliable. Speculation is it’s most likely another homeless.”

Steve frowned. “I see. Is that it?”

Taylor shook his head. “Wish it were. I saved the worst for last.”

“What’s that?”

“The kid’s a crack dealer.”

Steve Winslow’s jaw dropped open. “What!?”

Mark Taylor shook his head. “Sorry to be the one to bring it to you. But that’s the word. Jeremy Dawson sells crack.”

“You sure?”

“No, I’m just reporting what my men dug up.”

“No, damn it, I mean what’s the source? Has he ever been busted? Does he have a record?”

“No, not unless you count bein’ suspended from school. But as far as a police record, he’s clean.”

“What about the school suspension-they catch him with the stuff?”

Taylor shook his head. “No, the way I get it, some honor student ratted on him. The principal called him in and suspended him for two days.”

“Did he admit it?”

“Would you expect him to?”

“No.”

“Then he probably didn’t. I don’t know. This is all just gossip. We haven’t interviewed the principal yet. So far, we’re pokin’ into this very low key.”

“The cops know this?”

“I’m sure they do. I have no direct confirmation, but it’s the sort of thing they don’t miss.”

Steve shook his head. “Jesus Christ.”

“Puts you in a hell of a position, doesn’t it?”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

“Still gonna represent him?”

“I told him I would.”

“That was before you knew this.”

“So?”

“So the kid lied to you. At least, held out on you. Got you to represent him under false pretenses.”

“What if he did?”

“I’m saying you got a perfect right to back out.”

“Why? Because the kid didn’t say, ‘By the way, I happen to be a crack dealer?’ Can you imagine any teenager in the world who would?”

“I can’t imagine any teenage crack dealer who would. Which is the whole point. The kid’s a loser. You wanna stick up for a crack dealer? In this day and age, that’s just askin’ for it. Particularly someone in your position.”

Steve looked at him. “And just what’s that supposed to mean?”

Taylor took a breath. “Look, Steve. You only had two cases. Your last one, you did real good. You did real good on both of ‘em, but the last one, you came off lookin’ good. Your first case, frankly, you came off lookin’ like a schmuck.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Look, you know what I mean. You turned things around in terms of your career. Now you got a chance to move forward. Defendin’ a crack dealer ain’t gonna help.”

“You’re missing the point, Mark. I’m not defending him for selling crack. I’m defending him for murder.”

“What’s the difference?”

Steve took a breath. “There’s a big difference if he didn’t do it. Even the scum of the earth’s entitled to a fair trial. If he didn’t kill his uncle, he shouldn’t go to jail for murder just because he happens to deal crack.”

Taylor held up his hands. “Yeah, sure. He’s presumed innocent until proven guilty. He’s entitled to a fair trial. He has the right to a lawyer. There’s just no reason that lawyer has to be you.”

Steve looked at him. He chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Taylor said.

“Nothing. I just said almost the same thing to someone just the other day.”

“So?”

“So,” Steve said, “I told the kid I’m gonna represent him, I’m gonna represent him. So he held out on me and he’s a less than model citizen. What else is new? In an ideal world, you’d be able to like your clients. In real life it doesn’t happen that way. Because if they were such good people to begin with, they probably wouldn’t be clients.”

“So you’re gonna represent him?”

“Sure I’m gonna represent him. And I’m gonna get him off, too. If that makes me look bad to some people, well that’s just tough.”

“You really think you can get him off?” Tracy put in.

“I don’t see why not. Cops don’t have that much of a case. They got the will for motivation, that’s the biggie. And the fact that he was seen with his uncle. For one thing, that was much earlier in the afternoon. For another thing, the witness is totally unreliable.

“And then there’s the cause of death. I’d hate to be in the prosecutor’s shoes trying to argue that one. He waits until he falls asleep and then douses him with gasoline and sets him on fire? In a subway station no less?” Steve shook his head. “No, what they got so far won’t do it. It’s not enough that he was seen with his uncle. They need someone who saw him set the body on fire. Or at least someone saw him buy the gasoline. Have they got anything like that?”

Taylor shook his head. “Not so far. If they do, they’re not letting it out.”

The phone rang. Tracy Garvin reached out, picked it up. “Steve Winslow’s office … Uh huh. Just a minute.” She handed the phone to Mark Taylor. “It’s for you.”

Taylor took the phone, said, “Mark Taylor here.” He listened for a couple of minutes, punctuating the conversation with dull, toneless ‘uh huhs,’ and hung up the phone with a look on his face that would have done credit to a mortician.

“Well?” Steve said.

Taylor took a breath. “Look, Steve,” he said. “Are you committed to defend this kid no matter what?”

“I already told you that.”

“Well then you just got a major kick in the balls. The cops got a search warrant for Jeremy Dawson’s school locker. You know what they turned up? Twenty-eight vials of crack, some drug paraphernalia and a thirty-two-caliber automatic.”

“What!?” Steve said.

“That’s right. He’s heavy into drugs, and I do mean heavy. Now I don’t know if he was really playin’ with the big boys, or if the gun was just for show, but in any event he had it.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah,” Taylor said. “And you don’t know the half of it. They just got the report back from the medical examiner. He determined the cause of death.”

“So?” Steve said. “The cause of death was burning and/or asphyxiation, right?”

“The cause of death,” Mark Taylor said dryly, “was a thirty-two-caliber bullet fired directly into the back of the head.”