Rough Justice (39 page)

“Your Honor, I do not want a mistrial. I do not want any further delays in my trial. I have been in prison for a long time. I have a business to run when I am released.”

“Thank you, Mr. Steere.” Judge Rudolph imagined himself leaping over the first hurdle and landing on the other side without breaking stride. One down, one to go. The judge turned to the prosecution table. “Mr. Moran, I see that you are joined this morning by District Attorney William Masterson. Welcome, Mr. Masterson.”

“Good morning, Your Honor,” Masterson said.

Judge Rudolph acknowledged the powerful lawyer with a nod. The judge knew that the D.A. wanted his job and had kissed enough of the right asses to get it when the judge ascended to the Supreme Court. Without a word being exchanged, both men knew a baton would pass, but only if the judge won his final leg of the relay. “Mr. Masterson, will you be speaking for the Commonwealth this morning or will Mr. Moran be doing the honors?”

“Mr. Moran will,” Masterson boomed. He grinned broadly and made a note on a legal pad. “I’m just here for the ride. Mr. Moran likes my company.”

The gallery laughed and the reporters scribbled. Judge Rudolph smiled indulgently. Very funny. Take my job, please. “Fine.” The judge prepared for the second hurdle. “Does the Commonwealth have any objection to this case proceeding to verdict with less than twelve jurors, in view of the circumstances, Mr. Moran?”

Tom was about to object when he felt a nudge at his elbow. He glanced over, and Masterson was looking thoughtfully at the dais, the flags, and the judicial seal of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. His hammy hand rested on a legal pad that said:

AGREE, TURKEY

Tom didn’t even have to think twice. Fuck it. He’d worked his ass off on this loser. The mayor had gotten his indictment, but nobody had promised him a verdict. No matter that the Commonwealth had a chance of winning, Tom knew where the pacifiers were. He said without hesitation, “The Commonwealth has no objection to this case proceeding to verdict at this time, Your Honor. The Commonwealth is as interested as the defendant and the Court in bringing this matter to a swift and certain conclusion.”

Judge Rudolph watched himself leaping the last hurdle. Sprinting for the finish line. Leaning into the tape. Splitting it like a spiderweb. The crowd roared. The banner flapped. He had won. It was over. Somebody handed him a flute of champagne.

And a brand-new robe.

M
arta and Judy churned down the street, racing toward the Criminal Justice Center. Snow whisked from the sky and lay in a thick layer over sidewalks, buildings, and cars, as if someone had tossed a white comforter over Philadelphia. Stores and businesses were shut down. No one was outside. The stillness and silence were complete except for the whistle of the wind, a fluted note blown from the chill gray ether.

Marta panted as she ran in the heavy clothes, struggling to keep up with the younger and fitter associate; she was almost hyperventilating by the time they reached Broad Street. “Judy,” she called weakly, and the associate ran back through the snow. Marta doubled over and braced her hands on her knees, trying to suppress the soreness in her torso. “I have to stop,” she said, gasping. “I can’t keep this up.”

“You have to. We have to keep going.”

Marta felt dizzy. Blood rushed to her head and it throbbed. She couldn’t find the strength to straighten up. “Aren’t there any cabs?”

“No. No cabs, no buses, nothing,” Judy said, scanning the deserted street. She was panting, too, and her breath made large clouds of steam in the frigid air. “We gotta run for it.”

“How much farther?”

“Five blocks.” Judy squinted through the snow at the old-fashioned yellow clock atop City Hall, with its ornate Victorian hands. Her heartbeat quickened. “It’s one-fifteen, Marta. We gotta go. Come on.”

“I’m too old for this.” Marta panted heavily as she stood up. Her chest felt like it would explode. “You go ahead. Take my purse. The evidence is in it.”

“No. They won’t believe me without you, you’re lead counsel. Come on. Straighten up. Move your ass.”

“You just like bossing me around,” Marta said, panting too hard to smile.

“That too,” Judy said, and ran off toward the courthouse.

B
ennie climbed the snowdrift to Carrier’s stoop, brushed snow off the brass buzzer, and leaned hard on the black button to ring the associate’s apartment. She buzzed and buzzed, but there was no answer. Damn. Bennie hit the buzzer for the ground-floor apartment. It was marked by a card that said
HILL-SILVERBLANK
, but the Hill-Silverblanks weren’t in either.

Bennie banged on the front door in frustration. Snow shook from the door panels as she pounded. She had trudged all the way here to stop this kid. She wouldn’t be turned away now. She banged harder, hoping Judy hadn’t already done something stupid. She could land all of them in front of the disciplinary board and put Rosato & Associates in the toilet.

She stepped away from the door and looked up at Carrier’s windows. They were empty and dark. Where could she be? Bennie climbed down the stoop and into the snow at the sidewalk. Then she saw them. Tracks in the deep snow, messy footprints that led from Carrier’s stoop and down the sidewalk, then traveled beside a row of buried cars and disappeared around the corner.

Bennie peered through the blowing snow at the tracks. She could follow where they led. The footprints were easy to see in the deep snow. In some places it looked more like legprints than footprints. Bennie smiled. Lawyer tracks. Cloven pumps. They wouldn’t get far on foot.

She clambered down the stoop, careful not to kick snow on the fresh footprints, when it hit her. There were
four
footprints, not two. Two people had left Judy’s apartment — Judy and Marta. Either that or the Hill-Silverblanks, out for a stroll in a blizzard. Bennie knew in her bones which was more likely. She had a hunch Judy and Marta were heading for the Criminal Justice Center. She bounded after them.

The lawyer tracks ran down Twenty-fourth Street through the residential neighborhoods. Bennie picked up the pace, running directly through them. She hadn’t slept all night, but she always enjoyed a run in cold weather. Her legs felt strong. Her wind came easily. Bennie hadn’t rowed since the storm and she needed to stretch. It was the golden retriever in her. She got rammy when she didn’t get to fetch the ball.

She followed the tracks down the snow-laden sidewalk and fell into an easy stride. Bennie had always been the fastest on her crew, and running the benches at Franklin Field every week since then had kept her in shape. She still regretted not trying out for the Olympics, but there’d been a mother to support.

Bennie checked the tracks as she ran into the snow. Deep trails marked the snowy sidewalk, like slugs. She would overtake them in no time. She had to, before they ruined all of them. Bennie picked up the pace in the next few strides and sprinted down the street.

“I
t’s D day, troops,” Ralph called to the other jurors. “Time to vote.” Ralph was officially the foreman of the jury, but he felt more like an undertaker at a funeral parlor. He strode around the conference table, handing a sheet of legal paper to each downcast juror. They were in a funk since the scene with Christopher. It’d been like a soap opera, with Megan hugging Christopher while he flopped around on the floor like a hooked trout. Christopher kept trying to talk, but Megan had kept him quiet until the ambulance arrived.

Ralph had started pushing for a final vote as soon as the judge ordered them to resume deliberations. If Kenny wouldn’t go with the flow this round, Ralph would get him next round. It was just a matter of time. Ralph handed a piece of legal paper to Megan. “Time to vote now, young lady. The sooner this is over, the sooner you can get to the hospital.”

“Thanks,” Megan said, accepting the paper shakily. She stared at the blank paper. She didn’t want to convict Steere even if it meant disagreeing with Christopher. Poor Christopher. She did want to visit him, at least to make sure he was okay. Megan hurriedly wrote
innocent
on her paper and folded it up.

Mrs. Wahlbaum bent over her paper, with one last glance at Mr. Fogel, who was writing with a speed that didn’t surprise her. He’d vote not guilty, and Wanthida, who sat beside him, would vote not guilty, too. Mrs. Wahlbaum tried to recall what Christopher had said after he changed his mind, but all she could remember was him writhing in agony on the stretcher. It must have been appendicitis. She wrote
not guilty
and turned her paper over.

Nick trembled at the lined sheet in front of him. His nerves were shot. Christopher’s stomach attack was the last straw. What if Nick got a stomach attack, too? His belly was already burning him. He gulped down some water and didn’t even care if his thumb showed. He wanted to go home before he caught whatever Christopher had. He couldn’t stain again. Nick grabbed his pencil, clenched it tightly, and wrote
INNOCENT
.

Lucky Seven hunched over his paper, feelin’ like he used to feel in grade school when they gave tests. Everybody was writing and he wasn’t. He could hear them all, scribblin’ away. Everybody was finishin’ before him, foldin’ up their papers, handin’ them in. It was like they had all the answers. Well, this time he had the answer.

Lucky Seven was feelin’ bad for Isaiah and his girl, and he was gonna stand up for what he thought no matter what Kenny said. Hell, after this case was over, he’d never see the dude again. It wasn’t like they’d be hangin’. Lucky Seven wrote
not guilty
on the damn sheet just as quick as he could. He wasn’t even the last one finished.

“Everybody done voting?” Ralph asked, taking his seat at the head of the table. He slapped the pad in front of him and casually wrote
NOT GUILTY
. Like it wasn’t worth $100,000 to him. Then he looked up.

“I didn’t vote yet, man,” Kenny Manning said evenly, at the opposite end of the long table. All the jurors looked at Kenny, except for Lucky Seven, who looked pointedly away.

“That’s okay,” Ralph said. “Hold your papers, people. Don’t pass ’em in yet. Kenny’s entitled to take his time.” He glanced at his watch. 1:25. “Take all the time you need, friend.”

Kenny picked up his pencil and looked out the window. He didn’t need their shit. He could take his own goddamn time. Didn’t need no Ralph Fuckin’ Merry to tell him that. Didn’t need no go-ahead from that pig face. Kenny made them all wait, lookin’ out the window and watchin’ the goddamn snow. Takin’ his
own
damn time.

At a hospital across town, Christopher lay agonized on a gurney as it sped down a corridor. He kept trying to tell the doctors to call the cops, but the nurse and an emergency room doctor ran with the gurney on either side, ignoring his grunting. Pain ripped through Christopher’s bowel but he kept trying to talk.

“Nuh … grr … stop,” he managed to say, but they hustled the gurney into a cold white room. Everybody was rushing around in half-masks and gowns. The gurney lurched to a stop under a blinding beam of light.

“No … wait … whoa,” Christopher grunted. He put his arms up to shield his eyes. A doctor held his wrist and started to put a plastic mask over his face. No. They couldn’t put him to sleep. He had to call the police. He had to save Marta.

“I said whoa!” Christopher shouted, and marshaling all his strength, grabbed the startled doctor by his white lapels and wrestled him onto the table beside him. Nurses gasped in shock as the two men fell to the cold tile floor and Christopher screamed in the doctor’s face, “Call the police! Now!”

M
arta got her second wind as soon as she spied the Criminal Justice Center through the driving snow flurries. The building was modern with Art Deco touches, trimmed in gray marble and tan. Fresh snow outlined its geometric ledges and decorative windowsills. It was a beautiful building and she’d take it by storm. Marta panted with exertion and excitement as she ran.

Judy knew without a word what Marta was thinking. They were on the same page. They had the evidence against Steere. They would turn it over to the court. Judy ran faster. The ethical problem nagged at her, but every time she felt a doubt she thought of Mary lying in the snow. Bleeding almost to death. Mary might not survive, and Judy couldn’t even be with her at the hospital because of Elliot Steere. She owed him exactly zip. Judy hugged Marta’s purse under her arm and kept her legs churning.

But something was wrong. Odd. The heart of town should have been deserted. City Hall and the Criminal Justice Center were closed because of the blizzard, except for the Steere case. The street should be as dead as the rest of town, snowed in for the duration. But it wasn’t.

Bennie squinted through the snow as she ran. She had lost their tracks when she reached the business district and followed her hunch the rest of the way. Three blocks ahead of her, two figures were running down the sidewalk past Market Street toward the Criminal Justice Center. Judy and Marta. Bennie recognized Judy’s bright yellow shell. The associate was a rock climber with a full wardrobe of pricey gear. Besides, who else would wear a color like that?

Bennie took it up for a few strokes, running hard. Power strokes, at the beginning of a race. Cranking up the stroke to launch the scull smoothly, then taking it into full stride, full bore. She narrowed the gap between them. Two blocks, then one. She watched Judy and Marta reach the Criminal Justice Center and the fringes of a crowd collecting there. There was activity. Commotion. Oh, no. Bennie took up the stroke until the scull began to fly.

Judy was aghast as she ran. People were collecting at the mouth of Filbert Street. Something was happening at the Criminal Justice Center. News vans with colorful logos had parked crazily in the plowed snow. Blue-and-white police cars thronged at the corner of Filbert Street. “We’re not too late, are we?” Judy asked anxiously, panting as she ran. She looked over at Marta, whose expression showed strain and alarm.