Murder in the Supreme Court (Capital Crimes Series Book 3) (27 page)

“Sir, with all due respect, isn’t the one essential, the most immediate concern Justice Childs? His position has to be solidified… I do believe I—”

“You can do that, Miss Rawls?”

“With your help, sir…”

Poulson shook his head. This woman was a little terrifying… “My help? Such as, Miss Rawls?”

“Make a phone call and arrange a meeting.”

“With whom?”

“Miss Jones… Dr. Sutherland’s secretary.”

He turned in his chair so that he faced the window. “I don’t wish to have any contact with that office—”

“Just a phone call, Mr. Chief Justice. You certainly needn’t meet with anyone, but the weight of a call from you will accomplish far more than one from me. All I need,
sir, is a chance to talk to Miss Jones. Here, in these chambers.”

“I’m not sure I understand, but in any case, why not go to her office?”

“Because here, in this building, in these chambers, matters take on a different, an added dimension, sir. Mr. Chief Justice, if you would call and ask her to meet you here in your chambers tonight, at seven, she will certainly not question you about reasons… You can be gone when she arrives, but I’ll be here. I have a… a proposition for her, an exchange that I believe will benefit everyone… you, her, me, the White House, this Court, indeed, the nation…”

“And if I refuse?”

“Well, sir, then I suspect you jeopardize a great deal… personally and professionally, including the outcome of
Nidel
v.
Illinois
.”

He wanted to strangle her. What he did was to nod and turn away.

“Good. I’ll be going back to Justice Conover’s office. Will you call and let me know about tonight? Sir?”

“Thank you for stopping in, Miss Rawls.”

Twenty minutes later she received a call in Justice Conover’s chambers.

“It is arranged for seven.” And then the phone was hung up.

“Thank you,
sir
,” she said to the dial tone.

Martin Teller looked at his watch. He had been parked near the Sutherland house in Chevy Chase for nearly three hours. He had decided to renew the tail on Dr. Sutherland and Vera Jones that afternoon, and elected to take one of the shifts himself. Sutherland had left the house an hour ago and had been picked up further down the road by one of Teller’s men. He would wait for Vera.

His stomach growled with hunger. He was out of cigarettes. It had turned bitterly cold, and he started the engine from time to time to keep warm. He had just turned it off again and was watching a mongrel dog cross the road when Vera Jones came out of the Sutherland driveway and turned left, in the opposite direction from which he faced. He
started the car, turned and drew close enough to keep her in view. It was quite dark.

She found a parking spot near Union Station, got out and walked down First Street in the direction of the Supreme Court. Teller parked illegally and walked behind her, always ready to turn away should she decide to look back. She did not.

He stood at the foot of the steps leading up to the Supreme Court’s massive front doors and watched her go up to terrace level, then veer left to a visitor-and-staff entrance at the side of the building. He looked at his watch—6:50.

***

Laurie Rawls left Justice Conover’s area and walked down the long, wide corridor toward Justice Poulson’s chambers. As she came abreast of Justice Childs’s chambers he came through the door. “Hello, Miss Rawls,” Childs said. “Working late?”

“Yes,” she replied pleasantly. “You too?”

“Afraid so. I’ve got some time to put in before the conference in the morning on
Bain
v.
Paley
.”

“Well, not too late, Mr. Justice.”

“I’ll try not to. Have a nice night.”

She headed toward Chief Justice Poulson’s chambers.

***

Moments earlier the Chief had left his chambers, carrying with him a set of legal briefs and a law book. A guard at the end of the hall greeted him.

“Hello, John,” he said.

“Be here late, Mr. Chief Justice?”

“Not too late, I hope.”

He continued walking until he reached the doors that led to the main courtroom. They were open; a guard who usually stood in front of them was at the far end of the corridor drinking from a public fountain. Poulson stepped into the courtroom. It was dark except for lights playing off the
fountains in the courtyard that cast flickering, erratic flashes of white across the huge chamber.

***

Laurie Rawls saw Vera Jones standing outside the entrance to Poulson’s office suite. She had never actually met her before but recognized her from descriptions Clarence had given her… “looks like a bird… Miss Prim… a hatchet face… not bad in the sack, though….” Laurie’s face, and stomach, tightened at the memory of these last words.

Vera turned at the sound of Laurie’s shoes on the marble floor.

“Miss Jones?” Laurie asked.

“Yes… I have an appointment, with Chief Justice Poulson…”

“Yes, I know. I’m Laurie Rawls, a law clerk here.”

Vera gave no sign that she knew about Laurie through Clarence. She stood stiffly, without expression, as Laurie offered her hand and said, “Actually, I’m afraid Justice Poulson won’t be able to be here for your meeting. He was called away, but I can fill in, with his approval.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Please, come in.” Laurie entered the outer office and flipped on the overhead lights.

Vera remained in the hallway. Laurie turned. “Come on in, Miss Jones, it’s just like any other office. No dragons.”

Vera still did not move.

“Miss Jones,” Laurie said, hands on hips, “I really don’t have all night. If you’ll just come in I’ll get to the point right away.”

Vera looked to her left and right before moving across the threshold.

“Have a seat,” Laurie said, pointing to a leather chair against the wall.

“I’ll stand. I’m not sure I approve of this. Justice Poulson said nothing about you—”

“It’s
okay
, Miss Jones, I assure you. Justice Poulson and I discussed it at length this afternoon. What I’m about to suggest, as I said, has his approval.”

When Vera still didn’t take the chair Laurie shrugged, leaned back against a desk and said, “I have something you need, and you have something we need.”

“We?”

“Here, at the Court.”

“What could I possibly have that—”

“The file on Dan Brazier.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about—”

“Oh, of course you do. Dan Brazier was a patient of your boss, Dr. Sutherland, just as Chief Justice Poulson was. I don’t intend to beat about the bush, Miss Jones. The fact that you and Clarence had an affair… an amusing word for something between people of such different ages… is not my concern now, nor is your reason for allowing Clarence to take certain files from his father’s office. What
is
important is that I’ve come into possession of Justice Poulson’s file. I assume you’d like to have it back. At the same time, there are things in Mr. Brazier’s file that are of interest to—”

“You are sick, Miss Rawls.”

“Only of you and your posturing, Miss Jones. Let’s get down to it… I’m offering you an even swap that will benefit everyone—”

“Everyone? You mean you.”

“I mean everyone. I’m not at liberty to discuss Court business, but the importance to this Court of having Mr. Brazier’s file, the importance to the administration itself and to the nation is substantial, I assure you. It is not just a matter of individuals. There’s a greater good—”

“Greater good?”
Vera said, shaking her head and now sitting on the edge of the chair. “My God, what would you
or Clarence know about a greater good, or any good? Those files represent a sacred trust—”

“You should have thought of that when you gave them to him.”

“I didn’t
give
Clarence anything. He
took
advantage of a situation—”

“Yes,”—Laurie smiled—“he was very good at that, wasn’t he? What did he do, Miss Jones, steal the keys while you lay next to him on the office couch—?”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Please, let us be ladies… now, back to business. You give me Brazier’s files, or a true copy of them, and I’ll return Justice Poulson’s files.”

“After you’ve copied them?”

“Trust me.”

The laugh burst from her.

“What choice do you have, Miss Jones?”

“…I’ll have to think about it—”

“After consulting with your employer?”

“Leave Dr. Sutherland out of this. He was as much a victim of his son as I was.”

“A convenient way to get off the hook.”

“Think what you will—” Suddenly Vera felt an intense, enveloping heat. She took off her cap and unbuttoned the top of her coat.

“Are you all right?” Laurie said. “Would you like some water?”

“No, I feel fine… Is that all you have to say to me?”

“That’s all. Brazier for Poulson. I need to know first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Why?”

“Not your concern, Miss Jones.”

Vera stood, touched the back of the chair for support. She felt light-headed, her legs were weak. She clenched her
cap at her side, squeezed it as hard as she could, her long, sinewy fingers pushing through the loosely knitted fabric.

“I’ll walk you out,” Laurie said.

Vera’s body seemed to go rigid, as though the words had physically touched her. “No, stay away from me. You’re no different than he was—”

“Oh, we’re very different, Miss Jones. We’re in the same business, of course, but Clarence is dead and I’m alive. Quite a difference, I’d say. I intend to carry on in Clarence’s memory at the White House… I’ve been offered the position Clarence would have had… if he’d lived. Isn’t that good news?”

“God, you are so vile—”

“Miss Jones, I’ll be at my desk in Justice Conover’s chambers by eight in the morning. Here’s my extension.” She scribbled a number on a slip of paper.

“Go to hell.”

“Whatever you say, Miss Jones. Good night….”

Laurie waited a few moments, then turned off the lights and stepped into the hall. Vera was gone. She returned to Conover’s chambers, where a shaft of light came from beneath the door to the justice’s private chambers. Laurie was sure she had turned off all the lights before meeting with Vera Jones. She thought of calling the security office, then decided to investigate for herself. She went to the door, listened, heard something slam shut. She opened the door.

Cecily Conover was hunched over her husband’s desk. She jumped to attention, lost her balance and fell into her husband’s large leather chair.

“What are you doing here?” Laurie demanded.

“I was… God, you scared me. I was looking for that file—”

“How dare you search through his desk.”

Cecily got to her feet. “I called and asked you to help me find that file. It has nothing to do with the Court, with
government, with anything except my life… can’t you understand that? I’m trying to survive, just like he is.”

“And it looks like he will?”

“Yes, it does, enough to make sure of a divorce that will strip from me everything that’s rightfully mine—”

“Since when does a wife who sleeps around deserve anything in a divorce?”

“Coming from
you
—”

“Get
out
.”

“Please, Miss Rawls… I’ll pay you. If I have that file at least the settlement will be decent for me. I’ll share it with you, I promise… I’ll do anything you want, only get it for me—”

Laurie snapped off the lights and went to the outer office, leaving Cecily standing in the dark next to the desk. Slowly Cecily crossed the carpeted room and joined Laurie. “Won’t you listen to reason, Miss Rawls? Clarence told me you were the brightest female he’d ever met—”

Laurie, whose back had been to Cecily, quickly turned. “Clarence told you that?”

“Yes. I suppose it was his way of making me feel stupid. He used to tell me I was dumb—”

“I know,” Laurie said, taking satisfaction in the look on Cecily’s face. “Mrs. Conover… I suppose I can call you that a little while longer… the record your husband collected about you is very safe—”

“It is? Where is it?”

“I have it. Clarence gave it to me.”

“Then for God’s sake give it to me. What good is it to you?”

“Maybe we can work something out. Meanwhile, be assured that we share what’s in it, just you and me and, of course, your husband. But it really isn’t of much value to him unless he has it, now is it?”

“You’re blackmailing me.”

“It was your suggestion. Look, all you have to do is make sense with me from time to time… We could have lunch, perhaps even dinner. Relax, Mrs. Conover, we can be good friends. We have quite a lot in common.”

Yes… we have Clarence—”

“
No
, we don’t have him in common, Mrs. Conover. Clarence loved me. For him, you were just a temporary diversion. Good night, Mrs. Conover, you know the way out.”

***

He entered the darkened courtroom and stood next to the bench, his fingertips resting lightly on it. Here was America’s highest
concilium
, where in daylight eight men and one woman decided the various fates of millions of people. Their power was as great as the tons of lactescent marble used to create the arena. Greater.

Words. Millions of words spoken here on behalf of men condemned to die, the disenfranchised seeking justice, corporations in conflict with individuals, the issues always more important than the individuals bringing them for adjudication. For here, truly, was the court of last resort.

It was operatic, he thought, the room a slumbering giant, sated with that day’s offerings and waiting for another sun to rise, for another case to be debated and decided in favor of plaintiff or defendant, hero or villain, Christian or lion.

Above him the justices’ nine chairs, each a different height and shape, stood empty and facing in different directions. He smiled. The Court ran with precision, yet the chairs were never lined up. Appropriate. There were few unanimous, orderly decisions either.

He climbed the few steps leading to the bench and slowly walked behind the chairs until he reached the middle one. It faced to its left. He sat in it, not turning, simply accepting the direction in which it pointed him, toward the windows and fountains. The chair did not feel comfortable to him….