First degree ac-2

  Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Hobbs alert, listening intently. "Did you listen to Special Agent Hobbs's testimony in its entirety?"

  "I did."

  "To your knowledge, was he being truthful?"

  "He was not."

  Dylan and Hobbs simultaneously jump to their feet. When Dylan gets there, he screams an objection. When Hobbs gets there, he has no idea what to do, so he looks around, a puzzled expression on his face, and sits back down.

  Hatchet calls us over for a bench conference to discuss Dylan's objection. Dylan is steaming, and once the jury cannot hear us, he lets loose. "Your Honor, Carpenter is making a mockery of this courtroom."

  Starting a conversation with Hatchet by telling him that his courtroom is a mockery is not a shrewd strategy. He didn't get the name Hatchet by treating lawyers with kid gloves, and it's possible we could have another beheading on our hands. I just stand there, well behaved and totally innocent.

  Dylan realizes in an instant what he's said, and he backtracks. "I apologize, Your Honor, but these tactics are truly reprehensible."

  "Which tactics do you mean, Dylan?" I ask with a voice as sweet as sugar.

  Dylan is not about to be drawn into a conversation with me; he speaks only to Hatchet. "Your Honor, the defense called Agent Hobbs under false pretenses."

  "Which pretenses do you mean, Dylan?" I purr.

  Hatchet now turns his glare on me. "I would say it's time you announced where this is going, before I stop you from going there."

  I nod. "Your Honor, I said I would question these witnesses, including Hobbs, about their knowledge of Dorsey. I did that. I admit I suspected Hobbs would lie, but I couldn't know that for sure until he did. Those lies, as I will demonstrate, bear directly and crucially on this case."

  "He's impeaching his own witness," Dylan complains.

  "My own adverse witness."

  I know for a fact that Hatchet is annoyed with me. He feels I manipulated the court for my own ends, and in fact I did. But I didn't lie, and there's no legal reason for him to prohibit me from going forward.

  "Mr. Carpenter, I'm going to allow you to proceed, but be very careful. If I sense you are being dishonest with this court, you will find yourself in very unhappy circumstances."

  "Yes, Your Honor, I understand."

  I prepare to resume questioning Cindy, who has sat stoically on the witness stand, no doubt watching her career flashing before her. Hobbs has been staring at her, trying to intimidate her. Not a chance.

  "Agent Spodek, you said that Special Agent Hobbs was being untruthful in his testimony."

  "He was lying, yes."

  "Which part was a lie?"

  "Almost everything after he gave his name."

  The jury laughs, but Spodek doesn't crack a smile. This is one tough lady.

  "I'm paraphrasing, but Special Agent Hobbs claimed never to have had contact with Lieutenant Dorsey. Was that a true statement?"

  "No. I witnessed their meeting at least half a dozen times."

  "How did that come about?"

  "Usually, we were out in the car, working on a case, and we would stop at an apparently prearranged location. Lieutenant Dorsey would be there, and they would talk."

  "Did you hear any of the conversations?"

  She nods. "Parts of two of them."

  "What were they about?"

  "They were discussions of Lieutenant Dorsey's activities with certain criminal figures. About protecting Lieutenant Dorsey from prosecution by the local authorities."

  "Lieutenant Dorsey was worried about that?" I ask.

  "Very worried."

  I steal a glance at Hobbs, who looks like a newcomer to acting class who has just been instructed by the teacher to "show outrage." The funny thing is, he thinks this is the worst part. Just wait.

  "Agent Hobbs also said he did not know Roger Cahill. Was that a lie as well?"

  "Absolutely." She goes on to describe two meetings that he had with Cahill, though she hadn't known his name until she saw his picture in the paper after Barry's murder. It was a major reason she called me about Murdoch, another man whom she knew Hobbs was meeting with before he was sent to prison.

  I take her through some more discussion about Hobbs's perjured testimony, then ask her if she knows anything about the original 911 call that implicated Garcia in the murder.

  "Yes," she says. "I made that call."

  "Why?"

  "Agent Hobbs instructed me to. He said that he had information that Garcia was guilty but that he didn't want to involve the Bureau."

  "Do you know why he didn't make the call himself?"

  "No, I don't."

  "Could it be that he wanted the call to come from a woman so that the prosecution would accuse the defendant of making it?"

  Dylan objects, and Hatchet sustains. I tell Hatchet I want to recall Hobbs, and Dylan reserves his cross-examination of Cindy until after Hobbs is finished. Dylan is smart enough to know he is walking into a minefield, and he's hoping Hobbs will at least provide him with a map.

  Hobbs takes the stand again, a considerably less confident and self-assured man than he was last time he was there.

  "Agent Hobbs," I begin, "I take it you listened carefully to the testimony of Agent Spodek?"

  "Yes."

  "Do you wish to change your previous testimony as a result of it?"

  "I do not."

  "So would it be fair to say that your position is that Agent Spodek was herself being untruthful?"

  "She was lying through her teeth."

  "Do you have any idea why she would do that?"

  "Agent Spodek is a bitter woman of very low competence. I have been considering recommending her termination from the Bureau. I suspect she is aware of that and has taken what amounts to a preemptive strike against me."

  "So she is lying and you're not?"

  He nods. "She is lying and I'm not."

  "You did not know either Alex Dorsey or Roger Cahill?"

  "I did not."

  At that moment, by prearrangement, Captain Reid, dressed in military uniform, enters the courtroom. He goes to Kevin, whispers something, and hands him a piece of paper. Kevin looks at it, smiles, and indicates for Captain Reid to sit with the other witnesses. Then Kevin walks over to me and pretends to whisper in my ear. Hobbs watches all of this take place with barely concealed horror.

  "Special Agent Hobbs, were you in Army Special Forces in Vietnam?"

  Hobbs doesn't answer. I can see his brain reacting to figure out what to do as surely as if I were watching it through a CAT scan.

  "Did you not hear my question?"

  This brings him back to face his current dilemma. He is positive that Reid must have brought absolute evidence of his military connection to Cahill and Dorsey. To deny it is to commit perjury even more blatant than previously.

  "Were you in Army Special Forces in Vietnam?"

  "Yes."

  "Was your rank first lieutenant?"

  "Yes."

  "Did you command a small secret unit which operated behind enemy lines?"

  "That is classified."

  "I think that war is over, Agent Hobbs. Were Roger Cahill and Alex Dorsey under your command?"

  His answer is soft, as if he's hoping no one will hear it. "Yes." The resulting buzz from the gallery and jury says they heard it loud and clear.

  "So you knew them? Had contact with them?"

  "Yes."

  "So Agent Spodek was right? You were lying before when you denied contact with them?"

  "I didn't realize you were talking about in the army. I thought you meant more recently, during the investigation."

  "That's another lie, isn't it, Agent Hobbs?"

  "No, it isn't."

  "So let me see if I understand," I say. "You knew them in the army but haven't had any contact since?"

  He nods. "Yes. That's correct."

  "You say this fully aware of the perjury laws in the state?"

  "Yes."
>
  I introduce as evidence a tape recording supplied by Cindy. It is Bureau practice that all calls from agents' offices are taped, in order to protect the agents and help in investigations. Thinking she might need it to protect herself, Cindy had confiscated a tape of one of Hobbs's conversations with Dorsey, and I play it for the court.

  It is a devastating record of a conspiracy between Dorsey and Hobbs, and though Hobbs doesn't directly implicate himself in any criminal acts on the tape, there is no doubt in anyone's mind he has committed multiple perjuries in his testimony today.

  I ask Hobbs if Murdoch was in his squad and if he knows that Murdoch was recently murdered. He acknowledges the army connection but denies knowing about the murder. Not a person in the room believes him.

  I'm finished, and Dylan doesn't even cross-examine the shell that was Special Agent Hobbs. His defeat is total; the man is ruined.

  Heh, heh, heh.

  WE ARE A SUBDUED GROUP DURING OUR NIGHTLY meeting. We're nearing the end; the only issue to resolve before closing arguments is whether or not Laurie will take the stand.

  Laurie still wants to, but in light of today's positive developments, is willing to listen to arguments. Kevin and I tell her the basics: that there really is nothing for her to add and that the dangers are potentially enormous.

  I feel compelled to point out that, while we did really well today, we are still in very precarious shape. The jury could easily find that our entire defense, centering on Hobbs, Dorsey, and Cahill, is interesting but off point. The only tangible evidence in the Dorsey murder still points to Laurie, and the jury may follow that evidence--in fact is more likely to than not.

  It's a lively discussion which finally ends with Laurie trusting our judgment and agreeing not to take the stand. This allows us to focus on the closing arguments, which in this case are going to be even more important than usual. It will be up to us to make the jury understand that what we have been saying matters, and creates at least a reasonable doubt as to Laurie's guilt.

  The media are filled with the trial news, and there is open speculation that Hobbs will be indicted and tried for perjury. The FBI director himself has issued a statement saying that Hobbs is being put on temporary leave, and both federal and state investigations are under way. It's gratifying, but it's small consolation if it doesn't result in Laurie's vindication.

  Our first action in court is to announce that the defense is resting, and Dylan tells Hatchet that he is ready to give his closing argument.

  "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," he begins, "I stood here at the opening of this trial and told you that the evidence would show that Laurie Collins murdered Alex Dorsey. I told you the defense would utilize tricks and mirrors to make you think otherwise, but that what you needed to do was focus on the facts.

  "My message today has not changed. The evidence has been presented, the facts are clear. The defense has been even more illusory than I expected, presenting a wild tale of Green Berets, frame-ups, and conspiracies.

  "In the process, an FBI agent has been shown to have lied. I won't dispute that; we all saw it before our eyes. But what does that mean to this case? No evidence was presented implicating him in the murder you are here to judge. In fact, as a federal officer, he had nothing to do with this case whatsoever; it was handled by the Paterson police. Nor did anyone come up here and say he had a grudge against this defendant. Why would he have framed her? It doesn't make any sense.

  "Yes, Agent Hobbs lied, perhaps to hide his embarrassment at his relationship with criminals and a cop gone bad. It's interesting, it's troublesome, and it will be investigated, but it has nothing--I repeat nothing whatsoever--to do with the murder of Alex Dorsey.

  "The state has proved its case, proved it well beyond a reasonable doubt, and I ask you to return a verdict of guilty against Laurie Collins for the murder of Lieutenant Alex Dorsey."

  I get up to give our closing argument aware that we have a big hill to climb. In a perfect world, a lawyer wants to be able to recap and summarize the compelling evidence he has presented during the course of the trial. This case being tried in a less-than-perfect world, I have the task of explaining what the hell our evidence has to do with it.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, there is absolutely nothing in Laurie Collins's background, not a shred, which would indicate she could possibly be capable of a brutal act such as the murder of Alex Dorsey. On the contrary, her entire life has been devoted to furthering the public good and the cause of justice.

  "The prosecutor says she did it, and points to certain items of evidence. I say she was framed, and that the same evidence was planted to further that end.

  "But Mr. Campbell completely rejects the idea of a frame-up moments after he tells you that the reason he first charged Oscar Garcia with the crime is because he was framed! Mr. Garcia could be framed, but Ms. Collins could not? Why doesn't he explain that?

  "And let's look at what he does say about it. He says that Ms. Collins framed Garcia to avenge one of these grudges that he thinks she carries around. Yet an FBI agent, Cindy Spodek, testified that she made the call accusing Garcia. Ms. Collins had nothing to do with it. Mr. Campbell was wrong about that, as he has been wrong about so much in this case.

  "Which brings me to Special Agent Hobbs. Even Mr. Campbell admits Hobbs perjured himself. Now, I don't know exactly what Mr. Hobbs did, or why he did it, but I'm going to give you a theory. It may be right, or it may be wrong, or the truth may be somewhere in the middle.

  "I think the evidence shows that Hobbs led a squad, much of the same squad he led in the military. I think they got into positions where they could abuse the system and commit crimes, and Hobbs was in a position to protect them and to take a healthy cut of their profits.

  "And he did protect Dorsey, but it got to a point where he couldn't protect him anymore. Dorsey didn't want to go to prison, and he threatened Hobbs with exposure. Dorsey may well have intended to fake his own death, but that wasn't good enough for Hobbs, and he either killed him or had Cahill kill him. And when Murdoch was going to talk to me, Hobbs had him killed as well.

  "Before killing Dorsey, he either tricked him or forced him to tape a message to Ms. Collins, which he played in a phone call to her, making us think Dorsey was alive. Because as the actual murderer trying to deflect attention from himself, Hobbs had a very strong interest in Ms. Collins getting convicted.

  "Now, as I've said, this is just a theory, though I believe it is plausible given the facts before you. Don't you have to admit it's possible? I believe that you do. Can you say beyond a reasonable doubt that I'm wrong? I don't think so.

  "One of the many unusual aspects of this case is the fact that the lawyer for the defendant was a key witness in the defense. I sat up there and told you that Roger Cahill confessed the murder to me and told me about the bloody clothing behind the stadium, clothing he said was his own. I also told you that I sent Ms. Collins out there to retrieve the clothing.

  "If I was telling the truth, Ms. Collins is innocent. It's as simple as that. You may or may not believe me, but can you say beyond a reasonable doubt I was lying? I don't think so. And if you can't, then you must vote to acquit.

  "I know Laurie Collins very well, probably better than I know anyone in the world. She could no more commit a murder like this than she could get up and fly out the window.

  "A murder of anyone, no matter what their actions in life, is a tragedy. Please don't compound that tragedy by turning Ms. Collins into another victim. She is innocent, and she has been put through hell. I ask you to do what is right and give Laurie Collins her life back."

  As I turn and walk back toward Laurie at the defense table, I experience a totally selfish moment. I realize that the life I have been fighting for as much as Laurie's is my own.

  I simply cannot envision living my life while Laurie wastes away in prison. It would be an incomprehensibly horrible existence, and the knowledge that twelve strangers can turn it into a reality bores a panic-filled hole in my
stomach.

  Kevin and Laurie shake my hand and whisper that I was wonderful, but the jury sits impassive, not looking at me, or Laurie, or anyone else. I want to go over and shake them until they understand who the good guys are. And I want to memorize their faces so that if they convict the woman I love for murder, I can hunt each one of them down, cut off their ugly heads, and set their stinking bodies on fire.

  Hatchet reads them his version of the law, which when boiled down from its one-hour length, basically says, "If you think she's guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, vote guilty." He sends them off to deliberate, though they inform him that since it's late, they're going to get started in the morning.

  Kevin comes over again tonight, basically out of force of habit, since there's nothing else we can do. I'm going to be hard-pressed to stick to my usual style of waiting for a verdict, which is to be totally alone (except for Tara), totally obnoxious to anyone who interrupts that solitude, and totally superstitious.

  I can't be alone, at least not in my house, since Laurie is confined there for the duration. I don't want to be obnoxious, since she is no doubt going through a greater agony than I am. The only thing I can be is superstitious, so I'm sure I will do that with a vengeance.

  I know we shouldn't, but we are physically unable to avoid watching news coverage of the verdict watch. Some commentators give us a decent chance, but most feel that if the jurors follow a strict interpretation of the law, we'll probably lose. All agree that if not for the Hobbs revelations, we'd be dead in the water.

  The area of most agreement is that the longer it takes to reach a verdict, the better off we are. If the jury rejects our theories about Hobbs as irrelevant, they'll vote quickly to convict. If they're willing to accept them, or at least examine them, it will take considerably longer. Of course, this "longer the better" theory does not take into account the likelihood that we will soon all have strokes and die from stress waiting for the jury to come back.

  We're eating breakfast at nine A.M. when Laurie and I make eye contact and realize that at that very moment, the jury is meeting to begin the process of deciding her fate. It's enough to make me choke on my pancakes.

  The doorbell rings and we get a FedEx delivery. It's from the opposing law firm in the Willie Miller suit, and inside is a cashier's check for more than eleven million dollars. Since two hundred thousand dollars of it is Edna's, she is more than happy to take it to the bank and deposit it.