‘‘I guess you didn’t hear me. Something has to give. I’m not saying you can’t handle it. I’m not saying you can’t go up against her in the future. But this one is already as jiggly as gelatin. Your judgment—forgive me —your judgment doesn’t seem to be as sound as I would like to see.’’
The phone rang, and Henry picked it up, still intent upon his pen exercises.
Collier hoped the phone call would distract him. He needed the win in the Strong case because he didn’t feel solid in the job yet. But it wasn’t just that. He believed Clauson. Strong had to be put away. Henry wasn’t convinced of that like Collier was. He had to be there, to see it through. . . .
Henry could seize his marriage to Nina and use it as an excuse to take him off the case, or even decide the evidence was too paltry and the whole thing a no go, if Collier didn’t act quickly.
‘‘Tell her to come on in,’’ said Henry. He set his toy down. ‘‘Barb’s outside,’’ he told Collier. ‘‘The P.D.’s office took the plea bargain in her case.’’
‘‘That’s great!’’
‘‘Isn’t it?’’ said Henry.
Barbara opened the door saying, ‘‘I don’t want to disturb you.’’
‘‘Are you kidding? You just saved the People of the State of California a million bucks and you don’t want to disturb me?’’ Henry came around the desk and gave Barbara a kiss on the cheek.
She accepted it with a smile. ‘‘I am so pumped up,’’ she said.
Collier had stood up. He held out his hand. ‘‘Fantastic,’’ he said. ‘‘Great work.’’
‘‘Thank you.’’
‘‘Tell us all about it,’’ Henry said, and she sat down next to Collier on the settee to regale them with the story, managing to look both hard-charging and winsome at the same time. She had unkind words for her opponents. They had made the foolish mistake of underestimating her. She had played with them like a cat playing with balls of yarn, clawing at them with one maneuver after another until they unraveled.
Her excitement at the win was contagious. As she talked on, leaning forward, using her long, slim fingers for emphasis, they basked in her confidence and power. Henry’s eyes lit up and stayed lit up.
While Collier listened, nodding his head now and again, a plan began taking shape in his mind. Henry was not going to let him off the hook on this conflict of interest. And along came Barb, smart, effective in court, just finding her wings. She had worked under Collier for a while, saw him as a sort of mentor, even seemed to have a soft spot for him. With her as a figurehead, he could maintain some influence and a role in seeing that bastard Jim Strong put away for a long, long time. . . .
‘‘Let’s go out and have a drink after work. Everybody in the office,’’ Henry said when she had finished. ‘‘My God, it’s the kind of day every prosecutor dreams of having.’’
‘‘Henry, I’m so sorry, but I can’t,’’ Barbara said. ‘‘I’ve got my aerobics class. Then I have my piano lesson. Maybe tomorrow.’’
Disappointed, Henry said, ‘‘Sure, sure.’’
Collier spoke. ‘‘You do love a challenge, don’t you, Barb? Ready for a new assignment?’’
‘‘I have plenty of back burners waiting. It’ll be good to get back to them.’’
‘‘Such a busy lady,’’ said Henry, stuck on the wasted evening.
‘‘How about you take over the Strong prelim?’’ Collier said.
‘‘What?’’ said both Barbara and Henry.
‘‘Ah, Henry.’’ Collier turned to face him. ‘‘You hound dog. I know where you are taking us with this, bringing her into the meeting, making such a fuss. You don’t have to convince me. She’s just right for the job.’’
Henry stared at him with growing interest.
‘‘You said yourself, it’s jiggly as gelatin. Turning a case like this over to a less effective prosecutor will doom our chances. You need Barbara. You want the best for this case, and I appreciate that.’’
‘‘Wait a minute! I don’t want that piece of—’’ Barbara said.
‘‘See,’’ Henry said, now completely with the program, his voice rising only slightly, but asserting its rank in the room’s hierarchy with every carefully enunciated syllable, ‘‘Collier just married the defense counsel. We’re in a bind.’’
‘‘Collier! You didn’t!’’
There was real pain in her voice.
‘‘So I’ve decided,’’ Henry said. ‘‘The Strong case is yours.’’ He cleared his throat. ‘‘Okay, we’ve got that thorny problem out of the way. Now come on, Barb, let’s move.’’ He walked over and stood in front of her until she also stood. ‘‘First thing we do is to tell everybody you’re in charge.’’ He put his hand on her back and steered her toward the door.
She folded her arms and stopped in her tracks. ‘‘I don’t think you two are listening to me.’’
Jumping in before Henry got too assertive with her and made her dig in her heels further, Collier said hurriedly, ‘‘Of course, I can appreciate how hard it is to jump into a big case like this. There’s a lot of publicity, a lot of pressure . . .’’
‘‘That isn’t it . . .’’ Barbara began.
‘‘And then, you’d be going up against one of the strongest defense attorneys in town. She’s more experienced than you, and has a reputation for winning weak cases . . .’’
‘‘Are you implying I can’t beat Nina Reilly?’’ asked Barbara, pulling away from Henry to face Collier.
‘‘Not at all.’’
‘‘Yes,’’ she said, looking astonished and angry. ‘‘I believe that’s exactly what you are implying.’’
‘‘Or maybe you’re thinking,’’ Collier steamrolled on,
‘‘that Henry’s putting you in too late because he knows if we make it past the prelim it will be a tough case to win.’’
‘‘I . . .’’ she said.
‘‘Or even that Henry doesn’t have the nuts to go after a man who coldbloodedly stomped his own brother to death. Why? Because he doesn’t want a loss on his record.’’
Henry, standing back from the fray, his arms folded like Barb’s, a smile frozen at the corners of his mouth, looked content to let Collier smear him, if it got them what they both wanted.
Barbara stepped between them, facing Collier. ‘‘You know, Collier, you’ve just insulted me deeply. Even so, you should know better than to think dime-store psychology will make me do something I don’t choose to do. But hey, I’m going to do you a favor. I’m going to rescue you from this flimsy case and bag that prelim. That ought to convince you that you are wrong about Henry’s motives. And maybe when you see all that, you will also see that maybe you don’t belong here anymore. It’s a shame. You used to be so good.’’
Henry cocked his eyebrows at him. ‘‘That’s her real strength in or out of court, Collier, wouldn’t you say? She’s not too squeamish to cut through the bullshit. I know I have trouble being so forthcoming. I for one find it very refreshing. Ready, Barb?’’
Collier waited for them to leave the room before allowing himself a sigh of relief. He had done what he could to preserve his position. Too bad the news about his marriage had provoked Barb, but she was a pro. He would work on her, bring her around. Together, they would take Jim Strong down.
Collier smiled at the maitre d’ and let his eyes roam the dining room of the Christiania Inn searching for Nina. He found her knocking back a glass of wine and looking at a picture on the wall. ‘‘Over there in the corner,’’ he told the guy, and made his way through the packed room toward her.
Skiers, skiers everywhere, all sunburned, young, and well heeled. And tipsy on their choices from the superb wine list. The Christiania pulled in the Heavenly crowd with its atmosphere of Scandinavia and sleigh rides. Crystal chandeliers glittered over the laughing faces of the girls.
Nina wore work clothes, but she had taken off her jacket. Her lavender silk blouse hugged her curves, and her hair fell down her back. He didn’t see
a briefcase. She must have left it behind in the Bronco for once.
He liked the way she brightened when she saw him. He saw that seeing him could make her happy, and he brightened too.
‘‘And here you are.’’
‘‘Hungry as a bear on the day after trash collection.’’ He bent over to kiss her. She put her arms around him unselfconsciously.
‘‘How are you?’’
‘‘Great, now that I’m with you.’’ He sat down. ‘‘And how are you?’’
‘‘The same. This house sauvignon blanc is great. Want to try some?’’ He nodded, and she motioned to a nearby waiter. ‘‘The same for the gentleman,’’ she said.
‘‘I had no idea how much I would enjoy you ordering for me.’’
‘‘I missed you today,’’ Nina said. ‘‘Whenever I go over to the courthouse, I find myself looking around for you, just to catch a glimpse. I remember a girlfriend of mine haunting the neighborhood when she had a crush on a boy, and I finally understand what that was all about. It’s wonderful to know you’re close by. Did you have a fruitful day?’’
Collier loosened his tie, reminding himself that he mustn’t loosen his tongue. ‘‘Same old shit,’’ he said. ‘‘And you?’’
‘‘The same. Actually, today was tough.’’
‘‘Tell me what you can.’’ His eyes moved down the menu. When he looked back at her, he was surprised to note how troubled she looked.
‘‘It’s so hard not to be able to talk to you. I mean, to tell you everything. Not everything, but—having to watch myself every second to make sure I don’t accidentally say something.’’
‘‘It’s like that with lawyers,’’ Collier said. ‘‘We’re so used to keeping secrets that we even get cagey about what brand of toothpaste we prefer. But I know it’s especially hard between you and me.’’
‘‘Well, let’s try to forget about it tonight,’’ Nina said. ‘‘Let’s talk about the moon and the stars and the snow.’’ She smiled. ‘‘Okay?’’
‘‘For a while,’’ Collier said. ‘‘While we have our dinner. Then there is something I’d like to talk about. No, don’t worry. It won’t wreck your evening, I promise.’’
‘‘I didn’t mean that.’’
They ordered and drank, speaking about things that were as far as possible from their profession. During the meal, they took every opportunity to touch, touching hands, touching feet. At some point, each reached out to the other person to flick off imaginary lint or push a hair back into place. Each landed a kiss on an unoccupied hand.
The salad came, made of unpronounceable greens that tasted of fennel or even anise, and then grilled fish with fresh zucchini and mushrooms. They finished everything and asked for more bread. Their appetites were unfettered with each other.
Collier felt that he had never been so free. He was more and more sure that what he was about to say was right.
Glasses clinked. The voices around them moved like waves, murmuring, then rising, then falling.
The waiter took his time clearing, sweeping crumbs and stacking fussily. He showed them a dessert menu full of scrumptious offerings, which they shook their heads over in dismay.
‘‘Where are we sleeping tonight?’’ Collier said after the waiter had left, clucking over their failure to stuff in a final sweet bite.
‘‘You left a clean shirt at the cabin,’’ Nina said.
‘‘And your bed is so much better.’’
‘‘Yes, but you have the great water pressure in your shower.’’
‘‘It’s just an apartment,’’ Collier said. ‘‘You’ve made the cabin a real home.’’
‘‘You just haven’t had time—’’
‘‘We’re going to live in the cabin, aren’t we?’’ There, it was out. He had started the ball rolling into what was really on his mind.
‘‘I hoped you would want to.’’
‘‘Of course I do. It’s Bob’s home, too.’’ He forged on, noting the heightened flush of her cheeks, and the way she looked up at him, and he filled up with love for her. He tried to sound casual, so that if she took issue with anything he proposed, she would never guess that she was ripping his heart out. ‘‘Why don’t we do the move in January? It’ll take that long to wrap up some loose ends I have lying around. I’ll give notice on the apartment tomorrow. If that sounds okay.’’
‘‘Yes, please, Collier!’’ she said. She had two thumbs under her chin and was resting her elbows on the table. ‘‘You were right. It’s all so simple now.’’
The time had come. He adjusted himself at the table. ‘‘I have something to say.’’
‘‘I knew there was something else. The Strong case?’’
‘‘Good news on that front,’’ he said, and then kicked himself as he saw the eagerness in her eyes. She thought he meant they were dismissing charges against Jim. ‘‘I mean, it isn’t a sore point anymore,’’ he said quickly, rushing to mitigate the damage. ‘‘I can’t go into the details, but I believe Barbara’s taking over that case.’’
She listened to him. ‘‘You’re joking.’’ She had withdrawn very slightly as they began to talk about the case. Well, she had to be as careful as he did, but he was sorry to see it.
‘‘I’m not.’’
‘‘Oh, Collier, I—I want to talk to you about this. Tell me you didn’t give it up to help me—’’
‘‘Nina, it wasn’t like that. It was strictly an administrative matter. I can’t say anything else.’’
‘‘Because I was thinking of trying to bail out myself. I was having some— Oh, what’s the use. I can’t say anything, not a thing.’’
‘‘You wanted to bail? I’m surprised if that’s so, because I had the impression from our heated discussions in my office that this case meant a lot to you.’’
‘‘Never mind,’’ Nina said, shaking her head. ‘‘We have to stop talking about it. I’m just floored. I know I’ll never get to sleep tonight.’’
Collier consulted his watch. ‘‘Speaking of sleep, it’s late, and I saw on the docket on my way out of the office that we both have court at eight-thirty tomorrow morning.’’
He chased down the waiter, who had run off with his credit card and failed to return, while Nina stopped in the rest room. In the anteroom, they picked up their coats, and he helped Nina put on her long down-filled parka. Pulling on her red mittens, she suddenly said in a halting voice, ‘‘Before we go—I just want to say—I love you so much—our future together—it’s going to be beautiful. A new life . . .’’
He put his arm around her and brought her close. The top of her head came up to his chin. They went out like that, into the pure and freezing night.
23
‘‘ALL RIGHT ,’’ SAID Judge Flaherty, ‘‘the motion before the Court is to exclude any and all testimony at the preliminary hearing relating to alleged prior acts of malice perpetrated by the defendant.’’ He was reading the heading on Nina’s brief.
‘‘Let’s see,’’ he went on. ‘‘The primary concern seems to be expected testimony from Kelly Strong, sister of the defendant. The prior acts of malice include causing Miss Strong to have a skiing accident some fourteen years ago, engaging in various acts of cruelty toward animals some fifteen years ago, and other instances. So —you don’t want any of this to come in, counsel?’’
‘‘Correct. Basically, we seek to exclude any testimony which purports to show prior bad character, or a predisposition to commit a crime, Your Honor,’’ said Nina, who was still wearing her coat as she stood at the counsel table summoning up her arguments.
Eight-thirty in the morning, with the second prelim scheduled for nine. Outside the courtroom the lights were still on, because the winter had closed Tahoe into the dark fist of a storm. Artie hadn’t even made it, but he would certainly be around by nine. The courtroom was deserted, except for the two attorneys and the court personnel, and Collier, sitting a few seats behind Barbara, arms folded, deceptively at ease.
Eve
n Jim wouldn’t be arriving until shortly before nine. With its yellow lights hardly breaking through the black morning, the courtroom felt as cold and remote from the world outside as one of the prehistoric caves at Pyramid Lake, a feeling reinforced by the scrawled stick figures on the blackboard left by a cop in some earlier hearing.
‘‘I’ve read the papers,’’ Flaherty said in his warning tone. He didn’t want to waste any time this morning hearing a rehash of cases and points Nina and Barbara had already made much more efficiently in writing. ‘‘Go ahead, counsel.’’
Nina said, ‘‘Let me be brief, Your Honor. Kelly Strong hasn’t seen her brother, except for a few minutes at the funeral of the victim, for a number of years. The subject matter is stale. It’s so old, Your Honor, that I don’t even need to go into the second argument we’ve made, which is that the subject matter itself has limited or no probative value, is incredible, and would be introduced only to show bad character, which is impermissible pursuant to section 1101(a) of the Evidence Code.’’
‘‘I’ve got that. That’s how you lay it out,’’ Flaherty said. ‘‘Miss Banning, how do you respond to the contention that the testimony you’d like to adduce is too old to do us any good?’’
Barbara stood up in a suit as red as a cardinal’s robes. However, a cardinal’s robes would not have ended at mid-thigh as her skirt did. She wore fabulous gold jewelry on her wrists and neck. Even her files were aligned in an elegant fan pattern on her table.
In spite of the bold duds, she was all business. ‘‘It’s a pattern from childhood to adolescence to early adult-hood that sheds important light on the modus operandi of this defendant,’’ she said. ‘‘The evidence isn’t of some trivial childhood transgression, Your Honor. The testimony doesn’t involve a few isolated incidents. What the testimony will show is at least twelve instances in which the defendant has demonstrated a lifelong pattern of terrorizing people around him.
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