Duncan sat down next to Walker, who edged away from him, not wanting even the association of physical proximity. “Your Honor,” Duncan began, “in the course of representing another client I became aware of an ongoing criminal conspiracy they were involved with. That conspiracy extended to perpetuating a fraud upon this court.”
“You’re in here planning to break attorney-client privilege?” Castelluccio demanded.
“I’ll ask the questions,” Lasky snapped at her, before turning back to Duncan. “But she does ask a good one. Are you proposing to describe privileged information you received from a client?”
“The relevant information was not disclosed to me as part of my representation of this other client, no. And even if there was concern about it being privileged, it would also fall within the crime fraud exception.”
“Crime fraud is a narrow exception,” the judge countered.
“There’s also disciplinary rule 7–102(b)(1),” Duncan said. His big advantage as the only person prepared for this discussion was that it made him the only person who’d recently researched the issue. “That rule obligates a lawyer who finds out a client is perpetuating a fraud upon a court to call on the client to rectify it. I have unsuccessfully asked the client in question to do so. Since my client has refused, it is then my professional duty under that rule to notify the court.”
“Does this relate to the positional conflict your firm had in this matter?” the judge asked.
“It does, yes,” Duncan replied, though he was still fuzzy on what exactly Blake had claimed regarding that supposed conflict.
Lasky stared at Duncan for a long moment. “I don’t know if you’re right about disclosing whatever the specifics of this are, but I do know if you break privilege and I ultimately find that it was inappropriate for you to do so, I will report you to the bar. Good intentions will not be a defense.”
Although this didn’t come as a surprise to Duncan, actually hearing it said was not pleasant. But it was already way too late to retreat. “Understood, Your Honor.”
Lasky looked at Duncan with something resembling pity. “I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into, Mr. Riley. You’re obviously a talented lawyer, but I worry you may be a little too fond of making the big splash. Let’s hope you don’t drown. Without naming the client in question, tell me in broad outline—and I mean broad—what you are alleging in terms of a fraud upon this court.”
“I discovered that a former client of mine was engaged in illegal conduct, the details of which are not relevant to this case. However, I also came to discover that Sean Fowler was involved in the prior illegal conduct, and that Mr. Fowler had engaged in blackmail of my former client using what he knew about this illegal activity. In response to Mr. Fowler’s blackmail, an ongoing conspiracy was formed to kill him and to frame Rafael Nazario for the murder. My representation of Mr. Nazario in effect made me an unwitting participant in the conspiracy, since I was pressured to plead his case out quickly.”
The judge was silent after Duncan stopped speaking, but Castelluccio couldn’t contain herself. “This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life,” she said. “We have an eyewitness that the defendant shot Fowler.”
“Chris Driscoll is part of the conspiracy,” Duncan replied.
Castelluccio laughed harshly. “Have you lost your mind? Seriously, have you? I suppose I’m part of this conspiracy too?”
“No,” Duncan replied. “You’re just bullheaded and bloodthirsty.”
“Enough,” Lasky said. The judge was still staring at Duncan, eyes narrowed. “If this is some kind of stunt, you are really going to regret it. I hope it goes without saying that if you can’t back up this rather unbelievable story, your legal career may come to a very abrupt end.”
“I believe ethics, and for that matter justice, require me to do what I’m doing,” Duncan replied.
“Your Honor,” Castelluccio said, struggling to contain her anger, “even accepting the truth of everything Mr. Riley just said, all that would mean is that he is a witness for the defense in this case, although one with some pretty major hearsay and privilege issues. The defense would be free to call him at trial, assuming they could provide a sufficient offer of proof. It would be his word against, among others, Mr. Driscoll’s. I don’t see any reason to treat him differently from any other witness.”
“There isn’t going to be any trial,” Duncan said. “Rafael was supposed to plead today, and then this cover-up would be complete.”
“What evidence do you have?” Castelluccio demanded. “We’re supposed to just take your word? A defense lawyer who says his client’s innocent—haven’t heard that one before.”
Lasky looked from one of them to the other, and then over at Walker, who was sitting with his arms crossed beside Duncan. “Do you know anything about any of this?” Lasky asked him.
“Nothing whatsoever, Judge,” Walker replied.
Judge Lasky rubbed at his face, then sighed heavily. “A lawyer comes to me with a claim like this, however dubious, I can’t just ignore it,” the judge said finally. “So I suppose the question then becomes, how do you propose actually trying to establish this story of yours, Mr. Riley?”
Duncan wished he knew. “Hold a hearing,” he said. “I will question witnesses. That way I’m not presenting information myself, and I won’t be disclosing anything that’s arguably privileged.”
“You’re willing to risk your entire legal career on convincing me at a hearing of an elaborate conspiracy to frame Mr. Nazario?”
“I guess I am,” Duncan said. “If that’s what I have to be.”
They reconvened briefly in court, the judge offering a terse and inscrutable statement putting off the plea hearing. Rafael looked over at Duncan, completely in the dark, as the court officers took him out of the courtroom.
Costello was quickly over to Duncan, Lily lurking behind him. “No comment, sorry,” Duncan said before the reporter could even ask him a question.
“Can you at least—”
“I can’t,” Duncan interrupted, moving past the reporter, who trailed after him, still asking questions.
“What the hell, Dunk?” Lily said.
Duncan smiled at her, then put his index finger to his lips.
“You’re going to make me go back to the Blake empty-handed? Come on, give me a clue, at least.”
“It’s a little late in the day to worry about a fair fight,” Duncan said, walking past her and out of the courtroom.
73
I DIDN’T think I’d be hearing from you,” Candace said.
ADA Sullivan shrugged from across the table at Mustang Sally’s, where the two of them had just ordered lunch. “I meant what I said before. I know your reporting is what got the Aurora referred to me in the first place. But what I’m telling you is way off the record—hell, it’s past off the record. It’ll be yours alone when you can print it, but that’s only when you have my okay. Deal?”
“If I can’t print it, why are you giving it to me now?”
“Because I’m hoping you’ll tell me what you think it means.”
Candace never turned down information, even if she couldn’t print it, though normally she fought to get things on the record, at least on background. But she was clear that Sullivan was not about to negotiate. “Fire away,” she said.
Sullivan watched as a man passed by their table on his way to the men’s room, then leaned forward. “A body—well, most of one anyway—floated out of the Atlantic and onto the coast of New Jersey a couple of days ago. Badly decomposed, so we won’t have a definite ID until the white-coat guys run some more tests. But preliminary indications are that the body formerly belonged to Jack Pellettieri.”
Candace hadn’t known what to expect, but Pellettieri’s corpse washing up hadn’t even crossed her mind. Her mind scrambled to figure out what it meant. “Murdered?”
“Can’t say that for sure,” Sullivan said. “We’re missing the head, for one thing.
But nobody’s thinking fishing accident.”
“I thought there was a paper trail showing Pellettieri in Mexico and the Caribbean?”
“Exactly,” Sullivan said. “We haven’t nailed down how long he’s been in the water, but it was a while, which certainly suggests somebody was creating a fake trail for him after he was dead.”
It took Candace a moment to catch up. “That sounds like a major investment. In resources and skill.”
“Not exactly a drive-by, no.”
“A lot of effort to spend on small-time Jack Pellettieri.”
“Which, yes, is why I’m here. You told me before the Aurora didn’t end with Pellettieri; now I’m pretty sure you’re right.”
“Pellettieri was killed because he knew too much about the Roths, and they couldn’t risk his falling into your hands. But if you’ve come to me for proof of that, I don’t have any.”
Sullivan leaned back as the waitress brought their lunches. “I looked into that murder you told me about,” he said, once she was gone. “The security guard, Fowler. I talked with the DA on the case.”
“From what I’ve heard, she’s a pit bull with her jaws locked.”
“ADA Castelluccio is a talented prosecutor with a bright future in our office,” Sullivan said. “And she didn’t think there was any reason to think Fowler’s murder had anything to do with a construction accident in SoHo.”
“And so that was your attempt at investigating, and now you’re coming to me?”
“One of the detectives, however, had a slightly different perspective,” Sullivan said, ignoring Candace’s dig. “He was agnostic on the charge against Nazario. I don’t run into too many agnostic cops, not after a collar.”
“But you don’t have a link between Fowler’s murder and Pellettieri’s?”
“I don’t have a link between Pellettieri’s murder and anything. The trail’s gone massively cold, obviously, plus we barely know where the trail is. We don’t know where his body was dumped, or when. I can only keep it quiet until the ID is conclusive, so it’s a short window before the killer gets a heads-up that we know about it.”
“No wonder you’re reduced to asking me for help,” Candace said. She was uncomfortable with the idea of giving the DA’s office a lead, even if she’d had one to give. But having Sullivan as a source could pay off huge if he did break the case. She decided to give him something. “Fowler had a lot more money in the bank than he should have had. That’s something you have better tools to dig into.”
“How’d you get his bank records? Or shouldn’t I ask?”
“Nazario’s old lawyer, Duncan Riley. He’s the other person who’s pieced a lot of this together.”
“Riley, from Blake and Wolcott? I’ve met him, on the Aurora wrongful death. I assume that’s not a coincidence?”
“I wouldn’t think the head of the Rackets Bureau believes in coincidences,” Candace replied. “Riley’s still trying to help Nazario, even though he doesn’t officially represent him anymore. But time’s running out.”
“I can’t help a defendant who my office is prosecuting,” Sullivan said.
“You outrank Castelluccio, don’t you?”
“She doesn’t report to me, and I don’t outrank her boss. The case isn’t under my jurisdiction.”
“It is if the Fowler murder opens the door to solving Pellettieri’s murder, and goes back to the Aurora.”
“Maybe then, yes,” Sullivan said. “But I would need real evidence.”
“I could do with some of that myself,” Candace said.
74
LEAH COULDN’T recall seeing Steven Blake show surprise before. But Blake made no attempt to hide his incredulity as she told him that Duncan Riley had just subpoenaed her to testify at a hearing in the Fowler murder.
“I knew there was a lot I didn’t know,” Blake said after a moment. “But it sounds like I at least need to know some of it.”
Leah nodded crisply. “Here’s what I expect Duncan is going to claim, and then we can talk about possible responses. He’s going to allege that my brother was involved in siphoning money out of the Aurora project, using Pellettieri to do so. That Sean Fowler was the middleman for that, and that after the investigation of the Aurora kicked up again, Fowler attempted to blackmail Jeremy about his involvement, and that Fowler was murdered out of that. To make sure Fowler’s murder didn’t lead to Jeremy, or back to the Aurora generally, Rafael Nazario was set up, with the idea your firm would reach a quick plea. And that because of the framing of Nazario, a fraud has been committed upon the court, which therefore frees Duncan up to disclose our involvement.”
Blake’s earlier surprise was nothing compared to the look on his face now. Despite herself, Leah felt a perverse sense of pride at knocking the veteran lawyer so far back on his heels. It was childish, she knew, and not an appropriate response to the situation. And really what it told her was just how completely off the rails she’d managed to go.
Blake started to say something, but then stopped himself before any words came out. He rubbed at his face, then glanced over at Leah, who forced herself to meet his gaze. Blake looked away first, his face ashen. A full minute had passed since Leah finished speaking.
“You’ve got me pretty far into this, haven’t you?” Blake finally said. “You told me you wanted my firm to keep the murder case so that a defense lawyer didn’t try to turn the whole thing into some kind of referendum on the redevelopment of Riis. ‘Handle the case quickly and quietly so it doesn’t become a distraction to the construction,’ you said.”
“I may not have been entirely truthful,” Leah agreed. “It’s probably best if you get past that quickly, under the circumstances.”
Blake looked at her, his composure returning. “Does Duncan have any hard evidence to support any of these accusations?” he asked.
Leah shook her head. “As far as I know, he has pretty much nothing in the way of proof. This is just a theory he’s put together.”
“He’s got to have some building blocks. I’ll be able to counter him more effectively if I know what he’s working with.”
“How much do you want me to tell you?”
“I’m already going to look like an accessory, with the Nazario case, the positional conflict, firing him. I assume Duncan thinks I was part of this whole thing.”
“You were,” Leah said coldly. “You just chose to stay unaware of it.”
“Is your father involved in all this?” Blake countered. “Does he even know anything about it?”
Leah tried not to show her reaction. “You don’t have to concern yourself with my father.”
“I’ve known Simon for twenty-five years,” Blake replied. “He’ll never forgive me if you get taken down on this on my watch.”
“The easiest way to contain this, for all of us, is to keep Duncan from having this hearing at all. Does he really have a legal basis for it?”
“It’s not a situation I’ve previously encountered,” Blake deadpanned. “A lawyer does have an obligation to go to the court to prevent perjury, but this isn’t that. Generally the only way he can break privilege is to prevent a future crime—that doesn’t seem to quite fit either. But I’ve spent the last seven years teaching Duncan the fine art of fitting square pegs into round holes.… This would be easier to control if you hadn’t had me fire him.”
Leah immediately nodded; she’d been planning to bring this up. “It was an overreaction, and yes, obviously backfired. Perhaps we should bring him back into the fold?”
“We can try, though he can maybe use it against us if he says no.”
“You think no is what he’ll say?”
Blake thought about it. “He’s an extremely ambitious guy who had a very bright future in front of him a month ago,” he replied. “I would think he wants his old life back.”
75
DUNCAN HAD agreed to meet Neil Levine at the Royalton for a drink. Neil had reached out, practically begging him to meet. Duncan figured he could tr
y to pump Neil for information as to how the firm was preparing to respond to the upcoming hearing in the Nazario case. Although Duncan supposed that could be what Neil was planning to do to him.
Neil was already at a back table when Duncan arrived. He stood in greeting, extending a hand. Duncan thought he seemed nervous. “Don’t worry,” Duncan said. “I’m pretty sure getting fired isn’t contagious.”
Neil forced a smile, then clutched at his drink as he sat back down. “This is so fucked up,” he said. “Nobody at the firm understands what happened.”
“Does anyone actually want to know?”
“Of course. You were a rock star. It doesn’t make any sense. What the hell happened?”
“It’s really better if you don’t know exactly what’s going on.”
“You’re serious? Jesus, and I thought the problem with this job was how boring the work is.”
“You haven’t heard anything about what’s going on in the Nazario case, the hearing that’s coming up, nothing like that?”
“It’s been complete radio silence. I went by your office one day; your nameplate was gone and the door was locked. I asked Lily and she claimed she didn’t know shit. Did you see it coming?”
“I really didn’t.”
“I thought you were going to make the big time there.”
The waitress came over, asked Duncan what he wanted to drink. He ordered a Knob Creek straight up with a water back, a little surprised that Neil didn’t get another drink, although his glass looked empty.
“Tell you the truth,” Neil continued after the waitress was gone. “I’ve been thinking pretty seriously about leaving. I know I’ve only been at the firm for a year, so it’s probably a little quick to get out, but I already know I can’t possibly spend my life doing this.”
“I actually thought I could,” Duncan said quietly. “I mean, I was. If I’d made partner—who ever walks away at that point? It already feels so distant.”
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