“I take it your witness is the Mr. Cheng who made out the check.”
“That’s correct.”
“Are you certain he will so testify?”
“We have a statement from him. He’s in protective custody at the moment.”
Lisa laughed. “You do seem to be proceeding with caution.”
It occurred to Corky she had never heard Lisa laugh so easily before. Her new boyfriend is good for her, Corky decided, finally.
“Since you seem so convinced,” Lisa said, “I’ll sign the warrant. It will be in force through tomorrow. Keep in mind, however, this is not a fishing expedition. Don’t come back with proof of drugs, or cockfighting, or illegal gambling. You’re only empowered to look for evidence of the Jacinto’s involvement in Lyndon Stanner’s death or disappearance. Is that understood?”
“It sure is, your honor. We’ll be out for blood, and only blood.”
***
The cats were fed and contented. Even Bluebeard had settled for a comfortable place on the couch and, after a half-dozen circlings to clear the area of snakes, had settled down and gone immediately to sleep. Sid envied this feline ability to nap at any time, undisturbed by thoughts of uncaptured mice or missed birds.
Kay had done her own settling down to a murder mystery. Sid was debating among CD’s containing Mozart piano concertos when the phone rang. Kay looked up. As usual, she tried to piece together the other end of the conversation from Sid’s comments.
“What?”
“What made him suddenly decide to do that?”
“You’re right. It could raise hell with their testimony.”
“First thing in the morning?”
“We won’t wait. We’ll get in touch with him right away.”
“I’ll get back to you after I’ve talked to him.”
As Sid hung up, Kay raised her eyebrows. Sid waved impatiently and punched in some numbers on the phone, simply saying, “The fat’s in the fire. That was Laura.
“Is Hank there?” he said into the phone.
“Hank, could Kay and I come over? It’s important.”
“You guessed it.”
“Let’s at least talk it over.”
“OK. We’ll be there in about five minutes.” Sid replaced the receiver in its cradle.
“Since I’m committed to something I know nothing about,” Kay said, as they hurried down the stairs, “I think I at least deserve a short summary.”
“Corky called Laura. Hank has a search warrant for the Jacinto house. He’s got firm evidence the Jacintos were with Stanner on the evening of the accident. Corky says he’s determined to arrest them on suspicion of murdering Lyndon Stanner.”
“Shit!”
“Laura’s exact word, down to the exclamation point. Let’s go.”
***
Hank was adamant.
“Look, Hank,” Kay was saying, “you know as well as I do the first thing Wilson and Jerome will do is to demand to have a lawyer. Any attorney worth his salt will advise them to clam up. They’ll plead the fifth on the stand tomorrow, for sure, if you move in on them.”
Hank shrugged. “So it will cast suspicion on them. Isn’t that all in your client’s favor?”
“Suspicion isn’t enough. Laura’s going to want to bring out the fact they lied about knowing Lyndon; that they quarreled with him; that they forged his signature; that they figured it was important to hide the body until after the bank opened on Monday; and that, just generally, they stood to benefit by Lyndon’s death. If they have a murder charge hanging over them, no self respecting lawyer is going to allow them to testify to any of that.”
“She won’t be able to prove they killed Lyndon.”
“She doesn’t have to. If she can just get them to admit Lyndon rushed out of their house, blind drunk, that’s all she needs. Having them up there pleading the fifth amendment will do nothing for Kimo.”
Hank shook his head.
“Look,” Sid said, “How would it be if you just hold off on the search until after they testify? They’ll be done before noon. You can even provide a police escort for them back to their house.”
“Thanks,” Hank said. The sarcasm in his voice was all too obvious.
“What about this possibility?” Kay asked. “Suppose we get the prosecutor to call you tonight to ask you to hold off until after the Jacintos have testified. Will you wait, then?”
Hank shrugged. “I suppose. If they disappear, I can always blame him. OK, but he’s too cautious to ever go for something like that.”
***
“What makes you think Emil will go along?” Sid asked of Kay as they drove back home. “We hardly know him. What little we do know about him indicates he doesn’t take chances. I think Hank has him pegged right. Emil’s not about to stick his neck out. I can’t see any reason why he’d even listen to us.”
Kay grinned. “Maybe he won’t listen to us, but I know someone he will listen to.”
***
Laura had been appalled at Corky’s news. Now she was waiting impatiently for word from Sid and Kay.
She picked up the phone before it had finished its first ring.
“Any luck?”
“Some. This could be all to the good.”
“Only if I can get the Jacintos to talk. I’ll never be able to do it if they’re already charged when they come to the stand.”
“Hank’s willing to put off arresting them.”
“Great! What a relief.” The tone of Laura’s voice corresponded with her words. “That takes care of it. I sure appreciate you’re getting him to go along. How did you manage? Corky said Hank had absolutely made up his mind to use his search warrant first thing in the morning. I didn’t think you’d have any luck making him back down.”
“Well, there’s a slight hitch.”
“What’s that?”
“He wants an OK from the prosecutor, first.”
“Oh, oh!”
“Sounds like you know where I’m heading.”
“Can’t you and Sid persuade Emil?” Laura’s voice had slipped into a pleading tone.
“Let’s face it. You’re in a much better position to influence him.”
“I’m not so sure of that.”
“Well, Hank won’t settle for anything less. I suggest you call Emil immediately and ask to see him.”
“I hate the thought of it.”
“Look at it this way. There are a few times in this life when it pays to be a woman in a man’s world. Take advantage of the fact.”
***
“It’s sure nice to see you someplace else besides across the aisle at the courtroom.”
Laura was not sure where to start, so she began with Emil’s living quarters. Unlike her own cramped apartment, Emil’s home was a single-family house, with at least two bedrooms. It had been dark when she had driven up, so she could not be sure of its exact extent and proportions. The inside was much as she had expected. It was neat. The living room was a library. Floor-to-ceiling shelves were stacked with books, mainly law books. Even a complete stranger would have been able to guess the occupant’s first love.
“I lucked out,” he said in answer to her questions about his home. “One of my relatives had this house sitting empty. He rented it to me for a song. He’s holding it, hoping the commercial area will move in this direction. I’m hoping it never will. Can I get you some coffee?”
“It would be nice.” She followed him into the kitchen and wasn’t surprised to see additional bookshelves overflowing with books. What was surprising was to see how many cookbooks there were among them. Her comment brought an explanation.
“I make no claims to being a gourmet cook, but I enjoy trying out new dishes. The problem is there’s not much satisfaction in cooking for only one. Maybe I can talk you into coming over for dinner sometime.”
“I’d be a good guest, because I enjoy anyone’s cooking but my own.”
“Great. Let’s set a date. How about right after the trial�
��s over?”
“The trial’s what I’d like to talk to you about, as I said over the phone,” Laura replied, avoiding the issue of the invitation without being sure why she was doing so.
After they had settled down on the couch with their coffee, Laura explained the situation to him.
“It sounds as though Hank is trying to push the responsibility off on me.”
Laura shrugged. “I’m sure he is. This is good coffee, by the way. I think it would be worth your while to take on some of the responsibility, though. The Jacintos will be up on a check-forging charge. I might be able to get some damaging admissions from them on the stand tomorrow. Then, if Hank does arrest them for killing Lyndon Stanner, or even for contributing to his death, you’ll be able to use their statements from this trial.”
“So you’re going to ask Judge Wong to declare them to be hostile witnesses?”
“Definitely. No matter what.”
“Then I’ll have to be guarding their rights. I may object to just about everything you ask, since they won’t be on trial.”
“That’s OK. I wouldn’t expect you to do otherwise.”
“OK. If that’s understood, I’ll call Lieutenant DeMello now and tell him to hold off until after the Jacintos have testified.”
“Great,” Laura said with a smile. “This coffee is tasting even better than it did before.”
Laura stood up and inspected the books as Emil put through the call. When he finished and turned around, she was standing next to him.
“Thank you, Emil.” Saying that, she reached up and put her hand behind his head pulling it down to hers. She kissed him and found him strangely unresponsive.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, being totally unable to figure out the expression on his face.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I have a problem.” By then they had returned to the couch and Laura was holding his hand. “Problem?” she asked. (His eyelashes look even better up close,)
He avoided her eyes. “I guess you know I wasn’t exactly popular with women in high school, and that kind of stuck. I just figured I’d never make out. So I never tried.” He looked down at her, his face reddening.
(My God, he’s gay!)
Her expression betrayed her thoughts. Emil gave a short, humorless laugh. “No, I’m not a homosexual. Maybe it would be better if I were.”
A mischievous expression came into Laura’s face. “You mean you’ve never been to bed with a woman?” (This is kind of hard to believe.)
Emil gave a wry smile. “The technical term is ‘virgin.’”
“Don’t you think it’s time to do something about that.” (Glad I’ve got a Norplant, because there sure aren’t any condoms in this house.)
“I’m afraid to.”
“Why?” (This is really weird.)
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to perform. I’ve read about it, believe me, but I guess it’s like driving a car. Reading is no substitute for driving.”
“Right. It’s time you got behind the wheel.” She took both of his hands in hers and pulled him up from the couch. (I’m actually getting horny.)
The two of them went into the bedroom and she started to take off his clothes. Seeing his reddening face, she flipped off the bedroom light and pulled him toward the bed.
She could feel his arousal. (We’ve come a long way already.)
Emil ejaculated almost immediately. “I’m sorry,” he said in a low, unhappy voice.
“No problem,” Laura said. “The night’s young. Let’s go take a shower and start all over again.” (This may take some effort, but it’s nice to be in charge for a change.)
Naked in bed, Laura got on top of him and began kissing him. Before long, Emil was responding in kind. She felt the waves of orgasm coming over her. Screaming, she buried her head in his shoulder. He convulsed and hugged her. It was minutes before either of them tried to talk.
Laura was the first to speak. “I guess that makes it official,” she said.
Chapter 23
“Congratulations,” Kay said, as she slipped into the chair next to Laura at the defense table.
At first Laura mistook what the congratulations were for. She smiled and responded, “I was surprised at how easy it was. I expected the worst.”
Kay scrutinized Laura’s face. It betrayed nothing. The courtroom began to fill. Kimo arrived, saying he had actually had a good night’s sleep. Emil arrived, smiled over at Kay and Laura, and sat down at his table. It was a super breakfast, Laura mused to herself. It beats my cooking all to hell.
Makalita was the first witness. As Laura had anticipated, it took scant urging to get the tall, heavy-set Hawaiian woman to vent her spleen all over the dead Lyndon Stanner.
“He was a no good drunk. I told Drina a long time ago to leave him. He beat her a couple times, and that did it finally.”
Laura allowed the stream to flow with minimum attempts at directing it. Makalita dwelt at some length on how Stanner had treated her daughter. Laura considered it to be a bonus. All she had hoped to accomplish by putting Makalita on the stand was to reinforce the notion Lyndon Johnson drank and drank heavily. That he was also a chronic wife beater, while irrelevant, did not hurt Kimo’s chances. By the time Makalita stepped down from the witness stand, Laura felt she had achieved her goal and then some.
Emil waived cross-examination.
Drina added the icing to the cake. Lyndon Stanner emerged from her description as a complete and unredeemable alcoholic. Drina strayed off into other aspects of his personality which Laura felt were not germane to her purposes, especially since Makalita had already been over them in some detail. So Laura steered Drina back to the main point, hoping the testimony was leaving the jury with the feeling Lyndon not only walked into the pickup while in an advanced state of inebriation, but had also done the world a favor by doing so.
Emil rose to cross-examine Drina.
“If, as you described, Lyndon Stanner was so worthless, why did you continue to live with him for so many years?”
“Cuz he was the father of my kids, that’s why.”
Emil pressed no further.
***
The note baffled her. It was in Qual’s handwriting, and someone had passed it to Kimo. “Laura. Urgent! Get a ten-minute break and meet me in the conference room. Qual.”
Wong was obviously not pleased at this, her second request for a recess. After another ominous look and a moment’s hesitation, he granted it. Laura hurried to the conference room to find Qual brimming over with bad news.
“You’ve got Roger and Kevin listed next, don’t you?” he asked.
“Right. I’m not sure how well Roger will do, but Kevin should go over fine.”
“Think again,” Qual said. “Kevin showed up drunk.”
“Jesus!” Laura exclaimed. “I was going to push on the fact Kimo’s last drink couldn’t have affected his driving but did affect the blood test. Kevin’s testimony was really essential for that, since he saw him in the pickup with some beer still left in the can. Damn! What do you suggest?”
“I know how tough it is to drop a whole approach, but I think you’d better write off this particular one.”
“God, but I hate to.”
“Look at it this way. It wouldn’t have been the best idea to have had drinking buddies up there testifying, anyway.”
Laura gave a feeble smile. “Thanks, Qual. If nothing else, this is teaching me to make the best of a bad situation.”
Qual grinned. “Besides, the quicker you wind things up, the better the impression you’ll make on Judge Wong.”
Laura laughed. “Keep it up, Qual. You’ll soon have me convinced the best thing that ever happened to me is having Kevin show up drunk.”
“Maybe it is.” Qual looked at her questioningly. “Didn’t you wonder why Kevin hitch-hikes?”
Laura’s eyes widened. Then she shook her head at her own carelessness in not seeing the implications of the hitch-hiking. “Oh my God! He lost his license be
cause of a DUI! That never occurred to me. I sure have a lot to learn. If Emil had ever gotten to Kevin on the stand, he would have had a field day with him.”
His face expressionless, Qual made no comment. He held the door open for her as she went back to the courtroom.
***
There was the sense in the courtroom the trial was drawing to a close. As Jerome Jacinto walked to the witness stand, the jurors shifted in their chairs and then settled down.
Laura had him identify himself and state his occupation. He looked wary, but Laura was reasonably certain he had no idea of what was in store for him. She wondered how well she would do, since Hank had been unable to break him down during the police interrogation. Then she considered the advantage she now had with all the accumulated information from the Fat Priest.
She had momentarily toyed with the idea of having that witness brought to the stand. Corky’s description of him had dissuaded her. The Fat Priest would not have found a sympathetic jury. Laura knew the grotesque was not apt to give the impression of veracity. She also knew it was more apt to distract than to convince.
Jerome’s face revealed nothing as Laura moved into battle position, carefully undermining his defenses while doing so. “Did you know Lyndon Stanner, the person who was killed in the accident in front of your property?”
“No.”
“You are absolutely certain you did not know him?”
“Yes.”
“Did you have anyone visiting at your house on that day?”
“No.”
Laura switched to questions about Jerome’s whereabouts at the time of the accident. The answers she got were the same Hank had reported receiving from him. No, he knew nothing about the accident. He had been asleep at the time. No, he had not heard anyone knock. If the gate was open at the time of the accident, someone must have opened it without his knowledge. If it was closed afterwards, then someone must have done that too, but he did not know who. Yes, it was closed when he went to bed. No, there was no light on in the house at anytime before late morning.
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