Ganado: a novel

by Manolo Mario

  “I don’t know. What was the business?”

  “Let me see.” He flipped a page. “Oh, oh, ohhhhhh, shit!” His eyes were wide and he threw the papers on the table. “It’s a slaughterhouse; Matadero El Sol.”

  Chapter 33

  “Everyone please sit down. I am not certain why there are this many people in this courtroom for a preliminary hearing, but let’s make sure all of you understand my rules. I will not allow disruptions or commentary from those not called to testify. I expect everyone to be on his best behavior. Also, it is hot this August day, so expect to break for the middle of the day. Very well?” Judge Carmelo Castellano settled into his seat to begin the proceedings. As typical, he sat high in the room against a backdrop with the coat of arms of the Republic. His seat faced the room painted in light colors with windows running along his right. The parties involved sat immediately below him and the attendees assembled in rows on each side of an aisle that fell behind a low picket type partition. The partition had swinging doors bisecting the middle

  “I want to welcome you, Prosecuting Attorney Caldera. It is seldom we have such an important attorney present at a preliminary hearing.”

  Every space in the courtroom was filled and several people stood in the back of the room. Even the doors in the back were ajar and heads peered in. There were policemen, including Captain Gonzalez. Typically it would be expected when it involved a cop as a victim. This time the interest was different.

  Elio, and Rico sat in the first row directly behind, but separated by a partition from Galo and his attorney. There were also other business people and, of course, members of the press.

  At the prosecutor’s table sat Prosecuting Attorney Caldera alongside his deputy assistant and the inspector who broke the case for him. His assistant would be providing Solares, the showman, the notes and order of questions to be posed. Besides the judge, who showed the knot of his tie at the top of his robe, only Caldera wore a suit and tie. Everyone else dressed in shirtsleeves or guayaberas for this hot day. Caldera looked anything but crisp. Opposite the prosecutor sat the target of his office’s charges, Galo Bartolo with his attorney Enrique Fortuna.

  Galo felt out of his element. Despite every assurance, he was scared shitless and worried about the well being of his wife and children. If he went to jail, what would become of them? How unlucky things turned. Whatever the outcome, this was unjust. He prepared to accept his responsibility, but couldn’t believe it was happening. He tried to conceal his nerves.

  He watched as Caldera rose to speak, but was interrupted by one of his aides, who whispered in his ear. Caldera seemed to brush him off. He then straightened and tugged on his coat. “Thank you judge for the gracious welcome.”

  Galo watched the spectacle in a disconnected state so as not to give anything away. Caldera proceeded to describe in general the circumstances of the case. He did so as though acting in a Shakespearian drama. He presented a practiced soliloquy in which he gestured dramatically. He looked at Galo, the judge, and also at the audience. Galo thought that if these courts allowed for robes, wigs and colorful adornments depicting credentials, this man would have been wearing them all. Without extensive details, he laid out his claims that Galo killed the victim because of money. He would call witnesses to testify of the conditions and situations that led to this crime. In the end, the judge would rule to move him for a formal trial. Smartly, he did not mention one item of sympathy towards the victim, a customary factor in these cases.

  As his attorney Fortuna waited his turn, Galo tugged on his sleeve and whispered. “Enrique, look, if any of the witnesses testifies they saw me with the knife in the cop, remember I was pulling it out! You understand?” Galo was worried beyond his understanding. Enrique shook his head. The judge called on him and he stood.

  “Good morning, your honor, Señor Caldera. I am Enrique Fortuna for the defense. My client is not guilty and therefore it is our plea. Respectfully, we believe this hearing is presumptive at best. The prosecutor’s office has taken some coincidences, made some terrible assumptions, and is trying to pin this on my client. They want to do so quickly and effortlessly in order to cover up the wrongdoings of a crooked cop, the so-called victim. The evidence will show there are a multitude of people who had motive and opportunity to murder the victim, including members of the existing police force.”

  Few noticed, but Galo looked back to see Captain Gonzalez slouching in his seat and holding his head. The first buzzing in the room commenced.

  The judge smacked his gavel and asked for quiet. “Señor Fortuna, this is a gravely serious claim. Our public servants are some of the most dedicated and appreciated people in our community. They deserve the proper respect.” He pointed the handle of the gavel at Fortuna.

  “By all means, your honor. It is precisely out of this respect that we want to make sure that justice is carried out. We do not want for one or two crooked cops to stain the great work of all the others. Coming to the truth is the way. Heaving this murder upon an honest and decent businessman is not the answer.”

  Caldera sat comfortably with a smile on his face and looked once to his left at his assistant and the inspector.

  The hearing began with the prosecution calling the lead inspector to the stand and questioning as to his investigation, the resources, and the methods used. He gave a good account of his actions and the actions of his team without sounding boastful. It was not his role to testify as to facts, but as to the honesty undertaken in the process that secured the facts.

  The clerk then called Officer Almeida, who initially testified as to the deceased, his actions, and his demeanor. He offered information as to his criminal crew. The defense objected and stated if these people did exist they should testify as well. The judge agreed generally, but was lenient since this was a preliminary hearing.

  The next call was for one of the agents on Caldera’s team. He testified as to his interviews at the house of Lulu. Maintaining the decorum and respect of the courtroom, he abstained from describing any specifics of the events and goings-on in the place. He limited the testimony to confirming Galo had been in the place at a time approximating the date of the victim’s death. He testified how Galo’s unique and recognizable voice led the investigation to determine the motive for the murder. Galo seemed to sink further into the wooden chair despite the firmness of the wood.

  Fortuna once again argued hearsay, demanding that the person with this information be called to testify. Once more the judge agreed, but withheld judgment since this was a preliminary hearing.

  Galo felt uneasy with the facts presented. He rubbed his hands and intently listened to the witness. Of all the possibilities and after all the care he took with his plan, to get tied to this by his voice? He knew life was preposterously unfair.

  Caldera rose again. “Judge, I would like to call one of the ladies from the House of Lulu to the stand.”

  “Hold it … hold it right there, Señor Caldera! I don’t want you to turn this courtroom into a circus. Will both attorneys approach the bench?” Fortuna and Caldera walked up toward the judge. Galo heard the judge cleared his throat, “Absolutely, I will not have you call a hooker in this court today! Fortuna, you have asked for direct testimony and objected to hearsay. You will need to wait. Now, back off and call your next witness!”

  Caldera called for the landlord of the victim. He led the landlord in questions purely addressing the missing individual and stayed away from addressing the retraction of the missing person’s report, so neither the judge nor the defense heard of the payment by the police of the back rent.

  Next was a shop owner, who testified that the deceased asked and received payment for protection. This caused Captain Gonzalez to sink deeper into his very hard seat. It also caused stirring and noise from the crowd in the audience and the judge rapped his gavel to call for quiet. Two more followed, who further testified more of the same.

  As Caldera called his fourth storeowner, Fortuna stood. “Judge, I think the pros
ecuting attorney has established the nature of the deceased. The defense will go ahead and stipulate that the deceased ran a protection racket. Clearly, any one of these people could have killed the crooked cop.”

  Caldera turned quickly to the judge. “I object your honor and ask that the defense be admonished for that last statement.” The crowd again became animated.

  The judge brought down his gavel. “Silence! Order and silence! Now settle down everyone! Señor Fortuna, refrain from reaching conclusions ahead of your closing. Thank you very much. Señor Caldera, you may call your next witness.”

  The coroner was ordered to the stand. In his friendly and twangy Spanish, he delivered an orderly testimony. He scientifically and methodically described the nature of the condition of the corpse when delivered to the morgue. He apologized and felt embarrassed for the time it took to examine and report on the victim, but cited the number of cases that superseded this one. He described the shark injuries and how these injuries obscured the true cause of death. He went on to explain how the victim bled out from his jugular.

  Upon the completion of this description, the room buzzed and Galo heard in whispers. ‘Good! That son of a whore should have felt more pain. I hope he rots in hell.’ There was even some low clapping. Galo noticed the activity of the audience did not escape Caldera and the prosecutor gave a quick look to his assistants.

  The judge smacked the gavel. “I want silence! Anyone I see speaking will be taken out!”

  Caldera did not ask the coroner as to the time of death. Fortuna did ask, prompting the good doctor to testify the reasons why he could not determine the time of death. Between the heat, the sea, and the time in the morgue cooler, there was no humanly way to determine this fact. Fortuna led the doctor to convince him it wasn’t merely the shark attack that killed the victim. The coroner explained the lack of water in the lungs and the lack of blood. Despite knowing differently, Fortuna continued to press on speculative alternatives until the doctor finally gave in to a possible, but not probable answer. In involved falling on a sharp object.

  Before the doctor stood, Caldera redirected. “Doctor, would you say that a practiced butcher from a slaughterhouse has the skill to have made the aforementioned incision?” Galo gulped in what he thought was a sound louder than the buzzing in the room.

  “I would say that the person would be well within his skill set to make such a cut and much more!”

  Fortuna peered at Galo. For the first time Galo felt the blood leave his body. The doctor’s testimony seemed to define the cut on the neck as his signature. He was sure he reacted and swiped at the miserable cop. Inasmuch as it produced such a precise cut must have been a matter of practice. What will become of Rona and the kids? What will jail be like?

  “Doctor, one more question. What kind of suffering would the victim have felt?”

  “It’s hard to tell. The individual would feel shock followed by uncontrolled shaking, a loss of balance and perspective. He would have felt a cold wave and eventually lose consciousness. This doesn’t account for whatever emotional strain occurs from not receiving last rights.”

  Caldera returned to his seat. “Thank you, Doctor.”

  Again the audience became animated, talking with one another and again anyone could hear the approbation of the suffering the deceased experienced. ‘It should have been a lot more! He should have had his testicles handed to him! Yeah, one of the hookers should have done it to the asshole.’ Galo sneaked a view to see Caldera again showing concern with his assistants.

  The judge raised his gavel higher than at any time and prepared to smack it down violently. Unexpectedly, the doors to the courtroom burst open preempting the judge’s action, and bringing the room to complete silence. Galo sat up for a better view.

  An orderly pushed a creaky wheelchair carrying Alonso Velez. His arm was in a sling. His left leg was in a cast sustained in front with a support. His head was wrapped with a bandage. The chair was wheeled to the front of the room before entering the court’s well. Galo stood halfway. If his blood had left his body, the sight of Alonso weakened his knees and he plopped back down. He looked back at Elio and Rico, who turned and were about to yell. The gavel came down once more and the judge screamed for silence at the top of his lungs! The room fell silent.

  Alonso spoke in a soft tone. “Forgive me your honor, but I would like to declare before your honor and this court …”

  Galo elbowed Fortuna, who immediately stood at the exact same time as Caldera did. He spoke loudest, “Your Honor, this is highly irregular and would request you disallow any declaration from this man. Clearly he is unwell. His head is wrapped and he may be suffering from illusions.”

  Caldera pointed his finger at Alonso. “Yes, your honor, we agree this is highly irregular and would ask you to disallow. We do not know who this man is and would like the opportunity to interview him at the right time to determine if his testimony is vital to this case.”

  Alonso did not wait for the judge. “Judge, my testimony is crucial and I demand to be heard!”

  Further objections ensued from both attorneys and the buzz from the crowd grew. The reporters were scribbling furiously in their notepads.

  Galo lifted his leg over the arm of his chair and let his arm hang over his crotch. He shrugged at Alonso as if to ask ‘what in the hell are you doing? I can’t believe this, you nerdy shit.’ On one hand, he was terrified of going to jail and leaving his wife and kids on their own. At the same time, he felt the pit in his stomach that his friend would condemn him directly or worse fall on the sword. He saw Alonso look to his right in time to see Elio with his eyes wide open, shaking his head ‘no, stop, what do you think you are doing?’ Alonso waved with his good hand to calm down and stay put. If poor Alonso would let the process work its way through!

  The judge grabbed the gavel and smacked it down several times and yelled again for everyone to be quiet and to sit down. He looked at the prosecutor and his aides, who crept to the front of their seats. He looked at the defense and both Galo and Fortuna, who were perched at the edge of their seats also. He looked at the audience and everyone had sat up straight to see what would happen next. He looked at the man in the chair, a leg in a cast, an arm in a sling, and his head wrapped in gauze. He wore a hospital gown and an orderly stood behind him holding the wheelchair. He smacked the gavel once more even though it was totally quiet.

  “Let the record show that both the prosecuting and the defending counsel have objected to this gentleman’s request to make a declaration. In the case of a trial, I would have agreed with the objections and would have asked for a recess. Since this is a preliminary hearing, I will allow the declaration. Pending its nature and facts, I will determine if it is admissible for further investigation.”

  Both Fortuna and Caldera rose again, but the judge smacked his gavel and articulated sharply to sit “their asses down.”

  “Very well. You may remain where you are. There will be no need to have you in the stand. Please state your name for the record.”

  “I am Alonso Velez and I am a partial owner of the slaughterhouse, Matadero El Sol, along with the defendant and the other gentlemen sitting here.”

  “Will you swear to tell the truth?”

  “Yes, judge.”

  “Señor Velez, please go ahead and tell the court what you came here to say.”

  Galo cleared his throat and stared helplessly down.

  Alonso began in a soft tone. “I was terrified of the policeman called Santiesteban. He terrorized me and many others in the neighborhood.”

  Concurrence rattled from the audience. A few ‘yeses’ could be determined before a rush of shushes took hold.

  “We, along with others, were forced to pay him for protection. We didn’t know that he hired criminals to steal from us and use this as the reason to get paid. But it didn’t stop there. He wanted more and more money.”

  One business owner in the court stood up and yelled, “Yes, that son of a bitch was a greedy b
astard and I’m glad he’s dead” The judge smacked the gavel. “Take that man out of the court!”

  Alonso continued, “I feared more because the cop didn’t like me and he pushed me around a few times. So much so, that I reached my human limits of restraint. So, I followed the cop to the place called Lulu and when he came out I confronted him.”

  The crowd was dead silent. Even the slight breeze hinting its freshness stopped. Galo looked back to the audience and to a man, they were at the edge of their seats. He could see many salivating as the story continued.

  “But as you can see the cop was strong. We fought and he hit me hard with the nightstick. He broke my arm and my leg and he hit my head. I luckily swiped my knife and caught the crook on his neck and he fell bleeding.”

  With little regard to the judge’s threats, the majority of the people attending stood and clapped. ‘Yes! Thank God for this man! Yes! We have a hero, finally! What the police couldn’t do, this fellow did! Bless him!’ Galo looked shocked. He couldn’t believe the bile from the people in the court. He saw the same shock in the judge’s eye as he smacked the gavel over and over until quiet returned.

  “I have worked at a slaughterhouse since I was fifteen and am quite adept with a knife, but I must admit that gash was pure luck.”

  Caldera peered down at the inspector, who shook his head in disbelief. He leaned towards the prosecutor. “I don’t know why my team did not uncover Velez before, but if he was a partner in the slaughterhouse, the motive is complete.” Caldera nodded.

  Galo noticed everything Alonso said was public knowledge. All of the information had been published in the newspapers or spoken that morning in this room. ‘What is the little bastard doing? Does he want to go to jail? Why is he doing this?’

  Fortuna looked at Galo pressing on his lips with one eyebrow raised and shrugging. “Galo, I think Alonso has inadvertently provided the missing pieces to the prosecution. Once Caldera starts to tear down the story, our whole defense will crumble.” The somberness set in deep with Galo and he fought to light a cigarette.