Scott Turow - Presumed innocent

"So all of Ms. Polhemus's cases were important? It was important to know whom she was investigating, what she was looking into?"

"Yes."

"And in spite of knowing that, Mr. Horgan, you personally removed a file from Ms. Polhemus's drawer after the investigation of her murder began, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"A very sensitive matter, was it not?"

Larren has observed the cross, lying back in his chair. For the most part he has appeared faintly amused by this contest between two well-known professionals. Now he interrupts.

"What's the relevance of this, Counsel?"

Sandy for a moment is word-struck.

"Your Honor, I think that the relevance of this is clear."

"Not to me."

"The witness has testified on direct examination that Mr. Sabich did not bring to his attention information that Mr. Horgan regarded as pertinent. The defendant is entitled to explore Mr. Horgan's standards in this regard."

"Mr. Horgan was the prosecuting attorney, Mr. Stern. You're mixing apples and oranges," says the judge.

Relief comes from an unexpected source. Della Guardia is on his feet.

"We have no objection to this line of questioning, Judge."

Larren lets his glance linger in Nico's direction. Molto immediately grabs Delay's forearm. I assume that Nico wants the discussion about professional standards to continue in the belief that it will further educate the jury about the extent of my deviation. But he is well out of place here. For one thing, Horgan is not his witness. And I take it from the heated way that Molto speaks to him as Delay resumes his seat that Nico does not recognize the drift of Sandy's questioning. I wonder if he even knows about the B file or has just forgotten. I make a note which I will give to Stern at the break: Who did Horgan tell re B file? Molto? Nico? Neither?

With new daylight, Sandy quickly proceeds.

"As I said, this was a very sensitive matter, was it not?"

"Yes."

"It involved allegations-"

Larren again injects himself, more faithful than a Labrador.

"We don't need the details of the internal workings of the prosecuting attorney's office or of its investigations, many of which, I remind you, Mr. Stern, are protected by rules of grand-jury secrecy. This was a sensitive case. Let us move on."

"Of course, Your Honor, I had no interest in disclosing any secrets."

"Of course not," says Larren. He smiles with apparent disbelief and turns toward his water carafe, which it so happens, is in the direction of the jury. "Proceed."

"And, in fact, this case was so sensitive, Mr. Horgan, that you assigned it to Ms. Polhemus without informing any other person in your office that you had done so. Yes?"

"Yes."

Sandy quickly lists everyone in the office who was not told: Mac. The Special Investigations Chief, Mike Dolan. Three or four more names. He ends with me. Raymond acknowledges each.

"And you gave the file to Mr. Sabich only when he personally informed you that a file appeared to be missing from Ms. Polhemus's office, is that not true?"

"True."

Sandy takes a little tour around the courtroom to let all of this sink in. Raymond has been tarnished. The jury is paying close attention.

"Now, Ms. Polhemus was an ambitious woman, was she not?"

"I suppose it depends on what you mean by ambitious."

"She enjoyed being in the public eye, she wanted to progress in your office, did she not?"

"All true."

"She wanted to handle this case?"

"As I recall."

"Now, Mr. Horgan, you assigned this case to Ms. Polhemus, this highly sensitive matter to her, this case that only you and she knew about, this case she was eager to handle while you two were personally involved, correct?"

Raymond begins to roll again in his seat. He knows that Stern will spare him nothing now. He has hunkered down a little, so that to my eye it looks as if he is trying to duck.

"I really don't recall exactly when I made that assignment."

"Let me remind you, then." Sandy gets the file jacket, shows Raymond the docketing date, reminds him of his direct testimony about when he and Carolyn were dating. "So," he concludes, "you assigned this very sensitive case to Ms. Polhemus while you were personally involved with her?"

"That appears to be when it happened."

Stern stands still and looks at Horgan.

"The answer to the question," says Raymond, "is yes."

"Your failure to inform anyone of this assignment contradicted established procedure in your office, did it not?"

"I was the prosecuting attorney. I decided when there would be exceptions to the rules." He has picked up Larren's hint.

"And you made an exception for Ms. Polhemus?"

"Yes."

"With whom you were-Strike that. Ordinarily such a case would have been assigned to a lawyer with more experience in such matters, would it not?"

"That's a consideration ordinarily."

"But that wasn't a consideration here?"

"No."

"And this remained your secret with Ms. Polhemus, did it not, even after your relationship with her ended?"

"True," says Raymond. He smiles for the first time in a while. "There was no change in my conduct."

"Because you were embarrassed?"

"It didn't occur to me."

"And when Mr. Sabich was trying to assemble all the information in the office about Ms. Polhemus's cases, it did not occur to you that you had gone to her office and put the file in your drawer?"

"I suppose it didn't."

"You were not attempting to conceal anything, were you, Mr. Horgan?"

"I was not."

"There was an election campaign taking place, was there not?"

"Yes."

"A tough campaign?"

"Brutal."

"A campaign in which, as it turned out, you were losing?"

"Yes."

"A campaign in which your opponent, Mr. Della Guardia, had been a deputy in your very office and had many friends there?"

"That's true."

"And you were not concerned, Mr. Horgan, in the midst of this brutal campaign about word leaking out, through one of Mr. Della Guardia's friends, that you had given choice assignments to an assistant with whom you were sleeping?"

"Maybe it crossed my mind. Who knows, Mr. Stern? It was not an ideal situation."

"Far from it," says Stern. "I ask you again, sir, were you not trying to hide the fact that you had had an affair with a member of your staff?"

"It wasn't something I ordinarily talked about, if that's what you mean."

"No indeed. It could be viewed as unprofessional."

"It could be, but it wasn't. We were both adults."

"I see. You had confidence in your judgment, not withstanding this affair?"

"Very much so."

Stern has gradually approached Horgan. Now he takes the last few steps and reaches out to touch the rail of the witness stand, so that he stands only a few feet from Raymond. "And yet, sir, you come to this courtroom where the life of a man who served you faithfully for a dozen years now hangs in the balance, and you tell us that you would have none of the same confidence in him?" Horgan's look locks with Stern's. From where I am, I cannot quite see Raymond's expression. He finally faces about and when he does he has his tongue tucked into his cheek. He is looking now in Della Guardia's direction, somewhat sheepishly. I am not sure if he is seeking help or casting apologies.

"I wish he had said something, that's all. It would have looked better for him. It would have looked better for me.

One of the jurors says, "Hmm." I hear the sound, but do not see whom it came from. Others are looking toward the floor. It is hard to figure why this seems to have such an impact. Nothing has changed the fingerprints, or the fibers, or the records from my phone. But it has been a splendid moment for the defense. Molto and Nico have brought Raymond Horgan to this courtroom as the model of propriety, the arbiter of standards. Now it turns out that things have been overblown. Just as he did in representing Colleen McGaffen, Sandy Stern has found the message to this jury that he wishes to send but never speak aloud. So what? he is saying. Suppose it is true that Sabich and the decedent had been intimate. Suppose that he chose, wisely or not, to keep that to himself. It is still no different from what Horgan did. If I was too embarrassed to confess aspects of my past conduct, everyone should understand. The knot between what I did not say and what I did has been untied; the juncture has been severed between murder and deceit.