James Grippando - Found money

“Mr. Langford, please state your name.”

“Brent Langford.”

“You are Dr. Duffy’s brother-in-law, correct?”

The judge interjected again, louder. “Stipulations, Mr. Jackson, stipulations. I don’t need the family history.”

“Yes, Judge. Mr. Langford, you were served with a subpoena to appear at a deposition in this case, were you not?”

“Yes, I was. At my house in Piedmont Springs, last Tuesday afternoon.”

“And it was your understanding that the person responsible for issuing that subpoena was me, correct?”

“That was my understanding.”

“What did you do after the subpoena was served?”

He shrugged. “I’ll be honest. I wasn’t happy about it.”

“Did you talk to anyone about it?”

“My wife.”

“Anyone else?”

“Yes. Dr. Duffy.”

Ryan’s eyes widened. He knew Brent was a liar. He had no idea how big a liar. He quickly scribbled a note to Norm: This is bull!

“How did that conversation come about?”

“Ryan called me that night on the telephone.”

“What did he tell you?”

“He said, ‘Brent, this deposition can’t happen. There’s too much at stake.’”

“Meaning what?”

“Objection,” said Norm, rising. “Calls for speculation.”

“Let me rephrase,” said Jackson. “What did you understand him to say?”

“Same objection,” said Norm.

The judge leaned forward. “There’s no jury in this proceeding, Mr. Klusmire. Let’s hear the evidence. The witness shall answer.”

“It was my impression that he had some serious money he didn’t want Liz to find out about.”

“How did you get that impression?”

“Because Sarah told me about it.”

“Objection,” Norm shouted. “Judge, now we’re moving from speculation to hearsay.”

“Sustained. Mr. Langford, you can tell us what you know firsthand, and you can tell us anything Dr. Duffy may have told you. But don’t go telling us things other people may have said.”

Brent replied in his most respectful tone. “Yes, Your Honor.”

Jackson continued, “Mr. Langford, are you sure it was your wife who told you about the money? Or was it Dr. Duffy, himself?”

“Objection. This is ridiculous. He’s coaching the witness right on the stand.”

“Overruled.”

“Come to think of it,” said Brent, “it might very well have been Ryan who told me about the money. Yeah. It was Ryan. Definitely.”

“Good,” said Jackson. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, I’d like to get a little more specific about this money Dr. Duffy wanted to keep from his wife. Do you know if that money was ever kept in any kind of suitcase or storage container that had a combination lock?”

“I don’t know.”

“Could it have been?” Jackson pressed.

“Objection.”

“Sustained.”

“Your Honor,” said Jackson, “I’m just trying to show that Dr. Duffy had motive to stop the deposition. He was concerned that if it went forward, Brent might tell me about the money that Dr. Duffy is trying to hide from my client.”

“The objection is sustained,” said the judge.

“No need to stretch, Mr. Jackson. You’ve made your point and tied things together. You won’t be going to jail tonight.”

“Thank you, Judge.” He checked his notes, then returned to the witness. “Mr. Langford, let’s turn back to this late-night telephone conversation with Dr. Duffy. After he told you the deposition had to be stopped, what did you say?”

“I told him I’m not a lawyer, I can’t stop the deposition from happening.”

“What did Dr. Duffy say to that?”

“He said this wasn’t about legal stuff. The only way to stop this deposition was for me to teach Liz’s lawyer a lesson.”

“Could you be more specific as to what he said?”

“Yes. I remember exactly what he said.”

“Please, tell us Dr. Duffy’s exact words.”

He blushed, as if embarrassed. “I don’t like to use profanity.”

Ryan nearly burst inside. Brent was walking profanity.

The judge added, “It is very important for us to hear Dr. Duffy’s exact words.”

“Okay. His exact words. He said, ‘Brent, I want you to beat the living shit out of that asshole Phil Jackson and teach him a lesson.’”

“What did you say?”

“I said forget it. No way.”

“How did you leave it with Dr. Duffy?”

“He got mad. He called me — a pussy. Some other things that don’t bear repeating. And then he said, ‘All right, I don’t need you. I’ll get someone else to do it.’”

“Did he say who he would get?”

“No.”

“What did you do next?”

“I didn’t know what to do. I was up the rest of the night worrying about it.”

“Why didn’t you warn Mr. Jackson?”

“That’s what I finally decided to do. I got up in the middle of the night and drove to Denver. Mind you, I was breaking ranks with my wife’s brother. It wasn’t something I could just do lightly. He’s family. I didn’t want to just call the police on him. I was going to talk to Liz and tell her about it.”

“But you didn’t get there in time.”

“No. I didn’t think Ryan would hire somebody that fast. Next thing I knew, you were in the hospital. After I heard what had happened, I got scared. I hung out in Denver that morning, not sure what to do. And then I just came home.”

“Thank you, Mr. Langford. I know it’s not easy to testify against someone in your own family. We appreciate your coming here today.”

“Cross-examination, Mr. Klusmire?”

Norm rose. “Your Honor, as I’m sure you’ve surmised, we’re surprised Mr. Langford is actually here this morning. And frankly, we’re flat-out stunned by his testimony. May I have a fifteen-minute recess to confer with my client?”

“Tell you what,” said the judge. “Take all the time you need. I was going to call a bladder break myself, but it appears the problem may run deeper than that, if you know what I mean. At all events, I’ve heard enough testimony for a Saturday. This is a preliminary hearing, and the rules don’t require me to hear everything live in the courtroom before making a ruling. In the interest of fairness, however, I will defer my ruling until five P.M. Monday. The respondent shall have until that time to submit any written affidavits he may wish the court to consider.”

“But Judge-”

“Court’s in recess,” he said with a bang of the gavel.

“All rise!” shouted the bailiff.

Ryan stood at his lawyer’s side, confused. “I don’t believe this.”

The judge disappeared into his chambers through the side door. Brent stepped down from the witness stand and hurried past the lawyers. Ryan started toward him, as if to head him off. Norm stopped him.

“Let him go,” he said quietly. “Don’t look at him, don’t look at Jackson, and don’t look at your wife. You’re bound to say something you’ll regret. And believe me, they’re taking notes.”

Ryan swallowed his anger and let him pass.

Jackson gathered his papers into his briefcase. Liz was at his side, almost hiding behind her lawyer. He paused on their way out. “Welcome to Family Court, gentlemen.”

It took all his strength, but Ryan said nothing. He just watched as Jackson led the way with Liz in tow. She took his arm as they passed through the swinging double doors in the back of the courtroom. Inertia kept the doors swinging back and forth several times before coming to a halt. On the third swing, he saw Brent and Jackson shaking hands in the hallway. Liz was there too, smiling. All three were smiling.

It was the Three Musketeers.

“I really don’t believe this,” he said softly.