William Bernhardt - Dark Justice

“You should’ve trusted me,” she said bitterly. She spun around and, without saying another word, left the office, slamming the door behind her.

Zak stared through the cell bars at Ben with wide-eyed wonder. “You’re kidding!”

“Would I kid about a thing like this?”

“The charges are dismissed?”

“All of them. As soon as they finish processing the paperwork, you’ll be free to go.”

“ Yes !” Zak jumped up into the air and whooped. “I knew it. I knew it!”

“Knew what?”

“I knew you’d pull through for me. You did it before and you did it again.” He reached through the bars and slapped Ben on the shoulder.

Ben pressed his lips together silently.

“How did you ever get Granny to agree to dismiss?”

Ben shrugged. “She didn’t have much choice. We brought her a detailed confession from the real murderer-a confession witnessed by multiple persons, including three federal agents.”

“Man, this is great. This is so great.” Zak jumped up again and swatted the overhead light. “You’re a miracle worker, Ben.”

“Hardly.”

“If there’s anything I can ever do for you-anything at all-all you have to do is ask.”

Ben looked up. “You mean that?”

“Oh, yeah, man. ’Course I do. Anything you want, it’s yours.”

“Okay. Stop with the bombs.”

Zak floated down to earth. “What?”

“You heard me. No more bombs. You may think you’re striking great blows for freedom and liberty, but you’re not. Every time you resort to violence, you set your cause back. Violence never solves anything in the long run. It might bury problems, but it doesn’t solve them.”

“You’re wrong, man. We have to be strong.”

“Then be strong. You don’t need a big macho bomb to be strong.”

“Those bastards out there don’t listen to reason.”

“Zak, if you keep setting bombs, eventually you’re going to kill someone. Even if Allen tampered with the bomb that killed Gardiner, the fact remains that you created the instrumentality of murder. If you keep at this, someone else will die. Maybe it’ll be an accident, but the poor schmuck caught in the explosion will be just as dead.”

Zak grimaced. “Anything else, Mom?”

“Well, yeah, since you asked. You could stop being such a pig with women.”

“What are you, some kind of feminist?”

“I don’t have to be a feminist to see that you’ve been a total jerk, taking advantage of others, thinking only of yourself. That’s no way to treat anyone, man or woman.”

“Jeez. My lawyer, Jiminy Cricket.”

“Yeah, well, you asked.” Ben folded his arms. “Anyway, the work’s done. You’ll be free soon. So do me a favor and don’t get arrested for murder again, okay?”

Zak smiled. “Deal.” He laughed. “So how did the jury take it? They were probably pissed.”

Ben shook his head. “I don’t think so. If anything, they were relieved. No one enjoys deliberating on a capital charge. And particularly given the circumstances-I expect they felt they had been prevented by a hairbreadth from making a horrible mistake.”

“So you think they were going to convict?”

Ben looked at him levelly. “After that stunt you pulled up on the stand? How could they not?”

“Hmm. Guess you’re right.”

“Speaking of which,” Ben said, pressing against the cell door. “Care to explain that little travesty to me?”

Zak turned his head. “I … don’t think I can.”

“Zak, look at me. Look. At. Me !” Zak grudgingly turned his head. “Have you learned nothing from this whole experience?”

“Like … don’t get thrown in jail in small towns?”

“No, you idiot. Like, it’s always best to tell your lawyer the truth. Think about it. You lied about the Sasquatch suit, and that was the first major strike against us. You lied about the bomb, and that was the second major blow. And you lied about Gardiner’s wife, and that nearly crucified us! So for once, just once in your stupid life, would you tell me the truth?”

“I don’t know … I’m gonna have to think about it.”

“Zak, let me do the thinking, okay? Frankly, it isn’t exactly your specialty.” Ben reached through the bars, grabbed Zak’s shirt, and yanked him against the door. “Tell me what happened. Now.”

Granny’s office hadn’t changed much, Ben observed, and neither had she. The office was still a mess; if anything, there were even more stacks of files and even more crumpled fast-food wrappers than before. She was on the phone, apparently giving an interview. No, she didn’t consider the new revelations about the Gardiner murder a personal setback. She believed the whole town, including hard-working civic servants like herself, had been manipulated by a self-serving cadre of drug pushers, environmental fanatics, and lawyers, all working in concert to thwart justice. To the contrary, it was a testament to the zealous and unflagging efforts of her office that they were finally able to uncover the truth.

Ben had to smile. As if she had had anything to do with it.

When she was finally finished, she hung up the phone. “Why are you here, Kincaid? Just come to gloat?”

“No, I wanted to talk with you.”

“Yeah? Well, the feeling isn’t mutual.”

“It’s very important.”

Granny glanced at the clock on the wall. “I can give you five minutes. Assuming I don’t get bored first.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Ben reached into his briefcase. “Your first ethical violation, in my opinion, was when you produced important documents buried in a sea of extraneous paper-all printed in red ink.”

She waved him away. “I later corrected that … inadvertent error.”

“On the eve of trial, yes. But it unquestionably compromised my defense.”

Granny made a great show of yawning. “Sorry, Kincaid, but you’re not beating the boredom test.”

“Your second ethical violation was the suppression-even destruction-of exculpatory evidence. That’s more than just an ethical violation-that’s a criminal offense. Obstruction of justice. You had a whole file on Alberto Vincenzo, and you knew-or thought, anyway-it was relevant to the Gardiner case. But you didn’t produce it.”

“What file? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know you had it.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

“I can’t.”

Granny settled back in her chair. “Anything else, Kincaid?”

“Your third ethical violation was bribing Marco Geppi to fabricate a false jail-cell conversation to hang Zak. That’s more than just an ethical violation, too. That’s suborning perjury.”

She fluttered her eyes. “And you can’t prove that either, right?”

“We’re looking for Geppi. But he blew town and crawled back into the woodwork as soon as you released him. As I’m sure you anticipated he would.”

“Time’s almost up, Kincaid.”

“And your fourth and most heinous ethical violation was when you blackmailed Zak into tanking on the witness stand. You’ve done some pretty evil things, Granny, but screwing with the testimony of a man on trial for his life-that’s just beyond the pale.”

“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You will. Zak told me all about it.”

“The embittered defendant and his attorney try to strike back against the prosecutor. It’s all too trite. No one will believe it.”

“I think you’re wrong.”

“Who knows this town, Kincaid? You or me?”

“I still think that when-”

“It’s hopeless. You have no proof.”