William Bernhardt - Capitol offence

The reporter continued. "We consulted the district attorney for his reaction to this startling development in the case that has already shocked and horrified Tulsans."

This time the on-screen image shifted to David Guillerman, apparently sitting at his desk. He spoke hesitantly, as if he hated to comment at all, which would probably be useful when he had to explain to the judge why he'd violated the gag order.

"Of course I'm shocked and appalled by the new information Channel Seven has brought to light in this case. I had no idea."

"Is it my imagination, or is his nose getting longer?" Ben asked.

"Shhh!"

Guillerman continued. "I prefer to try cases in the courtroom, not the media, but this is unacceptable behavior, made all the worse because the attorney is also our elected-well, our appointed representative in the U.S. Senate. The peddling of influence has already turned many people off government and caused enormous cynicism in this country. To have someone actually collaborating with criminals, just to make legal fees, is truly shocking. I hope the state bar association is paying attention. I understand that Kincaid's colleague in the Senate, Senator Hardwick, is preparing a formal motion to censure him as soon as Congress reconvenes."

"Hardwick's a Republican! He hates me!"

"Which pretty much guarantees his participation in this lynching." Christina shut the television off. "This changes the trial landscape."

"No joke. This is horrible! Those TV people totally trashed me."

"What do you expect from tabloid news channels? You're famous. You're a target. That's how they pay their bills."

"They said I conspired with Dennis!"

"Honestly, how long did you think you could stay in politics before someone flung some mud your way? This is probably overdue."

"But he said I helped plan a murder!"

"Which was probably a mistake. Guillerman took it too far. If he had simply said you had some idea of Dennis's mind-set, he could've done almost as much damage, with a lot more credibility." She cleared her throat. "Since that's more or less true. But helped plan a murder? You? With your record? I don't think there are many people gullible enough to buy that. Even if it does come from an attractive news reader."

"But I have no opportunity to defend myself."

"You will. As soon as the judge clears it, you can make a statement. Explain that at no time did Dennis say he planned or even wanted to kill anyone. This will blow over. In the end, all anyone's going to remember from this mess is who won the trial."

"I hope you're right." He clenched his fists together. "It just makes me so mad! They intentionally misled their viewers. They melodramatized the facts. And everyone in the city was watching."

"Exactly." Christina looked straight into his eyes. "Do you not see? That's what you can use to your advantage. It may look grim now, but this could actually turn out to be the biggest break you've had in this entire impossible trial."

Loving was not excited about the prospect of a return visit to Scene of the Crime. He'd come to this bar almost every night this week. Wasn't all he had done, of course. He'd been surreptitiously following some of the officers who were at the hotel the night Sentz died. He'd run deep background checks on Sentz, Conway, and Shaw, as well as Dennis Thomas and his late wife. He'd bugged the police locker room, which was probably illegal and almost certainly would be fatal if they found out. He'd talked to everyone present when Joslyn Thomas was found and everyone at the hotel on the fateful day.

But all of that had produced nothing. So here he was, back at Scene of the Crime, hoping to hit a home run when no one was even pitching. He knew Ben had been cross-examining the police witnesses, and he would have loved to have brought Ben something useful, but so far it hadn't happened. He had to come up with something before this trial was over and done.

His first visit here had been mildly productive, in a macho confrontational sort of way. But the follow-ups had not fulfilled the promise of the original. Officer Shaw had obviously put the word out. No one was to talk to Loving, or anyone else associated with Ben Kincaid. And so far the other cops had toed the line. Loving had sat in silence for several nights running. Not stirring up any trouble, but not stirring up anything else, either.

A more sensible person would probably give up, but sensible had never been Loving's strong suit. Ben needed help. That was good enough for him. Loving frankly couldn't care less about this Thomas guy. He didn't hold much with killers, crazy or not. But Ben he cared about. Ben had reached out to him when he really needed help, when the rest of the world was heaping scorn and abuse. He would do anything for the Skipper. And if that meant one more miserable night at Scene of the Crime, so be it.

"Psst!"

Loving looked both ways. He didn't see anything. But he supposed if the person hissing at him wanted to be seen, he wouldn't be hissing at him.

"Psst!"

Loving followed the general sound to a grove of trees a little ways off the road, still a good distance from the bar. He could hear the hooting and the music and the blare of the big-screen television, but there was no chance that anyone hanging out there could have heard the hisser.

"Am I hot or cold?" Loving said as he entered the grove.

"Over here."

Loving walked slowly into the darkness. The scant moonlight eventually cast its glow on a man around thirty years of age. He was a police officer. Loving had seen him before, although he wasn't sure they'd ever been formally introduced. What was his name? Something Hispanic, but Loving couldn't quite place it…

"I'm Joe Torres."

"Good to meet you." Loving extended his hand, but the other man did not shake it. "You wantin' me?"

"Yes. Are you still investigating the Sentz case?"

"You know somethin'?"

"Maybe. I was the front desk clerk most of the times Dennis Thomas came in asking for help."

Loving eased in closer. "What happened?"

"It's all pretty much as they all say. Thomas was desperate. He begged, pleaded, argued. Sentz wouldn't relent. Nothing seemed to matter. He said there were no grounds for opening a missing persons investigation, so he didn't."

"Was anyone else involved in this decision?"

"I never saw anyone out of the ordinary in the station. But it did seem weird. And I heard Thomas say he thought someone else was pulling Sentz's strings."

"Dennis said he saw another man in the police station once when you were there. He didn't see the guy's face, but Dennis thought he was tellin' Sentz to lay off. Did you see anyone there?"

"No."

"Do you know who that might've been?"

"No. But I wouldn't be-I mean-" Torres stopped, started again. "I know Sentz said he was going by the book. And it's true. Technically there were no grounds for action. But we all know that those rules are written mostly to give officers the ability to allocate manpower as necessary and to get rid of crackpots. Cases that aren't really cases. Thomas wasn't a crackpot. He was intelligent, resourceful, and obviously very worried about his wife."

"Still, if the rules are on the books…"

"Sentz had discretion. I've seen him use it before. If he wanted to start an investigation, he'd start an investigation. He'd find a way to make it good."

"But he never did that for Dennis Thomas."

"Exactly. Not even after seven days, when it was pretty obvious something had happened to her. That part was… unusual."

"Why did you think he was stonewallin' Thomas?"

"I don't know. But I can't help but think there was a reason. That's why I finally got something going myself."

"You did?"

Torres nodded. "I got one of the other detectives to sign off on it. Someone who didn't know the whole story. Sentz was furious when he found out. But we did find Joslyn Thomas."