Phillip Margolin - Supreme Justice

“Is this Detective Daphne Haggard?”

“Speaking.”

“I’m Jim Haynes, an orthopedic surgeon in Madison. I understand you’re looking for the name of one of my patients.”

“Does this concern an orthopedic appliance made by Orthosure?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you for calling,” Daphne said excitedly. “I am very interested in identifying your patient.”

“What’s this all about?” the surgeon asked.

Daphne told him how the appliance was discovered.

“God, that’s terrible,” Haynes said.

“It is, and I’m hoping you can give me the information we need to identify the victim.”

“I can definitely do that.”

Dr. Haynes gave Daphne a name and said that the patient would be twenty-eight now. They talked a few minutes more before Daphne thanked the doctor and ended the conversation. It was too late to do anything tonight, but Daphne finally had a name.

Even though Kyle Peterson was dead, Brad was relieved to find a police officer sitting outside Justice Moss’s chambers. If Kyle was part of a white-supremacist group, there was nothing to prevent them from making another attempt on his boss’s life. But Brad was not convinced that Kyle was a racist. He could have been set up by the real killer, or he could have been the assassin, but his motive for trying to take out Justice Moss might have been tied to the Woodruff case.

“How was Texas?” Brad asked.

“I always get a kick out of talking to law students before the real world has corrupted them.”

Brad laughed. “I never knew you were such a cynic.”

“Life’s knocked me back and forth between cynicism and optimism. I prefer the latter. Then I hear about Kyle Peterson, and I want to give up on people altogether. Do you think he was the person who tried to kill us?”

Brad hesitated.

“You have some doubts?” Moss asked.

“I think it’s possible. Kyle was tall and lanky. His build is vaguely similar to the man I fought with. And they did find the clothes in his closet. What do you think?”

“I thought the man who attacked me was thinner than Peterson. I even entertained the thought that the killer might have been a woman.”

Brad frowned. “I never thought of that.”

Justice Moss shook her head. “I was looking at that gun. Then I was trying to pick it up. I only concentrated on the person who attacked me when I was trying to get off a shot, but he was up the ramp by then, some distance away. I just don’t know.”

“I guess we’ll have to wait until the investigation is complete.”

“I heard Peterson died very violently,” Justice Moss said.

“That’s what Keith-Agent Evans-told me. It sounded pretty gruesome.”

“Does the FBI have any idea who killed him?”

“Their working hypothesis is that Kyle had a falling-out with the other people in the assassination plot.”

“If Kyle was part of a white-supremacist group, it looks like I was wrong to suspect Millard of being involved with the attack. But what if Peterson isn’t the assassin? What if the clothing was planted in his apartment by the real killer?”

“Harriet saw him putting the ski mask in his attaché.”

“I forgot about that.” Justice Moss sighed. “Before Peterson was killed, I was certain of Millard’s involvement in the attempt on my life. It made sense. What goes on in conference is secret. Not even you clerks know. That means that one of the justices had to have told the people who wanted me dead that I was responsible for deferring the vote on Woodruff. But my theory means nothing if the attempt on my life was for reasons having nothing to do with that case.”

“That’s true, but finding those racist tracts was pretty convenient. It offers a clear-cut explanation for an attack on an African American and closes the door on any further investigation into a link between the attack and Woodruff v. Oregon.”

“You think Peterson was set up to derail our investigation?” Moss asked.

“He could still be the person who attacked you, but he might not be some kind of Aryan Nation, White Brotherhood assassin.”

“Why the doubts?”

“We’ve discovered a link between Justice Price and the China Sea.”

Brad told his boss about Dana’s investigation in Oregon and the discovery of the TA Enterprises file in the subbasement. Then he showed Justice Moss the pictures Ginny had taken with her cell phone.

“It looks like Justice Price was upset about the possibility of Woodruff being granted cert because he’s afraid that his part in the drug-smuggling operation will become public knowledge,” Brad said.

“After seeing the pictures of the TA Enterprises file, I’m almost positive that Justice Price was involved with the China Sea in some capacity,” Moss said.

“Proving his involvement or anything else that happened that night may be impossible, Judge. The ship is gone, along with the dead men and whatever was in the hold. Oswald and Swanson are dead, and God knows where the night watchman is or if he’s alive. They’re the only people who could give eyewitness testimony about the murders, and Oswald is the only person who had an opinion about the hashish. There’s still Oswald’s report about the hashish and the dead men, but that’s also worthless as evidence without Oswald.

“And as far as the file in the subbasement is concerned, I’d be shocked if Dennis Masterson hasn’t taken care of it. Our photos prove that Justice Price created the TA Enterprises shell corporation but there’s nothing in the pictures that proves why he did it or ties the file to the China Sea.

“Finally, John Finley is dead, and his statements to Sarah Woodruff are hearsay. And, not to put too fine a point on it, a person facing execution is not the best witness if you are trying to prove someone else committed the crime.”

“This is very disturbing,” Felicia Moss said when he was done.

“Dana has gone as far with this as she can, and I think it’s too dangerous for me to continue working on the matter. Dennis Masterson knows Ginny was poking around in the TA Enterprises file. The day she took the pictures, a man tried to kill her.”

“Oh, my God,” Moss said.

Brad told Justice Moss about the incident at the law firm. She looked grim as she listened.

“I should never have involved you,” Moss said when Brad was done. “I don’t know what I was thinking, especially when I thought Millard might have been behind the attack.”

“It’s time to confide in Keith Evans, Judge,” Brad said. “We can trust him to be discreet. We’re not detectives. Let Keith do his job. Dana’s right. It’s time for the amateurs to step down and let the professionals take over.”

“I agree. You have no idea how grateful I am for your help, Brad, but in light of what you’ve told me, I definitely want you to cease any involvement in the matter.”

“I will after I do one more thing. I don’t think you should have any contact with the FBI. When we started this, you told me how much trouble you could get in if anyone found out that you were going outside the record to investigate a case that was in front of the Court. Let me brief Keith. I’ll tell him that everything was my idea.”

“How will you explain knowing about my motion to defer voting on the Woodruff cert petition and Millard’s actions in the conference?”

Brad’s brow furrowed. Then he brightened. “Wilhelmina Horst and Kyle Peterson both talked to me about the way Justice Price acted when he came back from the conference. I’ll just say that Kyle told me. No one will be able to find out what he really did.”

“All right, but as soon as you’ve briefed Agent Evans, you will shed your secret identity as an ace detective and revert to being a mild-mannered law clerk. That’s an order. And until this is over, I’m giving you and Ms. Striker police protection.”