Brad Meltzer - Dead Even

Looking through the glass window in the door of the courtroom, she saw that Kozlow was seated on the left side of the room. He still hadn’t been called, which meant the proceedings were running late. She raced for the bathroom. Inside, she headed straight for the first of the four bathroom stalls. Moments later, she heard someone else enter the bathroom and turn on the water at one of the sinks. Curious, Sara peeked through a crack in the door. But by the time she got a good look at the sinks, the person was gone. Sara was startled by a loud knock on the door of her stall.

“Who is it?” she asked nervously.

“It’s me. Rise and shine.” The familiar voice sent a chill through Sara’s chest, and there, peering over the top of the stall, was the man with the sunken cheeks.

She jumped to her feet, readjusted her clothes, and barreled out of the stall.

Sunken Cheeks was leaning against one of the sinks, waiting for her. “Caught you with your pants down, huh?” he asked as she charged toward him.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Just checking up on my inves-”

Before Elliott could finish his sentence, Sara swung her briefcase through the air, attempting to hit him in the face. Raising his hand to block her attack, he caught her briefcase in midair. “Nice briefcase,” he said. He threw it to the floor. “I see you rubbed my message out.”

“Stay away from me.”

“You’re not the one I care about, Sara – although I’m glad you kicked your hubby out.”

“Don’t you dare touch him.”

Elliott grabbed Sara by her lapels. “Don’t tell me what to do.” He shoved her backwards, sending her crashing into the stall. Tripping over the toilet, she banged her head on the back wall. As Elliott left the bathroom, he added, “By the way, check out Doniger’s basement. You’ll like what you find.”

Picking herself up as fast as possible, Sara raced after Elliott. But by the time she reached the hallway, he was gone. “Damn,” she said, vigorously rubbing the bump on the back of her head. Her heart was drumming as she peered through the window in the door of the courtroom. To her surprise, Jared and Kozlow were standing at the defense table, addressing the judge. With a sharp tug, she pulled open the door.

When she walked into the room, she heard the clerk of the court ask Jared, “How does your client plead, sir, guilty or not guilty?” Wondering how the arraignment was proceeding without her, Sara headed briskly to the front of the room. Maybe she should shout an objection, she thought, her mind scrambling for a solution. But as she was about to open her mouth, she noticed that Conrad was sitting at the prosecutor’s table. Nodding, she offered a silent thank-you to her mentor.

“Not guilty,” Jared said, standing next to Kozlow at the defense table.

In response, Conrad approached the bench and handed a bundle of papers to the judge.

Without saying a word, Sara sat at the prosecutor’s table. Glancing to her left, she locked eyes with Jared. He looked haggard, with heavy bags under his eyes. He clearly had had a rough night. Purposely turning away Sara waited for Conrad to return to the table. When he sat down next to her, she whispered, “Thank you. The autopsy ran longer than I thought and traffic was-”

“Don’t sweat it,” Conrad interrupted. “You’re just lucky Guff had copies of your files. He’s the one who really saved your ass.”

Turning around, Sara saw Guff in the front row of the spectator section. He winked at her.

“The motion day is set for two weeks from today,” the judge announced from the bench. “Report to Part Thirty-one on October third. The case will be heard by Judge Bogdanos.”

When the judge banged his gavel, Jared approached his wife. “Nice to see you. I was starting to get worried.”

“I had some extra work to do,” Sara said.

“You mean the autopsy,” Jared said definitively.

“Exactly.”

“So what’d they find?”

“I don’t think she has to answer that,” Conrad interrupted, standing from his seat.

Annoyed, Jared said, “You must be Conrad.”

“And you must be Jared.”

“That’s right. Her husband. And last I checked, Sara was able to answer questions for herself.”

“Well, last I checked, defense attorneys knew that they shouldn’t expect shortcuts. So stop begging for autopsy results you’re not entitled to yet.”

“I didn’t realize this was your case,” Jared said.

“It’s not,” Sara said, stepping between the two men. “Conrad, back off. Jared, we’ll discuss this later.”

“Whatever you want,” Jared said, still staring at Conrad. “Give me a call when you’re ready.” Motioning to Conrad, he added, “Nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” Conrad said coldly.

As Jared and Kozlow walked out of the courtroom, Sara looked at Conrad. “What was that about?”

“I just didn’t want to see him walk all over you,” Conrad said, packing up his briefcase.

“I appreciate the concern, but I can handle my husband just fine.”

“I’m sure you can, but-”

“There is no but,” Sara interrupted. “I may be new, and I may still be learning, but I’m not a lightweight. The only reason I let him broach the subject of the autopsy was because I wanted to see how much he knew. Jared’s got a great information network and I want to know where it starts. So stop thinking you can swing in on a vine and save me from the bad guys.”

“Sara, just so you know: Not once, ever, have I thought you were a lightweight.”

Caught off guard by the compliment, Sara took a second to respond. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It doesn’t mean anything. That’s just how I feel.”

“Then don’t treat me like a novice. I finally know what I’m doing with this one.”

“So I guess you didn’t need me to stand in for you today? You had the whole thing covered yourself, right?”

Sara had to grin. “C’mon, don’t go mucking up my impassioned arguments with some lame logical flaw,” she joked. “I know I needed you to stand in for me. I just-”

“I get the picture – he’s your husband, so you’re the only one who can pick on him. Now can we get out of here? You have a trial to prepare for.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah – we all can’t wait for the trial,” Guff said as they walked out of the courtroom. “Now tell us about the autopsy. Did you puke all over yourself, or were you able to hold it together?”

Looking over Guff’s shoulder, Sara saw that Jared and Kozlow were still lingering in the hallway. “Not here,” she said. “Wait until we get back to the office.”

After returning to 80 Centre, Sara spent the next forty-five minutes relaying the findings of the medical examiner’s autopsy. She told them about the fluid in Arnold Doniger’s eye and the lack of food in his stomach. She told them that he could’ve been killed by a forced injection by a third party, or he might have accidentally given the injection to himself. Slowly and methodically, Sara explained all the details, trying her best not to sway her colleagues’ opinions. If they were going to be convinced it was murder, she wanted them to reach that conclusion themselves.

When she was done explaining, Conrad said, “So his stomach was completely empty?”

Sara nodded.

“Then she couldn’t have given him anything to eat,” Conrad continued. “Even if everything else can be logically explained, Claire lied to our faces.”

“That’s what did it for me,” Sara added. “You can’t ignore that fact.”

“And if it’s a murder, that also tells us why almost nothing was taken during the burglary,” Guff said.

“It all fits,” she said. “Every single piece of it.” Looking at Conrad, she added, “So be honest: What do you think?”