Phillip Margolin - Fugitive

An hour later, Dennis squared off a group of reports and stood up. As he stretched, he noticed something sticking out of a pile of witness interviews. He pulled it out and gave it a cursory inspection. He was about to put it back when something caught his eye. He pulled it closer and squinted. Then his eyes grew wide and his heart began to beat rapidly.

“SO, WHAT’S IT like working for the Jaffes?” Dennis Levy asked as he and Kate drove to Ralph Day’s office. The reporter had been talking nonstop since he’d gotten in Kate’s car and he couldn’t sit still. The constant chatter and twitching was getting on Kate’s nerves.

“Most of the time it’s just routine stuff. You know, witness interviews, like today. Internet searches.”

“It must be pretty exciting when you’re investigating a big case, like Charlie’s.”

“The job has its moments,” Kate answered ambiguously, choosing to keep to herself the details of the harrowing situations in which she’d been involved since going to work for Jaffe, Katz, Lehane and Brindisi.

“Any background you can give me on Amanda? Things that aren’t public knowledge that might spice up my stories.”

“You mean like her affair with Brad Pitt or the identity of the father of her secret love child?” Kate answered, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.

Levy’s laugh sounded forced. “That’s good. Yeah, that would help sell magazines.”

“I’m afraid Amanda doesn’t have a lot of secrets and-if she did-she’d have to be the person to tell them to you.”

“Oh, come on. There’s got to be something.”

“What makes you think I’d dish dirt about a good friend?”

“So there is something to tell?” Dennis said eagerly. “You know World News could make this worth your while. You don’t have to work for a small firm your whole life. The publicity I can give you would definitely help your career.”

Kate held her temper. “That’s a good point,” she said evenly. “I’m certain every major law firm in the country would be eager to hire a private investigator willing to sell out every secret they had. I’ll remember to put in my résumé that I can be bought easily.”

Dennis colored as he realized that he’d gone too far. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Kate said, not bothering to mask her distaste.

“Hey, look, I’m sorry if we got off on the wrong foot. I don’t know what I was thinking. Let’s start over. Why don’t you tell me about the witness we’re going to interview?”

“ We aren’t interviewing anyone, Dennis. Remember the ground rules? You’re just going to listen and you are not going to speak unless I say it’s okay.”

“Right, right. I get that. It was a figure of speech.”

“I’m glad we have that straight. Ralph Day was Junior’s opponent in the election. Pope defeated him the first time he ran for Congress but Day won when Junior was killed. Day was also at the Westmont on the evening the murder took place.”

“What do you think he can tell us…you…that will help Charlie’s case?”

“I have no idea.”

“Speaking of ideas, I got a few when I was going through the Pope file.”

“Such as?”

“We should talk to Werner Rollins. After he cut a deal with the cops, Rollins said he saw Marsh shoot Pope, but he could have been pressured to finger Charlie. Twelve years have gone by. Who knows what he’d say now. If he retracts his statement it will really help clear Charlie.”

Kate had never thought Levy was stupid-just obnoxious-and she was impressed by his insight.

“That’s good thinking, Dennis. I’ve been trying to find Rollins. He may be in Denver. I have a Colorado PI following up on a lead.”

“Great! Say, if you find him can I come along?”

“I’ll have to ask Amanda.”

“Oh, sure. Put in a good word for me, will you? I’d appreciate it.”

“I’ll do that.”

RALPH DAY’S INSURANCE agency was in a strip mall on the outskirts of Hillsboro. Day walked into the waiting room moments after his secretary buzzed him. He was a large, affable man in his early sixties with a little excess weight and a full head of white hair. He wore a charcoal gray suit and a conservative tie and looked the part of a successful insurance salesman. When they were seated in his office, Kate explained Dennis’s involvement in the case. The ex-congressman had no objections to having a reporter sit in on the interview.

“I read about the shooting at the courthouse,” Day said. “Was anyone hurt?”

“We were lucky. The sniper missed with both shots.”

“Thank God for that.” Day paused. He looked pensive. “Can you tell me why Marsh is coming back after all these years?”

“That’s what everyone wants to know,” Kate answered.

“I guess it will come out at the trial. So, what did you want to ask me? I don’t know what help I can be. This all happened so long ago.”

“I guess I should start by asking you about your relationship with Arnold Pope Jr. around the time he was killed.”

“That’s easy enough. I hated Pope’s guts. No, let me amend that. It was his father’s guts I hated. Junior didn’t have any. He was just the old man’s puppet. There were times I actually felt sorry for Junior. He didn’t have a mind or life of his own.”

“Can you explain that?” Kate asked.

“Sure. Arnie Jr. was the political equivalent of one of those prepackaged boy bands the record companies put together. Senior started grooming him to be president from the moment he was born.”

“I’ve been doing a little research and you credited Senior’s money with Junior’s victory in your first contest.”

“No question. I raised a decent amount for my campaign but I couldn’t compete. I couldn’t prove it but I know that Senior violated every campaign financing rule on the books. He funneled money through friends, employees, PACs he created with straw men. Hell, I had some money for TV, but you couldn’t turn on a set without seeing Junior’s smiling face in front of an American flag.”

“Would he have won a second term if he wasn’t murdered?”

“I’m far enough from the race to give you an honest answer. Junior would have kicked my butt. The boy had no substance but that was a hard point to make with an electorate that wasn’t paying much attention to our race. Of course, everyone paid attention when he got killed, and I was able to get a lot of free TV time.”

“You won the seat, so maybe you would have won anyway.”

“No, not a chance. If Junior hadn’t died I would have lost, but Junior’s party had to scramble to find someone to run against me and the best they could come up with was a retired county commissioner that nobody liked much. Senior never forgave me for taking Arnie’s spot in Congress. Next time around, he tried to bury me under his money again. I was better prepared and I won reelection, but it was close and he came at me every two years until he finally got me after my third term.”

“Do you miss being in Congress?” Kate asked sympathetically.

“I did but I’m over it. Life’s been pretty good to me. I dealt with the setback and put it behind me.”

“I understand you were at the Westmont the evening Junior was killed.”

Day nodded.

“What can you remember about the fight and the shooting?”

“Boy, that’s a tough one. It was dark and very chaotic, and I didn’t have a real clear impression of what happened even then.”

“That’s okay. Just give it your best shot.”

“Okay, well, I didn’t go to the club to hear the guru. I wasn’t into all that self-improvement stuff. I came to be seen, part of the politicking. I got to the Westmont just as Marsh’s entourage arrived and I parked in the lot. I was almost at the front entrance when the fight started.”