John Lescroart - The Second Chair

So when an ex-cop named Harlan Fisk, now a city supervisor, came to Hardy the fixer to talk about Peter Chase, a big-time property manager/developer who'd been caught fondling his eleven-year-old nephew, Hardy forced himself to listen. Chase was one of Fisk's big donors. Hardy heard the facts and said he'd see what he could do to keep the case from coming to trial, but it would cost Chase fifty thousand dollars. Up front.

Now he had done his homework and perfected his pitch. He delivered it to Jackman in his third-floor office in the Hall of Justice. Also in the room were Supervisor Fisk, Chief of Police Batiste, and Celia Bonham, a representative from the mayor's office.

Winding it up, Hardy said, "Look, Clarence, I don't like this any better than you do, but I'm just the messenger."

Jackman, a physically imposing African-American, was a powerful and charismatic figure. When Sharron Pratt, his predecessor as district attorney, had resigned in disgrace three years before, Mayor Washington had appointed Jackman to fill out the remainder of her term, and Jackman had hired a team of aggressive prosecutors who much preferred putting criminals in jail to understanding them and their problems. He was running for election in his own right next November, and was ahead in all the early polls.

Now sitting behind his desk, his hands clasped in front of him, his voice mild, he said, "I'm of course happy to hear the mayor's position on criminal cases. But there was a victim in this case, an innocent little boy, and this office has his rights to protect. Are you telling me his abuser should go unpunished? You'll pardon me for speaking frankly, Diz, but I'm a little surprised you're taking this tack. This discussion is beneath you."

Hardy controlled a grimace, took a breath. "You should know he's reached a financial settlement with his sister, the boy's mother, Clarence. Will that make up to the boy for what he did to him? Will any amount of money address the human issue? No, it won't. But it will pay for counseling for the victim, and then perhaps help with his schooling and even college. In return, the family has agreed to my proposal. To the mayor's proposal, really."

"He can't want us to drop the charges, Diz. Even if the victim's family agrees, I'm inclined to pursue them. We're a tolerant city, God knows, but not for this kind of stuff. Not on my watch."

Hardy turned to share a glance with Fisk, then came back around to the DA. "I'm not talking about dropping charges, Clarence. He remains charged. The case stays open."

Jackman frowned. "Then what do you want?"

"I want the case to stay open. That's all. My client gives you his word that nothing like this will ever happen again. Ever. He remains in counseling in perpetuity. He goes to meetings every week. His life changes. It has changed. He is always in treatment. And if he ever does cross the line again, Clarence, you've already got him charged. You just pull him in."

"If I may," Ms. Bonham said, "I'm at this meeting because Mayor Washington wanted his feelings known. He has been acquainted both personally and professionally with Mr. Chase for many years, and while he in no way countenances his behavior in this case, he sees it as a one-time failing of an otherwise good man with a real sickness, a disease if you will, who may have let the stresses of his work get the better of him."

Jackman listened with interest to this extraordinary little speech, then nodded and looked at Chief Batiste. "Frank?" he asked. "What's the police position here?"

"I serve at the mayor's pleasure, Clarence, as you know. If the mayor's okay with holding off on a trial…" He let the sentence hang.

Jackman brought his eyes back to Hardy. "This is a nonstarter, Diz, and you know it. What's really going on here?"

This was getting to the meat of it. "As you know, Clarence, Mr. Chase manages several city properties in the blocks surrounding city hall. Beyond those, he also holds the contract for the police department's motor pool. He leases all the city cars. What he's proposing is a yearlong moratorium on rents for all these properties, starting this month."

In a long legal career, Jackman had fielded a host of bizarre settlement offers, but this one rocked him. He blew out a lungful of air, pushed his chair back, got up quickly and walked over to his windows. He was close to losing his temper, something that he had not allowed himself for years.

"So Mr. Chase wants to buy his way out of child molestation charges? Why send you, Diz? Why not a plain envelope stuffed with hundreds delivered by some hoodlum in a dark bar?" He actually spoke more softly. "I won't be bribed, Diz, and I'm disgusted that you think I could be." He looked from eye to eye at the assembled legation. "I think you all had better leave."

Hardy stood up, put out a restraining hand to the others, crossed over to where Jackman stood. "Look, Clarence, I said at the outset that I knew this stinks. The guy hired me because he figures I can pull a personal string here, and I have the right to be as insulted as you do.

"But I think you've got to do this. Listen. Washington says the city will make about three mil on this deal. If you won't do it, he'll just cut the difference out of your budget. You're being extorted, Clarence, plain and simple, squeezed by a child molester and a venal political hack."

Behind him, he heard Ms. Bonham make a kind of gurgling noise. He was talking loud enough for her to hear, and this was getting rather more raw than she'd expected.

"But the bottom line," Hardy concluded, "is I think they've got you."

Hardy knew that three million dollars was about 10 percent of the DA's already lean budget. The office had already made deep cuts, and three million more would be a catastrophe. Jackman would have to lay off 15 percent of his staff. And because most of his nonlabor expenses were fixed, salaries were all he had to work with.

"Clarence," Hardy concluded, lowering his own voice now, "believe it or not, I'm here as your friend because nobody else would have told you what was really going on. I think you have to do this."

Hardy walked back to the couches. Jackman returned to his desk and sat back down in the heavy, expectant silence. After a moment, he looked up and nodded. "If he so much as spits on the sidewalk, I'll have him hauled in and fast-track him to Superior Court. Is that clear to each and every one of you?"

"Yes, sir," they intoned as with one voice.

"All right. You make sure the paperwork is tight and have it back here by this evening for my signature. Ms. Bonham, while I'm talking about signatures, I wouldn't mind his honor's position in writing. At his and your convenience, of course. Other than that," he pointed toward his door, "I've got a couple of appointments scheduled. I appreciate you all coming to talk to me about this problem."

Bonham, Fisk and Batiste were through the door when Clarence called out for Hardy to stay behind a minute. After the door closed, he sat looking down at his desk. When he spoke, the words came out with a scalpel-like precision. "I accept you came here as a friend, Diz. But, as a friend, never come here with a deal like this again. Not ever. Understood?"

"Understood."

With more than just a bad taste in his mouth, Hardy went into the bathroom in the hallway outside Jackman's office. There he leaned over one of the sinks for a few seconds, his head hanging as though from a thread. Then he turned on the cold water and threw several handfulls into his face. Drying off with a paper towel from the roll, he suddenly stopped and stood studying his face in the mirror for a long moment. The conversation with Jackman had netted him and his firm fifty thousand dollars, and though he told himself that it was a decent deal all around, his body was telling him something else. His head was light, his heart pounded. A wave of nausea made him hang his head again. When the dizziness passed, he ran his palms over his face, trying to recognize the person he was staring at. Would Clarence ever forgive him, he asked himself. Would he forgive himself? Could he continue to live like this?