Stuart Woods - L.A. Dead

"You want me to go and fake it with this doctor?"

"No, no; I just want you to make the appointment, so that if he calls back to confirm who you are, he won't get me on the phone instead."

"Okay, I can do that. Dinner tonight?"

"Sure, if I don't have too much homework to do."

"Talk to you this afternoon, then."

"Bye." Stone was about to leave when the phone buzzed again. "Yes, Louise?"

"Brandy Garcia is on one."

Stone picked up the phone. "Yes, Brandy?"

"Stone, what's going on with Felipe Cordova? He called me last night, and he was upset."

"I subpoenaed him to testify at a hearing, that's all. He's at no risk by doing that."

"Yeah, but yesterday afternoon, he got another subpoena for the same time and place, this one from the D.A. And they searched his house, too. He didn't know what they were looking for."

Stone thought about that for a moment. "Somebody's got his wires crossed, that's all. There's nothing for him to worry about."

"He doesn't like this, Stone. I think he might bolt."

"Brandy, there's a thousand bucks in it for you if you can see that he shows up for that hearing."

"What am I going to tell him?"

"Tell him nobody's going to put him in jail; tell him anything you like, just have him there. Lead him by the hand."

"Okay, I'll do it for the grand. What are you going to give him?"

"I've already told him that I can't pay him to testify."

"I could give him a couple hundred, though?"

"Sorry, I didn't hear that; must be trouble on the line. Have him there, Brandy."

"You got it."

Stone sat in Marc Blumberg's office.

"I don't like this much," Marc was saying.

"What's the difference who he's testifying for? We know what he's going to say."

"Do we?"

"I think so. It might be more effective to let the D.A. get his story into the record, then bring out our points on cross."

"Okay, I buy that. Now, let's get started."

They worked through lunch, and at mid-afternoon, Dino called.

"Hi."

"Hi. I've got an appointment."

"When?"

"As soon as I can get there."

"Thanks, Dino."

"Dinner?"

"Meet me at the studio at seven."

"See you then."

Stone hung up and turned to Marc. "Are we about done? There's somewhere I have to be."

"Go ahead; I'll see you at the courthouse tomorrow morning."

Stone looked up Drakes address in the phone book.

"My name is Bacchetti," Stone said to the receptionist.

"Oh, yes, Mr. Bacchetti," she replied. "Will you wait in examination room B, down the hall? And undress down to your shorts."

Stone found the room, which contained an examination table, a sink, and a cabinet for supplies. He did not undress; he sat down in the only chair and waited. A couple of minutes later, Dr. Lansing Drake entered the room, preoccupied with a clipboard in his hand.

"Mr. Bacchetti," he said, not looking up. "Just a moment, please." He went to the sink, washed his hands, then turned around. "Now, what seems to be…" His jaw dropped.

"I'm Stone Barrington, Dr. Drake; we met recendy at Lou Regenstein's."

"I don't understand," Drake said nervously, looking toward the exit.

Stone got up and leaned on the door. "I won't keep you long, Doctor. My name will be familiar to you, because a while back, you submitted a sample of my blood, along with one from Vance Calder, to a company called Hemolab, for a paternity test."

"I don't recall," the doctor replied.

"Oh, I think you do," Stone said.

"Vance Calder was my patient," Drake said. "I have to respect his confidence."

"Vance is dead, Doctor, and now you have to deal with me. You can do it here, quietly, or you can do it in court. What's it going to be?"

Drake sagged against the examination table. "If Arrington should learn of this conversation…"

"I don't think that will be necessary. What I want to know, quite simply, is if the tests were run again by another laboratory, would the results be the same?"

Drake gazed out the window. "I honestly don't know."

"Do you deny altering the test results?"

Drake looked back at him. "I most certainly do." He looked away again. "That is, I don't know if the results were tampered with."

"And why don't you know?"

Drake sighed. "Vance came to me and said it was essential that the test prove that he was the father of the child. I conveyed that to someone at Hemolab."

"So I'm the child's father?"

"I said I don't know. I simply made Vance's wishes known. For all I know, he was the father. I suppose it could have gone either way, or there would have been no need for the test."

"Yes," Stone said, "it could have gone either way. I want to see the original test results."

"I'm afraid that will be impossible. At Vance's request, once the report was issued, the blood samples and the records were destroyed. The lab never knew who he was; the two subjects were simply labeled Aand B."

"Then you knew when you saw the results."

"No, I didn't. I didn't care, really. I wrote a letter saying that Vance was the father, that's all. I don't know if he was or not."

"So, the test was just to have something to show Arrington?"

"I suppose. But if you ever tell her that, I'll deny even speaking to you."

"Thank you, Doctor," Stone said. He left the office and went back to his car.

Dino looked across the dinner table at Stone. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Of course, I want to know; wouldn't you?"

"I'm not sure," Dino replied. "In the circumstances."

"What circumstances?"

Dino shrugged. "The present circumstances."

Stone thought about that. Arrington might still go to prison. In that case, he'd want to raise the boy-if he was the father. But if she were freed, then what? He and Arrington and their son would live happily ever after? That is, if the boy was, indeed, his son and not Vance's.

"If you've got to know, then here's what you have to do," Dino said. "You and Arrington and the boy have to go together to have blood drawn, two samples of both yours and the boy's. She sends one set to a lab, and you send them to another. Then you compare results, and you'll know."

"Yes, I suppose we would."

"But if the news of the test should get out, well, you'd have a tabloid shitstorm on your hands."

"Yes, we would."

"I think you need to do some more thinking."

"I think you're right.

Manolo drove Stone, Arrington, and Isabel to the courthouse, while Dino and Mary Ann followed in the station wagon. This time, they could not avoid the press, since the hearing had been placed on the court calendar, which was public. Even the underground garage was covered by the TV cameras, and it took both Stone and Manolo to keep them from following the group into the elevator.

There was another gaundet to run, between the elevator and the courtroom, but Stone was relieved to see Felipe Cordova sitting outside the courtroom, with Brandy Garcia at his side. Brandy winked at him as they passed. Stone told Isabel to wait to be called, then he took Arrington into the courtroom, where Marc Blumberg met them at the defense table. Dino and Mary Ann found seats. Stone set down his briefcase and a shopping bag he had been carrying.

"Okay, we've been over this," Marc said to Arrington. "You'll testify as before, unless…"

"Unless what?" Arrington asked.

"Unless you've regained your memory."

She shook her head. "I don't remember anything after that Friday night, until I woke up in the clinic."

"Just checking," Marc said.

The judge entered, and the bailiff called the court to order.

"I'm hearing a motion to dismiss this morning, I believe," the judge said.

Marc Blumberg rose. "Yes, Your Honor. I would ask that the District Attorneys office present its witnesses, followed by defense witnesses."