Linda Fairstein - Final Jeopardy

“Easy, easy,” he said, putting his hands on top of his head, as if to shield himself from a strike by me.

“Don’t be so sensitive, I was only joking.” He backed out past Laura’s desk.

“City desk’s Working on an anonymous tip. D’ya hear that Garelli killed a guy once, when he was in the Marines?

Not the enemy, I mean one of his buddies. Beat him into a coma over nothing an insult the other guy threw at him.

Guy died four months later in a military hospital. We’re trying to check it out before anybody goes with it in print.

Hear anything like that?“

“No, I haven’t heard a word about it,” I responded, shaking my head in amazement. Not one of the things Johnny had chosen to confide in me, but that was hardly surprising.

Mickey left me with a last effort at a story line: “Call me if you get anything decent. My imagination isn’t as sharp as it used to be. I’m not so good at creative writing anymore.”

I called Mark Acciano to see how late the judge had kept the jury working last night.

“They deliberated till almost midnight, then he sent them to the hotel. Started again at nine-thirty this morning.” “Could you get any sense of the split?” ey “Nah. They all just looked tired and grumpy by the time he dismissed them. Impossibleto tell what the problems were.” as “Any guessing from the court officers?”;er Although it wasn’t cricket, if the court officers liked the he lawyers, they often reported back what they could hear of st the arguments from their stations outside the door of the er locked jury rooms. If the twelve were fighting like cats and dogs it was one thing, and quite another if eleven were ganged up against one.

“Not a whisper. I’m going up to sit it out in the courtroom.

I’ll let you know what happens. And, Alex, thanks a lot for your advice about the summation. I never would have thought to put all that detail in, but I think it helped a lot.

Your notes were a godsend.“

“That’s what I’m here for. Go get him.”

Laura buzzed me.

“Dr. Mitchell’s secretary just called.

Said to tell you he’s going to see Jed in his office at seven-thirty tonight, and that you’d know what it’s all about.“

“Yes, Laura, I do. Be right back, I’m going for a refill.”

I was on my way next door to the Legal Hiring Office, which kept fresh coffee going all day to impress the applicants who applied for positions in Battaglia’s office by the thousands every year. When I returned with a steaming cupful, Laura was standing at the side of her desk.

“It’s Mercer, I’ve got him on hold. It’s urgent.”

I picked up Laura’s phone.

“Yeah?”

“Coop, it’s almost over.”

I had to think for a minute to realize that he wasn’t talking about Isabella’s case.

“What happened?”

“An attempt this morning. Two blocks away from the last hit. M.O. was identical same approach, same description, same language. Woman lets the guy in the house, he’s got the knife. Only surprise was that her husband was in the bedroom. The husband hears a commotion and comes into the kitchen, Mr. William Montvale gets so shook up he drops everything and runs out the door.”

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re losing me. Who’s William Montvale? The husband?”

“No, no, Miss Cooper. Stay with me. The man we have been looking for is William Montvale, otherwise known to the local media as the Con Ed rapist. Not only was this morning’s attempt at a rape unsuccessful, much to the delight of the intended victim, but I am calling personally to tell you that the NYPD has solved this pattern, just for you, kid.”

“I know you’re going to explain this to me, Mercer, right?”

“Make me a promise, Coop. No dates for the next seventy hours, okay? No champagne dinners, no trips out of town.

As soon as I get my hands on Montvale, I’ll be calling or beeping you, no matter what time of day or night, so you can run the line-ups and do the Q and A. Will that make you happy?“

“Delirious, Mercer.”

“Now, what you want to know is how I know the rapist is William Montvale. Is that your question, Counselor? And the answer is, the usual brilliant detective work that you associate with me and my crew, with a dash of ahem shall we say, great good luck. Make that incredible good luck. The way most crimes are solved, Alex.”

“Tell me what happened.” My heart was pounding at the idea of catching this maniac and putting an end to his little ey reign of terror before any other woman was victimized. on “When the husband came out of the bedroom, Montvale let go flustered that he let go of his knife. He bent over as to pick it up but the newspaper he was carrying in his back rer pocket got caught under the countertop and fell to the floor, too. Either he didn’t notice or he was happy just to hang on to the knife, in case he needed it to fight his way out. By the ier time the couple called their doorman, Montvale had run down the staircase and out the rear service door. Gone.

“The people were so shaken they just sat in the living room holding on to each other till uniformed responded to the 911 call. That’s when the first cops on the scene saw the Post on the kitchen floor and picked it up.”

“There’s a scoop for Mickey Diamond. Most rapists prefer the New York Post. Hope his editor likes it. Go on.”

“Cop asks the couple if the paper was theirs. They say no. It had been rolled up to fit in the guy’s pocket, so the cop unrolls it. In it, there’s a letter from the New York State Department of Parole addressed to one William J. Montvale, inviting him to come to their offices at three o’clock this afternoon and bring his birth certificate as proof of identification. Seems he just got out of state prison in New Jersey, and they agreed to transfer his parole to New York, so he could move back in with his beloved mother.”

“Make my day tell me what he did the time for in Jersey.”

“I’m trying to keep you happy, Coop. Your instincts were right all along. Four counts of rape, Bergen County. You just couldn’t come up with him ‘cause his priors weren’t in New York. Got a release to early parole because he was in that treatment center in the Jersey system, you know the one I mean?”

“Yeah, Mercer. That one where they rehabilitate rapists.

Then they send ‘em back to us all cured and well behaved, like William Montvale.“

“This guy’s a real pro. I’ll find him for you, Coop, but then you got to put him out of business forever. Is it a deal?”

“Blood oath, Mercer. What’s the plan?”

“We got a stakeout in front of his mama’s place, but once he realizes he dropped those papers, I doubt he’ll show there or at the parole office today. They’re covered just in case. We got a team checking the Jersey prison files, looking for visitors’ names, girlfriends, cousins, cellmates anybody he might run to for a place to crash. Then we’ll fan out to all the shelters and see if they got any ”John Does“ showing up today. You know I’ll get his ass. Just stick with me and I’ll hand you a lock-solid case.”

I knew he would. Nobody could do it better.

“I’m here, and I’ll have the beeper on day and night. Whatever you need, just let me know.”

‘I’ll be in touch. Keep your fingers crossed.“

I called Rose Malone and asked her to tell Battaglia that we had a big break in the case, then told Sarah Brenner to be ready to cover me for the next few days in case I got tied up on the Montvale arrest. She offered to do my two witness interviews scheduled for the afternoon, knowing that it would be difficult for me to concentrate while I was primed to rush up to the Special Victims office the minute Mercer called.