James Patterson - Judge & Jury

The witness shrugged again as if it was the most natural thing in the world."Yeah."

"And what would happen," the prosecutor asked,"if the contractor refused to pay?"

"Then they wouldn't get no labor, Mr. Goldenberger."

"And if they still refused to pay? Or if they used outside workers?"

"You mean outside our union? " the witness asked.

"Yes."

Zaro looked around blankly for a second; then he scratched his head."You understand, we were talking Dominic Cavello here, Mr. Goldenberger. I don't think I ever recall that happening."

A few people around the courtroom laughed.

Goldenberger smiled, too."So this was basically a monopoly? Mr. Cavello over there could dictate terms to the entire construction business?"

"There wasn't a building went up in north Jersey, and parts of New York, that Dominic Cavello didn't get a piece of." The witness laughed out loud.

Even Cavello seemed to curl a smile at that one. As if he was proud of his business acumen. We had him dead to rights. Murder. Union tampering. Fraud. You could read it on every face in the courtroom. You could even read it on Cavello's face, beneath the cold stare that seemed to say, This doesn't bother me at all.

Now the prosecution had one final witness, one who could testify about an even uglier side of Cavello. One who could drive the nail into his coffin for good.

Me.

I TOOK THE STAND the next afternoon.

"Please state your name." Joel Goldenberger stood up and faced me."And what your association is with this trial."

"Nicholas Pellisante," I said."I'm an SAC in the New York office of the FBI. I'm the head of a unit known as C-10. We oversee organized crime."

"Thank you. And in your role as head of this unit, Agent Pellisante, you are the senior law enforcement agent on the investigation into Dominic Cavello, is that correct?"

"That's correct." I nodded."Other than the assistant director and the director."

"The assistant director and the director?" Goldenberger cocked his head."You mean of the New York office?"

"No, Mr. Goldenberger." I paused, then moistened my lips with a sip of water."Of the entire FBI."

Goldenberger looked impressed."Those are pretty good credentials, Special Agent Pellisante. Now, you haven't always held this position, have you, sir?"

"No. Before that I was an agent on the task force for five years. Prior to that I taught a class in criminal anthropology at Columbia. I also worked at the Justice Department in DC for three years. And before that I was in law school."

"And you hold a law degree from where, Mr. Pellisante?"

I played along because this was designed to set me up as even more impressive to the jury. I took another sip of water." Columbia."

"So you've been investigating organized crime for how many years?"

"Eleven. Five as a special agent. Six as the special agent in charge."

"So it's fair to say, in the course of your experience, you've come across some pretty bad people, isn't that right?"

"The absolute worst. The Colombian drug cartels, Cosa Nostra, the Russian mob. I think I've looked into some of the most corrupt and violent organizations on the planet. My specialty, I guess."

Goldenberger smiled politely."And in the course of these investigations, how would the defendant, Dominic Cavello, rank in terms of your experience?"

"Rank?"

"In terms of the criminal behavior you've investigated."

I cleared my throat."Mr. Cavello is the most ruthless and cold-blooded killer we've ever looked into. He's personally ordered the deaths of over thirty people we can directly tie him to. He is an evil human being."

"Objection!" Hy Kaskel shot up. I expected that."The defendant is not being charged with any of these alleged homicides. The government's investigations and pet theories are not of interest to this court."

"Correction, Your Honor." Joel Goldenberger waved."The government will rephrase. I guess what I'm asking is, does your experience with this man go beyond just your investigation? You've had personal experience, haven't you, Agent Pellisante? You've seen Mr. Cavello's brutality firsthand?"

"Yes." My gaze shifted to Cavello. I wanted him to feel my eyes. I'd waited a long time to say these next words.

"I've personally witnessed Mr. Cavello commit murder. Twice. "

I'D ASSEMBLED HUNDREDS of wiretaps and recorded conversations as part of my testimony, but we just started with my story, what I had seen myself.

"Would you describe for this court the events surrounding Dominic Cavello's arrest?" Goldenberger asked me.

I glanced toward Manny Oliva's wife, Carol, who was sitting in the first row. I was glad she was here for this.

"We had been told that Cavello was going to attend his niece's wedding at the South Fork Club in Montauk on July 23, 2004. We had multiple warrants outstanding."

"You had tried to arrest Mr. Cavello before?"

"Yes. Cavello had gone underground, though. He was a threat to leave the country."

"So you staked out the wedding on this tip. Can you describe for the court some of the other agents who assisted you there?"

"Sure." I swallowed back some emotion. I talked about Manny first."Manny Oliva was my ASAC at C-10 for three years. I took him right out of Quantico. I brought him up through the ranks. He and his wife had just had twin girls."

"And Edward C. Sinclair, he was with you there as well?"

"Ed Sinclair was as exemplary a special agent as we had in the unit," I said. I nodded to his wife, Maryanne, and his son, Bart, in the seats next to Carol Oliva.

"So can you paint the picture for the jury, Agent Pellisante?" Joel Goldenberger placed a blown-up aerial photograph of the scene on an easel across from the jury box."Agents Oliva and Sinclair are where in the stakeout?"

I walked over and took a pointer."They were on the beach, outside the club grounds, blocking any escape." I described how Cavello had disguised himself as an old man in a wheelchair. How, as my special agents moved in, he jumped out of the chair, trying to escape. How he shot one of my agents who was posing as a waiter, Steve Taylor.

"He ran down toward the beach. Manny and Ed were in position. Here. I radioed ahead that he was headed toward them."

"Can you describe what happened next? I know this is difficult for you, Agent Pellisante, and for the family members of the agents who are present in the courtroom."

"I heard a volley of shots." I clenched my teeth."I counted five-two quick ones, then three in rapid succession. I ran down from my position over the dunes and saw the bodies in the sand."

There wasn't a sound in the courtroom. I looked away from the easel, and every eye was focused on me.

"Then what did you do?" Goldenberger asked.

"I went over to the bodies." I cleared my throat."Manny was dead. He'd been shot in the head. Ed was hit in the chest and neck. He was bleeding profusely. I could see he was dying."

"And did you see Dominic Cavello?"

"He was running down the beach, trying to get away. He'd been hit in the shoulder. I could make out what looked to be a gun. He was headed toward a helicopter on a promontory. I radioed for help, and we called in a helicopter from a Coast Guard cruiser offshore to block Cavello's escape.

"Then I went after him and fired my weapon, hitting him in the thigh. In the time I was calling for help he must've hurled the gun into the ocean."

"So you never found a weapon?"

"No." I shook my head."We never did."

"But you have no doubt who killed your agents, do you?"

"None whatsoever." I shook my head. I looked squarely at the defendant."Dominic Cavello. There was no one else near Ed and Manny when I heard those shots. And the bullet they removed from Cavello's shoulder was from Ed's gun."