Дэвид Балдаччи - The Guilty

“And if you lose?”

“I get my fees paid in full. No hard feelin’s.”

“I hear you have a lot of experience with capital cases.”

“In Mississippi they have lots of laws where they can kill you if you break ’em. Now, they don’t execute folks on the level of say a Texas or Florida, but not for lack of tryin’. The main reason they don’t put more folks to death is because poor counties, of which there is an abundance here, can’t afford to provide defense counsel to indigent defendants, of which there is also an abundance here. And without that you’re not goin’ to survive an appellate challenge. So courts just give the defendant life in prison instead. And everybody’s happy,” she tacked on in a sarcastic tone.

“Sorry state of affairs,” said Robie.

“Just the way it is. Now one big thing your daddy’s got goin’ for him is he’s white. Mississippi doesn’t execute many white folks, particularly those with money or a position of respect, both of which he’s got. Mississippi has executed about eight hundred people over the last two centuries, and eighty percent of them were black men, so you can see the odds favor your daddy.”

“Okay,” said Robie slowly.

“Now, capital cases involve two parts. First, the trial to determine guilt or innocence. If guilt is found you enter the second part, which is the sentencin’ phase. That’s when both aggravatin’ and mitigatin’ circumstances are raised. The only aggravatin’ circumstance I see with your daddy is the catchall in the statute, namely, that the crime was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel. Slittin’ a man’s throat? Maybe it is or maybe it isn’t. But they also may hold your daddy, since he’s a judge, to a higher standard, I don’t know. But on the plus side, he has lots of mitigatin’ circumstances to his credit. So odds are he won’t get the needle. But they can still lock him up for a long damn time, and he’s no spring chicken. So twenty years is like a death sentence.”

“And if he’s guilty?”

“That question doesn’t interest me not even one little bit.”

“Why?”

“It’s Aubrey Davis’s job to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, so says the Constitution and the United States Supreme Court. He’s got the full resources of Cantrell and the mighty State of Mississippi behind him. All your daddy will have is me, but let me just say that I am a damn handful in any court in which I set foot. My job is to make sure Aubrey doesn’t get to where he wants to go, which is a conviction. He gets that, he’s the next congressman or maybe even senator from our great state, and I might have to slash my wrists and bleed out right here at my desk if that ever happens.”

“I take it you two don’t get along?”

“I hate his guts, as he does mine. If that fits your definition of not gettin’ along, then, no, we do not get along.”

“You’re not from Mississippi, are you?”

“No. But I am here now, which is fortunate for your daddy.”

“Where are you from?”

“The three H ’s.”

“Excuse me?”

“My life can be defined as Howard, Harvard, and Hard Knocks, and not necessarily in that order.”

“You went to Harvard?”

“For law school. Howard University for undergrad, and Hard Knocks for everythin’ else.”

“How’d you end up here?”

“I like to think I go where I’m needed. My caseload tells me I was right.”

“So you’ll represent my father?”

“I’ve been waitin’ all mornin’ for you to get your butt here. Been callin’ Sheila Taggert every twenty minutes.”

“So you two are tight?”

“We’re both in law enforcement, so to speak. She carries out the laws and I make sure the laws are carried out fairly and impartially, and not based in any way, shape, or form on personal prejudices of a litany of persuasions, the dominant one havin’ to do with skin pigment the same as mine. And let me tell you I have seen most of these prejudices here in Cantrell as well as other places in this fine country, north, south, east, and west. And they can be uh-uh-ugly.”

“What do you need from me?”

“Five thousand dollars and a retainer agreement signed by you and your daddy, so if one doesn’t pay me the other one’s got to.”

“Can I put it on my credit card?”

“You can put it on your ass so long as it clears the Second National Bank of Cantrell.”

“And my father has to sign the retainer agreement too?”

“Way attorney-client privilege attaches. He knows that. Why? Is that a problem?”

“I hope not.”

She smiled big. “I can tell you and me are goin’ to get on real good, Will.”

“Where the hell have you been? You just shot outta here without a word.”

Victoria was standing on the porch at the Willows, her hands on her soft hips, staring at Robie as he climbed out of his car.

“Getting some things done.”

“What things?”

Robie walked up to her and leaned back against the railing.

“For starters, I saw my father.”

She gaped. “You did? How did it go?”

Robie pointed to his swollen cheek. “He can still pack a wallop.”

She stared at the spot. “Oh my God, do you want some ice for that?”

“No, it’ll be fine. I also got him a lawyer.”

“Who?”

“Toni Moses.”

“I hear she’s really good.”

“I think he needs really good.”

“Dan agreed to this?”

Robie shrugged. “He will, when I tell him what I’ve done.”

“You hired a lawyer for him without telling him?” She shook her head. “Well, if I were you I’d tell him from the other side of the cell door.”

“Why, does he get physical with you?”

The two stared at each other.

“Why do you ask that?” she said.

“You don’t really seem surprised that I did, Victoria.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Sort of like why you spent the night drinking with Sherm Clancy. Again, none of my business, right?”

She sat down in a rocking chair. “I would say right, only it would be none of your damn business.”

“But it makes a perfect motive for my father to kill the man.”

She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “I have regretted that night ever since it happened.”

“Well, if it costs your husband his life I guess you should regret it forever.”

“It’s not like I told Dan to kill the bastard,” she barked.

Robie said firmly, “ If he killed the bastard. So you think he did it?”

“I don’t want to believe he had anything to do with it.”

“He has no alibi. You were in Biloxi with Ty and Priscilla. So he had the opportunity. The weapon was like one that he possessed at some point and could have used to kill Clancy.”

“I know all of that, Will. Do you think he did it?”

Robie shrugged. “I have no idea. I don’t know enough. I don’t think anyone does. That’s why they’re having a trial.”

Victoria opened a bag on a table next to the rocker and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She lit one and offered the pack to Robie.

He shook his head. “How’s Ty?”

“He’s fine. He’s with Priscilla. Why?”

“Credible threats.”

“We’ve been over this. What threats? Dan doesn’t have any enemies.”

“You can’t know that for sure. And if you’re wrong?”

“So what do you suggest we do? Hire an armed guard?”

“I’ll stay here with you. I can look after you. But I can’t be with you all the time.”

“Are you really taking this seriously?”

“I saw a man in the bushes on the rear grounds early this morning. I tried to follow him but he was already gone by the time I got outside. And your car had been searched.”