Judge Me When I'm Wrong Page 17

  “The same guys who drive that Mercedes assaulted my girlfriend, kidnapped my dog, and tried to warn me off my snooping.”

  “We know about some of that,” the agent said.

  “I thought those thugs were working for Goulet?”

  “No. They take their orders directly from Mr. Canova.”

  “Well, I know where they live,” Charlie said.

  “We’d like to have that information,” the agent said.

  Chapter 22

  Thursday

  “So, Allan Bateman wasn’t involved?” Judy asked.

  “I don’t know,” Charlie said. “I didn’t think to ask the judge.”

  Charlie, Don, and Judy shared a pizza in the conference room. Charlie filled them in on the disclosures from the meeting in the judge’s chambers, including the most startling of all: the ghost wasn’t the total sleazebag they thought.

  “Good thing you didn’t get a chance to kick his ass after all, Mack,” Don said.

  “So tomorrow you’re just supposed to show up for jury duty like you don’t know anything?” Judy asked.

  “Yep. Then the judge will declare a mistrial. I guess the guilty jurors will get arrested or something.”

  “The FBI will probably swoop up Canova, too,” Don said.

  “That’s very likely. I hope Clint can hold it together. He was badly shaken. Especially when he realized Canova had attempted to kill Mrs. Andrews. I better try to get to him in the morning or he’ll blow the whole thing.”

  They heard a key in the door, and Gil entered the Mack suite and ambled into the conference room. Charlie thought he looked tired.

  “You want a slice of pizza, Acosta?” Don asked.

  “I just had fried shrimp and fries with the only person I know who could eat you under the table, Don. That boy can surely scarf down some food.”

  “How is he?” Charlie asked.

  “Conflicted, brave, scared.”

  “But not hungry,” Don quipped.

  Gil laughed. “No. Not hungry. He is going to testify against two of the codefendants. He didn’t want to spend the weekend in Kalamazoo because he thinks he’ll be harassed.”

  “He’s probably right,” Charlie said.

  “Did Jason tell his parents what he’s going to do?” Judy asked.

  “Yes. This afternoon. His father told Jason he’d stand by him if he felt it was the right thing to do.”

  “That’s great. I guess that ends it for us on the case,” Charlie said.

  “There’s one more thing. Jason wants to tell his father he’s gay. He was going to do it tonight, but I convinced him to sleep on it. I offered that you and I could meet with him to talk it through.”

  Charlie glared at Gil.

  “Well, I don’t know anything about coming out. I don’t know if I’ve been saying the right things to him. He asked me a lot of questions, and I was winging it.”

  Charlie, still fuming, caught Judy staring at her. “What?”

  “You might be able to help the boy.”

  Charlie was quiet long enough for everyone to know she’d go along with Gil’s plan. Gil reached for the pizza box.

  “I thought you weren’t hungry, Acosta.”

  “I’m not. Force of habit. I got your text, Charlie. I can’t believe Goulet wasn’t our guy. I guess you’ve already gone over the details.”

  “Yes, but I’ll tell them again.”

  # # #

  A half hour later all the pizza and soft drinks were gone. Don had already put on his holster and jacket and stood in the doorway.

  “So, what did you tell Jason about a time for us to talk?” Charlie asked.

  “I didn’t. I’m supposed to call him,” Gil said.

  “Since I won’t really have jury duty tomorrow, we could make it a Friday lunch meeting. I’ll see if Mandy can join us. She knows a lot more about being gay than I do.”

  “You came out to your mom, didn’t you?” Gil asked.

  “It wasn’t a whole long discussion. I just told her I loved Mandy. You know my mother, she did the research herself.”

  “Do you know if Jason has someone in his life?” Judy asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Gil said. “He’s still confused about what’s love and what’s just sex.”

  “Oh geez. I’ve heard enough,” Don said. “Mack, I’ll be in the courtroom tomorrow. I’ve got to see how all this arresting business goes down. Go ahead, keep talking. You guys can figure out this gay stuff without me.” Don slammed the door when he left.

  # # #

  Charlie, Mandy and Hamm walked the route they’d taken the night before, but this time without the patrol car following. They bumped into an occasional neighbor, and Hamm was still getting pats on the head and the occasional treat.

  “How was it at work today?” Charlie asked. “Are you getting any grief about the incident?”

  “No. Everybody’s been glad to hear we got Hamm back. I didn’t give them all the details. I kind of implied he found his way back to us.”

  “That’s good.”

  They walked for a while without talking. Hamm revisited the places he’d marked yesterday, and added a fresh layer of possession. It was cold, but there was little wind and the air had the crispness of fall. Some of the houses already had Halloween decorations. Charlie reached for Mandy’s ungloved hand, and stuck it in her own pocket to keep it warm.

  “I’ve really taken to heart what you said about my control-freak, avenger thing. Especially the part about how it’s important for people to be their own heroes.”

  “Sitting back is not how you’re wired. Neither am I. We both have that first-responder gene. Therapy helped me turn mine down a notch. I know, for example, your mother would like you to worry less about her and give her more room to navigate through the Alzheimer’s diagnosis.”

  “She’s told you that?”

  “She said she still has her power, and she wants to be able to use it.”

  Mandy pulled her hand from Charlie’s coat pocket and looped her arms around Charlie’s waist. They paused for a hug, and Hamm looked back when his leash ran out of slack.

  “As it turns out, several members of the jury wanted to make sure Canova didn’t have his way. Clint, Mrs. Andrews, and the jury foreman all spoke up. The FBI agent said my snooping almost hindered their investigation,” Charlie admitted.

  They reached the corner, about to cross the street, when a car pulled to the curb ahead of them. They stopped and Charlie yanked hard on Hamm’s leash, watching as the back passenger door flew open. A young woman bounded from the car carrying a bookbag and a gorilla costume draped over her arm.

  “Thanks for the ride. See you tomorrow at school,” she called out, and waved as the car pulled away from the curb.

  She turned toward Charlie and Mandy. Hamm strained to sniff the gorilla suit as she passed. “Hi,” the girl said. “Cute dog.”

  Wordlessly, Charlie and Mandy watched her go up the stairs of the house behind them. Mandy slowly moved her hand away from the back of her jacket. Charlie stared at her.

  “You carrying?”

  “I think I learned that lesson.”

  “I don’t want us to be afraid in our own neighborhood.”

  “I know. But for a while we’ll be cautious. Maybe you were overzealous in your jury service, but you weren’t totally wrong. There really were some bad guys.”

  Chapter 23

  Friday

  Charlie wore a nice gray pantsuit, her best boots, and a white shirt for her final day of jury duty. Rather than go directly to the jury room, she sat on the opposite side of the corridor pretending to read, keeping her eye on the escalator, the elevator, and the stairwell. She watched a few of her fellow jurors make their way to the jury room. None of them looked her way. She called to Clint when he got off the escalator, and he sat on the bench next to her.

  “How are you?”

  “I got to tell you, Ms. Mack. That meeting yesterday blew my mind. I told my mother and
father about it. I’m really scared.”

  “You don’t need to be. The feds have everything under control now, thanks to you and the others who spoke up.”

  “And to you. I didn’t even know you were suspicious about something going on. You never even hinted.”

  “I didn’t think I should.” Charlie touched his arm. “Clint, are you okay about Trina?”

  He looked embarrassed, and dropped his gaze. “I thought she was talking to me because she liked me.”

  “She was definitely flirting with you, Clint. I saw it myself.”

  “I guess she only wanted to recruit me for Canova.”

  “She’s nobody you want to know. If my suspicions are right, she’s the one who got Mrs. Andrews in trouble.”

  Clint gripped his knees tightly.

  “She’s bad news. But you couldn’t have known that. Look, don’t talk to anybody when we get to the jury room. Just say hello and act naturally; get one of your books out and start reading. We better get in there. Judge Smoot said we’d be called into the courtroom right away.”

  As promised, the court clerk came for the jurors promptly at eight. Richard Fletcher nodded to Charlie with a smile, and he lined up in front of her. Charlie watched Clint’s shoulders stiffen as he took his place in line. She managed to catch Mr. Naidu’s eye and smiled. He gave her a sorrowful look.

  Spivak and Gleason stared at the jury as they filed into the courtroom. Charlie noticed Ms. Gleason’s bulging briefcase was missing from its usual place on the table. Bateman and Canova huddled, looking up briefly, but continued with their whispered conversation. The bailiff sat in his usual place, but a second sheriff stood near the main door.

  The gallery had the usual dozen or so visitors. Don positioned himself in the center of the third row and gave Charlie an almost imperceptible nod. Yesterday’s FBI agent sat with another agent in the row behind Don. Charlie didn’t immediately recognize the thin African-American man slumped in the last row of the gallery, but then her spine stiffened. It was Hamm’s abductor. Charlie’s heart raced. She’d given a description of this man and his friend to the agent in Judge Smoot’s chamber along with the location of their house at the MLK Apartments. Obviously he hadn’t been captured. She tried getting Don’s attention, but he was staring at the back of Canova’s head. Charlie had no idea how this was all going to go down, but seeing the man again who had threatened Mandy and taken her dog made her feel tense and worried.

  The clerk took note of Goulet’s late arrival, which also elicited a shifting of the chairs in the jury box. Goulet sat on the end seat in the last row, glanced quickly at the jury box, then focused on the front of the room. The clerk rose from her seat, directing everyone else to follow suit, as Judge Harrington-Smoot entered the courtroom from the door behind her bench.

  Smoot wore a very somber expression as she adjusted herself in her chair and placed her gavel in front of her. She glanced first at the sheriff at the rear of the courtroom and then turned to the jury.

  “Unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I must declare a mistrial in the case, The State v. Canova. Your services are no longer needed. Court is adjourned.”

  There was a stunned silence in the courtroom. A commotion finally began at the defense table when Allan Bateman almost knocked over his chair as he stood, shouting “Your Honor?” Canova rose next to him, red-faced and double-fisted. The bailiff moved to stand in front of the bench, and crossed his bulging arms.

  Without another word Smoot gathered her papers and gavel, the clerk ordered the courtroom to stand, and the judge departed. The two FBI agents moved toward Canova. Goulet got up quietly, and the officer at the door stepped aside as he exited. The clerk approached the jurors, directing them to return to the jury room. As she left the courtroom, Charlie looked back to see the agent from last night’s meeting place a restraining hand on Canova’s shoulder while the other agent wielded handcuffs. Charlie had only a moment to catch a glimpse of Don, who faced the rear of the courtroom. The skinny thug had blended in with the other courtroom observers departing through the main door. Dammit!

  Charlie stepped into the jury room where she found confusion and raised voices. The court clerk closed the door and placed herself in front of it. Charlie took a seat.

  “What the hell is going on?” Richard Fletcher demanded of the clerk. He looked intimidating as he stood over her.

  “You’ll be able to leave in a few minutes,” the clerk said, holding her ground, not flinching.

  Charlie had been very wrong about her.

  “What happened in there?” Mr. Naidu asked, standing next to Charlie.

  Charlie shook her head and tugged him into the chair next to hers as Clint came over to sit on her other side. The alternate juror-slash-undercover agent stayed near the front of the table.

  Charlie looked up to see Trina eyeing her and Clint. Lucille, the insurance lady, and Mr. Pizzemente stood at the other end of the room watching Fletcher. They all looked trapped.

  The sharp knock at the door quieted everyone. The court clerk inched the door ajar and then swung it open to the bailiff and two Wayne County sheriffs.

  First, the clerk pointed to Mr. Fletcher.

  “That one. Those two,” she said in the direction of Pizzemente and Lucille. “Her,” she said pointing at Trina. “Him,” the clerk said, indicating Kelly. The ginger-haired courier was asked to stand by one of the sheriffs. “And him,” the clerk made a special point of tilting her head at the undercover agent-alternate.

  The remaining jurors held their breath as the six were escorted by the sheriffs out of the room. The clerk closed the door behind them with a heavy clunk.

  “You will be paid for today. Checks for your jury service should arrive within a week. You can go now, and thank you for your service. Please leave in an orderly manner.”

  The “I’m done” look on the clerk’s face shut down any questions. She waited at the door as the jurors, still stunned by the morning’s events, moved lethargically, gathering their belongings. She nodded to each person as they exited. She gave Charlie and Clint a curt smile as they passed. “Thank you, Mr. Naidu,” Charlie heard the clerk say as he brought up the rear.

  The group of blameless jurors gathered in a circle on the sidewalk to ask questions about what just happened. Charlie let the others talk.

  “Did you know about this?” the man who had become Kelly’s new pal asked Mr. Naidu. “I didn’t have a clue. I kind of feel betrayed.”

  “I didn’t know this would happen today,” Naidu said, “but I did report my suspicions of wrongdoing to the clerk.” Mr. Naidu’s shoulders were noticeably straight again.

  “I did too,” Clint offered.

  Charlie could see him feeling good about his insider status, and he was about to say more, but she stopped him with a look.

  “The whole trial felt jinxed,” the real alternate juror said. “Especially after what happened to that old lady. You know, the one who was hit by a car?”

  The small group offered noncommittal murmurs to his idea. There were a couple more questions, then the awkwardness of strangers making small talk kicked in.

  “Well, I’m out of here,” the alternate said. “Good luck to you all.”

  The rest of the group dispersed, leaving Charlie, Clint and Mr. Naidu. Charlie saw Don’s car up the street.

  “Ms. Mack, it was nice to meet you,” Naidu said. “You too, young man.”

  Charlie and Clint responded in kind.

  “Thank you, Mr. Naidu. You were a great foreman,” Charlie said as he nodded and walked away with the stride of a proud man.

  “Jury duty was much more eventful than I’d imagined,” Clint said, extending his hand. “Thank you for the support and the coffee.”

  Charlie brushed his hand aside and kissed him on the cheek.

  “I know you will become an impressive lawyer. Or maybe an impressive musician.”

  They both laughed. Charlie gave him her business card, adding, “Whate
ver you decide, I know you’ll do well.”

  # # #

  “Are we going to the office?” Don asked, starting the Buick. It was just nine o’clock.

  “Yeah. Gil and Judy aren’t going to believe it.”

  “I gotta tell you, Mack. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  “What happened after I left the courtroom?”

  “They cleared the room and then perp-walked Canova out into the corridor. He was yelling at Bateman all the way. He made so much noise bailiffs came out of the other courtrooms. There’s a press room at the end of the hall, and a couple of reporters came out at a run. An FBI agent and a sheriff escorted Canova down the stairs and out of the building. I’m pretty sure Bateman wasn’t part of the scheme. He looked too dumbfounded.”

  “What about the guy who snatched Hamm?” Charlie asked.

  “What about him?”

  “Didn’t you see him? He was in the courtroom, sitting in the back.”

  Don shook his head. “Nope. I didn’t know he was there.”

  “I looked back at you as they herded me into the jury room, and I thought you had eyes on him.”

  “Damn. Sorry. With all the confusion I didn’t even notice him. How could he be there? I thought you told the FBI where to find those guys.”

  “I did.”

  # # #

  Gil took a break from writing the Ferry final report to join Charlie and Don at Judy’s desk as they provided accounts of the courthouse drama. Don described in detail the confusion in the gallery after the judge gaveled the trial closed. He’d seen Canova snatched away from a few reporters and then hustled into a ground floor office used by the county sheriffs. Don’s sheriff buddy had allowed him into the room just in time to see the black police SUV, pulsing red-and-blue lights, carry Canova away onto Raynor Street behind Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.

  “They’re already reporting about it on WWJ radio,” Judy said.