The Associate (15 page)

“Can I help you?” Fairweather asked as she eyed the investigator warily. She seemed frightened, so Amanda stepped forward and smiled.

“I’m Amanda Jaffe, the attorney representing Daniel Ames. This is my associate, Herb Cross. If you have a few minutes we’d like to talk to you.”

Fairweather grew rigid. “No, I can’t do that.”

“I’m going to have a chance to talk to you in court, Dr. Fairweather,” Amanda pressed. “I might be able to save some time if we clear up a few things here.”

“I’m not supposed to talk to you,” Fairweather answered. Her shoulders hunched and her gaze drifted toward the floor.

“Did the district attorney tell you that? Because you have the right to talk to anyone you want to. Talking to me would be the right thing to do.”

“I don’t want to do that and I’d like you to go.”

“Okay.” Amanda held out her card and Fairweather took it reluctantly. “If you change your mind please call me.”

“That is one uptight lady,” Herb Cross said as soon as the door closed behind them.

“Yes, she is,” Amanda mused, “and I’d love to know why.”

On the way back to the office, Amanda and Cross brainstormed about ways to get through Fairweather’s armor. When they walked into the firm’s waiting room, the receptionist handed Amanda a small box wrapped in brown paper. FOR AMES BAIL HEARING was written on the paper in block letters with a Magic Marker. There was no return address.

“This isn’t how the DA’s office sends discovery,” Amanda said as she stripped away the wrapping paper. “Who brought it over?”

“A messenger,” the receptionist answered.

“Did he say who sent it?”

“No.”

The box was cardboard without any markings. Amanda lifted the lid. There was no note inside, but there was a videocassette. Moments later Herb Cross and Amanda Jaffe were sitting in the conference room in front of a VCR. A title informed the lawyer and the private investigator that they were going to see a speech that Dr. April Fairweather had given at a conference devoted to abuse survivors three years before. On the screen, a distinguished gentleman stepped behind a podium and introduced Dr. Fairweather in glowing terms. After the introduction Dr. Fairweather took the man’s place at the podium and began to speak. A few minutes into the tape, the investigator and the attorney turned to each other.

“Is this for real?” Cross asked.

“I certainly hope so,” Amanda answered.

Daniel barely slept Thursday evening worrying about what would happen the next day in the rec room. Fortunately, his bail hearing was set for Friday and early the next morning he was placed in chains and transported two blocks to the Multnomah County Courthouse, where he was lodged in a large open cell in the courthouse jail with other prisoners awaiting court appearances. At 9:45, two sheriff’s deputies gave Daniel a suit that Amanda’s investigator had brought to the jail for the hearing. As soon as he was dressed the deputies escorted him from the seventh-floor holding area to the courtroom where his case was to be heard.

The Multnomah County Courthouse is a blunt, functional building constructed of gray concrete whose exterior makes no pretensions to art. The interiors are another matter. The Honorable Gerald Opton’s fifth-floor courtroom had grand, high ceilings, ornate molding, marble Corinthian columns, and a polished wood dais. The spectator section consisted of several rows of hard wooden benches set back behind a low wooden fence that separated the public from those having business before the court. The benches were packed because of the publicity Daniel’s case had received, but Daniel spotted Kate Ross easily. She smiled at him. Daniel was embarrassed to have her see him in chains and all he could manage was a restrained nod.

Several partners from Reed, Briggs occupied the front row of the courtroom. Daniel wondered if the DA was going to use them as witnesses. Seated behind the partners with two other associates was Joe Molinari. He gave Daniel a thumbs-up, which made Daniel smile. The other associates nodded at him and he was relieved to see that some of his friends from the firm were still standing by him. Susan Webster was conspicuously absent.

Daniel scanned the crowd for other familiar faces and was surprised to see a young black man in a charcoal-gray business suit, armed with a pen and a legal pad, whom he recognized as one of the associates Aaron Flynn had brought to Kurt Schroeder’s deposition.

When his guards brought Daniel into the courtroom Amanda Jaffe was talking to Deputy District Attorney Mike Greene, a large man who looked like a football or basketball player. Looks were deceiving. Greene was a gentle soul who played competitive chess and the saxophone instead of sports. The defense attorney and the DA had faced each other in court several times and they had started dating after the violent resolution of the Cardoni case.

Amanda heard one of the deputies unlock Daniel’s handcuffs and hurried to her client. With his suit on, Daniel looked like any other young attorney, but three days in jail had taken their toll. As soon as his manacles were removed, Amanda led him to the defense table, where they conferred in whispers.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Daniel shook his head. “You’ve got to get me out of jail. I’ve been in a fight and the guy has friends. They’re going to come after me as soon as I’m back at the Justice Center. What are my chances of making bail?”

Amanda was about to answer when the bailiff rapped his gavel. She touched Daniel on the forearm.

“You’re going to be okay.”

The Honorable Gerald Opton entered the courtroom and everyone stood. Jerry Opton was one of three judges in the homicide rotation. These judges heard murder cases exclusively for one or two years so they could develop an expertise in this area of law. Assignment to the homicide rotation was usually reserved for experienced judges. Opton had only been on the bench for five years, but he had been a homicide specialist in the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office for ten years. He was a stocky, balding man whose features bore a faint resemblance to the actor Jack Nicholson. Despite being a career prosecutor before his elevation to the bench, Opton was a favorite of defense attorneys and prosecutors alike. He was scrupulously fair, well versed in the law, and ran his court with a firm hand that was softened by a wry sense of humor.

“Are we ready to go?” the judge asked the attorneys.

“Ready for Mr. Ames,” Amanda said.

“Ready for the state,” Greene intoned.

“Bailiff, please call the case.”

The bailiff read the name and number of Daniel’s case into the record. For purposes of the bail hearing, the parties had entered into a stipulation that Arthur Briggs had been shot with a .45-caliber bullet and a person other than Briggs had intentionally caused the death. This helped speed up the hearing because the prosecutor did not have to call the medical examiner as a witness. The parties had further stipulated that Daniel worked at Reed, Briggs until the week before the murder when Briggs had fired him. After reading the stipulation into the record, Mike Greene called his first witness.

In response to Greene’s questions, Zeke Forbus told the judge that he had been summoned to the crime scene at Starlight Road and had interviewed Dr. April Fairweather. Dr. Fairweather had given him the name and description of a man she had seen leaving the crime scene and the car in which he had driven away. Forbus testified that he ran a check on the car owned by the man Dr. Fairweather named and he discovered that the car was the make and color that Dr. Fairweather had described. Finally, Forbus described Daniel’s arrest.

“Good morning, Detective Forbus,” Amanda said when the witness was turned over to her for cross-examination. Forbus did not answer. He distrusted defense attorneys and he especially disliked women lawyers.

“Were you present during the arrest of Mr. Ames and the search of his apartment?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Did Mr. Ames make any incriminating statements to you or any other police officer or detective following his arrest?”

“He asked for an attorney, right away.”

“Can I take it that means that Mr. Ames did not make any statement that incriminated himself in the murder of Mr. Briggs?”

“That is correct.”

“Have Mr. Ames’s fingerprints been found at the crime scene?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“When Mr. Briggs was found he was lying in a pool of blood, was he not?”

“Yes.”

“Did you find any blood on Mr. Ames or his clothing?”

“Mr. Ames washed his clothes. We found them in a washing machine in the basement.”

“Your Honor, would you please instruct Detective Forbus to answer my questions?”

Judge Opton smiled. “Come on, Detective. You’re not going to score any points this way. Do everyone a favor. Listen to the question and answer it, okay?”

“Sorry, Judge,” Forbus answered. “No blood was found on Mr. Ames or his clothing.”

“Did you find the murder weapon on Mr. Ames or in his apartment?”

“No.”

“You searched his car?”

“Yes.”

“Find any blood or guns?”

“No.”

“Would it be fair to say that the only evidence you have connecting Daniel Ames with the scene of the crime is the statement of Dr. Fairweather?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. No further questions.”

“Mr. Greene?” Judge Opton said.

“We call Dr. April Fairweather to the stand.”

Daniel turned sideways and watched Fairweather walk down the aisle toward the witness box. Whenever he saw her he got an impression of a person in hiding. Fairweather kept her eyes front and avoided looking at Daniel. When she took the oath she continued to look away from him.

“Dr. Fairweather,” Mike Greene began as soon as the witness was sworn, “what is your profession?”

Fairweather sat erect with her hands folded in her lap and her eyes glued on the deputy district attorney. Her response was so soft that Daniel strained to hear her. The judge asked her to raise her voice and repeat her answer.

“I am a counselor.”

“Is that what your doctorate is in?”

“Yes, and my master’s degree.”

“Is it as a result of your practice that you came to be a client of Arthur Briggs?”

“Yes, sir. A patient sued me. My insurance company employed Mr. Briggs to represent them in cases of this sort.”

“Did you ever meet with Mr. Briggs at his office to discuss your case?”

“We met on several occasions.”

“While at the office, did you ever meet the defendant, Daniel Ames?”

“Yes. Mr. Briggs introduced me to him. He told me his name and we shook hands.”

Daniel remembered that Dr. Fairweather had also refused to meet his eye when Arthur Briggs had introduced them. When he’d shaken her hand it had been damp and cold, and she’d jerked it away as if she was afraid Daniel would trap it.

“Did you see Mr. Ames a second time at the Reed, Briggs offices?”

“Yes.”

“When was that?”

“The Friday before Mr. Briggs was killed.”

“Please describe that occasion for the judge.”

“I was sitting in the waiting area in front of Mr. Briggs’s office when the door opened. Mr. Ames stood in the doorway with his back to me speaking to Mr. Briggs.”

“Can you remember anything he said?”

“No, but I could tell that he was angry.”

“How do you know that he was angry with Mr. Briggs?”

“I could hear Mr. Briggs shouting at him, then Mr. Ames slammed the door. When he turned around he looked furious. Then he saw me and Mr. Briggs’s secretary and he rushed away.”

“Did you have a third occasion to encounter Mr. Ames?”

“Yes, sir.”

“When was that?”

“The night of the murder.”

“Where were you?”

“At a cottage on Starlight Road.”

“What time was it?”

“A little after eight.”

“How do you know that?”

“Mr. Briggs’s secretary called me earlier in the day and told me that there had been a development in my case and Mr. Briggs needed to meet with me at the Starlight Road address at eight-fifteen that evening. I’m always punctual and I checked the clock on my dashboard when I turned into Starlight Road.”

“What did you see as you approached the cottage?”

“I saw Mr. Ames. He was running and he looked upset. When he saw my car, he threw his arm in front of his face. Then he dashed to his own car and drove away at a high rate of speed.”

“How can you be sure that it was Mr. Ames you saw at the cottage?”

“As I said, I’d met him before and he ran right into my headlight beams. It was like watching someone on a stage standing in a spotlight.”

“And there is no doubt in your mind that it was Daniel Ames, the defendant, whom you saw running from the cottage on Starlight Road?”

“None.”

“For the record, do you see Mr. Ames in court today?”

“Yes.”

“Please point him out for the judge.”

Fairweather shifted in her seat and pointed her finger at Daniel, but she still would not look him in the eye.

“After Mr. Ames drove away, what did you do?”

Fairweather paused before answering the prosecutor’s question in the same soft monotone in which she had spoken during all of Greene’s direct examination.

“I parked my car and entered the house. The lights were off and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. Then I saw Mr. Briggs lying on the floor. I walked over to him and I knew at once that he was dead.”

“How did you know that?”

“He was lying in a pool of blood. I knelt down and felt for a pulse, but there was none.”

“What did you do next?”

“I left the house and used my cell phone to call 911.”

“Thank you, Dr. Fairweather. Your witness, Ms. Jaffe.”

“What is your date of birth, Dr. Fairweather?” Amanda asked in a friendly tone.

“July twenty-ninth, 1957,” Fairweather answered, averting her eyes.

“And where were you born?”

“Crawford, Idaho.”

“What is your father’s name?”

Daniel thought he saw Fairweather flinch.

“Herman Garlock,” she answered, her voice dropping again.