opened with a collage of news clips showing nasty or ratty-looking guys heading in or out of court, each with an entourage of females in his wake.
By the time it was over, Monty had witnessed the story of a woman who had left her husband and houseful of children to marry a psychopathic killer who was in prison for life; a girl who had delivered her younger sister, drugged and undressed, to her boyfriend for his own pleasure; a woman who had tried to hire a hit man to kill her daughter after the daughter blew the whistle on the father of the family for sexually abusing her; and a woman who had murdered her daughter because the woman’s boyfriend didn’t want the little girl around. And Podgis hadn’t made any of this up; these were real cases from the police blotters and the Canadian courts. As his head hit the pillow, Monty prayed that the booze or the mercy of God would save him from nightmares about the human depravity he had just witnessed, courtesy of his client.
Chapter 6
Monty
“How’s my case coming along?” It was Podgis, on the phone to Monty at the office Friday morning.
“It’s coming. I don’t just sit around and ignore my murder cases, Podgis.”
“Oh yeah? Well, I’m doing a lot of sitting around because I don’t have the money to do anything else. I gotta pay rent on a shitty apartment over here in Dartmouth. Can’t afford to stay in downtown Halifax. I’ve only been here a week since my bail hearing, but it feels like a year. Had to take the cheapest place I could find because I’m paying a mortgage on a new condo in Toronto.”
“I know, I know. But be thankful for a couple of things. You’re out on bail. It could easily have been otherwise. And your employer has you on paid leave till you ‘put all this behind you.’ You’re in luck there.”
“It’s not luck, Collins. It’s principle. You remember it, don’t you? Maybe you don’t. A man is innocent until proven guilty. So get out there and make sure I’m not found guilty. Through your slackness. I’ll ask you again: what’s happening with my case?”
“I’ve been knocking on doors searching for men in Jordyn Snider’s life, but I haven’t come up with anything we can use. At least not yet. And I haven’t received all the disclosure I need from the Crown, but that will come. Blood test results, for instance.” No response from Podgis. “How about your alibi witness? Miss April. Any luck tracking her down?”
“Not yet. You know how it is. One-night stands.”
“But you told me she wants to get herself on television. How is she going to do that if she doesn’t call you? That would be true under the best of circumstances: ‘Gotta call Pike, see if he can get me a spot on TV.’ But now, her hopes of fame are really dim. If Pike does federal time, April gets no screen time. Right? So why hasn’t she called to help you beat the rap?”
“She’s scared, you moron. Scared of getting involved in all this.”
“Did she tell you that? Did she contact you?”
“No, but even an idiot could figure out why.”
“Maybe you should have treated her a little better, Pike. If only you had known she would hold the rest of your life in her hands, you’d have asked for her address so you could send roses.”
“The only reason I’m putting up with you, Collins, and taking all this crap off you, is because I assume you’ll be just as much of a fucking asshole to the cops and the Crown witnesses who are going to get up and lie about me so they can bring me down.”
What kind of an ego thinks the whole world is out to bring him down? But Monty tried to bring things down to earth.
“You still haven’t told me where this tryst took place.”
“In her car.”
“Her car.”
“You heard me.”
“You were staying at the Halliburton House. Beautiful hotel.”
“Yeah. Nice little spot. Really close to the church and all the bullshit going on there. That’s why I picked it.”
“So why didn’t you take your
By the time it was over, Monty had witnessed the story of a woman who had left her husband and houseful of children to marry a psychopathic killer who was in prison for life; a girl who had delivered her younger sister, drugged and undressed, to her boyfriend for his own pleasure; a woman who had tried to hire a hit man to kill her daughter after the daughter blew the whistle on the father of the family for sexually abusing her; and a woman who had murdered her daughter because the woman’s boyfriend didn’t want the little girl around. And Podgis hadn’t made any of this up; these were real cases from the police blotters and the Canadian courts. As his head hit the pillow, Monty prayed that the booze or the mercy of God would save him from nightmares about the human depravity he had just witnessed, courtesy of his client.
Chapter 6
Monty
“How’s my case coming along?” It was Podgis, on the phone to Monty at the office Friday morning.
“It’s coming. I don’t just sit around and ignore my murder cases, Podgis.”
“Oh yeah? Well, I’m doing a lot of sitting around because I don’t have the money to do anything else. I gotta pay rent on a shitty apartment over here in Dartmouth. Can’t afford to stay in downtown Halifax. I’ve only been here a week since my bail hearing, but it feels like a year. Had to take the cheapest place I could find because I’m paying a mortgage on a new condo in Toronto.”
“I know, I know. But be thankful for a couple of things. You’re out on bail. It could easily have been otherwise. And your employer has you on paid leave till you ‘put all this behind you.’ You’re in luck there.”
“It’s not luck, Collins. It’s principle. You remember it, don’t you? Maybe you don’t. A man is innocent until proven guilty. So get out there and make sure I’m not found guilty. Through your slackness. I’ll ask you again: what’s happening with my case?”
“I’ve been knocking on doors searching for men in Jordyn Snider’s life, but I haven’t come up with anything we can use. At least not yet. And I haven’t received all the disclosure I need from the Crown, but that will come. Blood test results, for instance.” No response from Podgis. “How about your alibi witness? Miss April. Any luck tracking her down?”
“Not yet. You know how it is. One-night stands.”
“But you told me she wants to get herself on television. How is she going to do that if she doesn’t call you? That would be true under the best of circumstances: ‘Gotta call Pike, see if he can get me a spot on TV.’ But now, her hopes of fame are really dim. If Pike does federal time, April gets no screen time. Right? So why hasn’t she called to help you beat the rap?”
“She’s scared, you moron. Scared of getting involved in all this.”
“Did she tell you that? Did she contact you?”
“No, but even an idiot could figure out why.”
“Maybe you should have treated her a little better, Pike. If only you had known she would hold the rest of your life in her hands, you’d have asked for her address so you could send roses.”
“The only reason I’m putting up with you, Collins, and taking all this crap off you, is because I assume you’ll be just as much of a fucking asshole to the cops and the Crown witnesses who are going to get up and lie about me so they can bring me down.”
What kind of an ego thinks the whole world is out to bring him down? But Monty tried to bring things down to earth.
“You still haven’t told me where this tryst took place.”
“In her car.”
“Her car.”
“You heard me.”
“You were staying at the Halliburton House. Beautiful hotel.”
“Yeah. Nice little spot. Really close to the church and all the bullshit going on there. That’s why I picked it.”
“So why didn’t you take your
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