eight years before.
But Carlo, of course, did not remember.
‘I’m pretty tired,’ he finally said.
Paget knew the conversation was over, at least for a time. ‘Sure. But if you want to talk, wake me up.’
Carlo nodded, and stood to leave.
Paget hesitated. ‘How was your game?’ he asked.
For a moment, Carlo looked blank. ‘Oh,’ he answered. ‘Fine.’
Briefly, Paget considered asking who had won and how Carlo had done, wanting to know but afraid his son would see this as indifference to his mother. The moment passed. Silent, Paget watched Carlo climb the stairs.
He felt more tired than he could remember. But then lying had always done that to him, especially to Carlo, and long before this.
PART TWO
The Investigation
JANUARY 14 – JANUARY 22
Chapter 1
‘The way to shut this down,’ Paget told Teresa Peralta, ‘is to show Brooks that Mark Ransom was who Mary Carelli says he was.’
For Terri, the moment possessed an eerie normality. They were sitting in Paget’s office the next morning. The ten lawyers and staff could talk of little else. Reporters prowled the lobby, and the receptionist fended off requests for interviews. But Paget was having his calls held, and his office was quiet.
Seemingly well rested, Paget had reprised Mary Carelli’s statement to Monk with the professional detachment of a lawyer who had been handed the defense of a total stranger. The only apparent difference was the newspaper folded on his desk: the headline read: MARK RANSOM SLAIN ; the subheading added: ‘TV Interviewer Claims Rape Attempt’; and the photograph was of Mary Carelli in close-up, swelling beneath her left eye, head resting against Christopher Paget’s face.
He followed Terri’s gaze to the newspaper. ‘This is difficult, obviously. All the more reason to start thinking like a lawyer.’
The remark was a concession to feelings that preempted any discussion of them. What he needed, Terri saw, was to deal with Mary Carelli as if she were not part of his life.
‘It’s pretty simple,’ Terri answered. ‘We need some prior acts of abuse. Something we can get before a jury.’
Paget nodded. ‘If we can show that Ransom raped someone before, McKinley Brooks would toss this case quicker than a dead mouse on his kitchen floor. Assuming that the judge would let us prove that.’
‘There is the bruise.’ Terri paused, surprised at her own anger. ‘I mean, aren’t blows to the face good enough? Or does some creep unilaterally deciding you want him inside you qualify that as foreplay?’
Paget shook his head. ‘Hardly. But we have to look at this from Brooks’s perspective. He’s got a case that could ruin his career, not a clue what really happened, and the only witness, Mary, saying what any woman would say who didn’t want to go to jail.’
‘But what if we don’t find anyone? What if Mary’s the first?’
‘Then it’s a problem.’
‘I feel sorry for any woman who’s some guy’s first victim. Who’s going to believe her? Maybe, after a while, she doesn’t want to believe it herself. Maybe, day after day, she has to see this guy again.’ Terri stopped herself. ‘Even if there is someone, I think we’d have a tough time getting her to talk about it.’
Paget considered her. ‘You were a rape counselor, I recall from your résumé.’
Terri looked away, surprised. ‘Just for a semester,’ she said, ‘and more in helping with the legal than the emotional side of things. I don’t think I was very good at it – I was busy, and it seemed to take a lot out of me.’
Paget gazed at the photograph of Mary. ‘It just struck me,’ he ventured, ‘that a woman with a bad experience might talk more easily to you. And that in the remote event this thing ever goes to trial, it might be better if you did the questioning as well.’
‘I haven’t got that much trial experience. A few misdemeanors with the public defender, and that’s it.’
Paget nodded. ‘That would bother
But Carlo, of course, did not remember.
‘I’m pretty tired,’ he finally said.
Paget knew the conversation was over, at least for a time. ‘Sure. But if you want to talk, wake me up.’
Carlo nodded, and stood to leave.
Paget hesitated. ‘How was your game?’ he asked.
For a moment, Carlo looked blank. ‘Oh,’ he answered. ‘Fine.’
Briefly, Paget considered asking who had won and how Carlo had done, wanting to know but afraid his son would see this as indifference to his mother. The moment passed. Silent, Paget watched Carlo climb the stairs.
He felt more tired than he could remember. But then lying had always done that to him, especially to Carlo, and long before this.
PART TWO
The Investigation
JANUARY 14 – JANUARY 22
Chapter 1
‘The way to shut this down,’ Paget told Teresa Peralta, ‘is to show Brooks that Mark Ransom was who Mary Carelli says he was.’
For Terri, the moment possessed an eerie normality. They were sitting in Paget’s office the next morning. The ten lawyers and staff could talk of little else. Reporters prowled the lobby, and the receptionist fended off requests for interviews. But Paget was having his calls held, and his office was quiet.
Seemingly well rested, Paget had reprised Mary Carelli’s statement to Monk with the professional detachment of a lawyer who had been handed the defense of a total stranger. The only apparent difference was the newspaper folded on his desk: the headline read: MARK RANSOM SLAIN ; the subheading added: ‘TV Interviewer Claims Rape Attempt’; and the photograph was of Mary Carelli in close-up, swelling beneath her left eye, head resting against Christopher Paget’s face.
He followed Terri’s gaze to the newspaper. ‘This is difficult, obviously. All the more reason to start thinking like a lawyer.’
The remark was a concession to feelings that preempted any discussion of them. What he needed, Terri saw, was to deal with Mary Carelli as if she were not part of his life.
‘It’s pretty simple,’ Terri answered. ‘We need some prior acts of abuse. Something we can get before a jury.’
Paget nodded. ‘If we can show that Ransom raped someone before, McKinley Brooks would toss this case quicker than a dead mouse on his kitchen floor. Assuming that the judge would let us prove that.’
‘There is the bruise.’ Terri paused, surprised at her own anger. ‘I mean, aren’t blows to the face good enough? Or does some creep unilaterally deciding you want him inside you qualify that as foreplay?’
Paget shook his head. ‘Hardly. But we have to look at this from Brooks’s perspective. He’s got a case that could ruin his career, not a clue what really happened, and the only witness, Mary, saying what any woman would say who didn’t want to go to jail.’
‘But what if we don’t find anyone? What if Mary’s the first?’
‘Then it’s a problem.’
‘I feel sorry for any woman who’s some guy’s first victim. Who’s going to believe her? Maybe, after a while, she doesn’t want to believe it herself. Maybe, day after day, she has to see this guy again.’ Terri stopped herself. ‘Even if there is someone, I think we’d have a tough time getting her to talk about it.’
Paget considered her. ‘You were a rape counselor, I recall from your résumé.’
Terri looked away, surprised. ‘Just for a semester,’ she said, ‘and more in helping with the legal than the emotional side of things. I don’t think I was very good at it – I was busy, and it seemed to take a lot out of me.’
Paget gazed at the photograph of Mary. ‘It just struck me,’ he ventured, ‘that a woman with a bad experience might talk more easily to you. And that in the remote event this thing ever goes to trial, it might be better if you did the questioning as well.’
‘I haven’t got that much trial experience. A few misdemeanors with the public defender, and that’s it.’
Paget nodded. ‘That would bother
Similar Books
