'Not. exactly, but I'm certain it was sometime between nine and ten.'
'Where did you go when you arrived at the station?'
'Into a small room next to the room where Mr. Harmon was being questioned.'
.. I'm 'Could you see and hear the defendant?'
'Yes. There was a two-way mirror and an intercom that let me hear what was said.'
'Was Mr. Harmon's interrogation under way when you arrived?'
'Yes.
'How much of it did you hear?'
'Several hours. Maybe five. The interrogation went on for some time.'
'Did Sergeant Downes make any promises in exchange for Mr. Harmon's cooperation?'
'No.'
'Did you ever hear Sergeant Downes threaten the defendant?'
'Did it sound like Mr. Harmon was being coerced into talking to Sergeant Downes?'
Bosco hesitated before answering and looked at Steve Mancini. Peter caught the look, but Mancini did not react at all.
'No,' Bosco said.
Becky O'Shay checked her notes. Then, she smiled at the witness.
'No further questions.'
'Mr. Mancini?' judge Kuffel asked.
'No questions.'
Bosco frowned. He tilted his head slightly, as if he was attempting to signal Mancini, but Steve was absorbed in his notes. Bosco stood slowly, as if trying to give Mancini extra time to act. Mancini saw Bosco staring at him and smiled. Bosco's brow knitted, but he walked out of the courtroom. Peter noticed the psychologist's confusion and leaned over to Steve.
'Bosco hesitated when Becky asked whether Gary seemed to be coerced. I think he wanted to say something. Why didn't you follow' up?'
'I, already interviewed Bosco. He can't help us,' Mancini whispered.
'Do you have any rebuttal witnesses, Mr. Mancini?'
judge Kuffel asked.
'No, sir.'
'Then, we'll recess for the day and I'll hear argument in the morning.'
judge Kuffel left the bench quickly and the reporters surged forward. Peter walked over to them, but Becky O'Shay intercepted him.
'Drop by my office before you leave the courthouse, she said.
Steve Mancini talked to Gary while the guards handcuffed him. Mancini patted Gary on the shoulder and said something that made Gary smile. While Peter and Becky talked to the reporters, Mancini gathered up his notes and law books.
'Becky wants to see us,' Peter told Steve when he returned to the table.
'What for?'
Peter shrugged. The two attorneys hefted their briefcases and books and headed upstairs.
'What's up?' Peter asked the deputy D.A. when they were all in her office.
O'Shay handed Peter copies of a police report.
'We received this information last week, but we've been checking it out. Now that I've decided to use this witness, I'm obligated to give you his statement.'
The two defense lawyers read the police report. When Mancini finished it, he shook his head and chuckled.
'You're not serious about using Kevin as a witness, are you?'
'Dead serious,' Becky answered.
'Come on. You can't believe a thing Kevin says. You know he's just trying to weasel out of this federal drug bust.'
'I'm sure that's what you'll argue to the jury.'
'We've got a problem,' Steve Mancini told Peter as soon as they were outside the courthouse. 'I've got to get off Gary's case.'
'Why?'
'I've got a conflict of interest. I can't represent a client if another client is going to be a key witness against him.
'What if I cross-examine Booth?'
Mancini shook his head. 'If I know something about B.oath that will help Gary and I don't tell you, I'm violating my duty to Gary. But if I use confidential information I obtained from Booth to help Gary, I'm violating my duty to Booth. Even staying on as co-counsel presents the appearance of p I impro riety. I have no choice. I've got to get off the case.'
'Jesus, Steve. How am I supposed to try this case alone?'
'Hey, I'm sympathetic. I feel bad about talking you into taking the case. If you don't think you can do it, you can resign.
But Peter knew that resigning was not an option. He had cut himself off from his father and quit his job. If he tried to get a position anywhere, he would receive references from Hale, Greaves and Amos Geary that would make Saddam Hussein look like a better job can I J didate. Without the Harmons' retainer he would be dead broke. A victory for Gary Harmon was his only way out of the hole he'd dug for himself.
'No, I can't let Gary down,' Peter said.
Mancini clapped Peter on the back 1'That's what I wanted to hear. Besides, I have confidence in you.
You're a quick study, Peter. This criminal stuff is a cinch. This might even work out better for you in the long run. When you win, you won't have to share the credit.'
The Ponderosa was on the opposite side of Whitaker from the Stallion. it catered to workingmen and solitary drinkers. Its jukebox played country and the waitresses unds to life.
were older women who had lost a few to an could get Most of the time it was a place where a in totally sloshed in peace and quiet. Occasionally, it was the scene of violent barroom brawls.
osa regulars.
Barney Pullen fit right in with the Ponder He had a beer gut, a bushy black beard and a don'truck-with-me attitude he had picked up in the Marines.
football was He liked to fish, hunt and drink beer. NFL as intellectual as he got. After the Marines, Pullen worked as a cop in Eugene, Oregon, until an incident with a suspect occurred. Pullen wasn't exactly fired, but he didn't exactly quit the force, either. The whole affair was left murky and Pullen moved to Whitaker, where he worked in his brother's body shop.
One day, Pullen was assigned the job of figuring out what caused the knocking sound that Steve Mancini heard whenever his Cadillac went over fifty. In between d pro football, Pullen mendiscussions of car engines an tioned his police background. Mancini needed an investigator with a knowledge of cars for a personal injury case and Pullen agreed to work on the case. He had done spot investigation for Mancini ever since and Peter had hired him for the Harmon case on Mancini's recommendation when the other investigators Mancini had mentioned turned out to be unavailable.
Jake Cataldo was tending bar when Pullen stepped in out of the late afternoon sun. Pullen blinked a few times and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark.
'Hi, Jake,' Pullen said, as he hoisted himself onto a bar stool next to a couple of regulars.
Cataldo was a big man with short, curly black hair ho is ' and the pate complexion of someone w indoors during the day.
'Hi, Barney. What can I do you for?'
Pullen ordered a beer. Cataldo turned to get it for him.
'What are you doin' with yourself lately?' the bartender asked, when he placed the glass of beer in front of Pullen.
'You been reading about the girl who was murdered in the park?'
