if there are rules, you have to follow them.'
Gary looked glum. 'I guess if it's the rule, he has to follow that rule.'
'Right. Now I have something serious we have to talk about, so listen hard.'
(60kay, I'm listening.'
'Do you know what happens during the penalty phase of your trial?'
'No, Pete. What happens?'
'You ... you've, uh, been convicted of aggravated murder. That's the most serious crime in Oregon. The jury is going to listen to the D.A. and your lawyer and decide which of three punishments to give you. Two of the punishments are life sentences. One life sentence lets you have a possible parole after thirty years. One life sentence doesn't have parole. That means you can't get out ever.'
'I don't like that. I want to get out.'
Peter started to explain to Gary that he could not get out of prison, but he stopped himself. It was all so futile.
'There's another punishment, Gary. You could receive a death sentence. The jury could say that you shouldbeexecu.. killed.Doyouunderstand?'
'I don't want that one,' Gary said. He sounded -A scared.
'And I don't want you to get that punishment either, Peter said, his words catching in his throat. 'That's why we're having this talk.
'Now pay close attention, Gary. It's very important that you have a really good lawyer in the penalty phase and I don't think I should be your lawyer.'
Gary looked surprised, then even more frightened.
'Don't you want to be my lawyer? You're a good lawyer.'
'I'm not so sure about that, Gary. I haven't done very well with this case so far. I.. . I've never tried a penalty phase. If I told the judge that I'm not good enough to six represent you, he'd get you a good lawyer.'
'No, no,' Gary said in a panic, 'you're my lawyer. 'Yes, Gary, but I think you'd do better with another lawyer.'
'Oh no. You're the best lawyer,' Gary said with conviction. 'And you're my friend. My best friend. You'll save me. I know you won't let them give me those bad punishments.'
'Jesus, Gary .. .' Peter started, but he did not have the heart to go on.
'Think about it, will you. Really THE t Think about it. Because, I don't know .. . Just think FLATLANDS about it.'
April
Chapter TWENTY-SEVEN.
judge Kuffel set the start of the penalty phase for a week from Monday, which gave Peter very little time to recover from the trial. On Sunday, Peter woke up a little after nine from a restless sleep haunted by unsettling dreams. He did not want to spend the day in his depressing rental house and he did not have the energy for a run, so, after a shower and breakfast, he went to the office.
Peter had no plan to save Gary. He spent the first half hour aimlessly stacking everything in his case files on his desk. He had been through the police reports, the autopsy report and witness statements several times. The only new things were Donna's neatly typed investigative Peter picked them up and went through them reports.
without enthusiasm. He found nothing of interest until he read Donna's summary of her interview with Marjorie Dooling. Something she'd written triggered a memory and Peter shuffled through the police reports until he found David Thorne's statement.
As Peter entered the Stallion, a man in a Pittsburgh Steeler uniform spun away from two Oakland Raider defenders and gained five yards before being brought down by another Raider. Several patrons groaned and several more cheered. The bartender turned away from the television when the Steelers called a time-out.
'Dave Thorne?'
'That's me,' the bartender answered with a smile.
'I'm Peter Hale, Gary Harmon's lawyer.'
The smile disappeared. 'Tough loss, man,' Thorne shook his head. 'I have a hard time believing Gary could do something like that.'
'I don't think he did. That's why I'm here. I wanted to ask you about something you told the police. It was in the statement you gave to Dennis Downes.'
'I remember that.'
'I was interested in what you had to say about Sandra Whiley. She was sitting at the end of the bar farthest from the door, right?'
'Yeah, near my station.'
'So you saw her for a while?'
'I wasn't paying that much attention. I was pretty busy.'
'Right, but in the report you said that there was a time when she seemed nervous or frightened.'
,I did?'
Peter gave him a copy of his statement and Thorne read it carefully. He stopped at a section of the report that Peter had highlighted in Magic Marker. Thorne read it twice, then nodded vigorously.
'I remember now. What do you want to know?'
'You said that she was watching two men who were walking toward the back door and she seemed frightened. Tell me about that.'
'It was after I called Steve Mancini. When I turned around, Whiley looked shocked or scared. I thought she was staring at two guys on the level above the dance floor, up there.'
Peter looked where Thorne was pointing.
'Did you get a good look at the men?' Peter asked.
'No. It was dark and I only glanced at them. Things were pretty frantic up front.'
'Can you describe them at all?'
Thorne thought for a second. Then he brightened.
One guy made no impression, but the other guy was huge. I remember thinking he looked like a pro wrestler.'
Marjorie Dooling had appeared briefly as a witness in the state's case-in-chief. Peter asked her no questions, but he remembered what she looked like. It only took him a few minutes to locate her in the Whitaker State I College library, where her landlady said she was studying. Dooling was hunched over a history text at a large table next to a row of bookfilled stacks. The seat across from her was empty and Peter took it.
'Miss Dooling, my name is Peter Hale.' He handed in her a bus' ess card. 'I represent Gary Harmon. You testified at the trial.' Dooling's features clouded. 'You were kind enough to talk to my investigator the other day, and there was one small item in her report that I wanted to clear up.'
'All right,' Dooling sighed. 'One question. But that's all. I have a test tomorrow.'
Peter showed Dooling the section of Donna's report where she had mentioned the man who came to the house to pick up Sandy. of him.' ::You said you thought Sandy was frightened She was real nervous all day. When he honked the horn for her, she seemed scared to me.'
'Can you remember anything g more about the man in who picked her up? His hair color, his size?'
Dooling started to shake her head. Then, she stopped as something occurred to her.
'I only saw him from the second-floor window and he was in his car. But there was something. When Sandy came out of the door, his arm was restin on the car window. I only saw it for a second, because he brought it inside as soon as he saw her.
'What about the arm?'
'He was wearing a short-sleeve tee shirt and I could see part of his biceps and his forearm. They were really big, like a weight lifter's, and they were covered by tattoos.'
'Can you describe the tattoos?'
