Past Imperfect

party as a regional constituent or in Brussels, while this case remains unresolved. His resignation of today has been accepted with due regret by the party President.'

The statement was as expected. 'Moral' support meant that the party could offer no tangible support, but their thoughts were with him. Good luck and bon voyage.

Eight days. All that Duclos had spent behind bars before being bailed. Quite a contrast to Machanaud, Dominic thought sourly. The system at work. Egalite its middle name.

But it wasn't full bail, Corbeix was eager to point out. More house arrest, with a gendarme permanently in Duclos' shadow. Posted by his front door in Limoges or his hotel room in Aix when Duclos travelled down for instruction hearings. His passport surrendered, his bank accounts frozen, and practically all his assets tied up in bail funding. 'It was the best we could hope for in the circumstances.'

Two days since the bail hearing. A more sober meeting this time with Corbeix. No whisky. Not much to celebrate. Corbeix' desk was strewn with the main newspapers: most carried the story on the front page.

The bail decision hadn't been entirely a surprise. As soon as Corbeix heard about Duclos' appointed lawyer, Jean-Paul Thibault, Corbeix was at least forewarned what to expect: arrogance, brashness, cries of 'outrage' at every opportunity. Thibault's firm was a leading Paris cabinet, with associate offices in Brussels and Washington. Heavy on corporate law, their criminal law division was smaller, but nevertheless competent and aggressive. Thibault was one of their youngest partners and had risen to prominence in the eighties representing a leading Paris haute couture director's wife charged with murder. A number of similar high profile cases followed, making Thibault's mark as a good 'celebrity lawyer’,

Thibault's steel-rimmed glasses, gelled back hair and double breasted suits had cut a good clean, up-and- coming yuppie lawyer image a decade ago. But his image hadn't changed with the years, and now, in his late forties, it made him look shady and sharp.

Dominic was thoughtful as Corbeix covered Thibault's background. 'Doesn't sound too far removed from a younger Duclos.'

'Perhaps that's what endeared Duclos to Thibault. Sees a bit of himself in him.'

Predictably, Thibault had come in all guns blazing for his client at the bail hearing: Duclos' status, his long years as a publicly elected official, his strong commitment to France. Corbeix had answered with the seriousness of the charges and the fact that Duclos had money; he had the means to escape.

They argued the toss for almost an hour before the examining magistrate, Claude Barielle, ruled: bank accounts and assets frozen. Passport held. House arrest. Counsels to be advised of the order of play for instruction hearings within ten days.

Corbeix had initially been enthused with Claude Barielle's appointment. Only thirty-two and with a sharply inquisitive mind, Corbeix felt that Barielle would be more open-minded to the background of PLR than some of the older examining magistrates. But during the bail hearing, he began to worry that Barielle might turn out too much of a lightweight faced with someone like Thibault. A master manipulator, Thibault was used to ruling the roost in the main courtrooms of Paris. In a provincial Aix courtroom with a young examining magistrate, Thibault could have Barielle carrying his luggage in no time.

In most instruction hearings, defence lawyers were mainly passengers aboard an examining magistrate's inquisitorial flagship. Present only when his client was called, defence could only demand presence when witnesses were called by posting a 'request to confront' notice. Prosecutors too could, if they wish, coast along during instruction, merely make notes and suggestions, appear at only half the hearings, generally let the examining magistrate do the running.

Corbeix grimaced. Given his current condition, such a stance would have probably suited him. But he could see by the spread of newspapers on his desk that it wasn't going to be that type of instruction. Thibault was going to be posting a lot of 'request to confront' notices, calling foul at every turn.

'I think we're in for a rough ride. And possibly earlier than I thought.'

Dominic too glanced at the newspapers. One had already nicknamed Duclos the bio-tech MEP. The rest made strong reference to it somewhere in the article. The murder case and the bio-tech dispute had already been successfully fused in the public's mind. 'What do you think Thibault's tactic is?'

'On the surface, just a convenient smoke-screen. A distraction. But beneath, it's a very clever manipulation. The bio-tech ruling is pro-life, pro rights of man. At the same time we are expected to believe that the man responsible is also a murderer. Thibault is trying to paint Duclos as a saint before it has even started. He's going all out for an early kill.'

'Any particular reason? He has his client bailed, so why the time pressure?'

'Think about it. Thibault has made the bold claim that this whole case is unfounded. But as the instruction drags on, not only will people begin to doubt such a claim but, win or lose, Duclos' political career will be over. Only if Thibault can get the case thrown out quickly does Duclos have any chance of bouncing back.'

They'd discussed the daunting task ahead at the last meeting, shored up the final barricades, Dominic reflected. Now Corbeix was raising the portent of an early defeat. Was Corbeix just hardening him up against a possible let down, or did he really see losing as a strong possibility?

Twelve days later, with the agenda for the first six instruction hearings in hand together with Thibault's 'request to confront' notices, Corbeix' fears were confirmed. It was going to be a gloves off fight at every stage. Though one confront notice surprised him. He stared at it long and hard before laying the papers aside, and wondered: bluff, or did Thibault know something they didn't?

Marinella Calvan cradled the phone to her ear with her shoulder, turning the top page of the official notice she'd received. 'Yeah, yeah. The sixteenth. Just over three weeks from now.' Her agent, Stephanie Bruckmann, was at the other end. 'That's right, yep. The expense this time is on them. No more pleading for departmental funding.'

'Who told you what the notice said?' Bruckmann asked. 'That cute French tutor you mentioned finding on campus.'

'No. Inspector Fornier phoned me directly. Went through it with me. I use Tom just for the newspaper articles. There was something else just the other day.' Marinella flicked through the copy of Le Figaro to one side. 'First instruction hearing, whatever that is, next Tuesday. Bit more about this Duclos' involvement with the bio-tech case.'

'The bio-tech stuff's good for us. The John Moore case was splashed across most of the papers here. Generated some great headlines: 'Spleenless in Seattle' was one of the best.' She heard Marinella chuckle at the other end. 'So it should help build up some national exposure.'

'Let's hope so.'

Stephanie Bruckmann was thoughtful. She'd spent the last month setting up lecture tours, book deals and chat shows — then held back. The preliminaries done, the market primed — far stronger impact would be gained once the case hit the press. And stronger still with the confirmation of Marinella testifying at trial. She'd asked Marinella to phone her as soon as she received trial notification from France. 'Look — I think I'm going to go for Larry King straightaway. His office were on just a couple of days ago, right after the Washington Post story. Let's save Oprah and the rest till later. Right now it's a strong international-political story — but not yet a strong American story. Let's give it a couple more weeks to brew on that front. But it's great for King right now. I'll call his office first thing tomorrow.'

Thibault behaved himself at the first two instruction hearings. Sat for the most part taking notes with his assistant Madeleine at his side, peering imperiously above his glasses at anything questionable, but generally saying little. Few objections or interruptions.

Corbeix hadn't been sure what to expect. Because Duclos' presence was necessary at both initial hearings, Thibault didn't need to post 'confront' requests in order to be present.

Barielle sat with a greffier tapping notes into a computer to his left. Despite his years, Barielle had strong presence. He was receding prematurely and had sharp, piercing blue eyes. Broached no nonsense. The hearing room was no more than eight metres by six.