'They're the working-class Kennedys of Montauk,' pronounced Dominick Dunne, who arrived in town on assignment for
The reporting showed how quickly the story had polarized the East End. When a sunburned investment banker getting out of his Porsche in front of an East Hampton wine shop was approached by a reporter, he said, 'I hope they get life.' He was expressing the prevailing sentiment of the
The locals saw it differently. They may have couched it in neutral-seeming sound bites like 'I just hope everyone gets home safe,' but the only ones whose safety they were concerned about were the Mullens and their friends.
'If you know what's happened to this family in the past few years,' said Denise Lowe, a waitress at PJ's Pancake House, 'you'd understand that this is an American tragedy. It's just so sad. We all love Jack and Macklin.'
But it wasn't until nearly midnight, when the newsreaders went home and the cable pundits took over, that the first truly sympathetic editorial commentating began to seep out. As has been the case quite often, the voice ahead of the curve belonged to Geraldo.
That night, he broadcast from the bar of the Shagwong restaurant. Moderating the show like a town meeting, Geraldo drew out the locals. He encouraged them to gush and reminisce about Mack and Jack.
'One reason that Macklin might be so comfortable in his new role,' said Gary Miller, who owned a nursery, 'is that unofficially he's been the town judge for twenty years. As a matter of fact, we're sitting in his favorite court right now.'
Geraldo also set up a live remote with Chauncy Howells, dean of Columbia Law School. 'Jack Mullen was not a good law student, he was a
'Make no mistake,' said Geraldo in closing, 'Jackson and Macklin Mullen are not fanatics or radicals, or even nut jobs. They are people who, not unlike you and me, were fed up by the transparent inequities in the criminal justice system. The only difference is that those injustices hit a lot closer to home for them than for us. They decided to do something about it. Our prayers go out to
And as the networks and cable stations turned
Chapter 94
'IF I'M NOT REAL CAREFUL, I could get used to a place like this,' said Macklin, running one long, bony finger along the aged mahogany wainscoting that made the room seem as if it had been lifted from a stone manse in some British PBS miniseries. We were sitting in the corner library, just off the more austere space we'd turned into our courtroom. Mack and I parked ourselves on the polished oak floors and sat facing the long, tall window that looked out onto the empty beach. I felt as if I'd just lived through the world's first hundred-hour day.
'I've been thinking about Marci and Fenton and Hank,' I said. 'We shouldn't have let them get involved.'
'It's a little late for that, Jack. Besides, they wanted to be here,' said Macklin impatiently. 'And I hope you've more in your hand than you showed today.'
'How about Jane's testimony?' I asked him.
'It was the best you had. But it didn't implicate Neubauer. Not in the least. Where's the hard evidence Jack?'
'You can't skip steps, Mack,' I told him. 'As Fenning, my old trial tactics instructor, put it, you got to 'build the boat.' '
'Well, build the frigging thing already, and make sure it floats. Now help me up, Jack. I've got to get into my sleeping bag. I shouldn't be talking to you anyway.'
I grabbed a huge gnarled hand and pulled hard. While I had him there, I gave him a long, stout hug. I felt I was grabbing a bag of bones.
'Don't get old on me, Macklin,' I said. 'I need you too much.'
'I feel like I've aged ten years in the last ten hours. That's not too good when you start the day at eighty- seven.'
Chapter 95
THE LIBRARY HAD ITS OWN BALCONY, and once Mack hobbled off, I slid open the glass door and stepped outside. I knew I shouldn't be out there, but I needed to clear my head. I wanted to think everything through one more time, especially the main reason I hoped we might actually get away with it.
The deck was angled out from the corner of the house. Whether you looked east toward the lighthouse or west toward town, you didn't see another man-made structure. In its vast cold-blooded beauty, a Montauk night can make you feel as insignificant as a fly jammed up on the wrong side of a windowsill. But that night the dwarfing scale was comforting. And the stars were dazzling.
One of the many happy side effects of perspective and clear thinking is that it helps you sleep. I stretched out on the cedar planks, and in seconds I was out.
I was jarred from sleep by footsteps at the end of the deck.
It was too late to run. I sat up and stared blindly into the dark. Maybe the FBI. Some deep, scary voice about to order me to roll over on my stomach and put my hands behind my back.
We had made it clear, I hoped, that we weren't going to harm any hostages. There was no need to shoot me on sight. I almost said out loud, 'No need to shoot.'
I smelled Pauline's light perfume before I saw her. 'Coming back here was insane,' I said when she stepped out of the darkness.
But I didn't say it with much conviction. I figured she'd been thinking the same thing I had, that it might be our last night together for a long time.
'So, I'm insane,' she said.
'Well, you've come to the right place.'
Pauline lay down and leaned into me, and for a few minutes I forgot about everything except how right she was for me. The thought filled me with anguish.
'I didn't mean it, Paulie girl. I'm really glad you came back from New York.'
'I know, Jack. So give the girl a kiss.'
Chapter 96
AN HOUR OR SO LATER, Pauline and I were still out on the deck beneath the canopy of a thousand glittering stars.
'Did you get the blood work back from Jane?' she asked softly. For a second I was somewhere so far away that I didn't know what she meant.
'Not till tomorrow. Early, I hope. How about you? How'd it go out there in the big, bad world?'
'I did good,' said Pauline with her loveliest cat-that-swallowed-the-canary grin. 'Real good, jack. You're going