Jaywalker's long-standing habit to skip lunch when he was on a trial. Adrenaline seemed to have a way of trumping appetite, and there were the afternoon's witnesses to prepare for. Not that he wasn't ready to crossexamine Concepcion Testigo, the truck driver, whom he figured would be next up for the prosecution. But there was ready, and then there was Jaywalker ready, which didn't leave time for silly distractions like food. So he found an empty windowsill, hopped up onto it and spent the hour reviewing reports and revising notes that he'd already reviewed and revised a hundred times earlier.
Why was it again that he'd been in such a hurry to get back to this love-hate business they called trying a case, and had been so happy when the Disciplinary Committee judges had given him the green light? Oh, yeah. The money. That was it.
Abe Firestone was back at the podium for the direct examination of the first of what, as Jaywalker saw things, would be his three star witnesses. First would be Testigo, the pickup-truck driver who'd seen the accident and managed to remember the three critical numbers off the Audi's license plate. Then there'd be Riley, the bartender from the End Zone. And finally, an expert in alcohol metabolism, to convert drinks into drunkenness.
FIRESTONE: By whom are you employed, Mr. Testigo?
TESTIGO: ABC Construction, over in Nanuet.
FIRESTONE: And prior to working for ABC, where were you employed?
TESTIGO: For eleven years I worked as an auto mechanic for Rockland Foreign Cars.
FIRESTONE: In the course of your work, did you become familiar with different makes and models of imported cars?
TESTIGO: Yes, I did.
FIRESTONE: Are you by any chance familiar with the Audi TT?
TESTIGO: I am.
FIRESTONE: Have you worked on one?
TESTIGO: Yes. Several.
FIRESTONE: Did you happen to see one back on May 27 of last year?
TESTIGO: Yes, I did.
FIRESTONE: What color was it?
TESTIGO: It was red, bright red.
Firestone had his witness describe the time and locate the exact place on the map. He'd been heading home, Testigo stated, coming from a construction site where he'd put in a twelve-hour day. Other than a single bottle of Corona Light with his lunch eight hours earlier, he'd had nothing to drink.
FIRESTONE: Did you see something?
TESTIGO: Yes. I seen a red Audi TT driving in the wrong lane, very fast.
FIRESTONE: How fast would you estimate it was trav eling?
JAYWALKER: Objection. No foundation.
THE COURT: Overruled. You may answer.
TESTIGO: Seventy, seventy-five.
FIRESTONE: Do you know what the posted speed limit is on that stretch of highway?
JAYWALKER: Objection.
THE COURT: Overruled. Do you know?
TESTIGO: Fifty or fifty-five. I'm not sure.
FIRESTONE: What happened?
TESTIGO: Like I said, the Audi was in the wrong lane, facing oncoming traffic. I seen a van come around a bend, a white van. And the Audi never pulls over. It stays in the van's lane, heading straight at it.
FIRESTONE: What happened next?
TESTIGO: The driver of the van must have braked, 'cause I hear his tires laying down rubber, squealing like. Then I seen him veer off to the right, to get out of the Audi's way. For a second or two I thought he was going to make it, but then he lost it like, an' took off in the air.
FIRESTONE: The van became airborne?
TESTIGO: Yeah.
FIRESTONE: And then?
TESTIGO: And then I seen him come down hard, bust right through the metal fence there FIRESTONE: The guardrail?
TESTIGO: Yeah, the car rail.
FIRESTONE: And?
TESTIGO: And he flips over an' goes down the hill, hit ting things.
FIRESTONE: Things?
TESTIGO: Trees, rocks, whatever was in the way.
FIRESTONE: What did you do?
TESTIGO: I looked at the Audi, to see if it was going to stop.
FIRESTONE: Did it?
TESTIGO: No.
FIRESTONE: When you looked at the Audi, what were you able to see?
TESTIGO: I got a quick look at the driver. But I got his license plate.
FIRESTONE: Front plate, or rear?
TESTIGO: Rear.
FIRESTONE: Do you see the driver in court?
TESTIGO: I think that's him, over there.
(Witness points)
FIRESTONE: Indicating the defendant.
TESTIGO: I remember his jello hair.
FIRESTONE: Excuse me?
TESTIGO: I could see his hair was jello.
Jaywalker raised his notepad to hide his smile. He'd represented his share of Hispanic clients over the years, and had learned that a number of them had difficulty when it came to pronouncing certain letters. J and Y, for example, proved especially hard, no matter which one they were trying to say. So just as he'd had to get used to being called Mr. Yaywalker, or the more familiar Mr. Yay, so too did he have to learn not to take offense when told by one of his clients, 'I really like jew.' Therefore he now knew exactly what Mr. Testigo was trying to say, even if he was the only one in the courtroom who seemed to. And since the identity of the driver wasn't what the case was all about, he decided he might as well solve the mystery for the rest of them.
JAYWALKER: The defense will stipulate that the witness is referring to the color of my client's hair, which is blond or yellow, as in Y — E-L–L-O-W.
That drew a collective 'Aaaah' from the jury box, a thank-you from the judge, and even a grunt of approval from Firestone.
Firestone had his witness describe how, at the time, he had been able to read the entire plate, but could later on remember only the numerals 724. He was absolutely certain of them, though, because they were the same as his wife's birthday, July 24. But that was the last he ever saw of the Audi, which continued on without ever slowing down or stopping.
FIRESTONE: Did you see what happened to the van?
TESTIGO: Yeah. I stopped my truck and jumped out, and
I was climbing down to help. There was like a little bit of fire coming out from underneath it. Then all of a sudden it blew up like, exploded. And I had to back off. It was so hot I couldn't get close.
(Witness crying)
THE COURT: Do you need a minute?
TESTIGO: No, no. I'm okay.
FIRESTONE: What happened next?
