“Damn. CJ, we need to mobilize every resource that we have. This is worse than we thought. And much more pressing.”
“Are you suggesting that our entire military and intelligence community should be notified? Like absolutely everybody, sir?”
“Right on the ball, CJ. That’s why you’re in charge of the most powerful military in the world. Yes, you idiot. We must use every resource at our disposal to find Kumar. Find him and silence him.” The president disconnected the call. “Damn it, Tyra. Damn. This could unglue everything.”
“Sir,” Tyra said, “give me some authority to investigate this. The logical starting points would be our embassies in Islamabad and Kabul. From there we can go through the DDI, and the directors and deputy directors of the various intelligence agencies. We were going to bring in the admiral anyway. Also bring in the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Pershing. We will get to the bottom of this and fix it. We can fix this, Matt.”
“I don’t need to tell you, Tyra, what will happen to our personal interests if this goes sideways.”
“No, sir, you don’t. If you go down, I go down. But rather than obsess about the unthinkable, let’s be more positive about the day.”
“What could possibly be positive about any of this?”
She tweaked one of his chest hairs. “There was a comm-link set up. We will know within hours how that was done, and then we will know who did it. From there it should be a simple matter to get the culprits, and once we have them, we have Kumar. Don’t despair about this, Matt. It’s a little bump in the road. He’s not going to talk to anyone.”
10
It was day two of the trial and the first Crown witness was on the stand. Leon was sitting, surrounded by bulletproof glass, in a prisoner’s dock reserved for the most violent and dangerous offenders. The only way he could communicate with his counsel was by passing a note to one of the sheriffs sitting on each side of the dock. It was handed to Dana.
“He’s asking nothing but leading questions. Do something!” was all the note said. It was true that the questioning had gone on for twenty minutes without a single objection. Dana stood up and uncomfortably objected to Archambault’s latest question.
“Objection, m’lord,” she said, trying to hide the fear in her voice.
Archambault stopped and looked at Dana with irritation.
“Objection to what?” snapped Judge Mordecai.
“He’s asking leading questions, sir.”
“So he is. Now what’s your problem?”
“Well, um, well, he’s not allowed to do that.”
“Yes he can.”
“The textbook says he can’t, m’lord,” she said, holding an out-of-date copy of Blackstone on Criminal Evidence, quivering with the thought of contradicting Judge Mordecai.
“Well read it all, Ms. Wittenberg,” snapped the judge. “Mr. Archambault is allowed to ask leading questions on nonessential points. The witness is describing the scene. Is there any issue with the scene?” “I don’t think so, sir.”
“Then he can lead on the scene. You are interrupting Mr. Archambault. And this trial is going to take a lot longer than scheduled if throughout it we need to teach you the basics of the law of evidence. Now sit down and shut up.”
Dana sat, her ears and cheeks crimson, highlighting the long, thin scar. Her mind was so flustered that she began typing random things into one of her computers. Archambault took advantage of it. “Of course I will not lead on essential matters, m’lord,” he said graciously, and promptly began leading on every contentious issue in the case.
Another thirty minutes of questioning went by. Archambault was leading evidence about the mine itself.
“Mr. Dennis Lestage knew where the power switch for the generator supplying electricity for the mine was, didn’t he?” “Yes, sir,” replied the corporal.
“And he appeared to you to be familiar with the layout of the mine?”
Before Corporal Gray could answer, Judge Mordecai instructed the witness not to answer. “Ms. Wittenberg?” he said. Dana’s head was hiding behind a large video screen. “Ms. Wittenberg?” This time Judge Mordecai’s voice was raised a semi-octave and had increased by a good ten decibels.
“Yes, sir?”
“Now those are leading questions. Are you going to let that pass?”
“No m’lord. No. I object. He’s leading on important things now.”
“See? You’re learning. Now pay attention and protect your client’s interests.”
Dana mumbled something and sat down, her nose an inch from the keyboard, waiting for the next question, but not before she heard one of the juniors, McGhee, stage-whispering, “Nice job, Little Puppy.”
She would have sunk lower, but her nose was already touching the keyboard. Leon Lestage was becoming concerned. The optics of having four prosecutors and a judge pound on the little guy were definitely attractive, but the proceedings were not going well. Leon was shrewd, and knew enough street-smart criminal law to engineer a mistrial. Maybe it was time to pull the pin on Judge Mordecai’s traveling road show, but then he would need to start over, with new counsel, who would need a few more million as well. For the first time in the endlessly complex legal tapestry in which he had become ensnared, he felt a twinge of anxiety course through him. He banished that soon enough. Leon Lestage could power his way through anything. He would give it a week or two.
It took the better part of the day, but by the end of Corporal Gray’s testimony, the backdrop of the case had been craftily woven together. Archambault sat down and was promptly congratulated by Sheff for the skillful job. The judge looked at Dana, who was still attempting to make herself disappear.
“Cross-examination, Ms. Wittenberg?”
Slowly Dana stood up, feeling the weight of several hundred eyes watching her inside
