She then delivered the coup de grace. “Could Madam Clerk provide me with Exhibit 72?” she asked. The clerk immediately produced it and handed, wrapped in a plastic exhibit bag, Dan Alexander’s red-and-gold diplomatic passport. She flipped through it.
“Well, what do you know,” she said. “Looks like you passed through customs in Antigua on November 20, 2017. The customs stamp is right here.”
“Not my passport,” snarled Dan, which produced outright laughter from the jury box.
“Sure,” said Dana. “We’ll just assume that episode in court three days ago never happened. Now just a few more questions.”
With further probing, Dana was able to show that a second payment of $25 million was made to Dan’s Antigua account on February 22, 2018.
“Now what happened between November 21, 2017, and February 22 of 2018?”
“I dunno. Christmas?”
“For you, maybe. But didn’t Calvin Jones’ inquiry into the Colorado dam disaster start on November 27, 2017, and wasn’t his report delivered on February 21, 2018?”
“I guess so.”
“And weren’t you one of the key witnesses at that inquiry?” continued Dana.
“I have no idea,” said Dan, “and I will tell you right now that every document you’ve got has been faked up by my political opponents. All of this is a hoax, and you should have your law license revoked for using such fraudulent evidence in a courtroom. This is an outrage. This would never be tolerated in an American courtroom.”
“Mr. Alexander, shut up,” ordered Judge Mordecai. “Shut up with your editorials and just answer the questions. Are we about done here, Ms. Wittenberg?”
“A few more questions, Judge,” said Dana. “Mr. Alexander, I have been able to check the bank accounts that were opened at the same time that your account number 5611092 was opened. Account 5611090 was opened, it would appear, at the same time. Twenty-five million dollars appears to have been deposited in that account on November 21, 2017, and a further $25 million was deposited on February 21, 2018. Can you tell the court what name appears on the top of that document?”
“Tyra Baylor,” said Dan, through gritted teeth.
“Would that be the same Tyra Baylor that came into my home at 2 a.m.
last night with a gun in an attempt to kill me, and probably my fiancé, and my dog? That Tyra Baylor?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Let’s have a look at the account that was opened right after Tyra Baylor’s and right before yours. Account 5611091. What name appears there?” “Calvin Jones.” Dan spit out the syllables.
“That would be Calvin Jones, the American secretary of defense, and the chairman of the Colorado inquiry. That Calvin Jones?”
“This is all fake evidence. This is appalling,” Dan sputtered.
“And in account 5611093, $100 million dollars was deposited on those days. Whose name is on the top of that document?”
Dan refused to answer, despite multiple prompts.
“That’s fine,” said Judge Mordecai. “I will just read that into the record. It says Matthew Finnegan.”
“Can you tell the court who Matthew Finnegan is, please?” asked Dana with a smile. Dan refused to answer.
Next, Dana placed a thick, multi-tabbed booklet before Dan and handed multiple copies to the jury and to the other counsel gathered in the courtroom. In the course of an hour of cross-examination, she was able to demonstrate, convincingly, that through a series of nested holding companies and trusts CJ, Tyra Baylor, Dan Alexander, and the president, Matthew Finnegan, owned 100 percent of Erbium166, which owned 49 percent of the Afghanistan Development Corporation, a company that held rights to huge concessions of oil, gas, and various minerals in Afghanistan.
There was one final question. “With all of these accounts and companies and trusts, and all of this money passing back and forth by people who were intimately involved in the terrorist attack, does the name of my client, Leon Lestage, appear even once?”
“No,” croaked Dan. “Not once.”
The court called for an adjournment, and Dana, having turned around, saw in the rear of the gallery a distinguished-looking Asian man, mid-sixties, with a high forehead and greying, longish, swept-back hair. He nodded imperceptibly in Dana’s direction. No one other than Dana caught it.
When Dana sat down, Dan Alexander stood up, mopped his forehead with another piece of Kleenex that he promptly threw on the floor, took a slurp of water, opened the door of the witness box, and stepped out. “Where are you going, Mr. Alexander?” asked Judge Mordecai.
“Am I not done testifying?”
“Yes, you’re done testifying.”
“Then I’m getting the hell out of the little piece of bullshit courtroom, never to return. Now where is that scurrilous, traitorous little bastard, Hamilton Turbee?”
The instant Turbee heard those words, he ducked behind Richard and Zak. Judge Mordecai saw it. “Don’t worry, Mr. Turbee, I will take care of that little problem. Mr. Alexander is not going anywhere.” “You think that, do you?” snapped Dan.
“I know so, Mr. Alexander,” said the judge with a wry smile.
“Fuck you, you dumb asshole. I am leaving here and never coming back. Other than maybe in a B-2 bomber.”
The judge nodded toward the sheriffs, four of whom rose and stepped into the well of the courtroom. “Do you really think you’re just going to walk out of here? You have intimidated witnesses. You have likely conspired to attempt to kill witnesses. You have perjured yourself I don’t know how many times. You have accepted bribes, but I suppose that is going to be a problem for you when you get out of here, in maybe ten or twenty years. Then you can spend your final years in Leavenworth.”
“You bastard, you can’t do that,” he screamed. “I am the director of TTIC. I have a diplomatic passport.”
“You have standing behind you four of the finest
