Mercy

could make out was something like “yewer.” Alex turned back to the police.

“She’s hyperventilating! Call a doctor! Now!”

23:38 PDT

Juanita was now finding it harder to match up the shredded strips to the part of the letter that she had already reconstructed. The first strips had been easy because a handful of shredded strips had stayed together at the top of the pile. But others had got separated.

She reckoned that she had reconstructed at least a third of the letter. She could make out some parts of sentences like “I can conf…” She could also make out fragments of dates on the letter, and she knew it was important to remember that these dates were in the British format.

But she was making too slow progress. She looked up at the clock and saw that she had only twenty-three minutes. Even if she could finish, what could she do with it? Could she send it to the governor? Would he act on it? What did it say? What did it even prove?

But there were other questions going through her mind. Like why hadn’t Nat returned? Where was he now?

And what about Alex? Why didn’t he call in? He had told her what the governor had said and that he was on his way to speak to Mrs. Olsen. But would they let him in to the hospital? And what had Esther Olsen decided? Would she ask the governor for a stay of execution on Burrow? Would the governor grant it?

Juanita had to find out.

23:40 PDT

“Look, if you’ll just call the governor, he’ll explain everything,” said Alex as he was led away in handcuffs by the police.

They were outside the building and he was being manhandled toward a waiting police car.

“You can call from the precinct.”

“No, you don’t understand. I’ve got a client on death row who’s due to be — ”

“Wait a minute!” asked the female cop. “Are you Clayton Burrow’s lawyer?”

“Yes. And I’ve got new evidence. I have to speak to the governor.”

“I don’t think you’re going to speak to the governor at this time.”

This was the male cop again. But his female colleague was somewhat more sympathetic.

“Hold on a minute, Jack, I think we should let him.”

“After he burst into that old lady’s room?”

Alex knew that he had to say something to swing it his way.

“The ‘old lady’ is the mother of the victim. The governor told me that he would grant a stay of execution if she asked for it.”

“So you thought you’d just barge in there and browbeat her — ”

“You don’t understand! I met her this morning. She asked me to help her. We have new evidence. She helped me to find the evidence.”

“Sure. And I’m Superman.”

“Look, why don’t you just take my phone and call the governor yourself?”

“Yeah, like I’ve got the governor’s number.”

They had reached the police car now.

“The number’s in my cell phone. It’s on my quick-call list. You can take the cell phone out of my pocket and call him. Please, just do it!”

The male cop exchanged glances with his female colleague again. In the end it was the female who took the iPhone from Alex’s pocket and selected the name “governor” from the contacts list.

“Hi Alex?”

“Who is this?” asked the female cop.

“This is the governor — Chuck Dusenbury. And who is this?”

The female cop introduced herself and told the governor what had happened. This was followed by several seconds of intense shouting in which the governor could be clearly heard to be telling the female officer to release Mr. Sedaka immediately and to put him on the line. The male cop uncuffed Alex and the female officer handed him the phone.

“Sir, I’ve just spoken to Mrs. Olsen.”

“And?”

“I couldn’t ask her, sir. After I found out what I found out, she suffered a relapse. They’ve got her on a respirator. But I’ve learned something else — something I didn’t know before.”

“What’s that?”

Alex looked round edgily, wondering how to phrase it. He could hardly tell the cops to back off, under the circumstances. And moving away from them, out of earshot, was equally not an option. He chose his next words carefully.

“I know about Jimmy and Jonathan … and Edgar.”

There was an intense silence for a few seconds.

“She told you?” asked Dusenbury, nervously.

“Jonathan told me some of it,” said Alex, “and Esther told me the rest. I don’t know if there are any more blanks to fill in, but I think I’ve pretty much got the whole picture.”

“And what do you intend to do with the information?”

The governor’s tone was tense.

“Do with it?” Alex was puzzled. A second or two later he understood. “I’m not a blackmailer if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Then what is it you want of me?”

“I’m trying to say that it’s beginning to look increasingly like my client was right — about Dorothy. And there’s more to it because there’s evidence that my own legal intern has been up to some shenanigans.”

“What sort of shenanigans?”

“Well for a start, he had Dorothy’s passport at his home. The passport showed that she entered England but never left. Also, Nat was the one who was so instrumental in getting me to take on the Burrow case. And another thing — inside the passport was a picture of a young Esther Olsen.”

“What are you talking about, Alex?”

“I’m talking about the fact that Nat seems to have taken an interest not only in Dorothy, but also in her mother. And another thing: we’ve been chasing up that clinic in London that Dorothy went to, and they sent us a fax. But it’s beginning to look like Nat intercepted it.”

“So why don’t you get them to send you a new one?”

“We’ve bust a gut trying. But there’s a problem because of the time difference. We need to speak to an administrator and right now they’re on the graveyard shift.”

There was a brief pause.

“It’s actually quarter of eight in the morning in England by my reckoning. Maybe one of the admin staff is an early riser. It’s worth a shot.”

Alex considered asking Dusenbury to grant a stay in the meantime. That was the reason why he had made this call. But he realized that even with all the evidence they had, the governor was going to do nothing unless he had what he considered to be absolute proof.

“Okay, but you will be waiting for my call back?”

“I’m sitting by the phone, Alex. And I’ll be waiting.”