development. Whispering and gossiping went from a buzz to a roar. Judge Pickens pounded his gavel furiously, threatening to clear the courtroom, trying to restore order.
Ben took advantage of the momentary chaos to have a short, curt conversation with his client. He was so angry he could barely speak. “You told me you didn’t know Gardiner,” he said bitterly. “You said you had no connection to him.”
“But I didn’t!” Zak said, imploringly. “I never met him till that night in the bar. It was his
Ben placed his hand on his forehead. This was just hopeless.
As soon as the courtroom was quiet enough for her to proceed, Granny did so. “And how do you know Mr. Zakin was having an affair with Lu Ann Gardiner?”
“He told me,” Rick replied. “Hell, he told me frequently. I gotta tell you, Zak may be a great environmentalist, but when it comes to women, he’s kind of a pig. Of the chauvinist variety.”
“How do you mean?”
“He was constantly trying to pick up women, in some of the sleaziest ways you can imagine. He’d lie, cheat, steal-whatever it took.”
“And is this how he attracted the attention of Mrs. Gardiner?”
“More or less, yeah.”
“How do you know?”
“I was there when it happened. I was in the bar when he first picked her up.”
“And when was that?”
“Oh, about three weeks before the murder. Apparently they really hit it off, ’cause they were banging away”-he stopped, looked up at the judge-“oh-excuse me. They were, uh, engaging in, uh, carnal relations every chance they got. Zak was having a great time. Till the angry husband found out.”
“And when was that?”
“Just before the murder. Zak found out when Gardiner met him outside the bathroom at Bunyan’s.”
“Were you there?”
“No. But Zak told me all about it. Told me Gardiner was acting real weird, almost crazy-like. Said he threatened Zak, so Zak threatened back.”
“Was Mr. Zakin disturbed by this encounter?”
“Very. Zak has a short temper, and he was having too much fun with Lu Ann to give her up. So he started thinking of ways to put the husband-Gardiner-out of the picture.”
“To put him out of the picture-permanently?”
“That’s what I think happened, yeah.”
“And why do you think that? Did you see him plant the bomb?”
“Unfortunately, no. But I did see him leave camp that night with a full backpack. In retrospect, I realize the bomb was probably stuffed in there. And he left with something else-the Sasquatch suit.”
“That’s a lie!” Zak hissed in Ben’s ear.
Granny blinked. “The Sasquatch suit?”
Rick nodded. “Right.”
“Did that belong to Green Rage or to George Zakin?”
“Well, actually, there were two of them. We had one when Zak came, but he didn’t think it looked real enough, as if he was an expert on what Bigfoot really looks like. So he bought his own.”
“And why would he leave with the suit in the middle of the night?”
“Zak loved running around in that costume, hovering around the periphery of campsites, trying to bait poor suckers into calling in Bigfoot sightings. He had this idea that if enough of those calls came in, the Forest Service would have to take them seriously. And if the forest was identified as the habitat of an endangered species, logging would have to stop.”
“That’s a lie!” Zak shouted, springing to his feet.
Pickens pounded his gavel furiously. Ben grabbed Zak’s arm and pulled him back into his chair.
“Mr. Kincaid-” Pickens started.
“I’ll take care of it, your honor.” He gave Zak a look that spoke volumes.
Granny continued. “What time did Mr. Zakin leave the Green Rage campsite?”
“It was a little after midnight.”
“And do you know when he returned?”
“Sure. I was still up. It was around two in the morning.”
“Two in the morning,” Granny repeated. “Shortly after the murder. Thank you, Mr. Collier. No more questions.”
Ben looked up and saw every face in the courtroom, including those in the jury box, staring his way. But they weren’t looking at him-they were looking past him, at Zak.
And Ben knew why. Before, there might have been some measure of doubt in the brains behind those eyes. But not any longer, not after this testimony. Now every one of them thought they were staring into the eyes of a coldblooded killer.
Chapter 55
Zak grabbed Ben’s shoulder just as he was rising to cross. “He’s jealous,” Zak whispered.
Ben froze. At the moment he really didn’t want a damn thing to do with this client of his. But he supposed he had to listen. “Jealous?”
“Sure. That’s what this is all about. He’s always been jealous. Jealous ’cause they made me the top man on the team-promoted me over him. Jealous ’cause I was always able to get the chicks-and he couldn’t. You think he was in that bar just for a tall cool one? He was trying to get laid. But it never happened. I could do it; he couldn’t. Plus, I had kind of a side thing with Molly, and he was pissed about that. Plus, he’s sweet on Deirdre.”
“Deirdre?”
“Right. He wants her bad. But she’s not interested. And”-he fell silent for a moment-“he thinks, anyway, that she and I are … intimate. That’s why he’s turned on me.”
Ben nodded, then walked to the podium. It was possible, of course. God knows Rick must have some motive for turning on his friend and colleague, and that could be it.
Or, Ben mused, it could just be that Rick thinks Zak is a murderer and he has a moral obligation to tell what he knows. A disturbing possibility.
Ben cut to the chase. “Mr. Collier, it’s a fact that you and Zak have been close friends, isn’t it?”
“We’ve worked closely together. I never considered him a friend.”
“Did he consider you a friend?”
“I don’t know. Probably.”
“Do you think he trusted you?”
“I don’t know.” Rick pulled himself up, almost defiantly. “If he trusted me not to tell that he murdered someone, then he made a mistake. I don’t countenance murder, not for any cause. And I won’t cover it up, either.”
Ben frowned. This wasn’t going to get him anywhere. “Isn’t it true that you were jealous of your friend Zak’s … success with women? A success you never had.”
“Absolutely not. I thought he was a sexist slimeball. Sure, I like women, and I like to be with them. But not if it means treating women in that abusive, degrading way. Leading them on. Lying. Trying to make it with three different women at once. I just won’t do it.”
Swell, Ben thought. Strike two. What could he try next?
“What about Deirdre? The dendrochronologist on the Green Rage team?”
Rick’s eye twitched. “What about her?”
“You’re in love with her, aren’t you? You wanted her. And Zak had her. Not you.”
