'Duncan, I think it is appropriate to ask MCT to do the work. It's
Jackson's defense attorney who's trying to set up Gunderson as the
killer, so it's the detectives on that case who are going to be
motivated to get to the bottom of it. If they find out that Gunderson
was bribing Clarissa and blackmailing Caffrey but didn't set up
Jackson, everyone will be happy.'
'You don't get it, Samantha,' he said. 'MCT's not going to be happy
about anything that makes this case any more complicated than it needs
to be. And if we ask them to look into Gunderson Development, it looks
like we believe there's actually a connection between Gunderson and the
murder. And we don't.' His point was a good one, but I wanted the
work done well, and I wanted it done soon. 'And, for the record, Sam:
slight problem claiming Szlipkowsky came up with these witnesses on his
own. How'd he know to serve the subpoenas on Jim Thorpe?'
Crap. I thought Slip had served Gunderson and Minkins directly.
Apparently, he was willing to flirt with unconventional-ity, but wasn't
about to bypass retained counsel. The problem, of course, was that it
looked like his knowledge of the representation came from me.
I couldn't remember saying anything to Slip last night about Thorpe.
But I did remember something else.
'Probably because Jim Thorpe represented Gunderson Development on the
appeal in front of Clarissa. His name was in the file Slip found in
her safe deposit box.'
Duncan didn't like it, but he knew he couldn't prove I had done
anything wrong.
'Anything else?' he asked.
The last thing I wanted to do was set him off. But I couldn't let him
go into that meeting without telling him about Min-kins's immunity deal
and the OHSU financial records in the safe deposit box. If those facts
eventually came out later, he'd look foolish in front of the bureau and
the mayor, and whoever put him in that position namely, moi would pay
the price.
'Well, there's a few other details you should probably know about,' I
said.
'Details? Why do I have a feeling that, coming from you, Samantha,
those details are going to be something like a pin that fell out of the
grenade?'
I told him about my secret immunity deal with Minkins.
'Did you know about this, Frist?'
'No, sir, I didn't.'
I couldn't bear to look at him.
'Big surprise,' Duncan said, shaking his head. 'Before I lose it, let
me get this straight: You let a witness invoke on the stand, knowing
you had given him immunity, without telling the defense attorney? No,
forget about the defense attorney, without telling the judge?'
I never thought about it that way. I knew I was keeping something from
Gunderson, but I didn't owe him any information unless and until he was
a criminal defendant. I had thought about Slip at the time, but
figured I'd explain it all to him later, and he wouldn't mind under the
circumstances.
But, from a technical perspective, I had misled the court. Once a
witness has immunity, he's got no Fifth Amendment rights, so
technically Minkins should have answered all of Slip's questions. Even
if Slip didn't mind the lost opportunity, Judge Prescott wouldn't be
pleased that I used her courtroom to dupe Gunderson.
'It seemed like a good idea at the time.'
'See, that proves we've got a problem, Samantha. You're better than
that. I know you've got a tendency to go your own way, but this is
something different. I don't know if it's the new caseload, the
ex-husband, the mess that went down last month but for whatever reason,
you've lost your judgment on this one.'
I couldn't hold my tongue any longer. 'No, I haven't, and this is no
different from what goes on around here every day. We can do whatever
we want on our cases as long as no one's paying attention, but the
minute someone raises an eyebrow, we're second-guessed at every turn.
And if you're not part of the club, you're third- and fourth-guessed.
And now it's even worse, Duncan, because you've personalized it. Maybe
I've made some mistakes, but don't suggest there's something wrong with
my motives.'
'You're the one choosing to make it personal, Samantha. You need to
take emotion out of this.'
If I had a dollar for every time a pissed-off man told me I
was being emotional, I wouldn't have to deal with angry men any more.
Apparently rage is only an emotion when combined with estrogen.
'I'll call Judge Prescott and take my licks, but I don't hear anyone
suggesting what I should have done as an alternative. If Gunderson was
