Ginger snaps, p.37
Ginger Snaps, page 37
the computers and other electronic equipment in her office and in
the offices of the foundation I work for, as well as our personal hard-
ware, were all breached and compromised by Mr. Blanchard’s office.”
Both Dub and Bullock looked uncomfortable, but remained silent.
“In violation of the Fourth amendment, Dub’s office also wire-
tapped our phones and planted listening devices in Ms. lawrence’s
office without a search warrant. We all know that hacking an accused
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individual’s equipment with a warrant occurs, but hacking the lawyers
of the accused without a warrant? Akron Drug, represented today by
Mr. Monday, also engaged in the same scope of illegal surveillance.”
Monday rose half-heartedly to object, but Judge Houston motioned
him down with a glare, saying, “Mr. Monday, I’m going to let Mr. Pat-
terson continue. Don’t worry. Your clients will have their chance for
rebuttal.” He nodded at me. “Continue.”
“As the court is aware, the government has not charged Dr. Stewart
with any crime, but under the rubric of national security, he is being
held without access to counsel. Mr. Blanchard has used this oppor-
tunity to seize Stewart’s computers, his research, and his patents,
attempting to auction them off before Dr. Stewart has the chance to
appear in public to defend himself. If I hadn’t shown up with a letter
of credit, those assets would have been sold to Akron Drug for as little
as two million dollars when they are worth at least a hundred times
that amount. Furthermore, when it was clear that I was the successful
bidder because Akron didn’t come prepared for competition, Mr.
Blanchard attempted to shut down the auction. That’s because Mr.
Blanchard has a private arrangement with Akron Drug.”
Now both Monday and Dub were on their feet, but Bullock
remained seated, glancing toward Peggy and Rodney Fitzhugh.
Monday made a feeble attempt. “Your Honor, I warned the court
that Mr. Patterson would make desperate allegations, dreamed up
entirely out of wishful thinking.”
Dub was also emboldened. “Your Honor, first it’s kidnapping
and murder, now it’s some conspiracy to defraud the government.
Where’s his proof? ” He looked to Bullock expecting support, but
Bullock avoided his gaze.
“Your Honor, just because I said the words in an opening state-
ment, doesn’t mean I don’t have proof.”
“Well, let’s hear it,” the judge said. It was time to fish or cut bait.
I shuffled some papers, and Dub watched as Maggie removed the
digital recorder from my briefcase and placed it on the table. His face
went pale. I was about to make it much paler.
“Your Honor, sitting before you in the front row is Ms. Debbie
Kotrova. I came to know Ms. Kotrova because she is employed as
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Ms. lawrence’s office manager. In a previous life, she was under
the control of a man named Alex Novak, a member of the Russian
mafia deeply involved in gambling and prostitution. Mr. Pagano, the
local prosecutor, is also present in this courtroom, and I believe he
will confirm Novak’s reputation as a rogue and racketeer.” Debbie
smiled sweetly at the judge. God bless her, she just couldn’t help
herself. “After Ms. lawrence and I were both kidnapped and almost
murdered, I asked Ms. Kotrova to attend certain public appear-
ances where Mr. Blanchard was a participant to monitor what he was
saying. Her appearance must have upset our U.S. attorney because
he repeatedly asked his marshals to remove her. Isn’t that correct,
Mr. Blanchard?”
Dub’s expression was rewarding.
“I also chose her for this task because she had told me that for a
period of time Mr. Blanchard frequented Novak’s establishments—
she was sure he’d recognize her from her previous employment. I
have to admit I thought her presence might upset him.”
Dub couldn’t help himself. “I went to Novak’s establishment as part
of an undercover operation. I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” he said,
whining to the judge.
I wasn’t about to let him off.
“What I didn’t expect was that Mr. Blanchard himself would give
me the proof I needed to establish his involvement in the attempted
murder and kidnapping of Ms. lawrence and myself, as well as a con-
spiracy to defraud the government.”
Dub turned toward me, clenching his fists, but visibly sagged as
Maggie pushed the recorder across the table and I picked it up.
“Your Honor, I would like to play for the court excerpts from
conversations Mr. Blanchard had with Novak over the last couple of
weeks. I am fully prepared to produce evidence of their authenticity.”
Dub lunged suddenly toward the recorder, but I held it securely.
“Sit down, Mr. Blanchard. Proceed, counsel.” The judge smacked
his gavel down and Dub slunk down into his chair.
“Your Honor, one of the voices in this conversation is that of Novak.
I feel sure you’ll recognize the other.” The voice of Dub Blanchard
blared across the courtroom.
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“Why in the hell are you sending that whore to harass me? I paid
you all I owed and something extra for roughing up the girl. You said
we were good.”
Novak’s heavily accented voice responded. “It isn’t me. I have
nothing to do with it.”
Dub spit back. “Yeah, right. listen, I’ve got a sweet deal working.
Don’t mess with me, Novak, or I’ll have you locked up for life.”
Novak remained calm. “I’m telling you I have no control over Ms.
Kotrova. She’s doing this on her own.”
Dub ended. “Well, you figure out how to stop her. I’m holding you
responsible.”
Dub sat still. His goose was cooked and he knew it. I waited for the
judge to react.
“Mr. Patterson, the conversation we have just heard is certainly dis-
turbing and will most certainly provoke further investigation, but I
don’t see that it implicates Mr. Blanchard in murder.”
“I agree, your Honor. let me fast forward to the last taped conver-
sation Mr. Blanchard had with Novak, one which occurred only last
night.”
Dub’s face mirrored his panic; he knew he had no escape.
I forwarded the tape to the last conversation.
We heard Dub speak first: “I told you to keep that whore away. She
showed up at the Tv studio tonight.”
Novak replied, “And I tell you again: I had nothing to do with it.”
Dub again, “listen, the people I work for have hired a professional
to take care of anyone who gets in our way. I’m going to turn her loose
on your little tart if she shows up again.”
Novak responded, “It must be that lawyer Patterson. He must have
put her up to it.”
“Patterson is a dead man. I’ve made sure of that, and if you want
your whore alive, you’ll convince her to stay away. If not, she’ll end up
as dead as Patterson and lawrence are about to be. All I have to do is
say the word. My partners and I can’t afford any loose ends. Do I make
myself clear?”
Novak finished the conversation: “Yes, certainly.”
Complete silence.
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Dub shoved his chair back violently, causing papers to scatter and
Jim Bullock to back away in alarm. Judge Houston barked, “Marshals,
guard Mr. Blanchard.” Maroney and one of his deputies stepped for-
ward quickly, and Dub fell back into his chair, head slumping into his
hands.
I waited, as did the rest of the shocked spectators.
The voice that finally broke the silence was that of Peggy Fortson.
“Your Honor, may I approach?” Judge Houston nodded, looking
relieved.
“Your Honor, my name is Peggy Fortson, Deputy Assistant Attorney
General for the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
I’m compelled to intervene in these proceedings and request that
they be postponed immediately. I’ve been here all day and, like you,
I’m greatly disturbed by what I’ve heard. The Justice Department was
asked not to interfere with Mr. Blanchard’s task force, but I’m con-
vinced we must do exactly that.”
“What exactly is it that you want me to do, Ms. Fortson?” The judge
asked.
“Well, for the moment, simply adjourn. The local prosecuting
attorney, Mr. Pagano, and Deputy U.S. Attorney Fitzhugh have
been observing these proceedings as well. I’m sure they join me in
requesting you to detain Mr. Blanchard and turn over Mr. Patterson’s
recordings to us. We’ll also want to confer with Mr. Monday about
the continuing availability of his clients. otherwise, we will have to
take them into custody as well. But I’m hesitant to proceed while this
hearing is in session.” I’d never known Peggy to hesitate before.
Several of the Akron Drug people had sidled quietly toward the
door, but they found it blocked by two very serious deputy marshals.
“Ms. Fortson, I understand your concerns. I’ve never been in a situ-
ation like this either. I also find myself more than a little concerned
about our government’s alleged involvement in the conduct Mr. Pat-
terson has described.” I took his concern as a request for my help,
which I was glad to offer.
“Your Honor, this may be a first for all of us. I won’t argue with the
detention of Mr. Blanchard, and I will certainly turn over the record-
ings. They contain other interesting conversations that will shed further
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light and confirmation of the conduct I’ve alleged. I also wish to reit-
erate my claim that we were the successful bidder for Dr. Stewart’s
research this morning. Regardless of the outcome of that part of the
auction, I still have a lot of faith in our system of justice and specifi-
cally in Ms. Fortson and Mr. Pagano. Perhaps, as part of that process,
the court might consider ordering the release of Dr. Stewart to Mr.
Pagano? Furthermore, the court might advise the representatives of
Akron Drug that they are still subject to my subpoena. other than
that, I guess I’ll have to wait for your ruling on the contempt charge.”
I couldn’t help but grin.
Monday seemed about to respond, but chose instead to wave his
clients back to their seats. They didn’t need a contempt charge on top
of everything else.
Judge Houston looked relieved.
“okay. I’m going to hold everything in abeyance. We’ll reconvene
in one week. Ms. Fortson, I expect a full report as well as your presence
in this court next week. All potential witnesses, and you know who you
are, should consider themselves under Court order to appear in this
courtroom one week from today. Failure to appear will be met with at
least a contempt of court citation, and very probably arrest and time
in jail. I promise you won’t like it. Marshal, take Mr. Blanchard into
custody.”
Maroney clearly didn’t mind slapping the cuffs on the wretched
Dub, who was shaking like a leaf. I could almost feel sorry for him.
Judge Houston hadn’t responded to my request for Doug’s release,
but I felt pretty good about his chances.
“Mr. Patterson, under the circumstances, you will not be held in
contempt, but next time you appear in my courtroom, please try to be
a little less dramatic.”
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59
D
The gavel came down sharply, and now the courtroom broke into
pandemonium. I watched as my team broke into rampant hugging.
The Akron Drug people looked lost. Monday was silently packing his
briefcase. The cameras were still rolling, and Cheryl was talking a mile
a minute into a microphone. Time to leave.
I signaled for Clovis. We still had lots to do, including getting Doug
out of jail, but from now on we’d be dealing with reasonable people.
Peggy walked over, hand extended.
“When am I going to quit doubting you?”
“Probably never.”
She laughed. “You’ve handed me one hell of a mess—a dirty U.S.
Attorney, a whole slew of government officials to investigate, congres-
sional investigations and, with your friend Cheryl milking this for
all its worth, a media nightmare. Someday you’re going to have to
explain how you figured it all out.”
“over dinner?” I asked.
“I won’t hold my breath.” She raised her brows and turned to confer
with Sam.
Micki and I embraced, and she said, “Nice work, partner—not bad,
not too bad at all.”
We all agreed to meet at Micki’s for a celebration. I told them I
had an errand to run and they went ahead, chattering about the day.
Clovis followed me slowly to his Tahoe.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
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“Moira’s employer is going to be pissed, and she isn’t going to quit.
We haven’t seen the last of her. We need to be careful.”
“Aw, come on, Clovis, let’s at least enjoy this day. Besides, Moira’s
your problem. That’s why I pay you the big bucks,” I joked. I’d have
been more than concerned if I’d noticed the solitary figure slinking
out of the courtroom.
I hesitated a minute, then opened the door to the Tahoe. “Clovis,
I promise to worry about Moira tomorrow, but not today. let’s go to
City Park. I want to talk to Angie.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Clovis laughed.
After the Cole case the last place I had gone before leaving town
was City Park. little Rock’s City Park was an oasis of green on the
outskirts of downtown: ball fields, walking paths, green space, play-
grounds, tennis courts, picnic tables, all sheltered by woods of tow-
ering oaks and hickories. We pulled into the parking lot, and I told
Clovis to wait. He was reluctant, but I told him I’d be in plain sight
less than a hundred yards away. Both the dogwoods and the azaleas
were in in full flower, and the warm spring sun felt good on my face. I
strolled to a tall oak tree shading the creek. I had proposed to Angie
under this tree and we used to come here on Sunday mornings to
imagine our future. I leaned back against the solid oak and let my
body slide to the ground, my mind sliding into the past.
I conjured Angie’s image, closed my eyes, and silently began to tell
her about what had happened. I could almost hear her say, “Now do
you see why I wanted you to defend Doug?”
Within my reverie I could sense approaching footsteps. I felt
relaxed but sort of heavy, it took real effort to open my eyes. A man in
a dark suit was walking toward me. oddly, I recognized him from the
courtroom. He’d been sitting next to ed Thompson, Akron Drug’s
senior vice-president. I wondered idly why he was here, whether he
was looking for me. He looked friendly enough, but my brain was
sounding alarm bells. I knew I should stand up, but I saw that he
had taken a handgun out of his coat and was aiming it directly at
me. Before I could even breathe, I heard a loud ‘thump,’ and the
man crumpled to the ground. I looked around wildly to see a figure
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with short red hair emerge from behind a nearby tree. Now I couldn’t
move a muscle.
Moira walked casually toward my tree. “Mind if I join you?” She
asked.
I gestured mutely and she sat beside me, her gun returned to a
small clutch now resting on her lap. I couldn’t think how to respond.
“I came back to finish the job I was hired to do, but when I saw
Max sitting next to Thompson this afternoon, it really pissed me off.
He had obviously been hired to do my job. He would have killed you,
Micki, and Debbie, all the while laying the blame squarely on me. No
way. And you know what? I didn’t like what I heard in court today.
Withholding a cure for cancer is really . . ." She shook her head. “Well,
