The ADA that Zader sent out on an errand returned to the courtroom. He gave his boss the thumbs-up on his way down the central aisle.
Some steel returned to Zader’s face. His jaw set, his eyes lit from behind, no doubt by some kind of move he was planning with the returning ADA.
He couldn’t resist the urge to gloat.
“Twenty years on a plea?” he said.
“Drop the charges; let him walk.”
“I hoped you might say that. You did a good job on Porter. Pity it was all for nothing,” said Zader. In his next breath, he addressed the court.
“Your Honor, a matter has arisen, and we would like to see you in private, in your office.”
“Mr. Zader, I’ve already missed my golf day and I’m running late for a dinner tonight, so you’d better make this fast,” said Knox, relaxing into his chair.
Zader and the ADA who’d returned to court with the document stood behind the right-hand chair at Knox’s desk. Sinton and I stood on the left. No prospect of Zader making an ass of himself by sitting down. He knew his judges.
Zader took the page from his ADA and handed it to the judge. His tone was solemn and respectful as he addressed Judge Knox. “Your Honor, I have to make you aware of our intention to file a motion requesting your recusal from this case. We have evidence of judicial bias, and you cannot continue with this hearing.”
A flash of anger rippled over Knox’s lips, drawing them into a snarl before he fixed his mouth shut, biting down the urge to tear a piece off of Zader. As he read, his eyes broke wide and blood flooded his cheeks, the skin shading into a color that could only be described as sunset pissed.
“How did you come by this information?” said Judge Knox, turning the page over and setting it facedown on his desk.
After looking at his ADA, Zader held out his hands innocently.
“It’s for your own good, Your Honor. You should step aside and let another judge hear this prelim. No one is saying that you were aware of this information before the case started. In fact, we just discovered this ourselves. It may be that we’ve saved you some embarrassment if you withdraw now, voluntarily.”
The judge shook his head, his mouth wide now in amazement. Eventually he turned to me and said, “What’s your take on this, Mr. Flynn?”
“I have no idea what’s going on. I’m just as surprised as you are, Judge. May I see the docu—”
“No,” said Knox, and his hand thumped down on top of the page. “You don’t need to see it, but I will tell you the contents. It’s a statement from my investment agent. I have stocks and shares invested in various portfolios, and my wife deals with the agent and manages these affairs. That’s her domain. I just write the checks. It seems as though I have a small investment in the parent company of Reeler, your client’s business. I knew nothing about this investment before the case started, I can assure you of that.”
Son of a bitch.
The DA knew Porter’s destruction tainted the prosecution case. In fact, it sent it flying into a brick wall, and Zader wanted to kill the evidence. If Judge Knox recused himself, the case would have to start all over again. And this time either Porter would be fully prepared for my line of questioning or, more likely, Zader wouldn’t even call him as a witness and would build his case around the rest of the evidence. A fresh start for Zader with no mistakes this time.
“Well, Your Honor, if you didn’t know about this, then I can’t see how you could be biased…” I said.
“Oh, I can,” said Judge Knox, giving a look to Zader that conveyed every inch of the judge’s contempt for the DA. If the evidence had gone in the prosecution’s favor, there was no way they would ask the judge to recuse himself. I had a suspicion that Zader knew all about the judge’s investment before the case even started, so that if there was a disaster he had a recusal motion in his back pocket so that he could wipe the slate clean and start again. Sending out the ADA to retrieve Knox’s list of investments was just for show. He’d had this information before the prelim started.
“With respect, Your Honor, the defense has no objection to you continuing with this hearing.”
“Well, of course not,” said Zader. “The defense isn’t going to object because the stock price of Reeler is plummeting every second of this prosecution, and if the defendant has a judge hearing the case who has a financial interest in dismissing the charges and saving the stock price and return on his own investment, well, who wouldn’t want a judge like that? The fact is, Your Honor, if you continue and if the press get ahold of this, the prelim will turn into a farce and your career would be seriously compromised.”
“How dare you lecture me on my career and my professional judgment, and don’t threaten me with the press, Mr. Zader. You’re about the width of a page from seeing the inside of a cell. The fact is, despite Mr. Flynn’s gracious response, I have no choice but to recuse myself. I’m sorry, gentlemen. I will contact the superior judge and have this case transferred to a new judge in the morning. I’m afraid the prelim will have to start over.”
It was the right decision, for all the right reasons, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. I thought that the points against Porter would give David a sympathetic hearing; it was the first in a series of hammer blows to knock out the prosecution’s case. Porter and the air bag was the only hammer blow that I’d found, so far. Now it was gone. Didn’t matter that the press knew about it. The new judge wouldn’t consider it at all unless Zader called Porter as a witness again—and there was no way he’d do that.
No one spoke. We filed out of Knox’s office, and I saw Zader waiting for me in the corridor.
“You see, Flynn, there is no way to beat me. You can’t beat me. I’m going to blow you away tomorrow, and there isn’t a single thing you can do about it. If necessary, I’ll continue to kick every goddamned judge off this case until I get one who gives me the right result. I’ve also got me some backup. We’re convening a grand jury tomorrow afternoon. So even if you win the prelim tomorrow, I can still go before the grand jury, who will indict Child. You’ve got nothing. Come to me when you want to make a deal.”
I let Zader walk away, Gerry Sinton following him. Sinton didn’t want to be anywhere near me. That huge hand of Sinton’s fell on Zader’s shoulder. He gave the DA his card, and they talked and walked ever farther from earshot. Gerry was building insurance, making plans so that he’d be the first to know if I approached the DA to make a deal. He was probably explaining to Zader that he was really the attorney of record and that any deal would have to go through him. Sinton didn’t want a deal. He wanted a tip-off from the DA so that he could make sure to kill young David before he signed up to bury the firm in exchange for an easy ride for Clara’s murder. I took the opportunity to lose Gerry in the crowd, grabbed David, and made for the side exit of the courtroom, leading to the cells.
One thing continued to scratch at the back of my head. How did Zader get the goods on Judge Knox? Even if he already had this information before the hearing began, it wouldn’t have been easily obtained. Somebody was helping Zader. Somebody with serious connections.