HERBIE CALLED STONE on his way back from Strategic Defenses.
“What’s going on?”
“They broke for lunch.”
“How did it go with the detective?”
“Fine. He’s off the stand.”
“What did he say?”
“He said no one told him David would be at the party, he heard drugs were being sold there, and when he checked it out the person selling them was David.”
“What did you do?”
“I challenged him with his previous testimony, got him to admit he was mistaken, and asked him what other portions of his testimony he was unsure of.”
“I told you to let him go.”
“I let him go. I just didn’t do it with a pat on the back.”
“Okay. Fine.”
“Why did you ask him the question in the first place?”
“Oh. Well, he’s framing my client, so he’s lying about everything. And he’s not too careful about it, because Taperelli’s pulling the strings and the case is a slam-dunk. So I went over the transcript to see if he had made any stupid mistakes. Sure enough, right off the bat he says he was acting on intel David Ross was selling drugs at the party, which is total bullshit. No one told him David was at the party. He probably didn’t even know about the party. In all likelihood he was following David around looking for a place to set him up. The party seemed like a good bet. So who told him David Ross would be at the party is a tough question to answer, because nobody did.”
“That’s good reasoning. You present your case that well to the jury, you just might get your client off.”
“Fuck you, too, Stone.”
“I get your logic. I mean why did you ask the question if you don’t care about the answer?”
“I asked the question to shake him up. Who told him David would be at the party? Well, he’s either got to name someone else who is in on the conspiracy, which is nice to know, or he has to admit he made a mistake.”
“He opted for the mistake. I would have liked to exploit it.”
“You did fine.”
A car went by.
“Are you still watching TV?”
“Yes. So where are we now?”
“The prosecution called a corroborating witness, an undercover officer who was at the party.”
“Good. Don’t ask her anything. Just let her go.”
“Herbie, what’s going on? Are you giving up on the case?”
“Not at all. We’ve been going about it all wrong. The jury’s heard nothing for days but that detective saying David Ross is a druggie. Now we’ve got another detective who’s going to say the same thing. It’s giving the prosecution the advantage. We’ve got to stop playing defense.”
“I get the strategy, but I’ve got to ask her something so it doesn’t look like we’ve thrown in the towel.”
“Okay. Ask her about the arrest. When the detective told David to empty his pockets, did David reach in and get the envelope, or did the detective take it out of his pocket? That will tell us if she’s part of the frame-up. If she says David got it, she’s clean. If she insists the detective took it out of his pocket, she’s in on it, and she’s parroting the talking points.”
“How do you figure that?”
“I thought you read the transcript. It’s in there.”
“Don’t piss me off, Herbie. What’s actually going on?”
“Relax. I’ll try to make it.”
Herbie clicked the phone off and stepped on the gas.