The Last Innocent Man

Stafford was dressed in a lightweight plaid suit that was conservative enough for the courtroom, yet sufficiently summery to fit in with the unseasonably mild September weather. Stafford was just under six feet in height, but his slim, athletic build made him look taller. When he spoke, the pure white of his teeth contrasted with his deep tan. The boy was good-looking enough to be an actor, Rosenthal thought.

“As the Court is aware, and I set this out in full in my trial memorandum, the Uniform Partnership Act permits a limited partner to have some degree of control over the conduct of the business with which he is involved. Mr. Tish has done nothing more than the limited partners did in the Grainger case or the Rathke case. I don’t want to go into this too much more, because I’d just be repeating the brief, but I don’t see where the plaintiffs have established liability. If the Court has any questions…”

“No, Mr. Stafford. I’ll tell both of you gentlemen that this question is too close for me to make a decision now. I’ve read your briefs, and I want some time to do some independent research before resolving this. I’ll try to have a written opinion in a week or so. If you have any supplemental authorities, you can submit them in letter form. Anything further?”

The attorneys shook their heads.

“Then we’ll adjourn. Have a nice lunch, gentlemen.”

The judge rose and disappeared through a door behind his seat. Larry Stafford started collecting his notes and putting them into his file in an orderly manner. The notes, written in a neat, precise hand, were set out on index cards. Andrew Tish, Stafford’s client, asked for an opinion on how the case had gone. Stafford tucked a law book under his arm and hefted his attache case as he shook his head and started for the courtroom door.

“No way of telling with Rosenthal, Andy. The guy’s bright, and he’ll give a lot of thought to the case. That’s about all I can say.”

Walter Greaves was waiting in the hall outside the courtroom.

“Larry.”

Stafford stopped and asked Tish to wait for him.

“I talked with my people, and they’re willing to come down on the settlement offer.”

“I’ll tell Tish, but I’m going to advise him to hang tough.”

“I’m just conveying my client’s offer.”

Stafford smirked and walked down the hall that led to the elevators. The courthouse had four corridors that ran along the sides of an empty central shaft. Greaves picked up his briefcase and walked toward the rear of the building. He did not like dealing with Stafford. He was too cocky. Very…superficial-that was the word. Nothing under the surface. Come on like Mr. Nice Guy one minute, then you find out you’ve been double-crossed. And in this case it had not been necessary to do some of the borderline ethical things the boy had done. Hell, Stafford had him dead to rights. His clients were just trying anything they could to prop up a dying business. Greaves shook his head and moved aside to get out of the way of a young man dressed in jeans and a work shirt. This young man had a dark complexion, a shaggy black mustache, and thick black hair and he was staring down the corridor toward Judge Rosenthal’s courtroom.

“AND THEN WHAThappened, Officer Ortiz?”

“My job was to wait outside the residence in case any of the suspects attempted to escape. The other officers went inside to execute the search warrant, and Officer Lesnowski and I waited near the front of the building.”

“Did you actually take part in the search?”

“No, I did not.”

“What happened then?”

“Shortly after, Officers Teske and Hennings exited the residence with the two prisoners and a bag containing evidence. Officer Teske gave me the evidence bag, and he and Hennings drove to the station house with the prisoners.”

“Did you talk with either of the prisoners or look in the bag?”

“No, sir.”

“I have no further questions, Your Honor.”

Judge McDonald nodded toward the public defender, who was conferring with his client, a teenage black man accused of possession of cocaine. Ortiz relaxed. He had been cross-examined by this asshole before, and he expected the interrogation to be long and stupid, even though he had no information of interest to anyone.

But the prospect of cross-examination didn’t bother him. He was happy just being back at work. First there had been the stay in the hospital, then the vacation he had not really wanted to take. The department had insisted, though. It wanted him to rest and get his memory back, because his memory was the only thing the department had left in the Darlene Hersch case.