The Last Innocent Man

“The marriage was a mistake from the beginning. Larry is like a child, self-centered, domineering. Everything had to be what he wanted. That night he came home in a rage. He shouted at me, called me names. ‘I didn’t understand him.’ ‘I didn’t want him to succeed.’ After a while I didn’t even hear what he said. I went upstairs and slammed the door to my room.”

“Your room?” David interrupted.

“Yes. You didn’t know? Of course you didn’t. No, we hadn’t slept together for a month. I told you, things had been bad.

“I heard Larry’s bedroom door slam and it was quiet. I don’t know why I remembered about the fund-raiser. I think the invitation was on my dresser on top of some other mail. I just needed to get out, so I took it and left.”

“And Larry?”

“He was still at home when I drove away. Don’t you see how hard it was for me? I felt so guilty. When I met you, when you made love to me, it was so different. I felt as if you were giving something, not taking, like Larry. I didn’t know what to do. At first I thought I would just leave him. Then I didn’t have the courage. And I still loved him in a way. It was all so mixed up. And it got a little better after that evening. He tried. He cut down on his work a little. Stayed home more. It wasn’t much, but it was an effort, and I was still guilt ridden because I had cheated on him. I didn’t feel as if I’d cheated. It had all been so good. But a part of me felt as if I had betrayed a trust.”

She stopped and he moved over to her, sitting on the floor, letting her rest against him.

“Then Larry was arrested and I realized what night the murder occurred. The evidence looked so convincing. His shirt, our car. That policeman saying it was him. But Larry said he was innocent. That he had stayed home after I left. He swore it to me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

“I was afraid. I wanted you to represent Larry, because I believed in you. I knew you could clear him. If I told you the truth…reminded you that the murder occurred on the night we met…you would have been a witness against Larry.”

“And now, as his lawyer, I can’t be.”

She looked away from him again and said, “Yes,” in a very small voice.

“So what do we do now, Jenny?” David asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you committed a crime yesterday. You perjured yourself. And so did Larry. And I know about that. Do you know what my duty is under the Canons of Ethics? As an attorney, an officer of the court, I have a duty to tell the judge what you did and a duty to get off the case if Larry won’t recant his testimony. I’m committing a crime and subjecting myself to possible disbarment if I don’t tell Judge Rosenthal about this.”

“You wouldn’t-” Jenny started.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m so mixed up I can’t think.”

David stood up and walked to the door. His feet felt leaden, and he had no heart for anything anymore. The trial, his practice, this woman, his life. Nothing seemed to mean anything. There were no values, no goals.

“David,” she said when he reached the door, “I love you. You know that, don’t you? Tell me you know that I never lied about that.”

David turned to face her. He was not angry at her, just dead inside.

“I know you used me, Jenny. I know you played on my emotions. I know I still love you, but I don’t know if I can ever trust you again.”

“Oh, God, David,” she called after him. “Don’t cut me off like this. Don’t you see? I don’t know if Larry killed that woman or not, but if he’s innocent, you must help him, and if he’s guilty…I couldn’t let him go to prison thinking that he’d gone after that woman because of me.”

THE ROADSIDE FLASHEDby and car horns occasionally broke the stillness. It would be easy to end everything by simply closing his eyes and letting the car take control. When the road began to waver, David shook his head to clear it. He did not want to die. He was certain of that. But life at the moment was confused and a torment.

He had several choices. He could make Jennifer retake the stand and recant her perjured testimony; he could go to the judge if she refused; or he could do nothing. If Jenny recanted, Larry would surely be convicted.

Would that be so bad? Yes, if he was innocent. There was still that possibility. Until tonight David had been convinced of Stafford’s innocence. The pictures discredited Ortiz. Larry’s story was so believably told. But what if he was wrong and Stafford was guilty?

David thought about Ashmore and Tony Seals. He felt sick. Once more he saw the autopsy photographs of the little girls that Ashmore had molested, then killed, and once again he heard Jessie Garza describe crawling down the mountain. What was he doing defending these people?