The Last Innocent Man

“So you see, my man, the very words which you solicited by illegal means and forced me to say was lies. And you know that jury would have acquitted Stafford if it wasn’t for me. But you can’t tell nobody that I lied without gettin’ yo’self in trouble, can you? Which means you got to live the rest of your life with what you done, while Stafford spends the rest of his life at the state pen.”

Ortiz leaned back in his seat, trying to think. What did it matter if Johnson had lied? Stafford lied, too. He had sworn under oath that he had never gone with a prostitute. Ortiz knew who he had seen in the doorway of that motel room. Larry Stafford killed Darlene Hersch.

“You know somethin’, Ortiz. You white boys are real sick. That’s what I come to learn, bein’ in this business. You plantin’ that dope on me, Stafford havin’ to buy pussy, and that writer…”

Johnson shook his head and Ortiz looked up at the pimp.

“What writer?”

“The one that beat up Mordessa and wanted her to do all that kinky stuff. Shit, he already got away with murder. Mordessa’s lucky she ain’t the one that got killed.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mordessa seen him in the papers when he got off. Didn’t recognize him at first, ’cause he was wearin’ this wig when he beat on her. That’s where I got the story from. She was a sight. Said he wanted to tie her up. When she said no, he started kickin’ her and hittin’ her till she cried. And it takes plenty to make that woman cry. He hurt her bad. Then he kills his wife.”

“Who are you talking about?” Ortiz asked slowly.

“I can’t remember the name. His wife was rich, though, and she was beat to death in that mansion by the lake.”

“Thomas Gault?”

“That’s the one.”

Ortiz stared at Johnson. “You mean that story you told on the witness stand did happen, only it was Thomas Gault that beat up your whore?”

“That’s what I been sayin’.”

“What kind of wig did he wear?”

“I ain’t got no idea.”

Ortiz opened the car door and got out. He felt as if he were drowning.

“Where you goin’, Ortiz?” T.V. asked with a laugh. “You goin’ to church or you goin’ to tell the law that that Stafford boy is in jail, only he ain’t guilty? Only you can’t do that, can you, ’cause you’d have to tell on yo’self.”

Ortiz walked away from the car. The motor started, and Monroe drove as close to Ortiz as he could, squealing his tires as he headed down the ramp. Ortiz didn’t notice.

Just because Johnson lied, it didn’t necessarily follow that Stafford was innocent. But the wig…Gault and Stafford had similar builds. With a blond wig…

Then Ortiz remembered the mystery man that Gault swore murdered his wife. He had been described as being athletically built, of average height, with curly blond hair. A description that would fit Gault if Gault’s hair was curly, blond. And Stafford.

Ortiz remembered something else. Grimes, the night clerk at the Raleigh Motel, testified that the man he saw driving away from the motel had brown hair that was a bit long. Gault had brown hair, which he had worn long at his trial. If he had removed a wig after killing Darlene, that would explain how Grimes could see a man with brown hair, and he, a man with blond.

Could he have been wrong about Stafford? It seemed impossible for two men to have the same build, shirt, pants, and car. Yet Gault and Stafford were built alike and the pants were common enough.

The shirt? While it wasn’t the most common type, there had certainly been enough of them in Portland. And the car? That was simple enough to check on. Too simple. Ortiz felt his gut tighten. He was afraid. Afraid he had made a terrible mistake. If Gault owned a beige Mercedes, then Larry Stafford might very well be innocent.

GREGORY WAS FINISHINGsome dictation when David entered.

“You’re on the bar ethics committee, right?” David asked, sinking into a chair.

“Yes. Why? You haven’t done anything unethical lately, have you?” he asked, half joking.

“Let me give you a hypothetical and tell me what you think.”

Gregory turned off his dictation equipment and leaned back. His eyes narrowed with concentration and he cocked his head slightly to one side.

“Assume that a lawyer represents A in a bank-robbery case and A is convicted. Later B hires the lawyer to represent him in an unrelated legal matter. While the lawyer’s client, B tells the lawyer, in confidence, that he committed the bank robbery for which A has been convicted, as well as several other robberies. When the lawyer suggests that B confess to the authorities so that A can be released from prison, B refuses. What can the lawyer do to help A?”

Gregory sat thinking for a moment, then took a book from the credenza behind his desk. He rifled the pages until he found what he was looking for. He read for a few more moments. David sat quietly, staring past Banks through the window toward the foothills. He felt a wave of pain in his stomach and placed his hand over his belt line, gently massaging where it hurt.