The Last Innocent Man

“You have to understand. This man…it’s a game to him. He gets pleasure out of hurting people. He confessed to me because he knows I can’t tell the authorities. He told me to torment me. I’m not even certain that he’s telling me the truth.”

“Wait a minute. What do you mean it might not be the truth?”

“He did this once before. Confessed to committing a crime. That time he retracted the confession. It could all be a practical joke.”

David saw the confusion on Jenny’s face. He looked away and caught his reflection in the window glass. It startled him. He looked weak and pathetic. The type of person who would be susceptible to the meanest practical joke.

“If this is all some kind of joke, why did you come here? Why are you telling me this?”

“Don’t, Jenny. I had to talk to someone. I couldn’t keep it inside any longer. And I don’t think it is a joke. There’s something about this man. I know he’s capable of killing.”

“But why me, David? Why did you come to me?”

She was watching him intently, searching with her question for far more than she had asked. David tried to read her eyes. He was afraid to say what was in his heart. Afraid of making a fool of himself. Afraid he had already lost her. But he knew that this was the moment to speak, not evade, and he gathered his courage.

“I came to you because I still love you. I never stopped.”

David paused and Jenny saw that he was crying.

“Jenny, I’ve been a mess since the trial. I’ve lost my self-respect, and I’ve lost interest in everything that ever meant anything to me. But not my love for you. I just couldn’t face you.”

David looked away. Jenny felt as if a dam had broken inside her, setting free emotions she had thought she would never feel again. She reached up and touched David’s cheek.

“God, Jenny,” he sobbed. She held him tight.

“It’s all right,” she whispered, rocking him back and forth.

“I didn’t know what to do and I had no one I could go to.”

“You always had me, David. Always.”

“I couldn’t come to you. Not after what I did to Larry.”

“You didn’t do anything to Larry. Larry and I did something to you. We lied to you and used you.”

David sat up and held her by the shoulders. “It was wrong. What I did was wrong. We both know that. I should never have represented Larry feeling the way I do about you. Now we have to get him out of prison.”

“I still think you should tell the police,” Jenny said firmly.

David shook his head. “You don’t understand. Since the confession was made in confidence, nothing I reveal could ever be used in court. He could deny he ever made a confession, and there would be nothing we could do.”

“Who is this man? Who killed Darlene Hersch?”

David hesitated. Even now his legal training made him rebel at the thought of violating the code of ethics.

“Thomas Gault,” he said finally.

“Oh, my God. I knew Julie Webster. That was horrible.”

“I know, Jenny. And I’m the man responsible for putting Gault back on the street so he could kill again.”

“There must be something we can do.”

“I’ve thought about it and thought about it. I can’t find any way out. Anything I initiate will…”

David paused. The germ of an idea came to him. What if…? David started pacing back and forth. Jenny watched him. There was a fire in his eyes that had burned constantly in the old David. It made her feel good to see it again and to think that she may have had something to do with rekindling it.

TERRYCONKLIN SCANNEDthe diners in the all-night restaurant and spotted David in a booth toward the back. David was sipping from his second cup of coffee when Conklin reached him.

“This better be good,” the investigator said. “I was sound asleep. Rose is really pissed.”

“I’m sorry.”

Conklin was going to say something else, but one look at David stopped him. He had not seen the lawyer since Stafford’s trial, and the change in his friend’s appearance was startling. David’s face was puffy, his eyes were bloodshot, and his suit was creased and stained.

A waitress appeared and Conklin ordered coffee. As soon as she walked off, David said,

“I want to hire you.”

“I’m pretty busy, Dave.”

“I know, but I’m desperate. I’m willing to pay twice your regular rate and cover the cost of anyone you hire to take up the slack on your cases.”

“This is that important?”

David nodded.

“Who’s the client?”

“Me.”

“What’s this about?” Conklin asked cautiously. If David was in some kind of trouble, it would explain his appearance, but Conklin could not imagine David’s doing anything illegal or unethical.

“A client of mine told me some information in confidence. I have to know if he was telling me the truth or if he’s lying to me.”

“Who’s the client?”

“Thomas Gault.”

“I thought that case was over.”

“It is.”

“So this is something new.”

“Yes.”

“What did he tell you?”

“I can’t disclose that. I’m afraid anything you find may be tainted if I break the confidence.”

“Tainted? How?”

“If a lawyer reveals an attorney confidence and the police use the information to solve a crime, I believe the courts would prevent the district attorney from using the evidence at trial.”