Chapter 36 Eddie

36

Eddie

I rode the subway to the courthouse, watching my back the whole time. You don't survive as a con artist on these streets without eyes in the back of your head. I knew the basics. Altering my route. Criss-crossing streets. Stopping and doubling back. Watching my angles so I could catch glimpses of what was behind me reflected in the store windows, train windows and polished granite tiles as I made my way through the city.

I also couldn't help but glance up, keeping watch for any windows that were ajar, and making sure I was never out in the open on the sidewalk. I kept pedestrians close by, matching their pace – keeping their bodies between me and those open windows.

Moving through Manhattan on the subways and sidewalks, you can see a thousand faces. Burning them into my memory, I had to make sure I didn't see any of them again on a corner, or a platform, or on the stairs. Somewhere where they shouldn't be. It was like bathing in people and paranoia. By the time I reached my destination, my brain was fried.

I called Lake. ‘Where are you?'

‘On West 74 th Street. Nobody has moved this morning. Bale and Ellis are still home.'

‘I just had an interesting conversation with a guy who says he knows you. His name is Mr. Christmas,' I said.

Lake said nothing for a moment, then, ‘Has he taken the contract from Buchanan's crew?'

‘He's planning on taking out a few of his colleagues first. But, yeah, I think he will.'

‘Then he's a dead man.'

‘He said you were chasing him when you got lured into that stash house.'

‘That's right. And I came out alive. He's on my list.'

‘Anything else you need to tell me about him?'

‘He loves old movies, Marlon Brando, and he's a total psychopath.'

‘Good to know,' I said, and ended the call. There was a time and a place for asking Lake more questions about this man. Now was not that time.

I felt safer as I stepped inside the courthouse. I breezed through security and got into the elevator alone. As the doors closed, I let my eyes shut too.

My head felt like it was in a blender.

Harry was unconscious in the hospital and it was likely I was going to lose him. A crew of corrupt cops had hired an array of killers to take me out. An innocent man had placed his life in my hands. I had a case I couldn't solve. And someone was playing around on the edges of it all, killing on the periphery of this trial.

I listened to the elevator mechanism. The whirr of cables and rollers. Allowed my mind to cool.

The elevator car stopped on my floor. As the doors rolled back, my eyes opened.

Kate was waiting for me in the hallway, her arms filled with files and her legal pad. A pen slotted into the bun of hair at the back of her head and a look on her face that spoke to the weight she was carrying too. All my problems were Kate's problems. And I hated that.

‘Did you get my message?' she asked.

I joined her in the hallway and we headed for the courtroom. ‘I did. We've been ambushed.'

‘Castro has dug up an eyewitness. Someone who says they're afraid of reprisals and they'll only testify if the court grants them anonymity. Looks like we'll be cross-examining them blind.'

‘How are John and Alison?' I asked.

‘They're wrecks. I don't think we can put John on the witness stand. He looks like he's been living in a cell for months and he's ready to crack. Who knows what he's going to say on cross-examination.'

‘Ordinarily I don't like putting clients on the stand. Castro can accuse him of lying. His DNA is on the murder weapon, but he told the police he'd never seen it before. If he can handle that, it's worthwhile. I think people will believe him when he says he didn't kill Margaret Blakemore.'

Kate tore off a page from her legal pad, handed it to me.

‘This is the list of the first set of witnesses. Castro is calling the investigating officer to open the case. Setting the scene for the jury. Oh, and Bloch wants to see you,' she said, pointing up the hall.

Up ahead, Bloch leaned against the cool walls of the hallway. Head down. Lost in thought. Her gaze fell on me as I approached.

‘I pulled a favor, got Esther Hanson's phone records. There's no record of a call made to ICE.'

‘So maybe this was a set-up to frame Althea?'

Bloch said, ‘Maybe not. Maybe she made the call from a payphone. But it makes a set-up more possible, maybe not probable.'

‘Go join Lake in case one of our suspects makes a move. We need to keep tabs on Bale and Ellis. And remind Lake to get his own damn car. He's been promising that for weeks. So, you two, any ideas who our mystery witness might be?'

Bloch shook her head. Kate took the pen from her hair and started to chew on the end of it. I waited, let her mind rattle through the possibilities.

‘Whoever it is, they are speaking to motive,' said Kate. ‘I have a feeling there's more to it. I've never dealt with a case where the witness is anonymous. Think the judge will grant his motion?'

‘I'm sure of it,' said Eddie. ‘It happens more and more now. You see it a lot in mob trials and trafficking cases.'

‘So we have to cross-examine a witness totally blind, in a major murder trial? How is that fair?'

‘This is the justice system,' I replied. ‘Nobody said it had to be fair.'

‘So what the hell are we going to do?'

‘You stick to the plan. We still have a strategy. Let me worry about the anonymous witness. The thing about an unfair legal system is that all bets are off. If the prosecution isn't playing fair, I'm not going to run a straight game either. They're forgetting something . . .'

‘What's that?'

‘You can't cheat a conman.'