Double Tap by Steve Martini

Author:Steve Martini
Language: eng, zho
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2011-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Over lunch I tell Harry about the incident. My ribs are still sore where the guy stuck his fingers, trying to do a cavity search where there is no cavity. After telling Harry, we eat. I pick at my salad in silence and think about the comments made by Ruiz at our first meeting; his theory that Dale Kendal, his original lawyer, had been frightened off the case suddenly doesn’t seem so far-fetched.

Sore as I am, we don’t have time to dwell on it. Harry wants me to report the incident to the judge, but we have no evidence, not even bruises. The man was an expert with pointed fingers.

In the afternoon Harry and I hit a rough patch in court. It is strewn with rocks and boulders in the form of Victor Havlitz and his lawyer, Wayne Sims. Sims is joined by three other attorneys from his firm. The press and the public remain locked outside, pieces of brown paper taped over the narrow window slots in each door so they can’t see in. I have asked that Ruiz be present this afternoon. The issues in dispute involve business matters that Madelyn Chapman was working on at the time of her death. They are key to our case, and Emiliano has a vested interest. I want him to know what is going on firsthand. Harry and I are getting desperate for something that we can get our teeth into.

The door leading from the courtroom to the holding cells opens and the phalanx of guards leads Ruiz like a dog on a leash to our counsel table. He is wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, something that will not be allowed once the trial starts and we are in front of the jury. His hands are manacled in front to a chain around his waist, and he is jingling from his ankles as he walks.

“Your Honor, I would ask that the restraints be removed from our client, at least while he’s in the courtroom.”

“Your Honor, may we approach?” Templeton is bounding down from his chair before Gilcrest can respond.

The judge tells him he can do it from there, since there is no one in the courtroom.

“I’d prefer it at the bench, Your Honor.”

“So be it.” The judge motions us forward.

Harry and I join Templeton and Sims in front of the judge.

“Your Honor, the defendant is highly skilled in certain martial arts. He has employed these both in training and in combat.” Templeton seems to know more about my client than I do. Ruiz could probably snap him in half by just looking. Maybe this is the reason Templeton wants to do the argument in hushed voices at the bench. More likely it’s because Ruiz knows that Templeton’s information, if not false, is at least overstated.

“There is considerable evidence in the file regarding his aptitude in these areas,” says Templeton. “The man is highly trained.” In whispered tones Templeton is trying out his argument in front of the judge,

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