Incriminating Evidence by Sheldon Siegel

Author:Sheldon Siegel [Siegel, Sheldon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: USA, legal thriller
ISBN: 9780307421388
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2001-05-15T04:00:00+00:00

“You don’t look good,” Rosie says to me after Ed leaves.

“I don’t feel good.”

“Does your head hurt?”

“Yeah, along with my ego. I hate the idea of Fast Eddie taking over the lead in this case.”

“Clients change their minds all the time,” Rosie says.

“It’s a mistake to do it so close to the beginning of trial.” Then I add, “It’s a mistake to let Ed Molinari run this case.”

She leans back. “I didn’t think we had any choice if we wanted to stay in the case.”

“We didn’t.”

“You do want to stay in the case, don’t you?”

“Absolutely.” I look at the picture of Grace on Rosie’s desk. I’ve taken abuse from our client, his daughter and our co-counsel. I’ve been physically and emotionally attacked. Yet I do accept that when you’re this close to trial, you cannot afford to start second-guessing your decision to accept a case. This isn’t the time for questions like that. Or for others that I find I ask myself more often as I get older. Like why am I doing this at all? When I decided to become a lawyer, I had all the familiar motivations that come with being young and sure you can make an impact. I guess I still carried a lot of the baggage that had brought me to the seminary. I’d wanted to be a good priest and I wanted to be a good lawyer—justice and all that. I know “the system” has become a mocking word, but I believed in it. I suppose I still do, but it’s hard to keep that up when you have to deal every day with all the grief and corruption around you. I want to do a good job, but I’m so tired a lot of the time. I think I’ve forgotten how to have fun. I wish I had more time for Grace. I wish I knew how to fall in love. I wish—hell, I wish I knew how to be happy. I look at Rosie, beautiful Rosie, and wonder yet again why I—we—couldn’t make it work.

And then I shake myself back to reality. This is not the time to tear myself apart. I’ve got a client who’s relying on me for the outcome. That’s my job. Doing a good job comes with the territory, and I chose the territory. I turn to Rosie and say, “We’re taking this to the finish line.”

“Are you sure?” she asks.

“Yeah. We owe it to Skipper. Anyway, it’s too late to bring in another trial lawyer.”

“It’s never too late,” she points out. “The judge would grant a continuance. This isn’t about our client. This is about you.”

She’s right. But I’ve got my pride and it’s right up front. “If we quit, they’ll win,” I say. “I won’t give them the satisfaction.”

She knows me. “You shouldn’t put your pride above the interests of our client.”

I don’t answer for a moment. “If I didn’t think I was the best person to try this case,” I say, “then I would let them bring in somebody else.

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