Turow, Scott - Kindle County Legal 06 - Reversible Errors by Turow Scott

Author:Turow, Scott [Turow, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Fiction - Psychological Suspense, Mystery & Detective, Kindle County (Imaginary place), Attorney and client, Legal, Fiction, Hard-Boiled, Suspense, Death row inmates, American fiction, Mystery & Detective - Hard-Boiled
ISBN: 9780446612623
Publisher: New York : Warner Books 2002
Published: 2003-11-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

June 19, 2001

The Raven Family

EARLY TUESDAY, Judge Harlow issued a brief written order, ruling on several discovery motions Arthur had filed. Virtually all were denied, but Harlow's reasoning was welcome. The motions could be ventured later, the judge said, "inasmuch as the testimony of Erno Erdai appears to the Court to be of sufficient credibility to allow this matter to proceed." The Court of Appeals retained the actual authority to determine whether Gandolph would be permitted to go forward with his new habeas corpus petition, but Harlow's ruling gave Rommy an enormous leg up. If the appellate court ruled as expected, Rommy Gandolph would live several more years, while Arthur and Pamela pursued his exoneration. They celebrated and called their client. Afterwards, the reality settled on Arthur that he was headed for an indefinite period of scrapping and scuffling on Rommy's behalf. Rommy was now his cause—and his albatross.

This news served as a welcome distraction from the prospect of this evening, when Gillian Sullivan was scheduled to join Susan and him. Arthur had convinced himself that Gillian would find an excuse, but late in the afternoon his secretary placed a message slip in front of him, while he was on the phone with a reporter. It said, "Ms. Sullivan will be in the lobby at five."

Gillian Sullivan in his terrible little apartment. For a second, he was seized by terror and shame.

She was there as promised. On the way to the Franz Center to pick up Susan, Arthur did what little he could to prepare Gillian for his sister. The problem, however, was that even after nearly thirty years, he found little predictable about Susan's behavior. Schizophrenia was all too often a disease of the gifted, and there was no end to the inspired contrivances with which Susan could fortify her anxiety and suspicions. Whatever came his way, Arthur was hardened in his patience—threatening or critical responses just made her worse. Only in private did Arthur allow himself to react. Susan e-mailed him several times a day, and without anything to distract her, her brief messages were occasionally fully lucid. At times, she sounded as witty and perceptive as a columnist.

"Sometimes when I get those e-mails," said Arthur, as they neared the Center, "it breaks my heart. I'll sit in the office and cry. But you know, my father made himself crazy thinking about what might have been. And there's even a way it's disloyal to Susan not to accept the illness as part of her."

The North End neighborhood surrounding the Franz Center was comprised principally of worn shingle-sided homes, mingling with a few stouter structures. Arthur pulled up in front of the large, banged-up-looking brick house and spent an instant surveying the block. A group of roving boys, most wearing silky gang jackets despite the heat, were on the corner.

"You better come in," he told her. "It might not be so smart to be a white lady just sitting around." As Gillian stepped out, the chirp of Arthur's remote attracted attention from down the block.

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