Page 93 of The Best Lawyer
Then, slowly, with halting words, I told her about Joe’s lie. I hated myself for every second of it. The shock in Jeanie’s eyes. The anger. Then, finally, her sober acceptance.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know it’s unforgivable. I’ve put you in an untenable position. If …”
“No,” she said, her voice rising. “No. It’s Joe who did that. That son of a … What the hell has he been thinking? He climbed into that witness box and perpetuated a lie.”
“If it were any other case,” I said. “We …”
“It’s this case,” she said. “Is he going to make me do it? Put him on the stand?”
“Hold on a minute,” Eric said. “Everybody just slow down. Let’s just think this through. I get it. Joe’s got some serious explaining to do. But isn’t that the problem? You know he lied, but you don’t know why. Haven’t you told me the cardinal rule in witness testimony is you never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to?”
“In this case,” I said. “We may not have that luxury.”
“I have to do it,” Jeanie said. “I think it’s obvious.”
“What if he is covering up for Katy?” Eric asked. “Then how is forcing the truth out of him in front of the jury going to help her? All it will do is burn both of them.”
“There’s nobody else,” Jeanie said. “If I can’t produce another witness tomorrow morning, Quick’s going to begin his rebuttal. Cass, he’s got Lissa Daughtry. Another inmate reached out who’d seen Lissa and Katy getting buddy-buddy. Quick’s probably engineered some kind of a plea deal with Lissa by now. He filed an amended witness list at the end of the day. I objected. Fought like hell to keep her out, but Castor wasn’t buying it. The way things stand right now, I have to rest. Quick’s going to call Lissa. She’s going to testify about the conversation she had with Katy. She’ll confirm everything she said on that podcast episode. That Katy was still pining for Joe and he’ll try to give the jury a motive. And that’ll be the last thing they hear before they’re off to deliberate.”
“He has to tell me the truth,” I said. “Otherwise, Joe’s alibi lie is the only thing that might save Katy. Let me try one more time. I’ll lay it out for him. Whatever it is.”
“Do you really think he’d take the fall for her?” Jeanie asked. “Do we really believe that’s what all this is about? That Katy wanted to be with Joe and she wanted Tom’s money so she could bail out his business? Is that what we’re really talking about?”
“It’s what the prosecution is really talking about,” I said.
“It could backfire,” Jeanie said. “You know that’s the worst-case scenario. Not only do we fail to defend Katy, but we put Joe in jeopardy too. I swear I could kill him!”
“You have got to get him to admit why he lied about his alibi,” Eric said. “That is the bottom line.”
“If he won’t do it in private,” Jeanie said, “then I have to make him do it in court.”
“No!”
Emma’s voice startled all three of us. None of us saw her standing in the hallway. She stepped forward, all color drained from her face.
“No,” she said. “You can’t put him on the stand! You can’t use my father to save Katy. You don’t understand. I can’t let this go on. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I never would have thought he’d take it this far!”
“Emma?” I said. She didn’t look well. She seemed to be having trouble staying on her feet.
“You can’t put my dad through this. I won’t let you. Because he didn’t lie to protect Katy.” She sobbed. Her lips trembled. “He lied because he’s trying to protect me.”
Chapter 32
“I’m so sorry.My God. I’m so sorry,” Emma said. She had great red blotches rising up her neck.
“Emma,” I said, keeping my voice as calm and even as I could. “What are you talking about? What did your dad do?”
Eric cleared his throat. “How about we leave you two alone to talk?” He passed a glance at Jeanie. She was already on her feet. Emma took a robotic step into the office, clearing the way for Eric and Jeanie to step outside. Eric closed the door behind them.
I reached behind me and grabbed a small water bottle out of the fridge against the wall. Emma sat in one of the chairs at my desk. I twisted the lid and handed her the bottle. She stared at it as if her brain couldn’t process what to do with it.
He was protecting me. A myriad of scenarios flickered through my mind. Emma? I knew in my soul the only reason Joe would have lied under oath would be to protect himself or someone else. I had assumed he meant Katy. But Emma?
No. No. No.
“Emma,” I said. “I need you to be very careful. If you know something about what happened to Tom. If you were there …”
Her eyes were wild, reminding me of a trapped animal. If she did it. If she were about to confess to a crime …
