Page 136 of The Devil's Advocate

She waved at Korn.

‘You didn’t think I brought Miss Bloch and her attorney down here just for show?’

I didn’t think it was possible, but Korn seemed to turn an even paler shade of white. His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. He was making calculations. The murder of a sheriff carried a certain penalty.

‘You don’t need me to spell it out, Mr. Korn. Imagine the new district attorney, taking your office, and strapping your ass into Yellow Mama up in Holman Correctional, five years from now.’

Korn was many things. A coward, certainly. But he wasn’t stupid. I saw him straighten up. He had one last card to play.

‘I won’t ever admit to misconduct in office. I won those convictions. Those men were executed on my watch and I’m proud of my record. I won’t admit to anything that would jeopardize my legacy. But there is something I can offer. Information has come into my possession revealing the real identity of Skylar Edwards’s killer. He is the leader of a small white supremacist group. They call him the Pastor. I know his real name, and I have something to prove it all in court.’

Berlin looked at me. This was his play, but he knew I was concerned about the dozens of men on death row, awaiting execution, because Korn had cheated and lied to put them there.

‘What proof do you have?’ asked Berlin.

‘I have a video. It’s security footage from a gas station. It implicates the Pastor in the murder of Skylar Edwards.’

The small concrete cell seemed to suck the air clean out of the room.

‘What do you want in exchange for this?’ asked Berlin.

‘Full immunity. We draft the immunity agreement right now, and we get the judge to witness it. I don’t trust you, Mr. Berlin. I trust Judge Chandler. That makes it all official. Then I’ll give you the Pastor, and you’ll give me my freedom.’

I was about to say something, but Berlin had already made up his mind.

‘Agreed,’ he said.

It took another half hour for Berlin to amend the agreement, and for Judge Chandler to come down to the cells. He said nothing to me, Korn or Bloch. He spoke to Berlin and signed the immunity agreement using a digital pen, putting his name below Korn’s.

As Chandler left the cell, he turned to me and said, ‘You and Miss Brooks are good lawyers, even if you are unorthodox.’

‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’

The cell door closed behind him.

We fell silent, and then Berlin urged Korn along.

‘So where is this footage?’ asked Berlin.

‘It’s on a pen drive, in my briefcase, which the officer outside here has in my property bag.’

Bloch banged on the cell door, asked the corrections officer to bring us Korn’s possessions. The keyboard that attached to Berlin’s tablet had a pen drive. He inserted it and together we watched the footage.

‘So when can I go?’ asked Korn.

He had this in his possession while he was trying to convict Andy Dubois of the crime. I knew it. More than that, he was trying to have a death sentence passed. I couldn’t look at Korn anymore. I left the cell, with Bloch and Berlin.

‘Hey, we had a deal,’ said Korn.

‘We did. You give us information identifying the Pastor in exchange for your freedom,’ said Berlin. He looked at Anderson.

As Berlin closed the cell door, leaving Anderson alone with Korn, he said, ‘A deal is a deal. Mr. Anderson, set him free.’

Bloch couldn’t look at Berlin, and at that moment, I didn’t know why. But the expression on Bloch’s face was dark enough to give me a hint. Right then, I suspected Korn would be leaving that cell in a body bag.

‘So are you gonna get this guy?’ I asked.

‘Sure,’ said Berlin. ‘Soon as Mr. Anderson is finished, we’re going to pay a visit to the Sheriff’s Department.’