“No way, Haller. I’m not losing another one to you.”
“Just kidding. I’ve got my hands full.”
She snapped a top onto her cup and picked it up off the counter, using a layer of napkins as insulation against its heat.
“Same here. So I’d wish you good luck today but I can’t.”
“Yeah, I know. Gotta keep the company line. Just cheer up Minton when he comes down with his hat in his hand.”
“I’ll try.”
She left the cafeteria and I walked over to an empty table. I still had fifteen minutes before the trial was supposed to start up again. I pulled out my cell and called my second ex-wife.
“Lorna, it’s me. We’re in play with Corliss. Are you set?”
“I’m ready.”
“Okay, I’m just checking. I’ll call you.”
“Good luck today, Mickey.”
“Thanks. I’ll need it. You be ready for the next call.”
I closed the phone and was about to get up when I saw LAPD Detective Howard Kurlen cutting through the tables toward me. The man who put Jesus Menendez in prison didn’t look like he was stopping in for a peanut butter and sardine sandwich. He was carrying a folded document. He got to my table and dropped it in front of my coffee cup.
“What is this shit?” he demanded.
I started unfolding the document, even though I knew what it was.
“Looks like a subpoena, Detective. I would’ve thought you’d know what it is.”
“You know what I mean, Haller. What’s the game? I’ve got nothing to do with that case up there and I don’t want to be a part of your bullshit.”
“It’s no game and it’s no bullshit. You’ve been subpoenaed as a rebuttal witness.”
“To rebut what? I told you and you already know, I didn’t have a goddamn thing to do with that case. It’s Marty Booker’s and I just talked to him and he said it’s gotta be a mistake.”
I nodded like I wanted to be accommodating.
“I’ll tell you what, go on up to the courtroom and take a seat.If it’s a mistake I’ll get it straightened out as soon as I can. I doubt you’ll be here another hour. I’ll get you out of there and back chasing the bad guys.”
“How about this? I leave now and you straighten it out whenever the fuck you want.”
“I can’t do that, Detective. That is a valid and lawful subpoena and you must appear in that courtroom unless otherwise discharged. I told you, I will do that as soon as I can. The state’s got one witness and then it’s my turn and I’ll take care of it.”
“This is such bullshit.”
He turned from me and stalked back through the cafeteria toward the doorway. Luckily, he had left the subpoena with me, because it was phony. I had never registered it with the court clerk and the scribbled signature at the bottom was mine.
Bullshit or not, I didn’t think Kurlen was leaving the courthouse. He was a man who understood duty and the law. He lived by it. It was what I was counting on. He would be in the courtroom until discharged. Or until he understood why I had called him there.
Thirty-nine
At 9:30 the judge put the jury in the box and immediately proceeded with the day’s business. I glanced back at the gallery and caught sight of Kurlen in the back row. He had a pensive, if not angry, cast to his face. He was close to the door and I didn’t know how long he would last. I was figuring I would need that whole hour I had told him about.
I glanced further around the room and saw that Lankford and Sobel were sitting on a bench next to the bailiff’s desk that was designated for law enforcement personnel. Their faces revealed nothing but they still put the pause in me. I wondered if I would even get the hour I needed.
“Mr. Minton,” the judge intoned, “does the state have any rebuttal?”
