Scam

sexist cops who framed whoever the hell it was. A fabrication of the evidence did not take place. The lawyers can rant and rave, point fingers, make allegations of all kinds, and there’s not anything anyone can do about it, because it’s all a crock of shit. The cops can’t disprove it because it has no foundation whatsoever—it’s very hard to prove a negative. ‘I didn’t take this piece of evidence.’ ‘Oh, yeah? Prove it.’ It works very well in those cases. Nothing’s proven either way, but the point has been raised. And in some asshole juror’s mind, that constitutes reasonable doubt. So some scumbag miserable son of a bitch who ought to rot in jail, walks the streets.”
    “This, from a defense attorney?”
    “Hey, I’m a negligence lawyer. Think of me arguing damages against the State of New York when some punk freed by the system harms a client.”
    “Fine, Richard,” I said, impatiently. “How about the fact I’m being framed?”
    “I was trying to explain,” Richard said. “The main problem with that defense is the fact that it’s true.”
    “What?”
    “Yeah. Like I said, if it isn’t true, you make the allegation, no big whoop, and the odds are you get off. In this case the allegation’s true, which is another matter entirely.”
    “Why?”
    “Think about it. You start yelling corrupt cop, well, here’s the corrupt cop you’re yelling about, sitting there and hearing you yelling it. He doesn’t like that, so he does two things. One, he covers up. Two, he strikes back.”
    “How?”
    “I don’t know how. But I know this. The guy is an expert at pulling a frame. You think the evidence looks bad right now, check out what the guy can do if you piss him off.”
    I blinked. “You’re scared of him?”
    “Scared is the wrong word,” Richard said. “I’m not the one going to jail. I would think you would want me, as your attorney, to be prudent regarding the length of your stay.”
    “Stay?”
    “Just a figure of speech,” Richard said. “Anyway, that’s the situation. If you cry wolf and there’s no wolf, no harm done. But if you cry wolf and the wolf is there, you piss the wolf off. Which puts you in a very vulnerable position if you can’t prove the wolf’s a wolf.”
    “Jesus, Richard.”
    “Hey, no reason to get upset. We are months away from trial, and you’re out walking around. You are in no immediate danger, unless they rescind bail, which hasn’t happened or we would have heard.”
    “Belcher’s pushing for it. He brought it to the ADA.”
    “How do you know?”
    “From MacAullif. That’s how he heard about it.”
    “What about the ADA?”
    “From what I hear, he’s not buyin’.”
    “There you are,” Richard said. “Your bail’s set, there’s no problem, we got plenty of time.”
    “Time for what?”
    “Figure a scheme by which you can beat the rap.” Richard shrugged. “Either that or prove who did it. No matter how good the frame is, an ADA will have a tough time convicting you with the actual killer in jail.”
    “No shit. Any suggestions who that might be?”
    “The field’s wide open. Pick a killer, any killer. There’s so little to go on, who could prove you wrong?”
    “Unless I happen to pick the right one, in which case I’ll piss them off?”
    “I’m glad you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”
    “I have, Richard. I’m just way beyond punchy. You planning on solving this case for me, or do I have to do it myself?”
    “What, it’s not enough I should keep you out of jail?”
    “That’s what I thought. But if I’m gonna do it myself, you have any suggestions? I’m going slightly batshit and I can’t think straight.”
    “I’m not sure thinking straight would help.”
    I groaned. “Please. I’m in enough pain without you going cryptic. You got something to say, say it.”
    “An analysis of all the facts we know so far yields absolutely nothing. This is significant—it indicates the facts are wrong. Knowing that, this shouldn’t be that hard to figure out. Complicating the issue is getting framed by a crooked cop.”
    “I’ll say.”
    “No, no. You don’t understand. Yes, of course, it complicates your life and makes it hard for you to think. But that’s not what I mean. I mean when you try to figure out what happened here, the solution is, a cop framed you. That’s the solution you arrive at—not who committed the crime, but who committed the frame. Seeing that as your solution blinds you