The Brass Verdict

him back was that he was willing to roll the dice. To be exact, he said, ‘We can win this motherfucker.’ And I think he could be right.”
    “Then, what do you want, Haller?”
    “I’ll go fifteen max. I think I can sell that to him.”
    Vincent emphatically shook his head.
    “No way. They’ll send me back to filing buy-busts if I give you that for two cold-blooded murders. My best offer is twenty-five with parole. That’s it. Under current guidelines he could be out in sixteen, seventeen years. Not bad for what he did, killing two kids like that.”
    I looked at him, trying to read his face, looking for the tell. I decided I believed it was going to be the best he would do. And he was right, it wasn’t a bad deal for what Barnett Woodson had done.
    “I don’t know,” I said. “I think he’ll say roll the dice.”
    Vincent shook his head and looked at me.
    “Then, you’ll have to sell it to him, Haller. Because I can’t go lower and if you continue the cross, then my career in the DA’s office is probably finished.”
    Now I hesitated before responding.
    “Wait a minute, what are you saying, Jerry? That I have to clean your mess up for you? I catch you with your pants around your ankles and it’s
my
client that has to take it in the ass?”
    “I’m saying it’s a fair offer to a man who is guilty as sin. More than fair. Go talk to him and work your magic, Mick. Convince him. We both know you’re not long for the Public Defenders Office. You might need a favor from me someday when you’re out there in the big bad world with no steady paycheck coming in.”
    I just stared back at him, registering the quid pro quo of the offer. I help him and somewhere down the line he helps me, and Barnett Woodson does an extra couple of years in stir.
    “He’ll be lucky to last five years in there, let alone twenty,” Vincent said. “What’s the difference to him? But you and I? We’re going places, Mickey. We can help each other here.”
    I nodded slowly. Vincent was only a few years older than me but was trying to act like some kind of wise old sage.
    “The thing is, Jerry, if I did what you suggest, then I’d never be able to look another client in the eye again. I think I’d end up being the dope that got roped.”
    I stood up and gathered my files. My plan was to go back and tell Barnett Woodson to roll the dice and let me see what I could do.
    “I’ll see you after the break,” I said.
    And then I walked away.

PART TWO. Suitcase City

2007

Four
    It was a little early in the week for Lorna Taylor to be calling and checking on me. Usually she waited until at least Thursday. Never Tuesday. I picked up the phone, thinking it was more than a check-in call.
    “Lorna?”
    “Mickey, where’ve you been? I’ve been calling all morning.”
    “I went for my run. I just got out of the shower. You okay?”
    “I’m fine. Are you?”
    “Sure. What is-?”
    “You got a forthwith from Judge Holder. She wants to see you – like an hour ago.”
    This gave me pause.
    “About what?”
    “I don’t know. All I know is first Michaela called, then the judge herself called. That usually doesn’t happen. She wanted to know why you weren’t responding.”
    I knew that Michaela was Michaela Gill, the judge’s clerk. And Mary Townes Holder was the chief judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court. The fact that she had called personally didn’t make it sound like they were inviting me to the annual justice ball. Mary Townes Holder didn’t call lawyers without a good reason.
    “What did you tell her?”
    “I just said you didn’t have court today and you might be out on the golf course.”
    “I don’t play golf, Lorna.”
    “Look, I couldn’t think of anything.”
    “It’s all right, I’ll call the judge. Give me the number.”
    “Mickey, don’t call. Just go. The judge wants to
see
you in chambers. She was very clear about that and she wouldn’t tell me why. So just go.”
    “Okay, I’m going. I have to get dressed.”
    “Mickey?”
    “What?”
    “How are you really doing?”
    I knew her code. I knew what she was asking. She didn’t want me appearing in front of a judge if I wasn’t ready for it.
    “You don’t have to worry, Lorna. I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
    “Okay. Call me and let me know what is going on as soon as you can.”
    “Don’t worry. I will.”
    I hung up the phone, feeling like I was being bossed around by my wife, not my ex-wife.

Five
    As the chief judge of the