A Darkness More Than Night - Michael Connelly [149]
At precisely 9 A.M. the door behind the bench opened and Judge Houghton bounded up the steps to his spot. He took his seat and glanced at both the prosecution and defense tables.
“Ladies and gentlemen, are we ready for the jury?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Kretzler said.
Nothing came from the defense table. Houghton looked over, a curious smile on his face.
“Mr. Fowkkes? Can I bring in our jury?”
Now Bosch leaned back so he could look past Langwiser and Kretzler at the defense table. Fowkkes sat slouched in his chair, a posture he had never exhibited in the courtroom before. He had an elbow on the arm of the chair and his hand up. He was wagging a pen in his fingers and seemed to be lost in deep, depressing thought. His client sat rigid next to him, face forward.
“Mr. Fowkkes? I’m waiting for an answer.”
Fowkkes finally looked up at the judge. Very slowly he rose from the seat and went to the lectern.
“Your Honor, may we approach at sidebar for a moment?”
The judge looked both curious and annoyed. It had been the routine of the trial to submit all nonpublic conference requests by 8 : 30 A.M. so that they could be considered and argued in chambers without cutting into court time.
“This can’t be handled in open court, Mr. Fowkkes?”
“No, Your Honor. Not at this time.”
“Very well. Come on up.”
Houghton signaled the lawyers forward with both hands as though he were giving signals to a truck backing up.
The attorneys approached the side of the bench and huddled with the judge. From his angle Bosch could see all of their faces and he didn’t need to hear what was being whispered. Fowkkes looked ashen and after a few words Kretzler and Langwiser seemed to grow in stature. Langwiser even glanced over at Bosch and he could read the victory message in her eyes.
He turned and looked over at the defendant. He waited and David Storey slowly turned and their eyes locked one final time. Bosch didn’t smile. He didn’t blink. He didn’t do anything but hold the stare. Eventually, it was Storey who looked away and down at his hands lying in his lap. Bosch felt a trilling sensation move over his scalp. He’d felt it before, times when he had glimpsed the normally hidden face of the monster.
The sidebar conference broke up and the two prosecutors came back quickly to the table, excitement clearly showing in their strides and on their faces. By contrast J. Reason Fowkkes moved slowly to the defense table.
“That’s all, Fowkkes,” Bosch said under his breath. Langwiser grabbed Bosch by the shoulder as she sat down.
“He’s going to plead,” she whispered excitedly. “Krementz and Lopez. When you went over there, did you say consecutive or concurrent sentencing?”
“I didn’t say either.”
“Okay. We just agreed on concurrent but we’re going into chambers to work it out. We need to formally charge Storey with Lopez first. You want to come in and make the arrest?”
“Whatever. If you want me to.”
Bosch knew it was just a legal formality. Storey was already in custody.
“You deserve it, Harry. We want you to be there.”
“Fine.”
The judge tapped his gavel once and drew the courtroom’s attention. The reporters in the media gallery were all leaning forward in their seats. They knew something big was going on.
“We’ll stand in recess until ten o’clock,” the judge announced. “I’ll see all parties in chambers now.”
He stood up and quickly went down the three stairs to the rear door before the deputy had time to call, “All rise.”
46
McCaleb stayed away from The Following Sea, even after the last detective and forensic technician had finished with it. From early afternoon until dark the boat was staked out by reporters and television news crews. The coupling of the shooting aboard the boat plus the arrest of Tafero and abrupt guilty pleas from David Storey had turned the boat into the central image of a story that had developed quickly through the day. Every local channel plus the networks shot their stand-up reports from the marina, The Following Sea serving as the backdrop with its yellow police tape strung across the salon door.
McCaleb