The Fifth Witness - Michael Connelly [167]
“Judge, this—”
“That’s enough, Ms. Freeman. I will allow it.”
We returned to our places and the judge told Opparizio to answer the question. I repeated it for the sake of the jury.
“What is listed on Mr. Bondurant’s calendar for ten o’clock on December thirteenth?”
“It says ‘Sydney Jenkins, LeMure.’ ”
“So would you not take from that log line that Mr. Bondurant became aware of the ALOFT-LeMure deal in December of last year?”
“I couldn’t begin to know what was said at that meeting or if it even took place.”
“What reason would the man leading the acquisition of ALOFT have for meeting with one of ALOFT’s most important bank clients?”
“You would have to ask Mr. Jenkins that.”
“Perhaps I will.”
Opparizio had developed a scowl in the course of the questioning. The Herb Dahl plant had worked well. I moved on.
“When did the deal on the sale of ALOFT to LeMure close?”
“The deal closed in late February.”
“How much was it sold for?”
“I’d rather not say.”
“LeMure is a publicly traded company, sir. The information is out there. Could you save us the time and—”
“Ninety-six million dollars.”
“Most of which, as sole owner, went to you, correct?”
“A good portion of it, yes.”
“And you got stock in LeMure as well, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“And you remain president of ALOFT, don’t you?”
“Yes. I still run the company. I just have bosses now.”
He tried a smile but most of the working stiffs in the courtroom didn’t see the humor in the comment, considering the millions he had taken out of the deal.
“So you are still intimately involved in the day-to-day operations of the company?”
“Yes, sir, I am.”
“Mr. Opparizio, was your personal take in the sale of ALOFT sixty-one million dollars, as reported by the Wall Street Journal?”
“They got that wrong.”
“How so?”
“My deal was worth that amount, but it didn’t come to me all at once.”
“You get deferred payments?”
“Something along those lines but I don’t really see what this has to do with who killed Mitch Bondurant, Mr. Haller. Why am I here? I had nothing to—”
“Your Honor?”
“Hold on a moment, Mr. Opparizio,” the judge said.
He then leaned forward over the bench and paused as if to contemplate something.
“We’re going to take our morning break now and counsel will join me in chambers. The court is in recess.”
Once more we followed the judge back into chambers. Once more I was going to be the one put on the spot. But I was so angry at Perry that I went on the offensive. I stayed standing while both he and Freeman took seats.
“Your Honor, with all due respect, I had a certain momentum going out there and taking the morning break early is killing it.”
“Mr. Haller, you may have had plenty of momentum but it was taking you far away from this case. I have bent over backward to allow you to present a third-party defense but I am beginning to feel I’ve been had.”
“Judge, I was four questions away from bringing it all back home to this case but you just stopped me.”
“You stopped yourself, Counsel. I can’t sit up there and let this go on. Ms. Freeman’s been objecting, now even the witness is objecting. And I’m looking like a fool. You’re fishing. You told me and you told those jurors that you would not only prove that your client didn’t commit the crime, but that you would prove who did. But we are now five witnesses into the defense case and you are still fishing.”
“Your Honor, I can’t believe—look, I am not fishing here. I am proving. Bondurant had threatened to cost that man out there sixty-one million dollars. It is obvious and anyone with common sense sees this. And if that is not motive for a murder then I guess I—”
“Motive isn’t proof,” Freeman said. “It’s not evidence and you obviously don’t have any. The defense’s whole case is a charade. What’s next, you name everybody Bondurant was foreclosing on as a suspect?”
I pointed down at her in the chair.
“That wouldn’t be a bad idea. But the fact is the defense case is not a charade and if allowed to continue my examination of the witness I will get to the evidence very quickly.