For the People Chapter 25

Closing her eyes, Kate licks the last of her ice cream from a plastic spoon. "Mmm. The baby and I thank you."

"I'm glad the baby enjoyed it," Rick quips. "But Kate, have you given any more thought to letting the doctor reveal the little one's gender on your next ultrasound? The writer in me flinches at the awkwardness engendered by avoidance of pronouns. And knowing would make shopping for infant accouterments easier. Anyway, I thought you hated surprises."

"Normally I do," Kate admits. "But I don't want to build some picture in my mind of what our child's going to be like, just to have him or her go in another direction. I had too many friends who could sense their parents' disappointment in them in one way or another. And I've seen some people who turned their lives upside-down trying to meet their parents' expectations. Some of them were murder suspects or victims. I don't want to put any of that on our kid. If I don't have any expectations, she or he can be whatever they want to be."

"I can understand your reasoning, Kate," Rick concedes. "But after our child is born, you'll have expectations whether you want them or not. If he or she babbles a tune on pitch or climbs up to pick one out at the piano, you could immediately think musician. Or if a preschooler starts shouting answers at the TV you could picture the next Ken Jennings. When a four-year-old Alexis pirouetted around the loft in a tutu and plastic tiara, visions of a prima ballerina swam before my eyes. But later when she applied her speed and grace to fencing, I was even prouder. Parents can go with the flow. They just have to pay attention to what their kids want instead of their own pipedreams. Unfortunately, some parents never do, but I doubt it has much to do with knowing the gender of the womb's temporary resident."

"And you really, really, want to know," Kate accuses.

"Guilty as charged," Rick confesses. "I can't help it. Writers are naturally curious."

"Well, I'm not scheduled for another scan for a couple of weeks. So, I'll think about it," Kate promises.

Rick's grin lights his face as he leans in for a quick peck. "Great!"

Kate's phone beeps. "That's an alert I set. Court's supposed to reconvene in five minutes. I need to get back there."

Rick starts gathering empty containers. "You go ahead. I'll clean up. See you for supper?"

"Unless Shapiro decides to call a strategy meeting. I'll let you know."


Kate gazes across the courtroom at her next witness. "Mr. Silverman, what is your occupation?"

"I'm an attorney," Mark Silverman responds.

"And did you also sit on the board of the Women's Health Clinic?"

"I did."

"And did you ever have occasion to speak with Dr. Fiona Morgan?" Kate queries.

"I did," Silverman confirms. "We had a number of conversations regarding the needs and direction of the clinic. And she also came to me with a possible legal concern."

"What was that concern?" Kate prompts.

"She believed that supplies meant for our clinic and others were being stolen. She asked me if I could look into it."

"And did you look into it?"

"I did. I examined the clinic's purchase orders and compared them with inventories of supplies received. Then I checked the bills of lading. I found a mismatch between what was received and what the shipper listed. I touched base with other clinics and examined their documentation as well."

"Did you find discrepancies for all of the transporters delivering supplies to the clinics?"

"Small ones, here and there, but nothing substantial except for one logistics company."

"And which logistics company was that?" Kate probes.

"Son-Rise Logistics."

"And how did you respond to your discovery, Mr. Silverman?"

"I was preparing to file pro bono legal action on behalf of The Women's Health Clinic, but it was destroyed, and Fiona died before I had the chance."

"Did you retain any evidence and paperwork corresponding to your planned legal work?"

"I did, and I turned it over to the D.A.'s office after Mr. Duffy was arrested."

"I'll note for the court, that the items to which Mr. Silverman refers were entered into evidence, and copies were provided to the defense," Kate announces. "Mr. Silverman, in your investigation of Fiona Morgan's concerns, did you look into any organization or organizations in addition to transportation companies?"

"I checked the organizations Son-Rise Logistics lists on its literature and their mandatory corporate disclosures as receiving charitable contributions," Silverman offers.

"And what did you find?" Kate questions.

"They all received monies, but the amounts were small, under 500 dollars, with one exception, the Enter Salvation Community Church. The contributions it received corresponded to a large portion of what the supplies never delivered to various healthcare facilities would have cost."

"And did you turn over any paperwork relating to that investigation to the DA's office as well?"

"I did."

"One more thing, Mr. Silverman. Did you find any connection between Mr. Duffy and the Enter Salvation Community Church?"

"I examined the publicly available financial records. Mr. Duffy received continuing payments for fundraising services. I made the DA's office aware of those records."

Kate turns toward the jury and back to Judge Willis. "Again, I will note for the court that the paperwork and the documents to which Mr. Silverman referred were entered into evidence and also supplied to the defense. Your witness Mr. Kudrow."

Kudrow takes more than his usual second to button his coat. "Mr. Silverman, did you find any direct connection between Mr. Duffy and Son-Rise Logistics?"

"No," Silverman admits, "only between the defendant and the Enter Salvation Community Church."

"And did you find any evidence of actual illegal activity on Mr. Duffy's part?"

"No."

"So for all you know, his fundraising activities could have been conducting bake sales."

"Mr. Kudrow," Silverman retorts, "what Mr. Duffy was paid would have bought enough cake to keep the entire congregation in sugar shock – with a lot of money left over."

"Move to strike as non-responsive," Kudrow demands.

"Strike Mr. Silverman's last response," Willis declares, "but I'd advise you to rephrase, Mr. Kudrow."

"Mr. Silverman, do you know to a certainty what fundraising services Mr. Duffy performed for the Enter Salvation Community Church?" Kudrow questions.

Silverman sighs. "No, Mr. Kudrow, I don't."


"Sounds like Silverman was one hell of a witness," Rick remarks as he scoops fluffy rice from a saucepan into a serving bowl.

Kate looks up for a moment as she uses chopsticks to stir ingredients in a wok. "He was very good. I think the jury liked him and he made a good piece of my case for me. But Kudrow is very adept at pointing out the missing links in the chain. I'll have to make sure they're all in place to keep him from establishing reasonable doubt that Duffy burned that clinic to cover up a crime, not to express his love of God."

"And can you do that?"

"I think so. With a heads up from your friend Vinny, I've had the FDNY looking back into some previously unsolved arsons. I just heard this afternoon that something popped up. Of course, I'll have to turn over anything I get to the defense, but Kudrow won't have much time to work with it. And his specialty is Hellfire, not the real thing. I'm pretty sure he'll be caught off base."

"Should I send Vinny more caviar?"

"Ugh! I'll let you know."