For the People Chapter 48
Rubbing his hands together in satisfaction, Rick gazes at the newly erected fence. Beside him, Jim Beckett stares at the barrier. "That should keep out kids and any further attempts at dumping. But it will also block the corporate owner's access to the property."
"Assuming it's willing to fess up to owning it. Do you see that happening?" Rick asks.
"Probably not," Jim replies. "So far I've traced the ownership to Luxembourg, but that's not the end of the trail. It's part of a multinational web of allied interests that covers much of the world. This lot is such a minuscule part of the holdings that it may be buried in an obscure listing somewhere. I can file a John Doe lawsuit, and if no one steps forward to defend it, we'd get a judgment in our favor. But we'd have a hard time enforcing it and an even harder time getting your money back if you spring for the cleanup."
"I don't care about that," Rick decides. "The trucks have been showing up roughly every couple of weeks. There should be one due any day. Let's see if anyone raises a stink about being denied entrance. If not, go ahead with the John Doe."
"OK, Jim agrees. "How long do you want me to wait?"
"How about a week?" Rick proposes. "Can you have the paperwork ready to go by then?"
"It will be mostly boilerplate, so yes."
"Good, and in the meantime NHWH volunteers will be keeping a watch on the place. And I got them an infrared video camera, so if a truck attempts a midnight approach, they may be able to capture the action."
"You're really going all-in on this, aren't you, Rick?" Jim asks.
Shoving his thumbs in his belt, Rick rocks back on his heels. "Kate isn't the only one who can kick injustice's butt."
"How do you think we did?" Gates asks Kate after more than a week of testifying. "I don't think I've ever spent that many hours on the stand for one case before."
"Considering how much time you spent gathering the evidence, we're almost on fast forward," Kate offers. "And Judge Maynard would call a halt if she thought I was trying to stall. Everything you present is one more bar on Brooks' cell. But we should be able to wrap up the People's side tomorrow morning. Then Lowell will get his shot at you on cross-examination. Are you ready for that?"
"I faced him years ago, before I was in IA, on a murder rape case. I was inexperienced and a lousy witness. His client got off and went on to rape and kill another victim. I swore I'd never let Lowell get the better of me again. I know this case inside and out, more than Lowell could. He's not going to trip me up twice."
As she makes her automatic trip to the fridge, Kate inhales deeply. "Do I smell triple chocolate brownies?"
"You do," Rick announces proudly. "And I have the makings for the chicken piccata you like all ready to go too. We're celebrating."
"What are we celebrating?"
"The fence is up, and the kids in the NHWH neighborhood won't be able to get near those drums. Also, your father is primed and ready to go on with a suit."
"That's wonderful!"
"You could sound more joyful. Bad day at the Maynard Corral?"
"Not really a bad day. Gates is doing a great job. It's just a long one. I'm afraid the jury was getting bored or tired of hearing from her. Then when Lowell attacks tomorrow, he'll wake them up, and they'll pay more attention. You know what they say. 'When the facts are on your side, pound on the facts. When the law's on your side, pound on the law. When neither is on your side, pound on the table.' I think Lowell will be hitting his table hard "
Rick shrugs. "It sounds like a scene from Matlock without the Andy Griffith charm."
"Lowell can turn on the charm when he wants to. I've seen a couple of female and one male juror looking him over."
"And I'm willing to bet a fair number of jurors have their eyes on the hot prosecutor as well."
"They do, but Lowell will be taking center stage soon, and he'll be putting on a good show."
'You've got both the law and the facts on your side, the curtain will have to fall on him eventually."
"I hope you're right." As a complaint sounds from the baby monitor, Kate heads for the nursery. "I'll take care of her. But I want that piccata when I get back."
"And I shall endeavor to deliver."
As he enters the office of Brown Rock's CEO Horace Shuck, CFO Lenny Felsher firmly closes the door behind him. "People have been sniffing around. First, it was that bunch of NHWH busybodies, then a writer, and now it's a lawyer."
"Have they got anything that can hurt us?" Shuck asks.
"Not so far. They tracked a license plate on a truck, but we can claim the plate was stolen. And that jerk writer paid a lab to come in and check out the lot. But that doesn't touch us. At most, they'll get the idiots at Jeri-haul for dumping the drums, and other than the license plate, there's no connection to us. But what they did will eventually work in our favor. "
"How about the apparent ownership of the lot?"
"It's under a European subsidiary that bought all the NYC land it could get its hands on as investment during the housing bust. It can claim it had no plans for development and was just paying for mowing services now and then. It can also say it had no knowledge of the dumping. And as far as I know, no one has a clue of the real plans for the area."
Felsher pulls a cigar out of a humidor and snips the end with a silver scissor. "Then if the Europeans reveal themselves and pay for the cleanup, they'll be the heroes. And when our real operations come into play, the neighbors will find it that much harder to stop us. Have an anonymous tip sent to the Ledger about Jeri-haul. They'll take a very public fall. Then our friends from Europe can come in and save the day. And let's accelerate our plans. The moment the cleanup is finished, we can start putting them into motion."
Grinning, Rick points to the front page of the Ledger. "It's below the fold, but someone dropped a dime on the dumper. It's a company called Jerri-haul. Now your dad has someone other than a John Doe to go after."
"How about the owner of the lot?" Kate asks. "Has anyone come forward?"
"It doesn't say anything about that, but it is six in the morning. There's hardly been time for the story to spread. But it's probably up on the Ledger's digital platform. The wires may also pick it up. Maybe now that there's someone to blame, the corporate owner may show up. It may even want to sue Jeri-haul itself. It would make sense."
Kate grabs an orange from the fruit bowl on the counter. "I don't understand why someone would suddenly send a tip to the Ledger now. NHWH has been making noise about this for quite a while, haven't they?"
"As much as they could."
"Something doesn't smell right, Babe."
"Is that your spidey sense or a waft from the nursery?"
"I just changed Lily. Definitely, my spidey sense – or my instinct from my years as a cop. Be careful about your involvement with this. And I'm going to ask Dad to be careful too."
"All right. Maybe now that the case has opened up, neither one of us will have to do anything else."
"Yeah, that would be great."
