For the People Chapter 52

"Grammy, you're shivering!" Janelle exclaims, reaching for a crocheted throw to wrap around her grandmother.

"I was taking a shower, and the hot water cut off just like that," Olivia Jefferson explains. "And I haven't been able to get warm. The radiator won't heat up either."

"Did you call the super?" Janelle inquires.

"First thing. It rang once and went to voicemail. I've tried four times since then. They all went to voicemail." Olivia sniffs in disgust. "The management company isn't picking up either. And I checked with Mr. Chester across the hall. Same thing. He thinks the boiler's busted. But I think someone turned it off."

"Why would they do that?" Janelle asks.

"To get me, Mr. Chester, all of us out of here. I've seen it before, with my cousin Lulu. She was living in a building on 112th Street, one of the few anyone could find where the city kept the rent down. She fixed up her apartment as nice as she could. So did a lot of the other tenants. They even put in a tiny little garden. And then the owner sold it, and the new guy decided to redo it for condos. The manager turned off the heat and the water. There were rats and roaches all over the place because they stopped hiring exterminators. The elevator broke, and no one fixed it. A lot of people moved out to Jersey or something. Then Lulu and the others who were left got kicked out." Olivia shudders. "She ended up living on 146th Street. You know what it was like around there. Between the gangs and the muggers, she was afraid to leave her place. And the price of everything was jacked up because the stores got ripped off so often. She was 95 lbs. when her heart gave out. That's what these people from Brown Rock want to do. They want to get rid of us, so they can build fancy condos no one around here can afford. And it won't just be this building."

"Grammy, I think you're making a lot out of a broken boiler. Someone will fix it, and everything will be OK," Janelle soothes.

"Yeah, that's what the people in Lulu's building thought. And by the time they woke up, it was too late. We need to organize now, like that Valerie MacDonald and her NHWH group did. When I was a girl in the '60s, I went to protest marches. We got things done."

"Grammy, with your knees, you can't march anymore," Janelle protests.

"Hell, girl, I'll go with my walker if that's what it takes. But we've got to get the people together. Look, I want you to knock on every door in this building. Tell the folks that if no one does anything about fixing that boiler by tomorrow, we're gonna hold a meeting and figure out what to do."

Janelle shakes her head. "Are you sure, Grammy?"

"Damn straight I'm sure. Now move your butt, girl."

"Yes, Grammy."


With a smile that's charmed many juries, Lowell begins his questioning. "Captain Gates, I imagine you were relieved to be finished with your testimony when Ms. Beckett rested her case."

"I'm always prepared to serve the people of New York, Mr. Lowell, in or out of court," Gates replies. "If you have further questions I'll answer them to the best of my ability."

Lowell nods. "All right, then. You previously stated that you've been a member of the NYPD for 35 years. Is that correct?"

"It is."

"And in all that time, have you ever arrested an innocent person?"

"If you mean have I ever arrested anyone that either didn't go to trial or was acquitted, yes. Police are not judge or jury, we're merely the first step in the legal process."

Lowell nods. "Of course. But let me rephrase. Have you ever arrested someone who showed no real signs of committing a criminal act?"

"Yes, I'm sorry to say I have. The matter was promptly corrected, but yes, I have."

Lowell's jaw slackens for a split second before he recovers his smile. "Thank you, Captain Gates. That's all I have."

"Cross, Ms. Beckett?" Judge Maynard inquires.

Kate gets to her feet. "Yes, Your Honor. Captain Gates, please tell us exactly what occurred when you made the arrest you referenced to Mr. Lowell."

Lowell springs from his chair. "Objection! Relevance."

"Overruled," Maynard responds. "You opened the door, Mr. Lowell. Ms. Beckett's entitled to walk through it. You may answer the question, Captain Gates."

"Captain Gates, in the 34 years since your rookie days, have you learned more about gathering appropriate evidence?" Kate asks after Gates finishes her account. "Specifically, have you used all of that experience to gather evidence concerning the defendant?"

"I have been very mindful to do just that," Gates replies.

"That's all I have," Kate declares.


Kate grins over a plate of Rick's pasta carbonara. "Babe, you should have seen the faces on the jury when Gates told her story – pure sympathy."

Rick breaks off a piece of crusty bread. "Yeah, well I can understand that. Who hasn't screwed up while starting a new job?"

"You. Wasn't 'In a Hail of Bullets' your first novel?"

"But hardly my first story. And some of my English teachers were less than complimentary. Too many adverbs. Anyway, I rewrote the thing a little after every rejection, all twenty of them. So what Black Pawn got was far from the original version. And you know how obsessive Alexis can be over getting everything perfect. I spent years trying to explain to her that the real learning takes place from failure. Still, I don't think she got the message until her first paper at Columbia only earned a 'B.'"

"A 'B' is hardly a failure." Kate points out.

"It was to Alexis. I don't think she realized what a small pond Marlowe Prep was compared to an Ivy League University – or most decent universities. Everyone else was also at the top of their high school class. She had to kick it up a few notches to lead her new pack. It took her a while, which was a humbling but more educational experience."

"Yes, I remember her bringing that up a few times. I shared some details about my year at Stanford. I wasn't always leading the pack either."

"I never knew about those conversations. I'm glad she had a woman to commiserate with. And now that Lowell has had his lesson in humility, what next?"

"He'll be putting up his series of witnesses to swear to what a great cop and leader Brooks was. It shouldn't be that tough to poke holes in their testimony. I'll have Vu and Itzen and their laptops at the table with me, searching for inconsistencies with any prior statements. I can use those to impeach on cross. Lowell turned over a list of six of those witnesses. I don't know if he'll put them all up if the jury seems to be getting impatient. Maynard won't give him much leeway to drag things out either. He could rest before a week is out. But he is famous for his closing statements, something of a mix between F. Lee Bailey and Jerry Spence with a little bit of Johnny Cochran thrown in."

Rick reaches for Kate's hand. "He's still up against Kick-Butt-Beckett."

"What he's up against," Kate declares, "is the facts. No matter how good a speech Lowell makes, those are what Brooks can't escape."