Chapter 8
Everyone except the doctor, who had left, was in the living room, drinking coffee or brandy, when Bromley came down. "He's asleep," Bromley said, and smiled as he said, "and before he fell asleep, he told me he was stubborn and ready to testify. He knows who did it. He could smell Mason's pomade."
Now smiles and sighs of relief went all around. "Well," Sheriff Madden said, "I'd better get back to town and see if I can find an attorney who will represent those two snakes."
"Try Marvin Sanders," Nick grumbled. "He's about the only one who might take the case."
"Probably not," Heath said. "Without Cunningham's money, he knows he's not gonna get paid."
"Maybe," Bromley said. "Tell you what, Sheriff. I won't come by to talk to them before tomorrow morning. If they don't have counsel by then, I'll treat them like they're representing themselves."
The sheriff nodded. "I'll talk to Judge Farnum about it too. We'll see what happens," he said, nodded his good-byes, and left.
Heath offered Bromley some brandy, but Bromley declined. "If you'll let me keep that horse Ciego lent me for a while, I'll leave you all alone now too. You need to look after Jarrod and help him heal up – maybe help yourselves do a little healing too."
"And what about you, Mark?" Victoria asked. "You've had a bit of healing to do in all this, too."
Bromley nodded. "You're right. I have." He glanced upstairs then back at Victoria. "But I couldn't have done any of it without him, so you take good care of him, so I can help him put this part of his life away for good. And I will do it."
XXXXX
Bromley rode back to town, realizing he wouldn't be that far behind the sheriff and the sheriff would be busy trying to find a lawyer for Corell and Mason. He figured Sanders would be the sheriff's first stop, so Bromley made Judge Farnum's house his first stop.
Where he found the sheriff. The judge's houseman let him in, and Bromley found Fred Madden in the judge's study with him already. "I didn't realize you'd be here," Bromley said.
"I figured I'd better bring the judge up to date on everything," Sheriff Madden said.
"How is Jarrod?" Judge Farnum asked.
"Shook up, but improving," Bromley said. He looked at the sheriff again. "You probably haven't had time to find Corell and Mason a lawyer."
"I found out it won't be Marvin Sanders," the sheriff said. "He saw my men bringing Corell and Mason in, and he saw me riding into town. Grabbed me right away and told me not to come to him to represent them. That's why I came over here."
"I'll have to see if I can get anyone appointed," Judge Farnum said. "But I want them in court to be arraigned tomorrow morning, lawyer or no. Mark, I assume you have the case."
"Since Jarrod's the victim and a witness," Bromley said, nodding.
"All right, ten o'clock," Judge Farnum said. "Fred, Mark, if you'll keep seeing if anyone will represent them, I'll appoint him right away. I want to schedule a trial for Friday at the latest."
"If nobody will take them?" Bromley asked.
"Then they represent themselves," Judge Farnum said. "I'm assuming that it will be up to Jarrod too, if he wants to indict those two for Collier Dam."
"I hadn't thought about that," Bromley said. He had forgotten that they had never been indicted with Cunningham for blowing up the dam. "I'll talk to him about it, when I talk to him about the rest."
Bromley and the sheriff both left. Bromley checked his watch and couldn't believe it was only just before one o'clock. Everything that had happened – it seemed like it should be later. "Can I buy you lunch, Mark?" Sheriff Madden asked. "A bite at the Stockton House – maybe we'll run into an attorney or two to talk to."
"Thanks, Sheriff, that's a good idea," Bromley said.
They started walking toward the Stockton House, that was only a couple blocks away. The sheriff said, "You know – I'm glad things are finally working out better for you."
"I'm ashamed of myself," Bromley admitted. "I never should have let Cunningham get to me. Jarrod's been blinded because I let Cunningham get to me. All of this – "
"Maybe," Sheriff Madden interrupted, "but lessons we learn the hard way are the ones we really keep. Besides, if Cunningham hadn't scared you, he might have killed you, and Jarrod would have taken the case and still be blinded, without you to help him now."
"I guess it doesn't really pay to play the 'what-ifs,'" Bromley admitted. "In any event, Jarrod's given me a big chance to make up for my mistake, and I'm not gonna let him down."
They got nothing but lunch at the Stockton House. They spoke to four local lawyers there, but none was willing to represent Corell and Mason. After they ate, Bromley and the sheriff split up. The sheriff hit the saloons, Bromley hit the attorney's offices, but by the time they got back together in the sheriff's office at about four, they still hadn't gotten anyone to agree to take the case.
"You want to talk to Corell and Mason?" Sheriff Madden asked.
"You know," Bromley said, "I'm a victim of what they did this morning too. We may have to find another prosecuting attorney for that."
"You and Jarrod are all there is right now," the sheriff said.
Bromley nodded, but he was thinking.
"What are you getting at?" the sheriff asked.
Bromley said, "If we tell them we haven't been able to find them a lawyer, they might be amenable to a plea bargain."
"I'll bet they still want their jury trial," Sheriff Madden said, "plus I wouldn't do that without getting Jarrod to agree."
"I agree, and I can't talk to him before the arraignment tomorrow morning," Bromley said, "but with no lawyer – and with having to stand up in court tomorrow – and with us waving even Collier Dam at them - they might just get worried enough to take a deal."
"What kind of a deal did you have in mind?"
"I'll have to talk to Jarrod about it, and he won't be able to talk until after the arraignment. The judge would have to approve it too. Why don't we just let them squirm through the arraignment without a lawyer, and then I drop a bug in their ear about a plea bargain? Just say I'd be willing to talk to Jarrod about it if they'd be willing to think about it. Then let them squirm some more all day tomorrow."
"In the meantime, you best get some rest," the sheriff said. "You've had a busy day."
"But all in all, a good one," Bromley said.
XXXXX
At the arraignment the next morning, the sheriff brought Corell and Mason in with only them, Bromley and the court clerk/reporter there. The first thing the judge asked when he took the bench was whether the defendants were represented by counsel.
Bromley just said, "No, Your Honor."
"Do you want counsel?" Judge Farnum asked Corell and Mason.
Corell did the talking. "We haven't found one, Judge."
"But do you want one?" Judge Farnum asked.
Corell and Mason looked at each other, and Corell said, "Yes."
Judge Farnum looked at Bromley, who said, "So far, Your Honor, we haven't found anyone who will take the case."
Judge Farnum. "Very well. I'll take the plea with the defendants representing themselves. Read the charges, Mr. Clerk."
The court clerk read the charges off, for both Friday night and Monday morning.
"How do you plead, Mr. Corell?" the judge asked.
"Not guilty," Corell said.
Mason said, "Me too," right away.
"Very well," the judge said. "Trial is set for this coming Friday morning at ten a.m. I'll see about appointing counsel, but if you find someone, let me know by the end of the day."
Judge Farnum banged the gavel and left the bench.
The sheriff came to Corell and Mason to take them back to jail, and Bromley joined them. "You know, you boys aren't gonna get a lawyer of your choosing," Bromley said. "If the court appoints one, you're gonna take what you get."
They just stared at him.
"There's another way," Bromley said. "I'm willing to talk to Mr. Barkley about a plea bargain on all the charges."
"Plea bargain?" Corell asked.
"If you go to trial and lose, you could go to prison for life," Bromley said. "Change your plea to guilty, and I might be able to get you a lighter sentence. At least, I'm willing to talk to Mr. Barkley about it and if he agrees, and you agree, I'll take it to the judge."
Corell and Mason looked at each other. "What do you mean by a lighter sentence?" Corell asked.
"You're up for abducting Mr. Barkley twice, and attempted murder," Bromley said. "You could go to San Quentin for life. I might be able to get you a light at the end of the tunnel – something less than life."
"How much less?" Corell asked.
"I don't know," Bromley said. "I'll have to talk to Mr. Barkley about it and then see if the judge agrees. But I'll tell you right now – things don't look good for you otherwise. Your only chance of ever seeing the outside of a cell again is to take a bargain – that I'm damned sure of." And then, Bromley thought. "And speaking of dams, you weren't defendants in the case against Cunningham, were you?"
Now Corell and Mason both looked downright nervous.
Bromley loved it. "Think about it," he said, took his briefcase up and walked out.
Sheriff Madden just smiled at them and said, "Back to jail, boys."