WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Chapter 3 The Other Side

"The school website has updated the news about Agnes," said Joan, looking at their computer. "She's regained consciousness, but they'll have to keep her in the hospital several days. Concussion."

"I'm glad she's out of serious danger."

"There's been a lot of blogs supporting Agnes today. Axme Corporation decided to pull out of the deal. They didn't want to start with so much popular opinion against them."

"So Agnes got what she wanted, though not for the reason she had in mind." Adam sounded a little bitter.

Joan buried her face in her hands. "This is my fault. If I'd stopped the protest as God said, Agnes wouldn't have fallen off the horse."

"Nonsense, Jane. There's lot of blame to go around. The real estate guy, what's his name—"

"Terrant."

"--- shouldn't have blared the radio like that. He probably thought he was just drowning out Agnes' speech. Instead he wound up spooking the horse. And Agnes screwed up too. Remember how we both noticed she wasn't seated firmly in the saddle? That sign was making her top-heavy."

"Top-heavy?"

"When the center of gravity of a system is too high, it can topple over easily. Agnes was more than a meter off the ground and the sign added another meter. Remember AP Physics?"

"Sort of. I'm surprised you did."

"I do sculptures, Jane. When you've made a beautiful work of art, the last thing you want is for it to topple over and smash into pieces. Plus there's the fact that I have photographic memory."

"So you're saying it's Agnes's fault."

"I'm saying it's a lot of people's fault, plus some improbable events. If we didn't know God, I might say it was an act of God."

"Well, judging from the blogs, everybody's blaming Terrant. The police even arrested him for frightening Agnes' horse, but his lawyer has brought a writ of habeas corpus and demanded his release. And I still know that I was supposed to have stopped it somehow."

"What's done is done, Jane. Worrying about it won't help. Come on to bed, dear."

"OK. But I don't feel like—"

"All right, we won't tonight."

---

The next day, Joan and Adam happened to share a class, English 101, and so it was one of the few times that they could walk from their flat to the class building together. As they were walking down the campus' main sidewalk, they encountered Elizabeth, who looked angry.

"Hi, Joan, Adam. Did you hear --?"

"We were in the crowd yesterday."

"So was I, but I was too interested in watching Agnes to look for you. But have you heard the latest? The DA told the police last night he wouldn't press charges against Terrant. He thinks it was an accident. He explained it in a lot of legalese, but what it amounted to was 'S*** happens'. Horse-s***, I suppose. And apparently nobody can override that."

"No," said Joan, who had had AP Law in senior year of high school. "To convict somebody of a crime, you have to have charges, an indictment, and a trial with a guilty verdict, and you can do each of those only once. If the DA isn't bringing an indictment, that's the end of it." She, too, was finding some of her high school knowledge useful in practice.

"Well, it may be the end legally, but lots of people are mad at Terrant. I hear Agnes' treatment isn't covered by her parents' insurance, so he ought to pay for her care. I'm going to talk to other people, maybe organize another protest—" she walked off.

"OK, but don't try riding a horse this time," Joan called as Elizabeth walked away.

The Girardi-Roves resumed walking. "You think the DA's decision was legitimate?" asked Adam.

"Yeah, it's a matter of interpretation. Maybe Terrant just wanted to drown out Agnes' speech, as you suggested last night, and there would be no law against that. The DA would have to prove that he intended the accident, or was grossly negligent, and the DA probably decided it was impossible."

They saw another group of students ahead on the sidewalk. One was a fussily dressed student in thick glasses, who looked vaguely like Luke but whom Joan had not seen before. As they went past him, he mumbled, "Too bad about the ripples, Joan."

She turned around and stared. "Nerd God. That's a new one."

"But I do fit into their environment well."

"Yeah, nice camouflage," said Joan sourly. "So, how have you come to scold me for not stopping Agnes?"

"No, Joan. As Adam said, what's done is done."

"So you've got a new mission then? Or did you just want to try out your new avatar?"

"There's a new mission. Defend Mr. Terrant."

"Huh?"

"Mr. Terrant's reputation with the community is mud right now. They blame him for frightening her horse with the radio noise. Not an offense that will hold up in a court of law, but the court of public opinion is a different manner. Particularly in a small town where everybody knows everybody else, at least by name. In the Victorian era, they used to say 'What will Mrs. Grundy think?'"

"So you want me to talk Mrs. Grundy into changing her mind?"

"Figuratively speaking."

"It's going to make people mad. Including Elizabeth. And I don't even know that many people here!"

As often happened when Joan mentioned a difficulty, Nerd God went off, this time with a cross between the usual wave and the Vulcan salute from STAR TREK.

"Now what?" asked Adam. "Considering that Mrs. Grundy doesn't really exist."

Joan sighed, not looking forward to the mission. "I guess I'll start with his lawyer."

---

She got into the lawyer's office by pretending that she had a project in her law course. In a university town, professionals were used to being besieged by students with projects or term papers, and they tried to be friendly about it. But when she brought up the real topic, his barriers went up.

"Sorry, Mrs. Girardi-Rove, I can't discuss the matter. Lawyer-client confidentiality."

"But I'm trying to help him. And besides, there's no case."

"He's still my client. But I'll give you a word of advice, Mrs. Girardi-Rove, since you may go into Law in the future. Not every accusation is subject to examination and counter-examination in a courtroom. Years ago, before you were born, a famous official in a scandal said 'I am not a crook'. He may have been correct about that, but the end result was that everybody remembers that he might have been a crook. To fight public opinion, refutation may not be the proper approach. Letting the subject die and be forgotten may be the better idea."

But God wanted me to do something more active. "Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome. Personally, I admire you for trying to do the right thing. But you'll have to do it differently."

Joan opened the door, and the lawyer's receptionist, noticing that the appointment was over, said "Axme Corporation wanted you to call back, sir."

"Thank you, Judy."

He started to close the door to his office, but Joan had a last-minute idea. "Would you at least tell Mr. Terrant that I'm trying to help him? Maybe I should talk to him directly."

"Yes, I can do that," said the lawyer. "Good day." He shut the door.

Joan was about to walk out when the receptionist said, "You're a friend of Mr. Terrant's?"

"Not exactly, but I AM trying to clear him. Can you help?"

"Well—" she looked at the closed door nervously. "There's something I can tell you. But please don't quote me, because it may violate lawyer-client confidentiality, and the legal profession may kick my ass if they find out."

Joan was somewhat amused at the sudden shift from legal phrasing to slang. "I'll try to help cover your ass."

"OK. Yesterday, Mr. Terrant called to ask if there was a legal way to get that horsewoman off the sidewalk. I took the call. While I was talking, I heard all that rock music blare out in the background. But it was BACKGROUND."

"You mean--?"

"Yeah. Mr. Terrant isn't likely to have turned on the noise while starting a phone call. I'm sorry the horse got spooked and bucked the girl off its back, but it was somebody else's fault."

TO BE CONTINUED.