"'In New York City's war on crime, 'the worst criminal offenders are pursued 'by the detectives of the Major Case Squad." "'These are their stories.'" "All I know is she must have gotten my name and talked about me to my PO." "No, I don't think he knows anything." "OK." "OK, I get it." "I'm gonna take care of everything for you." "Don't worry." "The line-up was made up of Hispanic men, like the defendant." "They all had moustaches and glasses." "They outweighed him by 50lb each." "Because his client went on a crash diet after his crime." "We chose line-up fillers who looked like Mr Vinueva at the time he held up the bodega, which is proper." "It is if I say it is, Mr Carver." "I'll give my decision tomorrow." "How does this work for my calendar, Miss Trudeau?" "Nine am, Judge." "Good." "Nine o'clock, then." "If you're late, bring a toothbrush." "I will hold you in contempt." "I've been in the john half the night." "Gotta be the onion rings." "Give me that flight number again." "Yeah, I..." "I got it." "Look, if my plumbing acts up again, I'll call in." "I've got a time-certain call." "Can we administratively adjourn this?" "Blakemore's never late." "Can we wait a minute?" " He in chambers?" " No answer." "He must be on his way." "Ron, thanks for coming." "Jess Laton, my attorney." "Ron Carver from the DA's office." "I don't know if Mrs Lewin told you, but we've called the police." "Do you want to wait for them?" "Er, no." "It's in here." "It's Emily Trudeau, Judge Blakemore's clerk." "Blakemore is in his study." "We can start when you're ready." "You see something?" "Is his investigative style always so sociable?" "Yeah, sure." "The killer wrapped her head in a towel before slamming it twice into the corner of the counter." "Minimise blood spatter?" "Maybe." "But it doesn't match the other towels." " He brought it with him." " And he left it behind." "But he took something with him." " The trash?" " There's no liner bag." "But there's...a smell." "Vomit." "He threw up in there after killing her." "Why she was here is unimportant." "She was leaving." "Her diaphragm was washed." "It's still wet." "That's irrelevant to the issue of who killed her." "At this point, what's relevant isn't your call." "We need you to be candid, Your Honour." "Were we having an affair?" "Yes." "Nothing more than that." " For how long?" " Long enough." " Can't you focus on who did this?" " We are." "How often did your wife visit your daughter in Connecticut?" "Every other weekend." " She always leaves on Thursday?" " Yes." "Why didn't Miss Trudeau spend the night?" "Emily's mother has Parkinson's." "She won't leave her alone all night." " Are we nearly finished here?" " No." " Did your wife know about her?" " Absolutely not." "I know what you're insinuating." "Nothing of the sort happened." "There's one explanation." "Emily was surprised by a burglar." " A burglar?" "Did you hear a burglar?" " No, I didn't hear anything." " Didn't you walk her downstairs?" " No, I was in bed, asleep." "Well, that's erm..." " Did you two have a fight?" " No." "You let her find her own way out in the dark?" "I find the tone of your questions completely gratuitous." "I'm done." "You deal with them." "I've gotta call my wife." "One last thing." "What did you have to eat last night?" "This investigation is by the book." "Whoever's ass needs kissing', tell Mrs Lewin I'll take no crap from the DA's office." "I didn't suggest you should." "But Judge Blakemore is well respected, contributes to legal journals and is a candidate for the appellate court." "And he was banging his law clerk." "This is a press case." "Good cops lose their pensions cos of press cases." "I don't plan on losing mine because of him." "I'll relay your concerns to Mrs Lewin." "Anything to this burglary theory?" "No forced entry." "The only thing stolen was the trash." "The killer threw up in it." "It's being analysed." " The judge?" " Could be." "But the attack was planned." "The killer brought a towel to wrap around Ms Trudeau's head when he brained her." " Professional?" " Yes." "And no." "He could've covered her face to stop her looking at him, to increase his comfort level." "The fact that he vomited indicates he doesn't have the stomach to be a pro." "A semi-professional hit man." "As a matter of fact, yes." "There's a profile in the literature." "These boys don't get all their income from killing." "They hold jobs." "They're less impulsive than amateurs but score high on psychopathy, with a history of prior violence." "Fights, barroom brawls, domestic violence." "Someone a jealous wife might hire to whack a mistress." "Come in." "I've met Diane Blakemore." "She's strictly Colony Club." "She wouldn't know where to find a hit man." "These are Emily Trudeau's cellphone records." "She and Blakemore kept their phone traffic low-key." "Maybe one after-hours phone call every few days, if that." "But during the last week she called him at home three or four times a night." "I don't know what those calls were about." "Did she talk about her relationship with the judge?" "She knew I didn't approve, but she was in love." "Since she started working for him ten years ago." "Long time to be someone's mistress." "She took it all on his terms." "Is this Emily's?" " Yes." " May I...?" "Could she have wanted more from the relationship?" "Issued an ultimatum?" "He would never leave his wife." "Emily knew that." "Summa cum laude at NYU." "And Law Review." "She was an editor." "Clerking for Blakemore was just supposed to be a stepping stone." "She wrote very well." "She was so bright." "Emily...has a docking station for a laptop, but I don't see it." "She took it to work every day." " It wasn't in her office." " We didn't see it at Blakemore's." " I have to be at Andrea's!" " It'll take no time." "It's your daughter's baby shower." "What's so important?" " I can't tell you." " Arnie!" "You don't want me to lie to you, so I can't tell you." "But it's good." "It's all on here." "What do you want me to do with the rest of it?" "Sell it for parts." "Just make sure it can't be traced." "I got copies of the new Jackie Chan movie." "Want one?" "No." "Dawn and me, we like romantic movies." "Thanks." "Harley finished his search of Trudeau's office." "No computer." "Lab results on the puke." "No DNA, no blood type, but traces of tuna salad on rye." " Emily Trudeau's greatest hits?" " Free Speech And The Fair-Use Doctrine," "The First Amendment And Encryption Software." "Stop it, you're making me hot." "Maybe her Law Review articles are what got Blakemore hot." "Can you call Carver?" "See if he can get us in to see Blakemore?" " Where are you going?" " The Law Library." "You appreciate I had to re-calendar two suppression hearings?" "We do." "A few questions came up when we looked into your background." " You checked his background?" " To assess any threats against him." "Threats?" "This was a botched burglary, wasn't it?" "We heard that you're up for a seat on the appellate court." "That's right." "The fact that you're being considered is a tribute to you as a jurist and a legal scholar." "Yes, I suppose it is." "What is your question?" " You went to Yale?" " And Columbia." "Graduated from both." " You were a Law Review?" " No." "Or that other award they give to the top ten percent?" "Order of the Coif?" " No." " Because you had a 2.0 average." " What do they call that?" " Oh, gentleman's Cs." "Isn't that it?" "If you came to denigrate my client's record..." "We like his record." "We like the fact that he's a..." "late bloomer." "All the articles you've published over these last few years." "Like this one." "Intellectual Property Rights In The New Millennium." " What about it?" " "Conflicts between First Amendment" ""and intellectual property rights are traditionally resolved" ""in favour of intellectual property." It's clear, concise." "Did Younger v Daly really hold that the First Amendment doesn't protect software?" " Yes, it did." "I don't see what..." " Wait." "No." "Daly's a landmark case precisely because it held the First Amendment does protect software." "You read one article and you're an expert?" " I've been in this field for years." " Ten years." "Ever since Emily Trudeau went to work for you." "Emily Trudeau graduated summa cum laude," "Order of the Coif, Law Review." "What the hell are you insinuating?" ""Conflicts between First Amendment and intellectual property rights" ""have traditionally been resolved in favour of..." You know the rest." "It's from Free Speech And The Fair-Use Doctrine by Emily Trudeau." "Two years before she became your clerk." "Either you stole her article or she wrote it for you." "That's ridiculous." "It's defamatory." "It's goodbye to the appellate court if anybody finds out." "What did Emily do, Judge?" "Threaten to go public?" " Don't answer that." " No!" "Unless you what?" "Left your wife?" "Gave her money?" "The proof was on her computer, which you got rid of." "She had her computer with her!" "No, not with her, not in her office, not in her home." "Er...you really don't know where that computer is, do you?" "But you're terrified because of what's on it." "First a plagiarist, then a murderer." "Now you've changed your mind." "This is no way to treat a judge." "He is a plagiarist, but somebody else killed Emily for her computer." "The evidence she ghostwrote his articles was on the computer." "It could destroy Blakemore, ruin his chances with the appellate court..." "Question is, who wanted Blakemore disqualified?" " Who chooses appellate court judges?" " This I'll handle." "I'll talk to the bipartisan nominating committee and let you know what I find." "You want to know how it really works, I got just the guy for you." "His first job was bellhop at the Biltmore, wasn't it?" "My mom marched me down to Democratic HQ herself." "Said I was a hooligan in the making and if anybody could set me straight, it was Mac McNeil." "I need to get home." "Fill 'em in, Mac." "So, what can I tell you about the Honourable Dutch Blakemore?" "Who'd want to keep him off the appellate court?" "Like?" "Would he swing the vote on an important case, or rub an interest group the wrong way?" " Everybody loves Dutch Blakemore." " He didn't strike us as loveable." "If you raise $10 million for party candidates at the election, people overlook your shortcomings." "So that's what counts." "Fundraising for the right party?" "Where did you think appellate court judges came from?" " Any other judges in the running?" " Four." "Rasmussen, Fuller, Sabatelli and Zimmer." "But Dutch is the frontrunner by a long mile." " Because everybody loves Dutch." " Ask the Bar Association." "They hold public hearings on the candidates." "We looked at Blakemore's record closely." "I don't recall him taking a stand on any controversial issue." "What might he face in appellate court?" "Organised crime?" "Drug cases?" " Nothing of consequence." " And in the public hearings?" " A personal gripe?" " I don't recall." " Can you check?" " There's always some personal gripe." "Co-op neighbours who don't think the nominee pays his dues..." "Here." "One name on the witness list." "She was a no-show." " Her name?" " Duval." "Marie Duval." "Doesn't say what her complaint was." "In hindsight, maybe I was wrong to back out." "But I'm up for partner next year." "Why should I be the next Anita Hill?" " Blakemore sexually harassed you?" " I was his clerk in the '80s." "During a sexual battery case he told me he liked SM scenes in pornos." " Was it ever more than talk?" " Never laid a hand on me." "On anyone else, I can't vouch for." " He harassed other women?" " These guys can't help themselves." " Do you know who these women are?" " No." "But when I didn't appear at the hearing, I got a call." "He said he was a concerned citizen." "Probably some girl's boyfriend." "He said Blakemore was a fraud, a womaniser, and it wasn't too late for me to testify." " Did this citizen identify himself?" " No." "He hung up." "I star-69'd him and a dispatcher answered." "It was a car service." "Smooth Ride." "I remember that call." "All incoming calls get routed to me." "I told that lady I got 102 drivers, 42 cars, each with a cellphone." "I don't know who called her." " That's what she said." " Same as I told the other lady." " What other lady?" " Another lawyer." "She comes in a week later, says she's getting crank calls from us." "She said I had to help or her boss'd put me in contempt." " Her boss was a judge?" " What she said." "Yeah, that's the one who showed up here." "I had to pull the logs on every phone to find her number." "You still have those records?" "I don't need a judge putting me in contempt." " Who had this phone?" " This day?" "Four different drivers could have used it." "Three calls to Emily at the court." "This number here, after the second call, to the 248 exchange?" "That's the probation office." "You said to shut her up." "She knew my name." "How else was I to do it?" "What were you thinking, going to his house?" "That was a good thing." "Good." "What was good about it, Arnie?" "You're dumber than you look." "You didn't see what I got for you." "From her computer." "Don't worry, I got rid of it." "This is pretty good, huh?" "See, I anticipated what you wanted." "I always anticipate." "You want me to get you some water?" "A cream puff." "Two shoplifting beefs, one for passing bad cheques." "This one's got three assaults." "Arnie Cox." "He was fired from his last two jobs for violent outbursts." "History of violence?" "A distinguishing feature of semi-professional hit men." "I only look like I'm not paying attention to you." " You need to close ranks." " What?" "He's setting up a Seven Stars Offence, right?" " What are you, an expert?" " No, I'm a cop." "And so's she." "And you're under arrest." "Your move." "It's not that I don't have counsel, it's that it costs me $100 an hour." "If I thought I needed him..." "I know you're just doing your job." "Anybody that likes Chinese chess can't be all bad." "Where'd you learn?" " China." " Yeah?" "Me too." "No, I'm just pulling your leg." "Anyways, I never made any calls to Emily Trudeau." " But you heard about her murder?" " Who didn't?" " You were working that night." " You see?" "I got an alibi." "That's a little optimistic." "Plenty of time to do the murder in between your runs to JFK." "I had the trots." "From eating too much grease." "Speaking of, what would you say if I told you we found DNA in vomit at the crime scene?" "I'd say that's a good one, Bobby." "You had DNA, I wouldn't be here." "I'd be in some doctor's office with a court-ordered needle in my vein." "That's a good one, Arnie." " You've got quite a career." " Turned over a new leaf." "Yeah." "Judge cut you a break." "Judge Sabatelli." "Isn't he the guy who writes novels in his spare time?" "I don't know." "I got lucky." "I could have been in front of Judge Session." "He's got a broomstick up his ass." "Something just occurred to me." "Sabatelli's up for the appellate court." " Oh, yeah?" " You didn't know?" "Why would I?" "Your favourite judge." "You know, Bobby," "I'm done talking today." " Sabatelli?" " That's where it's going." "Or where you're taking it." "Every time Sabatelli's name came up, Arnie's pulse rose." "So did mine." "Sabatelli's rough around the edges..." " Golden Gloves." " Forget Sabatelli." "Worry about this mutt." "You think he stole the computer, right?" "Get a search warrant." "You care who we ask?" "You're a little light on probable cause here." "You were a Golden Gloves champ in '59?" "Why?" "You want to go a few rounds?" "There's no certainty he made the phone calls." "Isn't that why they call it probable cause?" "Don't get smart with me." "You knew this defendant?" "Yeah, he's made a few appearances in my part." "You think murder is out of his reach?" "My years on the bench have taught me that anybody is capable of anything." "Isn't that from one of your books?" "My first book, The Serpent's Tooth." "Look at this." "Is this a French edition?" "My books have been translated into nine different languages." "That's the latest." "La Ville Sanglante." "The Bloody City." "This is very cool." "This one I haven't seen before." "West Side Danny." "That's out of print." "Well, I'd..." "I'd love to read it." "Could, erm...could I buy it from you?" "Just go ahead." "It's on me." "Thank you." "Your Honour, the search warrant." "Oh." "OK, what the hell." "You wanna go fishing, be my guest." "Since you're signing things, do you mind?" "We don't have any computers here." "We can't even work the video." "They won't break anything, will they?" " They know not to." " Judge Sabatelli." "That belongs to my husband." " Why does he have it?" " He thinks highly of the judge." "He's from humble circumstances, like Arnie." "He gave Arnie a break." " From the newspaper." " They did an article on the judge." " Arnie clipped it out." " This is clipped out too." "That was two years ago." "Arnie drove the judge to some political thing." " The judge throw a lot of work his way?" " On occasion." "So Arnie has all Sabatelli's novels?" "Looks like he read them a few times." "They came like that." "He got them at the flea market." "Arnie's locker at the limo company was clean." "No computer, nothing to connect him to the murder." "You underlining the dirty parts?" "The sex is pretty robust." "It's Jimmy Breslin meets Daphne du Maurier." ""Judge Wakefield was the worst kind of American aristocrat," ""the kind born on third base and thought he hit a triple."" "Wakefield's one of his recurring characters." ""He majored in drinking at Yale and whored his way through Columbia." ""That and marrying the granddaughter of a Supreme Court Justice" ""was the sum total of his legal education."" ""Wakefield sat in silence, to all appearances in meditation" ""on the grave constitutional issue before him." ""But Wakefield wasn't meditating on anything." ""He had no opinion on the matter," ""so he did what he usually did when he had no opinion." ""He borrowed one."" "Wakefield is Blakemore." "In the first edition of Sabatelli's second book," "Wakefield's wife was named Diane, the same as Blakemore's wife." "It changed in subsequent editions." "Yes, that was a creative decision." "Inspired by the threat of lawsuit?" "Raoul was not happy." "In the right light, you can see where we plastered over the hole he made." "What's his beef with Blakemore?" "They both went to Columbia." "Yes." "Raoul went on a scholarship." "Blakemore went on his father's dime." "Raoul got straight As, but Blakemore got invitations to the faculty club." " Ron?" " Yes, Judge." "Be straight with me." "Where are they taking this?" " What?" " The Blakemore case." " Detectives are investigating me." " I wasn't aware." "Point the finger at Blakemore, everyone says, "Not him."" "Point it at me, it's, "What d'you expect from a street punk?"" "Nobody is saying that." "If they point the finger at you, Ron, what would they say?" "You know exactly what they'd say." "Sabatelli hates Blakemore." "He hates Zimmer." "He hates Rasmussen, Lewin, McCoy." "He hates everybody equally." " He doesn't hate you." " We served on committees together." "He's a maverick, off the streets." "He doesn't see me as a threat." "That's how he sees Blakemore!" "He's paranoid." "Pathological!" "Is that police code for hot-blooded?" "What?" "Don't put words in my mouth or some attitude." "If he's involved, why would he sign a search warrant for Mr Cox?" " He knew we'd find nothing!" " That's paranoid." "We could throw Sabatelli another hot potato, see how he handles it." "Arnie Cox made harassing calls to Emily Trudeau." "Charge him with violating his probation." "Since he was Sabatelli's defendant, it'll end up in Sabatelli's lap." "Sabatelli revokes his probation, Arnie's back inside." "Five to ten." "If you're right, Sabatelli won't want to alienate Mr Cox." "And if you're right, he won't have a problem locking him up." "Very slick, Detective." " It's a damn trap, Henry." " Only if Arnie Cox can hurt you." "Be straight with me, Raoul." "As your attorney, I need to know." "No surprises." "He's a nothing little mouse." "See how they close ranks around Blakemore?" " Raoul..." " The fact that I'm even a suspect!" "You know what that does to my chances for the appellate court?" " I'm this close!" "And they hate it." " You're right about that." "Because I don't fill their coffers." "I don't kiss ass." "I've just worked hard my whole life!" "Raoul, if Arnie Cox really can't hurt you, all you're doing is locking him up on a probation violation, no big deal." "Right, Raoul?" "The defendant made harassing calls to Miss Trudeau days before her murder." "They can't prove harassment without a complainant." "She's dead, Your Honour." "That's our point." " There is no other explanation." " All right." "Mr Gruber, I have bent over backward to give your client second, third and fourth chances." "But it seems he took advantage of my generous nature." "I'm finding him in violation of his probation and remanding him into custody to serve the balance of his sentence." "Case closed." "It ain't like he had much choice." "After all you've done for him!" "He's supposed to take care of you." "Your lawyer's not here, so you should just listen, you know, think things over." "Sabatelli gave me this." "See?" "He signed it." "Your copies are all second-hand." "Not one of them is signed." "So what?" " Have you read his latest book?" " I haven't gotten to it yet." "You should." "You're in it." ""Donnie was a small-time crook who embellished his past" ""and bragged about being a big-time robber."" "That ain't me." "He made that up." ""Donnie was like one of those silly little terriers," ""always in tune to his master's moods, always eager to please," ""and that made him useful."" " I told you." "It ain't me." " "As a kid, Donnie was a bed-wetter." ""His old man beat the crap out of him for it," ""until child welfare sent him to live with his alcoholic grandmother." ""The night of his first arrest, he pissed himself." ""He was 17."" "None of that stuff matters, baby." "You're my guy and I love you." "Your family loves you." "I can't just flip on him." "I can't." "I know it's hard for you." "You never turned on anybody." "But this time it's different." "It's him or you." "I can't." "I only did what he wanted me to do." "For once, can't you do what I want?" "Please, baby." "I can't lose you forever." "A deal?" "In return for what?" "What's he offering?" "Sabatelli told him to do what he had to to prove Blakemore's plagiarism." "When Emily Trudeau found out Arnie was calling her," "Sabatelli got worried he'd be found out so he told Arnie to shut her up." "Arnie killed her in Blakemore's house to embarrass him." " Getting the computer was a bonus." " What happened to it?" "Arnie made a copy of the disk and gave it to Sabatelli." " And his own copy, as insurance." " What's on it?" "Drafts of articles she was ghostwriting for Blakemore, e-mails discussing the articles." "I can't believe Sabatelli would do this." "Of all the foolish, arrogant..." "Granting this is all true, he's only liable for conspiracy." "I can't convict him solely on the testimony of his co-conspirator." "I need corroboration." " If Sabatelli still had the disk?" " That would do it." "But what are the chances he still has it?" "Is it enough to prove that he knows what's on the disk?" "What are you suggesting?" "A pop quiz?" "Or an opportunity he can't resist." "I've been rethinking our case, Counsellor." "We were right the first time." "If anyone had the motive to kill Emily Trudeau and destroy the contents on her computer, it's Judge Blakemore." "You want to arrest Blakemore?" "Well, arrest would be an understatement." "Ron, Ron!" "Is it true what they say?" "Blakemore's the guy?" "So it appears." "I told you your concerns were premature." "A big fish." "This is good for you, Ron." "I don't need a three-ring circus." "Lewin wants it by the book." "I need someone from the committee of the bar to observe the interrogation." " I serve on that committee." " Really?" "This is asinine." "Emily never said anything about an Arnie Cox!" " She told you about the phone calls." " Yes, but..." "Look at him." "He probably never sat on the wrong side of an interrogation before." " You have?" " When I was a kid." "In my neighbourhood, getting pinched was part of puberty." "'You don't deny she was writing those articles for you, do you?" "'" "'She was not.'" "He's lying." "He never had an original thought in his life." "We found drafts of articles in her home, correspondence." "Here." "This copy of an e-mail she sent you last December." ""I've almost finished the final draft."" ""I'm sure the Georgetown Law Review will want it."" ""It'll be a feather in your cap."" " That could mean anything." " It means no appellate court." "You were worried another guy would get the job." "Rasmussen, Fuller...or Sabatelli." "Sabatelli?" "He's a thug." "'They put his name in the race just to make it look fair.'" "And the e-mail?" "We found that article in the Georgetown Law Review, under your name." "The Constitutionalisation Of The Internet?" "I know what I wrote." "You'll never get him this way." "He's not an idiot." "Use the actual articles against him." "'You were worried your secret was out.'" "'Please!" "This is crazy!" "'" "Judge Sabatelli thinks we should test Blakemore on the articles' contents." "Take it from a writer, if they're his, he'll know 'em inside out." " He might've written some of them." " Oh, that'll be the day!" "Ask him about the one on software encryption." "Intellectual Property And The Shifting Paradigm?" " That's it." "He didn't write that." " It's almost two years old." "I have a hard time remembering briefs I wrote two months ago." " It won't convince a jury." " Use something recent." "The last Law Review we have is six months old." "You said you have draft articles from the girl's home?" "No dates on those." "Well, try The Role Of The Judicial Review In Ihe Digital Copyright Act." "That's very recent." "Some of these don't have titles." "It starts, "Traditionally, the oversight role of the judiciary..."" ""..in the area of the constitutional limits of database protection"?" "Yes, that's it." "You found it." "Yes, it's right here." "How do you know this article so well?" "Because I read it." "Where?" "Because, funny thing is, it hasn't been published yet." "Emily Trudeau was still polishing it." "Well, er...if you've found drafts of the article," "I'm sure other copies were circulating." "I probably read one of those." "Well, no." "There are no copies." "We found this the same place you did." "On a disk from her computer." "A disk Arnie Cox gave us, identical to the one he gave you." "No." "No, that is not right." " Mr Cox told us everything." " What does he know?" "It's Blakemore!" " You don't really believe that." " Yes!" "With his own bare hands!" " He's not capable of it." " What do you know about it?" ""Of all the crimes that paraded through his courtroom," ""the one Wakefield never understood was murder." ""Murder required passion, guts." ""And in his heart, Wakefield knew he had neither."" "But you, on the other hand, you...have plenty of both." "You...sons of bitches!" "He put you up to this." "You trapped me!" "And I thought I could trust you, Ron!" "I thought I could trust you, Judge." "Raoul Sabatelli, you're under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder." "'Marie Duval told us how much you like the rough stuff, Judge.'" " Should we break the news to him?" " Let him sweat a little more." "Sabatelli and Blakemore violated the first rule you learn in law school." "Never commit anything to paper."