Clifford Irving's Legal Novels - 01 - TRIAL - a Legal Thriller Read Online Free Page B

smile. "No, sir. Nothing except my checking account at Bank of America and the clothes on my back."
    "And a few clothes in your closets at home, I'm sure."
    "A few," Johnnie Faye said. "Do y'all want me to sell some of them?"
    Perched on the edge of their seats, the reporters from the
Post
and the
Chronicle
scribbled in their notebooks. That was quotable.
    Judge Bingham said, "Mr. Bob, these papers tell me that if the bail is reduced, Ms. Boudreau's employer — this corporation owned by some oil people over in Louisiana — is ready to lend the money back to Ms. Boudreau. Then she can pay Mr. Shepard and we can get on with this case. Otherwise, Mr. Shepard isn't going to appear and you are going to be deprived of a worthy opponent. What do you say to that?"
    Altschuler wheeled smartly on the defendant, as if to intimidate her with his bulk. "Ms. Boudreau, do you swear under oath that you have no controlling interest in this Louisiana corporation that owns Ecstasy? No shares at all?"
    "No, sir. Neither. Just like the papers say."
    The prosecutor glowered at the judge once again. "If she can't pay Mr. Shepard, that's too bad. There are plenty of defendants who would like to have him, but they have to settle for something less, or different. There's no constitutional right in the State of Texas to be represented by Mr. Shepard, your honor."
    "That's true," Judge Bingham gently responded, "but I think this defendant ought to have the lawyer she wants. That's the American way. And you're not going to run away before or during the trial, are you, Ms. Boudreau?"
    "No, sir," Johnnie Faye said firmly.
    "You're going to show up every time we ask you to?"
    "Yes, sir. I give you my word of honor."
    "Well, then, I believe the request has merit. It's reasonable and certainly straightforward. I'm going to compromise. I'm going to reduce bail to $100,000." Judge Bingham tapped his big black mahogany gavel, a gift from Scoot Shepard ten years ago after the acquittal in the Martha Sachs case.
    Warren Blackburn managed to intercept Scoot just outside the broad swinging doors of the courtroom. "Nice work," he said.
    "Can't talk now," Scoot explained, dramatically placing a finger on his lips and gesturing at the gang of reporters about to corral him. "You available for lunch next week, young fellow?"
    "Any day," Warren said.
    "I'll call you after the weekend," Scoot said regally, "and tell you where."
    ===OO=OOO=OO===
    A number of events that followed would mark Warren Blackburn's life, change it forever.
    Late that same Friday afternoon Johnnie Faye Boudreau dug under the mattress in her guest room, stuffed $50,000 in hundred-dollar bills in her big ostrich-leather handbag, and went out on a spending spree. She knew from experience that it would raise her spirits. Despite the financial victory, she had not enjoyed her day in court. She was not used to begging or wheedling.
    In Sakowitz, opposite the Galeria shopping mall, she bought a ruby brooch. Crossing the boulevard in 85-degree May heat, in the cool of Lord & Taylor she bought a Russian sable jacket, a T-shirt with a leopard motif, two lace bras, and makeup from Lancôme. And then in Neiman-Marcus she bought a gray shantung suit and a dark-blue silk dress she thought would be appropriate to wear in court for the Ott murder trial. She paid cash for everything.
    ===OO=OOO=OO===
    At about the same hour a man named Dan Ho Trunh was repairing a pump and installing a pool timer in the backyard of a house off Memorial Parkway. A twenty-seven-year-old Vietnamese who carried a green card, Dan Ho had been in Houston for five years and would be eligible for citizenship in August. He was a journeyman electrician who worked cheap and liked to be paid in cash. His youth in Saigon allowed him to understand something that no United States government pamphlet or history book could ever teach: it was the right of human beings everywhere to avoid the payment of taxes.
    With the job finished and three