sat in the witness chair. Reggie slowly reached into her briefcase and withdrew
a cassette tape. She held it casually in ner uutuu, »~~ when McThune glanced at her she tapped it softly on her legal pad. He closed his eyes.
She carefully placed the tape on the pad, and began tracing its edges with her pen.
Fink was quick, to the point, and by now fairly adept at avoiding even vaguely routine questions. It was a new experience for him, this efficient use of •words, and the more he did it the more he liked it.
McThune was as dry as cornmeal. He explained the fingerprints they found all over the car, and on the gun and the bottle, and on the rear bumper. He speculated about the kids and the garden hose, and showed Harry the Virginia Slims cigarette butts found under the tree. He also showed Harry the suicide note left behind by Clifford, and again gave his thoughts about the additional words added by a different pen. He showed Harry the Bic pen found in the car, and said there was no doubt Mr. Clifford had used this pen to scrawl these words. He talked about the speck of blood found on Clifford’s hand. It wasn’t Clifford’s blood, but was of the same type as Mark Sway’s, who just happened to have a busted lip and a couple of wounds from the affair.
“You think Mr. Clifford struck the child at some point during all this?” Harry asked.
“I think so, Your Honor.”
McThune’s thoughts and opinions and speculations were objectionable, but Reggie kept quiet. She’d been through many of these hearings with Harry, and she knew he would hear it all and decide what to believe. Objecting would do no good.
Harry asked how the FBI obtained a fingerprint from the child to match those found in the car. Me-
Inune took a deep breath, and told about the Sprite can at the hospital, but was quick to point out that they were not investigating the child as a suspect when this happened, just as a witness, and so therefore they felt it was okay to lift the print. Harry didn’t like this at all, but said nothing. McThune emphasized that if the child had been an actual suspect, they would never have dreamed of stealing a print. Never.
“Of course you wouldn’t,” Harry said with enough sarcasm to make McThune blush.
Fink walked him through the events of Tuesday, the day after the suicide, when young Mark hired a lawyer. They tried desperately to talk with him, then to his lawyer, and things just deteriorated.
McThune behaved himself and stuck to the facts. He left the room in a quick dash for the door, and he left behind the undeniable fact that young Mark was quite a liar.
From time to time, Harry watched Mark during the testimony of Hardy and McThune. The kid was impassive, hard to read, preoccupied with an invisible spot somewhere on the floor. He sat low in his seat and ignored Reggie for the most part. His eyes were wet, but he was not crying. He looked tired and sad, and occasionally glanced at the witness when his lies were emphasized.
Harry had watched Reggie many times under these circumstances, and she usually sat very close to her young clients and whispered to them as the hearings progressed. She would pat them, squeeze their arms, give reassurances, lecture them if necessary. Normally, she was in constant motion, protecting her clients from the harsh reality of a legal system run by
adults. But not today. She glanced at her ciieni occasionally as if waiting for a signal, but he ignored her.
“Call your next witness,” Harry said to Fink, who was resting on his elbows, trying not to stand. He looked at Ord for help, then at his honor.
“Well, Your Honor, this may sound a bit strange, but I’d like to testify next.”
Harry ripped off his reading glasses and glared at Fink. “You’re confused, Mr. Fink. You’re the lawyer, not a witness.”
“I know that, sir, but I’m also the petitioner, and, I know this may be a bit out of order, but I think my testimony could be important.”
“Thomas Fink, petitioner, lawyer, witness. You wanna play bailiff, Mr. Fink? Maybe take down a bit of stenography? Perhaps wear my robe for a while? This is not a courtroom, Mr. Fink, it’s a theater. Why don’t you just choose any role you like?”
Fink stared blankly at the bench without making eye contact with his honor. “I can