not advise him to lie.
A lie would work just fine. One simple lie, and Mark Sway could live the rest of his life without regard to what happened in New Orleans. And why should he worry about Muldanno and Foltrigg and the late Boyd Boyette? He was just a kid, guilty of neither crime nor major sin.
“I think that an effort will be made to force you to talk.”
“How does it work?”
“I’m not sure. It’s very rare, but I believe steps can be taken in court to force you to testify about what you know. Clint and I have been researching it.”
“I know what Clifford told me, but I don’t know if it’s the truth.”
“But you think it’s the truth, don’t you, Mark?”
“I think so, I guess. I don’t know wha.t to do.” He was mumbling softly, at times barely audible, unwilling to look at her. “Can they make me talk?” he asked.
She answered carefully. “It could happen. I mean, a lot of things could happen. But, yes, a judge in a courtroom one day soon could order you to talk.”
“And if I refused?”
“Good question, Mark. It’s a gray area. If an adult
refuses a court order, he’s in contempt of court and runs the risk of being locked up. I don’t know what they’d do with a child. I’ve never heard of it before.”
“What about a polygraph?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, let’s say they drag me into court, and the judge tells me to spill my guts, and I tell the story but leave out the most important part. And they think I’m lying. What then? Can they strap me in the chair and start asking questions? I saw it in a movie one time.”
“You saw a child take a polygraph?”
“No. It was some cop who got caught lying. But, I mean, can they do it to me?”
“I doubt it. I’ve never heard of it, and I’d be fighting like crazy to stop it.”
“But it could happen.”
“I’m not sure. I doubt it.” These were hard questions coming at her like gunfire, and she had to be careful. Clients often heard what they wanted to hear and missed the rest. “But I must warn you, Mark, if you lie in court you could be in big trouble.”
He thought about this for a second, and said, “If I tell the truth I’m in bigger trouble.”
“Why?”
She waited a long time for a response. Every twenty seconds or so, he would take a sip of the cocoa, but he was not at all interested in answering this question. The silence did not bother him. He stared at the table, but his mind whirled away somewhere else.
“Mark, last night you indicated you were ready to talk to the FBI and tell them your story. Now it’s obvious you’ve changed your mind. Why? What’s happened?”
Without a word, he gently placed the cup on the
table and covered his eyes with his fists. His chin dropped to his chest, and he started crying.
THE DOOR OPENED INTO THE RECEPTION AREA AND A FED-
eral Express lady ran in with a box three inches thick. All smiles and perfect efficiency, she handed it to Glint and showed him where to sign. She thanked him, wished him a nice day, and vanished.
The package was expected. It was from Print Research, an amazing little outfit in D.C. that did nothing but scan two hundred daily newspapers nationwide and catalogue the stories. The news was clipped, copied, computerized, and readily available within twenty-four hours for those willing to pay. Reggie didn’t want to pay, but she needed quick background on Boyette et al. Glint had placed the order yesterday, as soon as Mark left and Reggie had herself a new client. The search was limited to the New Orleans and Washington papers.
He removed the contents, a neat stack of eight and a half by eleven Xerox copies of newspaper stories, headlines, and photos, all arranged in perfect chronological order, all copied with the columns straight and the photos clean.
Boyette was an old Democrat from New Orleans, and he’d served several terms as an undistinguished rank and file member of the U.S. House, when one day Senator Dauvin, an antebellum relic from the Civil War, suddenly died in office at the age of ninety-one. Boyette pulled strings and twisted arms, and in keeping with the great tradition of Louisiana politics rounded up some cash and found a home for it. He was appointed by the governor to fill the unexpired portion of
Dauvin’s term. The theory was