put on. What do you mean wait?”
“Why not let me take the stand?”
“That is a bad idea, Eric. I don’t think Radavich has met his burden, and now our key witness is sitting right outside the courthouse.”
“What’s this gonna do to Mom? And my wife?”
“Listen carefully. I don’t know about you and your wife. She doesn’t even bother to come to court. You have enough trouble there that this isn’t going to be any major setback. And as far as your mom, what she wants is you out of here. What good is it to hang onto some sort of pride and get stuck in the slam for something you didn’t do? How is that going to help your mother?”
Eric sighed, closed his eyes. He stayed that way for a long moment. Then he nodded, turned, and went to sit on the bench.
139
THE FUN PART was going to be telling the judge and the deputy district attorney exactly what I was about to do.
In chambers, fifteen minutes late, I faced an impatient Judge Hughes and an indifferent Tom Radavich. I was about to make him different.
“Are we ready to go now?” the judge said.
“I am prepared to put on a witness,” I said. “This witness has just this moment become known to me. I want to put this witness on the stand today. Because the last time I noticed a witness to the prosecution, he disappeared. Oh yeah, and my investigator got shot. I don’t want that happening again.”
Radavich now looked interested.
I went on. “This is a key witness. This is an alibi witness. This is the woman who will testify she was with my client on the night of the murder. She has corroborating evidence. I will tell you right now it is a motel receipt, and I will make sure that Mr. Radavich has a copy. I’m sure they will want to spend the next night and day checking out her story. But I want her on the stand before something happens to her, like a DA investigator showing up on her doorstep and then she disappears, like Keyser Soze.”
“What are you talking about, Mr. Buchanan?” Judge Hughes said. “Who is Keyser Soze?”
“The Usual Suspects. Poof. He’s gone. Like my witness, Nick Molina, who was talking to somebody Mr. Radavich sent around.”
“What is this about?” the judge said to Radavich.
“We sent an investigator to question Mr. Molina, yes,” Radavich said. “Mr. Molina was not responsive. He said he would not talk without his lawyer present. Our investigator left, and that was that.”
“So where is this Mr. Molina?” the judge said.
“Poof,” I said.
“You mean you don’t have contact with him?”
“No, but I know how to get in his house and get shot at. You just show up.”
Judge Hughes looked at the ceiling. “I don’t want to delay this trial any more. I’m going to let Mr. Buchanan put on his wintess.”
Radavich said, “We object, of course. This is the second surprise witness Mr. Buchanan has suddenly tossed our way. I don’t know how many more Mr. Buchanan is going to buy before he finally gets—”
“Now, now,” the judge said. “Let’s think about this a moment. We all know that discovery these days tends to favor the prosecution.”
Radavich’s cheeks started to pinken.
“Oh, don’t bother to deny it, Tom. You spring this stuff all the time. I’m going to let this one happen. When I first started trying cases, you had to be able to think on your feet and deal with surprises. A little of that won’t hurt you. So we’re going to go out there and I’m going to allow Mr. Buchanan to put his witness on the stand and we’re going to see what happens. And I’ll give you a chance to recall the witness later, if you find anything out.”
Before I could look too smug, the judge said to me, “And this better be a credible, reliable, truthful witness. Because if I find out that you are manufacturing anything, or allowing frivolous testimony, I’m going to be, you know, very upset. And then you know what will happen to your career?”
I shook my head.
“Poof,” Judge Hughes said.
140
AND SO I called Leilana Salgado to the stand. She looked ready.
“Ms. Salgado,” I said, “please tell the jury what you do for a living.”
“I’m an escort.”
“Do you work for an escort service?”
“Yes.”
“That means that clients will go through the service, and arrange for a price to spend time with you, is that right?”
“Yes.”
“That includes sexual favors as well?”
“No, that is