Miss Larkin replied, "Your Honour, in view of the presumption under the statute, the government requests that Frank Bellarosa be detained. However, if the court is inclined to hear arguments for bail, the government is entitled to and requests a three-day continuance for a bail hearing."

"Why?"

"So that the government can gather evidence for the court to show why the accused should be detained."

Judge Rosen said to me, "Is that all right with you, Mr Sutter?"

"No, Your Honour. It isn't."

"Why not, Mr Sutter?"

"I don't see any reason for my client to sit in jail for three days. The government has been investigating this case since January. They know everything they're going to know about my client already, and it's not likely they are going to learn anything new in the next seventy-two hours." Judge Rosen nodded and said to Miss Larkin, "Request denied." Miss Larkin did not look happy. She said to Judge Rosen, "Well, then, Your Honour, the U.S. Attorney would most probably wish to be present for any discussion of bail."

"Why?"

Miss Larkin replied, "Because of the… the seriousness of the charge and the notoriety of the accused."

Judge Rosen looked at me. "Mr Sutter? Would you like some time to confer with your client? We can schedule a bail hearing for this afternoon." I replied, "No, Your Honour. We have entered a plea of not guilty, and we request bail in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars, which we are prepared to post right now."

Judge Rosen's eyebrows rose at that statement. She turned her attention back to Miss Larkin and said, "If Mr Ferragamo wished to be here for this arraignment, he should be here now. The attorney for the accused has indicated that he wants to discuss bail at this time." Judge Rosen added, "I assume you have read the indictment and are familiar with this case, Miss Larkin. I'm sure you can present the government's arguments for detention."

The subtext here was that it wasn't necessary to bother the U.S. Attorney since no bail was going to be granted anyway, and let's get on with it. But Miss Larkin, at a young age, had developed a nose for trouble, and she knew her limitations, which marked her as a potentially great attorney. She replied, "Your Honour, will you instruct the deputy to call Mr Ferragamo's office and pass on my request for his presence? In the meantime, we can proceed." Judge Rosen motioned to her courtroom deputy, who disappeared into the judge's robing room to make the call. I wondered how fast Ferragamo could run in wing tips.

I looked into the courtroom and saw that the word had gotten out and the room was packed. In the jury box were the three sketch artists, scratching away at their pads now. I brushed my hair with my fingers.

Judge Rosen said to me, "Mr Sutter, go ahead and present your argument for bail."

"Yes, Your Honour." You could literally hear ballpoint pens clicking in the courtroom behind me. Courtrooms don't terrify me the way they do some lawyers. But in this case, I had some real anxieties, and the cause of those anxieties was not the audience or Miss Larkin or the judge, but my client, who wanted to be on his way in ten minutes.

I spoke in a normal conversational tone, but I sensed that I could be heard clear to the back of the silent court. I said, "Your Honour, first I want to bring to your attention the fact that my client had previous knowledge, through the newspapers, that the U.S. Attorney was presenting evidence of murder to a grand jury. He made no attempt to flee during that time. And furthermore, anticipating that an indictment might be handed down and an arrest warrant issued, he instructed me to remain available in that event. He, too, remained available for arrest, and in fact, when the arrest came at approximately eight A.M. this morning, I was with him and can attest to the fact that he made no attempt to flee or resist." I added, "If the arresting officer, Mr Mancuso, is here, he, too, can attest to that."

Judge Rosen looked toward the side door, then out into the court. "Is Mr Mancuso present?"

A voice called out from the side of the court. "Here, Your Honour." As Mr Mancuso made his way through the standing-room-only crowd, I said to Bellarosa, "They tried to send me to Brooklyn. Your buddy Alphonse is a snake." He smiled. "Yeah, we shoulda known they'd pull some stunt. I never got to FBI headquarters neither. Mancuso gets this call on the radio, and next thing I know, we're pulling up to the back of the courthouse. You see what I mean? Fucking Alphonse."

Mancuso came through the rail and stood a few feet from us. Bellarosa said to me, loud enough for him to hear, "They wanted to get you over to FBI headquarters where they were going to jerk you around until this was over in court. But I dragged my ass through the booking. Fucked up six sets of prints." He laughed and poked me in the ribs. "I knew you'd figure it out. You're a smart guy. Hey, we leaving here together?"

"Maybe."

Judge Rosen said, "Mr Sutter? Do you need a moment?" I turned back to the bench. "No, Your Honour." She said to Mr Mancuso, "Please relate the circumstances of the defendant's arrest."

Mr Mancuso did so, very precisely, professionally, and unemotionally, leaving out only the conversation that he and I had had regarding my midlife crisis. Judge Rosen said to him, "What you're saying, Mr Mancuso, is that Mr Bellarosa appeared to be expecting you, and he made no attempt to flee or resist arrest." "That is correct."

"Thank you, Mr Mancuso. Please remain in the court." "Yes, Your Honour." Mancuso turned and looked at me, then at Bellarosa, but I could read nothing in his face but weariness.

He took a seat at the prosecution table.

Judge Rosen said to me, "It appears that the accused made no attempt to resist or flee. However, I am not going to grant bail based solely on that fact. Unless you can convince me otherwise, Mr Sutter, and do so very quickly, I am going to order that the accused be taken to the Metropolitan Correction Center right now to await trial."

We did not want that, did we? So I looked at Judge Rosen and said, "Your Honour, I also want to bring to your attention the fact that my client has never been convicted of a violent crime in any jurisdiction. He has, in fact, no history of violence." Someone in the courtroom laughed. "Further, Your Honour, my client is a legitimate businessman whose" – I could actually hear some tittering behind me. People are so cynical these days – "whose absence from his companies would impose an undue hardship on him, would interfere with his livelihood, and with the livelihoods of people who depend on my client for employment -" The laughing was becoming a little more overt now, and Judge Rosen, too, smiled, but then caught herself and banged her gavel. "Order!" Miss Larkin, I noticed, was smiling also, and so was the court reporter, the two marshals, and the courtroom deputy. Only Frank and John were not smiling. Judge Rosen motioned me to approach the bench, and I did. She leaned over and our faces were only inches apart. We could have kissed. She whispered to me. "Mr Sutter, at your request, I let you say your piece, but this is really very silly, and you're wasting my time and making a fool of yourself. Now, I understand the pressure you must be under to keep your client out of jail, but you can forget it. He can go to jail and await a more formal bail hearing where you may present more substantial evidence than your own characterization of him as a gentle man and a good citizen. I have a lot of arraignments before me today, Mr Sutter, and I'd like to get moving on them." She added, "A few days or weeks in jail won't kill him."

I looked her in the eye. "But it will. Your Honour, at least let me say what I have to say. Can we retire to your chambers?"

"No. Your client is not any different from anyone else who will come before me today."