The judge wrote something down and then looked back at Minton.

“I believe for the record the state needs to offer some sort of explanation for this motion. We have chosen a jury and heard more than two days of testimony. Why is the state doing this at this stage, Mr. Minton?”

Smithson stood. He was a tall and thin man with a pale complexion. He was a prosecutorial specimen. Nobody wanted a fat man as district attorney and that was exactly what he hoped one day to be. He wore a charcoal gray suit with what had become his trademark: a maroon bow tie with matching handkerchief peeking from the suit’s breast pocket. The word among the defense pros was that a political advisor had told him to start building a recognizable media image so that when the time came to run, the voters would think they already knew him. This was one situation where he didn’t want the media carrying his image to the voters.

“If I may, Your Honor,” he said.

“The record will note the appearance of Assistant District Attorney John Smithson, head of the Van Nuys Division. Welcome, Jack. Go right ahead, please.”

“Judge Fullbright, it has come to my attention that in the interest of justice, the charges against Mr. Roulet should be dropped.”

He pronounced Roulet’s name wrong.

“Is that all the explanation you can offer, Jack?” the judge asked.

Smithson deliberated before answering. While there were no reporters present, the record of the hearing would be public and his words viewable later.

“Judge, it has come to my attention that there were some irregularities in the investigation and subsequent prosecution. This office is founded upon the belief in the sanctity of our justice system. I personally safeguard that in the Van Nuys Division and take it very, very seriously. And so it is better for us to dismiss a case than to see justice possibly compromised in any way.”

“Thank you, Mr. Smithson. That is refreshing to hear.”

The judge wrote another note and then looked back down at us.

“The state’s motion is granted,” she said. “All charges against Louis Roulet are dismissed with prejudice. Mr. Roulet, you are discharged and free to go.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” I said.

“We still have a jury returning at one o’clock,” Fullbright said. “I will gather them and explain that the case has been resolved. If any of you attorneys wish to come back then, I am sure they will have questions for you. However, it is not required that you be back.”

I nodded but didn’t say I would be back. I wouldn’t be. The twelve people who had been so important to me for the last week had just dropped off the radar. They were now as meaningless to me as the drivers going the other way on the freeway. They had gone by and I was finished with them.

The judge left the bench and Smithson was the first one out of the courtroom. He had nothing to say to Minton or me. His first priority was to distance himself from this prosecutorial catastrophe. I looked over and saw Minton’s face had lost all color. I assumed that I would soon see his name in the yellow pages. He would not be retained by the DA and he would join the ranks of the defense pros, his first felony lesson a costly one.

Roulet was at the rail, leaning over to hug his mother. Dobbs had a hand on his shoulder in a congratulatory gesture, but the family lawyer had not recovered from Windsor ’s harsh rebuke in the hallway.

When the hugs were over, Roulet turned to me and with hesitation shook my hand.

“I wasn’t wrong about you,” he said. “I knew you were the one.”

“I want the gun,” I said, deadpan, my face showing no joy in the victory just achieved.

“Of course you do.”

He turned back to his mother. I hesitated a moment and then turned back to the defense table. I opened my briefcase to return all the files to it.

“Michael?”

I turned and it was Dobbs reaching a hand across the railing. I shook it and nodded.

“You did good,” Dobbs said, as if I needed to hear it from him. “We all appreciate it greatly.”

“Thanks for the shot. I know you were shaky about me at the start.”

I was courteous enough not to mention Windsor ’s outburst in the hallway and what she had said about him backstabbing me.

“Only because I didn’t know you,” Dobbs said. “Now I do. Now I know who to recommend to my clients.”

“Thank you. But I hope your kind of clients never need me.”

He laughed.

“Me, too!”

Then it was Mary Windsor’s turn. She extended her hand across the bar.

“Mr. Haller, thank you for my son.”

“You’re welcome,” I said flatly. “Take care of him.”

“I always do.”

I nodded.

“Why don’t you all go out to the hallway and I’ll be out in a minute. I have to finish up some things here with the clerk and Mr. Minton.”

I turned back to the table. I then went around it and approached the clerk.

“How long before I can get a signed copy of the judge’s order?”

“We’ll enter it this afternoon. We can send you a copy if you don’t want to come back.”

“That would be great. Could you also fax one?”

She said she would and I gave her the number to the fax in Lorna Taylor’s condominium. I wasn’t sure yet how it could be used but I had to believe that an order to dismiss could somehow help me get a client or two.

When I turned back to get my briefcase and leave I noticed that Detective Sobel had left the courtroom. Only Minton remained. He was standing and gathering his things.

“Sorry I never got the chance to see your PowerPoint thing,” I said.

He nodded.

“Yeah, it was pretty good. I think it would have won them over.”

I nodded.

“What are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know. See if I can ride this out and somehow hold on to my job.”

He put his files under his arm. He had no briefcase. He only had to go down to the second floor. He turned and gave me a hard stare.

“The only thing I know is that I don’t want to cross the aisle. I don’t want to become like you, Haller. I think I like sleeping at night too much for that.”

With that he headed through the gate and strode out of the courtroom. I glanced over at the clerk to see if she had heard what he had said. She acted like she hadn’t.

I took my time following Minton out. I picked up my briefcase and turned backwards as I pushed through the gate. I looked at the judge’s empty bench and the state seal on the front panel. I nodded at nothing in particular and then walked out.

FORTY-FOUR

Roulet and his entourage were waiting for me in the hallway. I looked both ways and saw Sobel down by the elevators. She was on her cell phone and it seemed as though she was waiting for an elevator but it didn’t look like the down button was lit.

“Michael, can you join us for lunch?” Dobbs said upon seeing me. “We are going to celebrate!”

I noticed that he was now calling me by my given name. Victory made everybody friendly.

“Uh…,” I said, still looking down at Sobel. “I don’t think I can make it.”

“Why not? You obviously don’t have court in the afternoon.”

I finally looked at Dobbs. I felt like saying that I couldn’t have lunch because I never wanted to see him or Mary Windsor or Louis Roulet again.

“I think I’m going to stick around and talk to the jurors when they come back at one.”

“Why?” Roulet asked.

“Because it will help me to know what they were thinking and where we stood.”

Dobbs gave me a clap on the upper arm.

“Always learning, always getting better for the next one. I don’t blame you.”

He looked delighted that I would not be joining them. And for good reason. He probably wanted me out of the way now so he could work on repairing his relationship with Mary Windsor. He wanted that franchise account just to himself again.