“Penn, you don’t have the legal authority to do anything like that. Do you understand? If this were anyone but me standing here, you’d be in federal custody.”
“And if I hadn’t done what I have,” I say in a low voice, “you wouldn’t be about to interview a witness that the Bureau should have found forty years ago. One who can put Snake Knox in line for a lethal injection.”
Kaiser holds up his hands, but before he can speak I say, “And she was living right in New Orleans—your home base.”
He grinds his teeth again. “What’s your point?”
“My point is, you’re welcome.”
Chapter 27
Serenity has vacated the house. When I asked where she was going, all she said was, “I need some motherfucking air.” When I called after her to ask whether she would take one of Tim’s guys along, she pretended not to hear me. To some extent, I was glad for the break. I didn’t want to spend the afternoon hearing Serenity tell me how culpable we are in the attack on Cleotha Booker and the suicidal ordeal of her daughter-in-law.
I already know.
Settled in the den with Annie, who seems to be contentedly watching television with the volume low (Mia has gone upstairs to take a shower), I am thankful for the “distraction” of my father’s trial.
Shad Johnson’s first witness after lunch is neither Cora Revels nor Lincoln Turner, but my father’s personal nurse for the past fifteen years, Melba Price. This choice surprises me. Melba will project a symbolic power from the stand, because she is the modern version of Viola. She loves and respects my father, and she will help him if she can. Moreover, she is beloved in the town, much as Viola was in her day. No matter what the facts may seem to say, Melba’s belief in my father’s innocence, if she expresses such faith, will carry a lot of weight with the African-American women on the jury. So why does Shad take the risk of putting her on the stand?
It’s the adrenaline, I realize. One weakness of Shad’s forensic case is that no empty adrenaline ampoule was found at the death scene, unlike the morphine vial with Dad’s fingerprint on it. Leo Watts, the pharmacist, proved that Dad had written adrenaline prescriptions for himself in the past, but not anywhere near the date of Viola’s murder. Shad must be confident that Melba will prove that Dad had ready access to the drug, and in the time frame of Viola’s murder.
As Rusty’s texts start to trickle in, they verify my instinct. Judge Elder grants Shad permission to treat Melba as a hostile witness, and soon the DA is leading her like a child. To Rusty’s horror, and mine, Melba gets no protection from Quentin, who ought to be objecting to some questions, if only to break up Shad’s rhythm. Rusty’s furious texts come through as the modern-day equivalent of a Morse code SOS, but I can easily imagine the damage Melba is doing, even as she tries her best to save the man that she’s served and respected for so long.
Through Melba, Shad establishes that my father keeps a supply of adrenaline at his office to resuscitate coding patients, even though they don’t have a true crash cart there. Melba also reveals that the record keeping at the office is not detailed enough to know for sure whether any adrenaline might be missing. Dad’s clinic is not like a hospital with strict accounting and supply procedures—except with narcotics—and adrenaline, while potentially dangerous, is not a narcotic. In a bid to bypass the marital privilege, Shad asks Melba (rather than my mother) whether she has personal knowledge of Dad keeping adrenaline at his residence, but she evades this trap with a simple “I don’t know.” But when asked directly whether Dad regularly kept adrenaline in his “black bag,” the kit he used during house calls, Melba concedes that he did. What else could she say? Any competent physician would stock adrenaline in the bag he carried with him to handle potential emergencies, and she makes this point before Shad can shut her down.
Having established this critical fact, Shad shifts gears and begins questioning Melba about Dad’s health, particularly his psoriatic arthritis and how it has affected his hand function. In this matter Melba is fairly truthful, if more general than Shad would like, but in the end she admits that for the past year Dad has been getting Drew Elliott to perform all prostate exams required in the office, because he can no longer use his fingers effectively enough to do them himself. She probably knows that if she is evasive about this, Shad could simply call Drew to the stand. Also, like me, Melba knows that Shad has spent the past three months trolling among Dad’s patients for whatever negative information he can find, and she wouldn’t want to open the door to putting any of them on the stand.
About the time I expect Shad to release Melba, he begins probing potentially more vulnerable spots. Melba admits that she knew Dad was treating Viola during the last weeks of her life, but denies knowing that any sort of assisted-suicide pact existed between them. She claims she didn’t know that Dad and Viola had been lovers in the past and says it wouldn’t have mattered to her if she had.
At 1:32 p.m. Rusty sends two text messages saying that Shad has decided to gamble that Melba might be shocked or shamed into saying something incriminating about Dad.
Shad ques: Did Dr. Cage ever behave improperly towards u in sexual way? Pls remember u r under oath. Answer: No. Never. Shad looks smug, like Melba’s lying, but female jury members glaring at him.
Ques: Do you believe Dr. Cage ever helped any patient to die? Ans: I don’t know about anything like that. But I think a lot of doctors around here have done it. In some cases, it’s the only decent thing.
Melba’s courageous assertion gives me a guarded feeling of hope. By bringing Melba Price onto the stand, Shad has given Quentin a golden opportunity to allow a highly credible witness to say wonderful things about Dad. And Melba is clearly ready and willing to do all she can for him, which might be a lot. If she speaks with the full force of her character, she could look those women on the jury in the eye and convince at least one of them that her employer would kill himself before he would harm a patient under his care.
But the next message that comes through sends me into shock.
1:34 p.m. Shad looked worried when he tendered Melba, but he shouldn’t have. Leonardo’s reply? No questions, Your Honor.
“Oh my God,” I murmur. “Oh, no.”
“What is it, Daddy?” Annie asks from in front of the television. “Did Mr. Quentin do more bad stuff?”
I sigh so heavily that I feel dizzy, the way I do when I stand up too suddenly.
“Daddy?” Annie jumps to her feet.
“I’m okay, Boo.”
My phone pings again as I pull her against my side.
2:07 p.m. Shad just recalled Cora Revels.
A few seconds pass, then Rusty types: Fuck this shit. My fingers about 2 fall off. I’m just going to open the line & take my chances.
“Annie, we’re going to have to turn off the TV,” I say in a taut voice.