‘I read about it. The canary.’
‘Right. Judge Waldman and Bobby would like her name removed from the roster of our honorable profession. So would I. It reeks.’
‘What do they want me to do?’
‘Just make a quick check, verify that this Parker girl behaved illegally or unethically, and then recommend disbarment proceedings. She’ll be served with a notice to show cause and they’ll handle the rest of it. It’s just routine.’
Adam was puzzled by something. ‘Why me, Stewart? We have a couple of dozen young lawyers around here who could handle this.’
‘Our revered District Attorney specifically asked for you. He wants to make sure nothing goes wrong. As we’re both aware,’ he added dryly, ‘Bobby’s not the most forgiving man in the world. He wants the Parker woman’s hide nailed up on his wall.’
Adam Warner sat there, thinking about his busy schedule.
‘You never know when we might need a favor from the D.A.’s office, Adam. Quid pro quo. It’s all cut and dried.’
‘All right, Stewart.’ Adam rose to his feet.
‘Sure you won’t have some more tea?’
‘No, thanks. It was as good as always.’
When Adam Warner returned to his office he rang for one of his paralegal assistants, Lucinda, a bright, young black woman.
‘Cindy, get me all the information you can on an attorney named Jennifer Parker.’
She grinned and said, ‘The yellow canary.’
Everybody knew about her.
Late that afternoon Adam Warner was studying the transcript of the court proceedings in the case of The People of New York v. Michael Moretti. Robert Di Silva had had it delivered by special messenger. It was long past midnight when Adam finished. He had asked Mary Beth to attend a dinner party without him, and had sent out for sandwiches. When Adam was through reading the transcript, there was no doubt in his mind that Michael Moretti would have been found guilty by the jury if fate had not intervened in the form of Jennifer Parker. Di Silva had prosecuted the case flawlessly.
Adam turned to the transcript of the deposition that had been taken in Judge Waldman’s chambers afterward.
DI SILVA: You are a college graduate?
PARKER: Yes, sir.
DI SILVA: And a law school graduate?
PARKER: Yes, sir.
DI SILVA: And a stranger hands you a package, tells you to deliver it to a key witness in a murder trial and you just do it? Wouldn’t you say that went beyond the bounds of stupidity?
PARKER: It didn’t happen that way.
DI SILVA: You said it did.
PARKER: What I mean is, I didn’t think he was a stranger. I thought he was on your staff.
DI SILVA: What made you think that?
PARKER: I’ve told you. I saw him talking to you and then he came over to me with this envelope and he called me by name, and he said you wanted me to deliver it to the witness. It all happened so fast that –
DI SILVA: I don’t think it happened that fast. I think it took time to set it up. It took time to arrange for someone to pay you off to deliver it.
PARKER: That’s not true. I –
DI SILVA: What’s not true? That you didn’t know you were delivering the envelope?
PARKER: I didn’t know what was in it.
DI SILVA: So it’s true that someone paid you.
PARKER: I’m not going to let you twist my words around. No one paid me anything.
DI SILVA: You did it as a favor?
PARKER: No. I thought I was acting on your instructions.
DI SILVA: You said the man called you by name.
PARKER: Yes.
DI SILVA: How did he know your name?
PARKER: I don’t know.
DI SILVA: Oh, come on. You must have some idea. Maybe it was a lucky guess. Maybe he just looked around that courtroom and said, There’s someone who looks like her name could be Jennifer Parker. Do you think that was it?
PARKER: I’ve told you. I don’t know.
DI SILVA: How long have you and Michael Moretti been sweethearts?
PARKER: Mr Di Silva, we’ve gone all over this. You’ve been questioning me now for five hours. I’m tired. I have nothing more to add. May I be excused?
DI SILVA: If you move out of that chair I’ll have you placed under arrest. You’re in big trouble, Miss Parker. There’s only one way you’re going to get out of it. Stop lying and start telling the truth.
PARKER: I’ve told you the truth. I’ve told you everything I know.
DI SILVA: Except the name of the man who handed you the envelope. I want his name and I want to know how much he paid you.
There were thirty more pages of transcript. Robert Di Silva had done everything but beat Jennifer Parker with a rubber hose. She had stuck to her story.
Adam closed the transcript and wearily rubbed his eyes. It was two A.M.
Tomorrow he would dispose of the Jennifer Parker matter.
To Adam Warner’s surprise, the Jennifer Parker case would not be disposed of so easily. Because Adam was a methodical man he ran a check on Jennifer Parker’s background. As far as he could determine, she had no crime connections, nor was there anything to link her with Michael Moretti.
There was something about the case that disturbed Adam. Jennifer Parker’s defense was too flimsy. If she were working for Moretti, he would have protected her with a reasonably plausible story. As it was, her story was so transparently naïve that it had a ring of truth about it.
At noon Adam received a call from the District Attorney. ‘How goes it, Adam?’
‘Fine, Robert.’
‘I understand you’re handling the hatchet-man job on the Jennifer Parker matter.’
Adam Warner winced at the phrase. ‘I’ve agreed to make a recommendation, yes.’
‘I’m going to put her away for a long time.’ Adam was taken aback by the hatred in the District Attorney’s voice.
‘Easy, Robert. She’s not disbarred yet.’
Di Silva chuckled. ‘I’ll leave that to you, my friend.’ His tone changed. ‘I hear on the grapevine that you may be moving to Washington soon. I want you to know that you can count on my full support.’
Which was considerable, Adam Warner knew. The District Attorney had been around a long time. He knew where the bodies were buried and he knew how to squeeze the most out of that information.
‘Thanks, Robert. I appreciate that.’
‘My pleasure, Adam. I’ll wait to hear from you.’
Meaning Jennifer Parker. The quid pro quo Stewart Needham had mentioned, with the girl used as a pawn. Adam Warner thought about Robert Di Silva’s words: I’m going to put her away for a long time. From reading the transcript, Adam judged that there was no real evidence against Jennifer Parker. Unless she confessed, or unless someone came forward with information that proved criminal complicity, Di Silva would not be able to