Heartstone

McGivern drove Caproni to the hospital and waited until four o’clock, when he was released. Then he drove him back to his car. Caproni longed for sleep, but he had made a decision that would deny him that pleasure. It wasn’t an easy decision for him to make, because he wanted, more than anything, to be a district attorney, and what he was about to do could cost him his job. It wasn’t a decision that he was certain was right, not only because he feared that what he was doing might help to set two murderers free, but because his solution was a compromise. In his heart, he knew that he should approach Judge Samuels with what he knew, but that would be the end of his career. Instead, he had chosen a middle road.

There was a night guard on duty at the courthouse. Caproni showed him his identification and took the elevator to the district attorney’s office. It was eerie walking the halls of the deserted office at night and Caproni thought he heard footsteps or breathing at every turn. He found what he was looking for and carried the material to the copying machine. At six o’clock, he returned home, showered, shaved, ate a large breakfast and dressed for work.

2

“Your next witness, Mr. Heider,” Judge Samuels said.

“The state will call Roger Hessey, Your Honor.”

Mark Shaeffer watched the bailiff summon Hessey from the corridor. Hessey walked through the ornate courtroom doors dressed more like a swinging single than a witness in a murder case. He was nervous and his facial expressions moved back and forth between a look of deathlike solemnity and an inappropriate, overdone, smile as Philip Heider led him through his part in the events of November 25, 1960.

Shaeffer rubbed his eyes and wished that he could take a short nap. The trial was exhausting him. He was working late and not sleeping well. He looked at Coolidge, who was seated next to him. He was off in space again and Mark leaned over and whispered to him for no other purpose than to make it appear that the defendant was taking some part in his own trial.

Mark had emphasized the importance that a jury would attach to an attitude of indifference manifested by an accused, but Coolidge had gone through the first week of trial without showing any sign of involvement. At times his eyes appeared glassed over, as if, like a zombie, he was already dead and only his body was on trial. Mark had seriously considered calling a halt to the trial so that Coolidge could be examined by a psychiatrist for the purpose of determining whether or not he could aid and assist in his own defense, but he had concluded that Coolidge was not mentally incompetent, merely defeated.

Yesterday, after court had recessed, Mark watched the guards lead Bobby away down the long corridor to the jail elevator and was suddenly overcome by a dizzying emotion similar to the u

When Shaeffer turned to Coolidge, he caught sight of Sarah sitting in the back of the courtroom. The sight of her angered him. He had arranged for her to visit Bobby any time she chose, but she had refused to see him. Mark had been forced to lie to Bobby to explain why she would not see him.

Sarah had avoided Mark since that day in her apartment and he had slowly come to realize that he had been used by her. He wanted to confront her, but his feelings of guilt over the desire he felt for her made him impotent. He wondered why she insisted on coming to the trial each day and concluded that she wanted to see her belief in Bobby’s guilt justified so she could rationalize her desertion of a man who loved her and her lies to him.

“Mr. Hessey, the defendant was a member of a teenage gang called the Cobras, was he not?” Heider asked.

“Yes,” Hessey answered.

Judge Samuels looked up from some papers he had been reading and over toward Shaeffer to see what his reaction would be to Heider’s last question. Shaeffer seemed oblivious to the danger Judge Samuels saw so clearly on the horizon.

Judge Samuels felt sorry for Shaeffer. He seemed like a nice boy, but he should never have accepted a case of this magnitude. Samuels had tried to give him subtle tips on how to conduct his defense when he realized the boy’s inexperience, but Shaeffer seemed distracted and nervous and he never caught on.

“What was the purpose of this gang, Mr. Hessey?”

“What, uh, did we do, do you mean?” Hessey replied uncertainly. He had been a nervous witness, looking at the judge or jury for approval whenever he gave an answer.

“Exactly.”

Hessey shifted in his seat and ran his hands along the arms of his chair.

“Well, we got together, you know. Had parties…”

His voice trailed off.

“Weren’t members of the gang constantly involved in street fights and…?”

“Mr. Shaeffer,” Judge Samuels’s voice boomed, “aren’t you going to object to that question?”

Shaeffer’s eyes jerked up from his notes. He had been preoccupied with thoughts of Sarah and he had missed Heider’s last few questions. Shaeffer’s confusion was apparent to Samuels and the jurist reddened with anger when he realized that Mark did not know what he was talking about. Shaeffer’s lack of competence was forcing Samuels to take more of a role in the trial than was proper, yet his conscience and sense of professional ethics made it impossible for him to stand by day after day while Heider ran roughshod over his opponent.

“I’m sorry, I…” Shaeffer stuttered. Samuels glared at him for a second, then turned his wrath on Heider.

“It is becoming increasingly apparent to this Court that counsel for both sides have forgotten the rules of evidence concerning examination of witnesses. A person of your experience, Mr. Heider, should know that this entire line of questioning is not permissible.”

Heider rose and accepted the judge’s challenge. He did not appear to take offense at the judge’s remarks and his ma

“Your Honor, if this line of questioning is improper, then I will not continue with it. As there was no objection from defense counsel, I assumed the questions were proper.”

That little son of a bitch always has the right answers, Samuels thought. He would lose no points with the jury after that response and he had made Shaeffer look bad.

Heider finished his examination of Hessey by leading him through the events at Alice Fay’s party. He quizzed him about the attitude of Bobby and Billy toward rich people. Shaeffer, as if to make up for his earlier inattention, made numerous objections, most of which were overruled as improper.

“No further questions,” Heider said.

“Your witness, Mr. Shaeffer.”

“Thank you, Your Honor.”

Mark checked through his notes one last time. He was excited by the prospect of cross-examining Hessey. For the first time in the trial Mark felt that he would be able to score points. The state was basing its case on the credibility of Esther Pegalosi. It had tied her to the murder scene through her glasses. Mark was now prepared to destroy that key link between the star witness and the scene of the crime.

“Mr. Hessey, in 1960, you dated Esther Pegalosi on several occasions, did you not?”

“I guess so.”

“You and Mrs. Pegalosi had sexual relations, did you not?”

Hessey hung his head and gri

“Me and most everyone else I knew.”

Heider was on his feet objecting and the spectators were laughing.