The Tribunal

The detective shifted her large frame and rechecked the 9 mm automatic revolver in her purse. She was a dead-eye shot, and today, she wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

She looked at the picture of Mihajlo Golic taped to the wall in front of her. “Be a good boy,” she coaxed. “Come to Mama.”

CHAPTER 31

“What do you mean ‘make the transfer’?” Ellen asked Hans when he had finished talking on his cell phone.

“We’re going to take you to the man who will bring you back to your family.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Then I’m going home today?”

“Possibly,” said Hans, casting a glance at A

Ellen walked over to A

A

Ellen went over to Hans and hugged him too. He awkwardly embraced the girl. Then he said to A

The hotel room was cramped for three people and a dog. Ever since Ellen had woken up at 6 a.m., she had been bored. Hans and A

Hans told Ellen that he needed to speak to A

Ellen shrugged her shoulders. “It’s okay. Come on, Joha

Ellen’s eyes sca

“I’m supposed to take her to the guy in about three hours,” she heard Hans saying in Dutch. “I don’t think he’s going to let her go.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re not even waiting until the trial’s over. They’re positive that Draga is going to be found guilty.”

“What should we do?”

“It’s really risky for us here in a hotel,” Hans replied. “We can’t stay here forever. I’ll feel a lot better when we’ve gotten rid of her.”

Ellen felt sad as she listened in the bathroom.

“I don’t want anything to happen to her,” A

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Hans said. “When I took this job, I just thought we would be babysitting the girl until the trial was over. I didn’t care what happened after that. But now that we’ve gotten to know her, well, things are different.”

“Why don’t you find out what their intentions are? Our deal was we hold her until the trial is over. They can wait for one more day.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Ellen heard the bed creak and quickly put down her glass.

Soon, Hans called for her to come out.

Ellen and Joha

“Sure,” A

“I’m going out for awhile,” Hans told A

Hans went out and closed the door behind him.

He hopped on the first bus and rode it for a few miles. He got off in a shopping district and found a public phone. He placed another call to Mihajlo Golic.

“This is Hans,” he said when Golic answered. “I didn’t want to use my cell phone any more. My partner may have given the number to the police by now.”

“Does he know about me?”

“No. Let’s meet in Leiden. Get off the train at Utrecht and take a local train to Leiden Central station. Go downstairs and I will meet you in front of the snack bar. Then we’ll make the arrangements to transfer the girl. I had to get rid of my van because I think it’s hot.”

“Okay. I should be there in about two hours.”

“I’ll be there,” Hans replied. “I’m throwing my cell phone away. I’ll call you from a public phone if I don’t see you at the station.”

“All right,” Golic said, and hung up the phone.

The big man was anxious to get it over with. He would take the girl out in the woods tonight after sundown. He checked his watch. It was 2:30.

The judges looked attentive as Kevin rose to the podium and began his closing argument. “It is true, as Mr. Oswald said, that this is a case about murder, torture, and rape. Unquestionably, all of those things took place during the war in Bosnia. But neither Mr. Zaric nor any of the men under his command committed any of these heinous war crimes. And for that reason, you must find him not guilty.”

Kevin went on for the next fifteen minutes reviewing the war crimes described during the trial and the persons who committed them. Not one was a bona fide Black Dragon. He explained that Draga’s public statements were a method of propaganda that was part of his military objectives of intimidation to encourage surrender rather than armed resistance. He argued that if the prosecution truly had a legitimate case against Draga, there would have been no reason for them to conceal evidence and suborn perjury during his trial.

“Yes, this is a case about murder, torture, and rape,” Kevin continued. “But it is also a case about courage.” He slowed his pace and looked directly at Judge Davidson. “The witnesses who have testified during this trial have shown extraordinary courage to survive the horrors of the war and then to relive them again in this courtroom. A little eleven-year-old girl, who had nothing to do with the war, my daughter Ellen, has courageously endured a month of confinement during this trial. And now, her life depends on your courage.”

The judges – all three – were glued to his every word.

Kevin fought to keep his composure. “I know it will take tremendous courage on your part to render an unpopular verdict, but one that is compelled by the evidence. This Tribunal will be judged, ten, twenty, a hundred years from now, not by how it exacted revenge for the war in Bosnia, but by how it dispensed justice. When you write your verdict, you will be writing a page in history. History is replete with great men and women who had the courage to do what was not popular, but was right.

“And so I ask you – no, beseech you with every ounce of my waning strength – to do the right thing. There is not a shred of evidence that proves that Mr. Zaric, or anyone under his command or control, committed a single war crime. Dragoljub Zaric is not guilty. Please have the courage to say so by your verdict. Thank you.”

Judge Orozco leaned forward towards her microphone. “Thank you, Counsel. The court will now deliberate in its chambers on the verdict. We will a

Kevin rose warily as the judges left the bench, giving no sign of what their verdict would be. “That was a stirring argument,” Diane said when Kevin had sat down. “You did your best. I know.” She placed her hand over his.

Kevin looked back toward Draga, who was being led out of the courtroom. His client flashed a thumbs-up. Kevin remembered seeing Ellen do the same thing at his last trial in San Francisco.

Kevin walked back with Diane to their office. Kevin felt exhausted, as he did after every closing argument. It was not so much the strain of the argument, but the knowledge that the trial was over, that it was now out of his hands. The time spent waiting for a verdict was the most stressful moments of Kevin’s life. By the time they had reached the office, the butterflies had already started fluttering in Kevin’s stomach.

Diane called Detective Weber.

“Golic is coming by train,” Diane reported to Kevin when she got off the phone. “They expect him to arrive at Amsterdam Central Station any minute.”