Page 29 of Precise Justice

Harold, still looking over Slocum’s shoulder whispered, “Somehow, I don’t think so, Craig.”

“I don’t give a damn about this, Slocum. Here, you can have it. What I want, what you’re here for, is to tell the truth. That’s it.”

“I will never forget this,” Slocum said slowly, his teeth practically grinding together.

“Okay, but why am I here?” Harold Lane asked much more civilly.

“I don’t mean to offend, Mr. Lane, but I’m gonna put you on a witness stand and help you find the balls to stand up to your wife. I’m going to put an end to this today and, like it or not, you’re going to help me.”

“That was pretty offensive,” Harold calmly said.

“I know, sorry.”

Marc turned back to Maddy again who handed him three, paper-clipped, sets of documents.

Marc gave one to Slocum, one to Lane and after asking Jennifer to join them, gave her one.

“These are witness statements from a teacher and thirteen other students who saw the incident in question. If your cops had done their job, you would have them by now.

“Please, read them over, then we’ll talk. Mr. Lane, please don’t make me put your son on a witness stand. It won’t be pretty.

“Jennifer, let’s go back and see Judge Wells.”

While waiting in the back hall for Judge Wells to get off the phone, Jennifer paged through the witness statements.

“They all say pretty much the same thing?” she asked.

“Yeah. There are fourteen altogether. Maddy talked to everyone who was in the room about what happened. These thirteen saw the whole thing. The others, another fifteen, saw part of it but not all.”

Jennifer finished reading the first one, the one from the teacher, Debra Gillian.

“I guess that’s pretty clear,” Jennifer said. “I figured this is what happened.

“So, what was the photo you showed Slocum?” Jennifer asked.

“I don’t think so, Jenny,” Marc said.

“Come on, what?” she pleaded.

“Craig was helping a young woman study for the bar exam,” Marc said.

“What? How would…? Oh, wait, where were they studying?” she asked.

“I think they call it a No Tell Motel. An inn that charges by the hour,” Marc said.

“Really? I want the photo,” Jennifer grabbed Marc’s arm and said. “How much do you want? Money, sex favors, anything short of losing a case. You name it? Help me out.”

“Sex favors? That’s … No! And if anyone asks, I’ll deny it.”

“I’ll talk to Maddy. She’ll tell me and get a copy for me,” Jennifer said.

“She better not,” Marc said trying not to laugh.

At that moment, Judge Wells’ clerk came out and told them they could go in.

“It’s not fair, dangling that in front of me and then jerking it away,” Jennifer said.

She grabbed Marc’s arm again, stopped him and whispered, “We could use it to get rid of him.”