Page 36 of The Happy Month

“Two decades later, I have no idea.”

“Andy Showalter committed suicide a few years later. We’ve spoken to his mother; he had significant mental issues. During the trial he was being treated by a psychiatrist. Were you aware of that?”

“I’m a public defender. I had, and have, limited access to an investigator. I’m not sure I could have justified it in this case.”

“Andy Showalter was an impeachable witness from a number of angles. You didn’t pursue any of them.”

That made Harris very angry. Metaphoric smoke was coming out of his ears. Lydia took a sip of water from her own Evian bottle, then said, “Larry Wilkes is gay. You were aware of that while defending him?”

“I can’t recall offhand. I’d have to check the file. But I don’t believe it’s in there.”

“Would you have written that down?”

“Possibly not.”

“Possibly or probably?”

“Probably.”

“Larry Wilkes and the victim were lovers. Do you recall him sharing that information with you?”

“Well, no. If I did then I’d recall that he was gay,wouldn’t I?”

“He says that you wanted him to hide that he was gay from the jury. That it would hurt his case if they knew.”

“I don’t recall saying that. But in nineteen seventy-six it would have been good advice. You can see that, can’t you?”

“Based on your advice, Larry convinced Anne Michaels to perjure herself at trial and say that Pete Michaels was her secret fiancé.”

He looked from Lydia to me and back again. He even looked at Karen. He was stalling. Trying to decide what he should say. Finally, “I never met with that girl before the trial. I had no idea what she’d say.”

“And you didn’t have an investigator available?”

“No, I’ve said that already.”

“You’re claiming you weren’t aware Larry had convinced Anne to lie?”

“I don’t recall. It’s a twenty-year-old case.”

“Are you saying you might have known?”

“I couldn’t have known. That would be suborning perjury.”

“Debatable. She wasn’t your witness. Though, if you’d known you’d have had a duty to impeach her testimony.”

He was silent again.

“Anne Whittemore is recanting her testimony. She remembers Larry telling her she should tell everyone she was Pete’s fiancée. Larry remembers you telling him not to say he was gay in court.”

“Outside of Larry’s statements and possibly his friend Anne’s, there’s no evidence of his relationship with the victim. I would not have put that information into his file for fear that it would become discoverable to the prosecution. If I was aware of his sexuality, I would have viewed itas an even stronger motive than the love triangle the prosecution presented.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, unable to help myself. “Their being in love is a stronger motive for murder?”

“In nineteen seventy-six, I think a jury would have seen it that way. I would not give that kind of advice today.”

“I think we’ve explored that fully,” Lydia said, pursing her lips in a way that told me she was not happy. I was pretty sure it was Harris she was unhappy with and not me. “Getting back to Andy Showalter, he testified that Larry asked him to get a gun at the beginning of September nineteen seventy-six, but Larry had already begun college in Santa Barbara. So he wouldn’t have been in Downey. You didn’t confront Showalter with this information. Was there a reason why?”

Harris explained, “Larry took a bus from Santa Barbara to Downey the day before Pete Michaels was killed. According to you, Showalter’s recollection of when Larry asked him to get the gun was the beginning of September. Larry could easily have come down on the bus at any point and returned at any point. There wouldn’t have been any record of that. The DA would have sliced and diced me.”