Page 45 of The Right to Remain

“Always.”

“So, you’d see his handwriting in that setting too. Right?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Take another look at exhibit twenty-seven, the handwritten list. Would you say that this handwriting looks like Mr. Pollard’s handwriting?”

Jack coughed. He was sending a message to Elliott to take the Fifth, but Elliott continued with his own plan.

“Yes, I’d say it looks like his handwriting.”

“Well, let’s be honest, Mr. Stafford. You’re more thansayingit looks like Mr. Pollard’s handwriting. You’d like us all tobelieveit’s Mr. Pollard’s handwriting. Isn’t that so?”

Obvious objections came to Jack’s mind, none of which he could assert. But he needed to remind Elliott about their agreed-upon plan to assert the Fifth Amendment, even at the risk of being asked to leave.

“Ms. Weller, it’s important that I have a moment with my client.”

“This is your final warning, Mr. Swyteck. Please do not interrupt.”

“It’s about his constitutional rights.”

“If your client would like to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, he can do so himself. Nobody is stopping him. Mr. Stafford, would you like to decline to answer my question on the grounds that it might incriminate you?”

Jack locked eyes with his client. Elliott didn’t look away. It was as if he wanted to deliver his answertohis lawyer, not merely in the presence of his counsel.

“No. I’ll answer your questions, Ms. Weller.” Then he looked at the grand jurors. “It’s not my purpose to make anyone in this room believe anything, other than the truth.”

“Then let’s get to the truth of the matter about this list of ‘Things Stressing Me Out,’ as it is labeled,” said Weller. “The list includes multiple references to ‘BB’s mother.’ Do you see that?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell us what ‘BB’ stands for, Mr. Stafford?”

Jack wanted to interrupt a third time, but he was certain it would have gotten him ejected.

“I have no idea what ‘BB’ means,” said Elliott.

“Well, as the grand jury will recall, a previous witness told us that ‘BB’ stands for Big Boy. It refers to Mr. and Mrs. Pollard’s son, Austen. He was just ‘BB’ or ‘Big Boy’ before they decided on a name.”

“Okay. If you say so.”

“But here’s an interesting fact the grand jury learned in our last session. After Helena Pollard settled on the name Austen, no one ever called him BB again. He was Austen. Did you know that?”

“No. I didn’t.”

Jack was nearing the point at which it was worth getting ejected, if in the process he could get his client to take the Fifth.

“I—I don’t see how I would know anything about that,” Elliott added.

“Here’s how,” said the prosecutor. “Austen was adopted. That means only three people ever called him BB. His adoptive parents, Helena and Owen Pollard. And the biological mother, who brought him into this world without a name.”

Abe Beckham’s words outside his office came roaring back to Jack—There’s something you don’t know about your client—and it was obvious that Elliott had withheld even more critical information from his lawyer.

“Elliott, it’s time to invoke your rights.”

“Mr. Swyteck,” the prosecutor said harshly, “I’ve been very patient. One more word and I must insist that you leave the room.”

Jack held his tongue, but he spoke to his client through his eyes.