False Accusations by Jacobson, Alan (great novels of all time .txt) 📕

As Andy hit “two” in the count, a broad smile spread across Mather’s plastic face and he brought the mike up to his mouth. “Thanks, Patrick. We’re here at Sacramento General Hospital, the very hospital where Dr. Phillip Madison was on staff at the time of the grisly hit-and-run murders.

“The hospital administrator, Dr. John Stevens, refused to allow our cameras in, but he did permit us to interview him.” Mather watched the monitor as the tape that Andy had shot an hour earlier was rolling at the station, reviewing the prior events in the story, showing the hospital footage, and setting the stage for the remainder of Mather’s report. Mather squinted into the lens of the camera, adjusted his hair in the reflection, looked down at his pad to review his notes. Glanced at the monitor. Caught his cue.

“And Patrick, Dr. Stevens said that Madison’s privileges were suspended due to an upper-level management decision. A decision designed to protect the hospital from further embarrassment by disassociating itself from the accused murderer before the relationship created irreparable damage.” Mather glanced down at his pad.

“Dr. Stevens declined to go into details about the payoff that Madison made to a woman who accused him of rape a couple of months ago. But he did say that the hospital’s current decision to suspend his privileges was a separate issue from the rape. Now, when I asked Dr. Stevens, who’s a longtime personal friend of Madison, if he thought his star surgeon was capable of committing murder, his response was that no one can predict the actions of another. Not the strongest statement of support, Patrick,” Mather said with a slight smile. “In fact, he likened trying to predict Phillip Madison’s behavior to playing the stock market—apparently, he’s unpredictable and it’s impossible to know how he’d react in any given situation with any degree of accuracy.”

The monitor showed a split screen, with Mather on one side and news anchor Patrick Baud on the other.

“Maurice,” Patrick said, “it’s interesting that the hospital would not take any disciplinary action against Madison for suspicion of rape, but they did suspend him for suspicion of murder.”

Mather smiled; it was the exact question he had recommended that Baud ask him. “Yes, Patrick. It seems that the hospital does not consider rape a reason to discipline its doctors—but that’s a subject of an investigative report. Perhaps we should leave that story to Hard: Edition,” he said, giving a toothy smile for the camera. “This is Maurice Mather reporting for KMRA news.”

Mather kept smiling until Andy gave him the cue that they were off the air. As Andy began breaking down the equipment, Ingle walked over toward Mather.

“Well, there it is, Tom. Your first live remote. Interesting, huh?”

“Yeah,” was all Ingle could manage.

“Any questions?”

Ingle looked down at his shoes and hesitated. “Well, you kind of left out some important stuff.”

“How so?” Mather asked.

“Well,” he said, consulting his notes, “Stevens also said that Madison was one of the finest human being she’d known, and that he’d never even hurt a fly.”

Mather grinned and began to walk back toward the van. Another news truck pulled up in front; its telescoping antenna began to unwind like a giant corkscrew ascending toward the heavens.

Ingle followed at Mather’s heels. “Didn’t Stevens also say that he didn’t know about the rape, and that’s probably why no action was taken against Madison at the time? It had nothing to do with the hospital looking the other way, which is how you made it sound.”

Mather stopped walking and turned to face Ingle. “I believe he said ‘no comment’ when I asked him about the rape.”

“Maurice, he only said that after you pressed him on it. It seemed to me like he didn’t know what you were talking about. And if the hospital didn’t know about it, then what you said—”

“Tom, do you know for sure that the hospital didn’t know about it?”

“Well, I—”

“Do you really think that a doctor like Phillip Madison could be accused of rape, and the hospital wouldn’t be aware of it? Come off it, Tom.” Mather turned away and started back toward the van.

“I’m just saying that we don’t know whether they knew of it or not.”

“We sure as hell don’t know for sure that they didn’t know, do we?”

Ingle hesitated. “No...”

“That’s right, so we didn’t say anything that was factually wrong.”

“But isn’t omitting information just as much of a lie as giving false information?”

Mather turned hard and faced Ingle. “Tom, do you remember that ratings chart I showed you before we left the newsroom? KONE was beating the pants off us. We need to boost our ratings, or we stand to lose some big money. And if we continue to lose more money, then cuts are going to be made—especially with a new GM taking over next month. I don’t intend to lose my job or take a pay cut, do you?” He climbed into the van as Andy finished packing up the equipment. “News sells, Tom, if you know how to present it. We’re under pressure from cable, from blogs, even from comedy shows—people are getting their news from other places. I’m just trying to be more aggressive, that’s all,” Mather said, holding both his hands out in front of him, palms up.

Ingle climbed in, shut the door, and watched the competing news cameraman prepare to set up his live remote shot while the reporter entered the hospital. As he wondered what angle that reporter would choose to take, the KMRA van pulled away and headed back to the newsroom.

CHAPTER 44

CHANDLER AND MADISON were sitting around the conference table watching Hellman pace the room. The law library at Hellman, Mackenzie & McKnight was appointed like the rest of the office. His wife had spared no expense, and it therefore had the flair and professional appeal of the most expensively decorated law libraries of the wealthiest firms in the state. Books lined two of the longest walls, with three large picture