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

“I’ll let you know. I’ve just gotta make some calls first.”

He disconnected the call, then dialed Lou Palucci.

“I heard,” Chandler said. “Sorry, man. I had no idea that Gray would blabber it all over the damn place. I thought he was a professional.”

“He’s on the strange side, Chandler. Normally, he’d be fine,” Palucci said, “but this is not the kind of thing that comes up regularly. Not to mention the fact that he’s fairly green. But it’s not like he was telling everyone about it. Apparently, he and Jennings got into a pissing match over you. Each had his own story to tell. And it just came out. At least, that’s the version I got.”

“Why don’t you talk to Jennings. Tell him what kind of an impact this is going to have on the lab—and on you. Tell him it could cost you your job.”

“I spent the entire night thinking about it. Can’t you just see the headline? ‘Director of State Crime Lab Involved in Scandal.’ If he doesn’t know what’s going on in his own department, what kind of a director is he? And if it does get out that I did know, it’ll be worse: I knowingly violated procedure, abused my position, allowed the usage of taxpayers’ money for personal interests...it’ll be filled with all sorts of things for the media to grab hold of.”

After a moment of silence, Chandler sighed. “Lou, listen to me. All you have to do is talk with Jennings. Now, before he gets to Denton, the chief, and the attorney general. Just make sure you impress upon him the fact that if he takes the lab down in an effort to take revenge on a fifteen-year-old dispute, he’ll be blacklisted by the very lab he relies on to make his cases.”

“I think I’ve got a better source of persuasion for Jennings.”

“Who’s that?”

“Someone who saved his ass a few years back. Jennings owes him.”

Chandler gave him his number in New York and hung up. He ran his fingers through his hair, then leaned his shoulder into the metal fire door and pushed into the hallway.

“Dammit.”

CHAPTER 55

A DAY AFTER HIS DISCHARGE from the hospital and an hour after returning to work, criminalist Stuart Saperstein was dispatched to a crime scene. Three hours later, he settled down at his desk to log in all the evidence he had collected. Before he could finish, however, he was summoned to Lou Palucci’s office.

He tossed the digital recorder onto his desk and trudged down the hall.

As he walked through the doorway, Palucci was hanging up the phone. “Sap,” he said. “Close that door and grab a seat.”

“You look like you haven’t slept in days,” Saperstein said, tilting his head back and peering at his boss through soiled glasses.

“See, that’s why you’re a criminalist. Very observant. You don’t miss a damn thing.” He scooted his chair closer to the desk. “I’ve got a situation here that I need your help with. Your buddy, Bill Jennings, is threatening to bring some serious heat down on me and the rest of the lab and you have to stop it cold. Before it gets anywhere.”

Palucci spent the next five minutes providing the details of Chandler’s involvement with the lab. Finally, Saperstein interrupted the explanation.

“So,” he said, removing his glasses and poking at the dust on the lens with a finger, “what you’re saying is that this guy Chandler used the state lab for private gain, and Bill found out about it, and you’re afraid he’s going to raise a stink. Saperstein replaced his glasses. “I don’t get it. Why would Bill care?”

“There was an incident about fifteen years ago involving Jennings and Chandler. The two of them squared off, and Chandler turned out to be right. Big case, big blow-up. Jennings came out looking real bad.”

“His chance to get even,” Saperstein said.

Palucci nodded. “With us in the middle.” He shook his head. “If this gets out to the chief...” Palucci started to say as he stood up. He waved a hand at the air. “I should’ve stopped it before it had a chance to go any further.”

“You want me to see what I can do.”

“You saved his career. He owes you.”

Saperstein sighed, stood up and paced. “I’ve got ulcerative colitis and I just got out of the hospital. Couldn’t you wait a few days before laying all this on my shoulders?”

“Wish I could have. But there’s no time. You can see what a potentially sensitive matter this is.”

Saperstein nodded. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He headed for the door. “I’ll talk to him. Give him a dose of reason. Best I can do.”

When Hellman called his office for messages after court had adjourned, he was informed that Denton had called. Hellman’s stomach tightened. “Did he say what he wanted?”

“No, just that it was extremely important.”

Although it was after five, he knew Denton would be there. The prosecutor answered his own line.

“Jeffrey,” Denton said with an air of indignation. “Is there anything you’d like to tell me before we talk?”

“Tim...” sighed Hellman.

“Don’t give me ‘Tim.’”

“What the hell do you want me to say? I’ve got an overzealous investigator who’s accustomed to doing things...differently than we do them here. I just found out myself.”

“You’ll have to do better than that,” Denton said. “He used to be an investigator with this office. He should’ve known better.”

“He and I have been all through that. He should’ve known better and he fucked up. But it doesn’t change the facts. And the facts are that Madison’s DNA does not match your sample. Someone else’s does.”

“That’s why you were so sure that if I got a sample of Harding’s DNA I’d be satisfied that your client is innocent and the charges should be dismissed.”

Hellman did not say anything.

“This is the wrong way of going about it, Jeffrey. You should’ve disclosed the evidence you had. Remember the laws governing discovery?”

“What was I going to do? Chandler didn’t tell me where he’d taken her DNA sample. I was