Page 65 of The 24th Hour

An advanced computer search showed no fewer than thirty mental institutions with “Brookside” in its name, and as she’d lamented to Lindsay and Claire, they crisscrossed the United States from Bangor to Pensacola, from Baton Rouge to Seattle. Mary Elena had no living relatives who could support or deny Cates’s whopper, and if either the DA or the defense found a Brookside Mental anything, the institution would be highly unlikely to turn over records to any lawyer without asubpoena. And there were too many reasons to count why no subpoena would be forthcoming in her lifetime.

Red Dog had been against Yuki taking this case, but he was sympathetic to her current dilemma.

“You did your best. No. Yuki, you did great. And after you give your closing, it’s out of our hands.”

At 9:00 a.m. Yuki and Nick Gaines took their seats at their counsel table in 8G. Normally, Gaines was as put together as an actor playing Young Dad in a cereal commercial. Today, he looked as though he’d slept in his car. Too much lack of sleep.

Returning Yuki’s appraising look, Gaines said of her suit, “Red for the win?”

“I also have my toes crossed and a four-leaf clover in my pocket. I don’t think Mary Elena will feel better by lunch recess.”

“Is she actually sick?”

“She was re-traumatized, Nicky. There was the original trauma by her grandfather, the attack in Xe Sogni, and now Cates shouting his stinking trash and calling her a liar. Do you think she was actually in a mental institution with Cates?”

“I didn’t say that,” Gaines said.

But Yuki knew he’d thought it. If Brookside was a real place, and Mary Elena Hayes and Tyler Cates had both been patients there, Mary Elena’s multiple personalities would protect her from the shock if Tyler Cates was found not guilty. But her attorneys would have no protection against the crushing disappointment. The loss. Six months gone. Trust in their client gone.

This wouldn’t be the first or last time they’d be whacked bya case that had gone upside down without warning. The feeling was certainty that you’d screwed up, despite the facts and the hard work, and it never got easier. Hell.

But Yuki believed in that woman. She’d put her money on Mary Elena over that shit Cates any day.

CHAPTER 84

THE COURTROOM WAS packed, just shy of standing room only. Officer Louie Mack signaled a guard to close the double doors, then he escorted the jurors into their box and swore them in. When they were seated, the door cracked open between the courtroom and the judge’s chambers, and the Honorable Henry William St. John entered and took the bench.

Yuki turned her head a few degrees to the left, surprised to see that defense counsel Ed Schneider wasn’t yet seated when every other day he’d been early. She said so to Gaines.

He said, “Maybe he’s talking sense to Cates.”

“Hmph,” said Yuki. “So, what’s he saying?”

“‘Retract this Brookside garbage or you’re going to have a lifetime in a cell to regret it.’”

Yuki said, “Maybe. Cates is vile, but to this day, I don’t think he gets it.”

Gaines said, “Makes him a psychopath, doesn’t it?”

Just then, their conversation was derailed by a rising buzzin the gallery. Judge St. John slammed his gavel down, demanding quiet, which he got. Everything about him, from his precise haircut and trimmed mustache to his controlled scowl and the neat pleat of his robes, said that this judge meant what he said. Quiet.

When the room was silent, the judge cleared his throat and the bailiff called the court to order.

Yuki and Gaines turned their heads at the sound of the double doors opening. Louie Mack opened them wide and Ed Schneider stumped through, unapologetic as he took his seat at the defense counsel table.

The judge acknowledged him with a nod, then called on Yuki. “Are the People ready with their closing argument?”

“We are, Your Honor.”

Yuki got to her feet and stepped out into the well to face the jury. At the same time, the counsel for the defense stood and asked if he might address the judge at the bench.

“Mr. Schneider, Ms. Castellano, please approach.”

Two minutes later, the judge ordered the courtroom cleared.

CHAPTER 85

DURING THE RECESS, Cindy grabbed two cans of sparkling water plus a sandwich and a fruit salad from the snack cart outside the Hall and brought them up to Yuki’s office.

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