Mercy

‘Is it something you’d like to share?’

‘Let’s just say that Dorothy got a raw deal.’

The words ‘raw deal’ suggested something financial. But this was unlikely—if it was purely financial it could have been easily remedied.

‘From your mother?’

Jonathan shrugged.

‘Let’s just say that there are sins of commission and sins of omission.’

Alex nodded. He knew that he wasn’t going to make any more headway if he cross-examined. But he sensed that Jonathan wanted to talk.

‘Why did you want to see me, Jonathan?’

‘I was wondering if Burrow has accepted Dusenbury’s offer.’

‘You know that anything a client says to his lawyer is privileged.’

Jonathan squirmed uncomfortably.

‘But I’d’ve thought that they’d have to make it public at some point. I mean, at least if he accepted the offer.’

‘At some point maybe. But at this stage I can’t even confirm or deny that there was an offer.’

Jonathan seemed uncomfortable, as if he wasn’t sure himself why he was even there. He appeared to be looking round nervously, almost as if he was expecting something to happen.

‘Can I ask you a question, Mr Sedaka?’

‘Of course.’

‘Why did you take this case?’

‘Well that’s kind of an open-ended question, isn’t it? Why did I take on this case?’ Alex was buying time as he thought about it. ‘I guess, because I’m a lawyer. Because Burrow asked me to. Because one of my staff persuaded me that it was a noble cause.’

Jonathan looked like he was trying to hide the fact that he was smiling when he heard these words. But he said nothing.

‘You think I’m a total cynic, don’t you?’ Alex continued, trying to break the ice with a confessional tone and an amicable smile on his face.

‘You said it yourself, you’re a lawyer.’

‘Look, I don’t mean to be rude, Jonathan, especially in light of what you’ve been through. But is that the only thing you came here to ask?’

He wasn’t trying to hasten Jonathan on his way; he was trying to break down the barrier of reticence that was holding him back.

‘When I asked why you took on this case, what I meant was: do you think he’s innocent?’

‘I can’t say what I know or what he told me because that’s privileged communication. But I guess I can tell you, in a general sort of way, that a lawyer doesn’t have to believe in his client’s innocence to take on a case.’

‘No, but I also know that lawyers are human—some lawyers.’

He smiled when he added the last bit. Alex returned the smile.

‘And you want to know if I was motivated by idealism or if I’m just another slave to the almighty dollar.’

‘Exactly.’

‘Well, you know, when it comes to representing a penniless defendant, there are no almighty dollars on the table. We call it pro bono work.’

‘I know all about pro bono work, Mr Sedaka. But there’s more than one road to Rome, isn’t there?’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Really?’ asked Jonathan, with raised eyebrows. ‘There’s professional kudos and prestige. There’s book deals and Hollywood, there’s—’

‘Now hold on a minute! I’m not planning on turning your sister’s death into a book deal or a Hollywood movie if that’s what you’re thinking…Or should I say, your half sister?’

He was monitoring Jonathan for a reaction. There was no sign of panic or anger or any other emotion on Jonathan’s face. He held his head back, but it was more like he was trying to remember something or just to concentrate.

‘You know about that?’

‘We have the DNA report. I was wondering if it affected your relationship with her…one way or the other.’

‘I don’t think it really did. I mean, we were loyal to each other. We couldn’t have been any more loyal if we were full siblings. So I guess you could say it didn’t affect us.’

‘But you did know about it?’

‘It came out in the heat of a domestic argument. But after that it was never talked about—at least not by me or Dorothy.’

‘You didn’t want to know more?’

‘We knew all we needed to know.’

‘So which of you…was…?’

Jonathan was shaking his head.

‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

A tense silence settled between them for a few seconds. Alex knew that he would make no more progress on this point. Not with Jonathan at any rate.

‘You know,’ Jonathan said, ‘he used to bully her in high school.’

Alex surveyed Jonathan’s face for signs of emotion. There was none.

‘Verbally or physically?’

‘Mostly verbally. Like, he used to make fun of her name.’