"That's so wrong," Holly whispered.
"Nara insisted. She didn't want Naomi to go searching or to ask questions."
Choi looked at Holly with an unusual, for him at least, calm, certainly the horror on her face was plain. But he wasn't looking for forgiveness or even understanding, just simple acknowledgment that he wasn't the only one who had looked into the abyss. Choi opened his hands in surrender, with the expression of a man welcoming the blade, asking only that it be sharp, and the executioner strong.
Then he jumped as he felt an arm go around his shoulder. He looked up. It was Cherry Lexington standing beside their table.
"Daddy promised you would come this time, thank you," she said, shyly. Cherry reached over and kissed Choi on the cheek and beamed.
"Choi is my godfather," she explained to Holly, smiling at him.
Holly couldn't help but stare. Virtually identical pages of a child's coloring book only one was uncolored and the other, colored in. They chatted quietly for a few moments, then Cherry walk away with a smile. Her affection for Choi was apparent.
Holly was about to speak but Choi spoke first. "The adoption was done here in Chicago, privately, so nobody would be able to trace the records. I became friends with the family. Many strings were pulled to hide Cherry's past. I was good at that. Nara blamed Naomi, saying that the authorities must never find out, and that she would protect Naomi from being charged with the drowning as long as she never mentioned Sara to anyone.” Choi said, “then, in Korea as the Ambassador lay dying, Wolf Linser innocently mentioned Sara’s name and Nara assumed Naomi had told him... and we know what happened after that."
“Nara had to get rid of Wolf,” Holly realized, “so nobody would come around asking questions. Wolf had to disappear.”
"Yes," said Choi somberly. "Nara had her own self-preservation in mind. You understand now why you had to come here and witness the truth made flesh."
Holly nodded but no words came as she pondered the enormity of it. Choi knew Holly was taking it badly. He had played the cruel cards he had been given. Choi had never told anyone the whole truth before, and he had astonished himself doing it. Choi had told Holly in order to set himself free from the rocks that hid between the waves. Their voices faded, like people leaving shore in a small boat. Soon the sound of the soft waves were all that remained. He had passed his burden, though he could scarce believe it. Finally, in telling Holly the truth, he was free.
Chapter 68
Holly took the first flight back home on Sunday morning. She jumped out of the cab hastily and slipped into the last pew of the sanctuary of the church as worship service was ending.
Holly looked up at father singing, his booming voice had always been her anchor in the storm. She felt helpless. She just didn't know what to do. The trial would resume tomorrow. She knew Naomi's acquittal was dependent upon an expensive defense. Fees that only the Dumok could afford.
A dilemma always has two horns and Holly was caught on both of them. If Holly told the Dumok that Naomi was not his daughter, the Dumok would pull the defense fund, the original plea would stick and Naomi would get life without the possibility of parole, but… she would have the benefit of her twin sister's visits, and be released from the terrible guilt of having drowned her beloved twin sister.
If Holly didn't tell, Naomi had a chance at an acquittal but could never learn that Sara was alive, and continue to believe that she had been responsible in the drowning.
There was only one absolute. Holly had jumped to conclusions and been wrong.
Holly looked down at the church bulletin. It said:
"The truth shall set you free."
No it won't! It won't at all! Holly thought angrily. I've just made it worse!
Pastor Park watched his daughter sitting in the last pew at the back of the church, weeping. But, when he finished the benediction, he turned and discovered the pew empty and Holly gone.
Holly parked and walked into the diner. It was usually easy to spot Eli Behr. His presence filled a room, but not today. Eli reached for the sugar and poured a scary amount into his coffee. Gone was his signature confidence and easy banter. He folded his arms across the table and leaned forward.
"So, how was Chicago?" he asked, trying, but without his usual grin. "Did you at least get some deep dish pizza?"
Holly wordlessly slid Naomi’s passport across the table. The old vinyl cover cracked as he opened it.
“Who’s Sari Song?” he asked.
“Sari Song is Naomi Linser. Sari Song is the name she was given at birth.”
“What about it?” Eli asked, tossing the passport back.
"Naomi Linser was not underage when Wolf Linser had sex with her. She was eighteen, not sixteen. Detective Mick Chang blew it," Holly announced. She grinned widely. "Can we use this information tomorrow to discredit Detective Chang saying he botched the investigation liked he botched the case against Wolf Linser?”
Eli Behr's skin had always been pale. Now the blood pumped into his face. He forgot to stir his coffee, or even drink it. He smiled. Tomorrow, Detective Mick Chang would take the stand. What would the jury think of the detective now?
Chapter 69
A glance over to the gallery and Holly knew Detective Mick Chang was there. She didn't want to look at him. Like two dogs peeing in their respective corners, lawyer and cop faced each other.
The judge made a surprise ruling that the cameras were allowed to film and the crew was setting up. The long benches on the right side of the courtroom quickly filled up with a group of Free Naomi supporters wearing pink.
The morning passed with Detective Mick Chang on the stand, describing how Naomi had clutched the murder weapon and confessed to the crime. "She had bruises, breastbone was blue, purple orange and green and extended horizontally onto her second pair of ribs creating the image of a cross from the knife.
"It's mortification of the flesh," one juror stage-whispered to another. "It's the physical manifestation of suffering or psychological stress."
“Silence!” the judge ordered but it was too late. The press ran with it. A photographer happened to capture Naomi with her hands folded as in prayer and the next day a headline appeared next to the new photos: STIGMATA APPEARS ON VIRGIN WHORE.
Would Naomi Linser be the first woman to get the death penalty in the State of California since 1962?
"I trust the jury to make that determination," Blake LeBlanc had told the press with a thin smile.
Holly adjusted herself and stood from her seat and began the cross-examination.
Holly: Isn't it true you were the deputy who responded to a domestic call at the home of one Wolf Linser?
"Yes."
"Were you the investigating officer assigned to the case?"
"Yes."
"Were you responsible for the investigation against Wolf Linser, charging him with have sex with his 16 year old step- daughter, Naomi Linser?
"Yes."
"For that offense, isn't it true Mr. Linser received 15 years imprisonment, of which he has served 8 years?"
"Yes."
"Is it true that if Naomi Linser had been 18 years old at that time, she would have been of lawful age for consensual relations?"
"Yes."
"And no crime would have been committed?"
"Yes."
The detective rolled his eyes. Where the hell was she going with this? How he hated defense attorneys. They picked the smallest detail and then just beat it with a stick.
The smallest detail was the difference of two years. The smallest detail between unlawful and consensual sex. The difference between freedom and fifteen years incarceration. The difference between crime and no crime, and the difference between the competence and incompetence of an investigating officer.
"I would like to mark the passport of the defendant as defense Exhibit 1. May I approach the witness, your honor?" Holly addressed the court. The judge nodded.
Holly walked up and handed the detective the passpo
rt. “Were you aware Naomi Linser was eighteen years which is the age of consent for sexual relations in the State of California?” Holly asked.
Detective Mick Chang swaggered out of the courtroom. Fuck Holly Park. She was the exact reason cops hated defense attorneys. Any day a cop could walk out of a courtroom with his badge and job, it was still a good day. Mick Chang spit on the ground then kicked the trashbin as hard as he could and stormed out of the courthouse.
Chapter 70
On the last day of trial, the Dumok walked into court and took the last empty seat. Holly turned, her elbow knocking her papers onto the floor at the sight of him. She bent to scoop them up and dropped the trial binder which sprang open on the floor.
Naomi came in wearing a blue prison jump suit, wrists shackled, but looking even more stunning than ever, if that were even possible. She possessed the unalterable faultless symmetry of a top runway model. Naomi took her seat, and looked around, curious, as if she were a spectator and not the accused, and when she saw the ‘Free Naomi’ t-shirts, she blew kisses to her supporters which caused opponents to hiss and start name calling and heckling.
Holly didn't see him arrive, but Dr. Perry Koo also entered and greeted Naomi, wearing glasses with his hair neatly combed back. He wore a gray suit and a shiny purple tie and carried a bottle of water which Holly recognized was from the vending machines downstairs. Holly winked and gave him the thumbs up as he took the stand.
"When a client in hypnosis remembers a trauma," Dr. Koo said, "she is likely to remember it more vividly than if she were awake, if she can remember it at all. It is quite common for the individual in hypnosis to describe what is occurring with extensive details, many of which would be known only to an individual who was really there."
"As evidence, in a limited legal context, can such memories be relied on as much as a regular witness?" Holly asked.
"Hypnotic memories are sometimes frozen in time, at the point of the original trauma, but layered over and tinted and colored with other fears, memories and experiences. Certainly useful in therapy - but as historical fact? No. Even very experienced therapists can be fooled. And with the truth, there are no guarantees."
"Did you hypnotize Naomi Linser?" Holly continued.
"Yes," Dr. Perry Koo answered. "And I unlocked her memory as to what happened that night inside Club Kiki."
There was a murmer in the courtroom. The Dumok and Naomi locked eyes and he slightly nodded. Naomi turned and motioned for Holly and whispered something into her ear. Holly stood up and addressed the court.
"The defense would like to call Naomi Linser to the stand."
A nascent lawyer should not be handling murder trials, Blake LeBlanc thought, smirking and looked at his watch. The jury deliberations would not take long once he finished tearing Naomi apart on the stand and he could start his weekend.
Naomi took the oath and sat, like a princess taking a throne, yet with utter humility. All watched her, enthralled, leaning forward to capture every word.
Naomi's eyes were bright, her voice was soft but clear.
The defense team had done little to prepare Naomi mainly because of her emotional fragility. Putting her on the stand was, as they say a "game-time decision." The look on Blake LeBlanc’s face said it all. I win, you lose.
The Councilman had been drinking before she got there, Naomi began, she knew because there were half empty bottles on the table. When she arrived, he told the the other girls were told to leave the room. They were alone, and he drank more and more. His mood darkened as he began reminiscing about his glory days of being back on football field. She drank with him and listened to him, waiting. She had come for a reason that night. She wanted the document he had promised her, but his conversation was rambling, almost as if he were alone. Then, suddenly, he said he loved her. Naomi froze. He pulled out a diamond necklace, and again said that he loved her. Her stomach climbed into her throat and she was really frightened now. He was out of communication, it was very strange, almost like she wasn't even there he was so preoccupied.
Scared, she reached over for the service buzzer on the table and pushed it. The waiter was supposed to come. Once, twice, three times but nobody came. She didn't know why. Naomi faltered only slightly, then gathered her strength and went on.
The Councilman had started to touch her, pull at her shirt, which is when Naomi knew it was time for her to leave and got up. But the Councilman wouldn't let her go. He chased her around room calling her a tease. Naomi went to open the doors but it was locked from the outside. Trapped and panicking, she ran into the kitchenette. She had seen the waiters put the fruit and sushi knives under the counter so she ran and pulled one out. The VIP suite was large, in his inebriated state the Councilman couldn't find her. He was shouting, belligerent. She remained hidden, crouched in the corner, she was sure someone would come, or if he saw the knife it would shock him to his senses. She gripped the knife tightly in her hands with the handle tightly against the middle of her chest. But he spotted her crouched in the kitchen.
It was dark. The Councilman did not see the knife although the outside lights had bounced off the blade as she held it tightly on her chest. Tugging at his belt he came after Naomi. He hollered for her, pulling at his pants, searching the room. In his inebriated state, he still did not see the knife, he may not have even heard her voice screaming to stop. The Councilman lunged at her impaling himself on the razor sharp knife, his weight crushing Naomi, matching the description of the position Detective Chang testified he had found Naomi pinned under the Councilman. Naomi finished with her face in her hands.
"The death blow was inflicted by no one other than the honorable Councilman himself," Holly calmly explained in closing argument. "A tragedy? Yes. Murder? No."
Blake LeBlanc was right about one thing. The jury deliberations came back in record time.
"We the jury... find the defendant, Naomi Linser, not guilty of the crime of murder upon William H. McClellan, a human being."
"Thank you, oh, thank you!" Naomi whispered, hugging Holly, and then started to cry, and looked around the gallery for the first time. "Daddy! Daddy!" she cried, searching for the Dumok. A long second passed and as each member in the courtroom absorbed the verdict, cries of relief and joy filled the courtroom. Somebody cursed.
In the commotion, there was the Dumok. He rushed towards Holly, then passed her to Naomi’s waiting arms. The Dumok held Naomi's bright sobbing head, murmuring something Holly could not hear, speaking softly, with a tenderness she had never seen. And that's when Holly saw it. The pain that was etched in stone was no longer there. The media caught it too and ran a photo of the Dumok smiling down at Naomi under the headlines: “JURY ACQUITS CRIME BOSS DAUGHTER IN MURDER OF COUNCILMAN”
Naomi was laughing, inviting the media to share in her gaiety with the Dumok tenderly holding her hand as they were led out the back way. Then they were gone. Holly stood a moment watching. Then she picked up her briefcase and looked around the empty courtroom. The lies told twenty three years ago and halfway across the world that had strangled the lives of so many and had crossed continents to end up surfacing in an American courtroom. Finally, it was over. They had won the trial. And now the hard part would begin. Now, Holly would have to tell the Dumok the truth.
Chapter 71
There was not even a tree. Wolf Linser sat in the sun on a concrete curb outside the prison with small canvas duffel bag. He wore jeans and a denim shirt that draped on him as if on a hanger, and cheap canvas shoes. His hair was quite silver now, grown out and combed back behind his ears. His skin was paler than he could ever remember, even paler than back in the days when he had prowled the casinos for a living. That was a long time ago. He lit a cigarette he had rolled himself, a long way from the Davidoffs or Dunhills he had once favored. But they had given him back his Dunhill lighter, and amazingly it worked. He took a long drag and contemplated his freedom. Holly's black BMW pulled up and she set the passenger seat back for Wolf's long frame.
Wolf saw a flash of long flowing hair, the sunglasses came off, and the million dollar smile that had kept him going this past year. He had been the envy of the facility, the prettiest lawyer - and the smartest - she had won his freedom. Everyone asked for her phone number. And of course there had been Naomi's case in the papers. He had read every word, prayed each day for her and for Holly to prevail, and finally, on news of the acquittal, he had wept stones.
"So," Holly asked, once they were comfortably on the road. “Where to?”
"What I would love more than anything is to go this little barbecue place, the Bluebird, in the hills. The meat falls of the bone."
To Wolf, the strong black house coffee was like a drug and he could feel the life flowing back into his body. The food was served family style - baby back ribs and chicken with cole slaw, corn and beans that almost collapsed the paper plates.
"The horses - that's what kept me going - besides you. They know nothing of our world, and that's a good thing," Wolf hesitated. "I'm not so good with words, Ms. Holly but I want to say, without you, Ms. Holly," He shook his head and started again. "I used to smile at your energy and faith, but you made me a believer. I will never be able to thank you. And as far as Kendall . . .“ Holly just poked at the coleslaw. Wolf paused. "I just want to be with the horses and trees and breathe air again, but... I would like to see Kendall and apologize to her for what I put her through.” Wolf leaned back in his chair. “What do you think?”
“I think it is a great idea." Wolf nodded and picked up a piece of corn bread.
The road to the ranch brought back memories. The road was the same. The dust was the same. Wolf’s friend Travis was the same, except the beer was already cold and in a bucket and the horses were in the show corral. A bucket of apples and carrots stood ready. Simple things but life itself. The men embraced, but said nothing. Clinked their beer bottles and looked at the horses. Holly was puzzled. How can men who have hardly seen each other for years have nothing to say, yet act like they had just seen each other the day before?
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