Hoffman and Rose leaned close together. Rose did the talking. When they turned around, Hoffman addressed Major Harriman. “No deal. My client had nothing to do with Dorothy Hamner’s death, and he doesn’t know what you’re talking about when you refer to Miss Slaight.”
Kerry gave Rose an indulgent look and turned to Captain Lamb, the military defense counsel. “Captain, I’m going to explain this to you, because I know that you’ve tried cases here at the Academy. We’ve got two cadets who will take the stand and tell a military court-martial jury that your client not only had knowledge that Miss Hamner was dosed with a chemical substance, but that, in fact, it was your client’s idea. The star running back on the football team, Mr. Ivar, will get up there and testify that your client masturbated while he had sex with Miss Hamner. Both men will testify that your client insisted that they dose Miss Hamner with drugs so that she was nearly unconscious because he could not stand the thought of a woman looking at him. He will tell how Mr. Rose pleasured himself and then at the last minute penetrated Miss Hamner, which is how his semen ended up being identified in the DNA analysis. Now Captain Lamb, I’m not going to try to tell you how to do your job, but if I were you, I would advise my client just how successful a defense at a court-martial here at West Point would be, facing testimony such as I have just described to you. Major Harriman and I will give you a moment or two if you’d like.” Kerry and Harriman stood and exited the room.
“What do you know about Hoffman?” asked Kerry.
Major Harriman answered, “He’s from Poughkeepsie. He’s defended several murder cases around here. He’s good, but he’s no Johnnie Cochran.”
They walked upstairs to the MP lounge and had a cup of coffee. About an hour passed before Captain Lamb walked in on them. “We’re ready to discuss terms,” he said dryly. When they got back downstairs, Captain Lamb did the talking. “The fact of the matter is, Mr. Kerry, you need Mr. Rose far more than he needs you at this point, because without Mr. Rose, you’re not getting anywhere near the Commandant of Cadets.”
Harriman whispered in Kerry’s ear and spoke to Lamb: “What kind of deal are you proposing, Captain Lamb?”
“Rose will give you Gibson, but you’ve got to drop the rape charge. My client doesn’t want to leave the federal prison system with a rape record, because that would subject him to sex-offender registration laws in an increasing number of states, thus limiting the places he could choose to live, even limiting his ability to travel within the country.”
“I’m going to do you a favor, Mr. Rose. I want you to listen closely to me. I’m going to tell you the unvarnished truth so you can get a grip on where you actually stand. I don’t give a rat shit about the Commandant of Cadets. It’s your ass I want, and I’ve got it. You can clam up about Gibson for the rest of your natural life, as far as I’m concerned.”
“You can’t touch me on Jacey.”
“Really? Why don’t we see about that. Gentlemen, excuse me for a moment.” Kerry left the room and returned a moment later carrying two thick files. He sat down at the table across from Rose and the lawyers and opened the file.
“You really fucked up when you stole the car down there in Jersey, Rose. I don’t know when you did it, probably right when you were snatching the car out of the mall parking lot, but you reached down and leaned on the rocker panel and left an amazingly clear palm print. Want to have a look at it?” He shoved a copy of the print he had lifted from the Pontiac across the table. “Here’s the palm print we took from you this morning.” He pushed another sheet over. The lawyers looked at them closely.
“So I stole a car. That’s six months with no record down in New Jersey. Fuck you.”
“Good for you, Rose. You admitted to the car. Here’s where it really gets good.” He removed the plastic bag with the scrap of blanket from the file and held it up. “I found this little piece of blanket in the trunk of the car. See? I took pictures.’’ He pushed them across the table. “It was hiding down there under the taillight assembly. That’s why you missed it. Took me ten minutes to find the sucker. Happens that this little piece came from the blanket you threw over Jacey. It’s a match, Rose. That means you’ve got to find some shyster expert to refute the report from Fort Gillem that says the scrap I found in the car you stole came from the blanket used on Jacey.”
“We’d like a few moments,” said Hoffman.
“Take all the time you want,” said Kerry. “Time’s cheap. At least now it is, anyway.” He and Harriman left the interrogation room. Outside in the hall, Harriman grinned and high-fived Kerry.
“I think you got him when you told him you didn’t give a shit about Gibson. It was so believable.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t give a shit. Gibson’s a corrupt asshole, but the Army is full of creeps like him, especially with stars on their shoulders. He’ll get branded whether Rose rats him out or not. His career is over. That’s all that ever happens to general officers anyway. Did you know that since the Uniform Code of Military Justice was codified in 1951, not a single general has been court-martialed?”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Positive. I don’t care if Gibson walks, ‘cause he’s not going very far. He will be remembered as being in charge of the Honor Code at a time when maybe the biggest Honor scandal of them all hit West Point. He’s rotted trash headed for the Dumpster. I don’t give a shit about sniveling creeps like Gibson. They’re a dime a dozen. I want that sick fuck Rose.”
CHAPTER 54
* * *
CAPTAIN LAMB emerged from the interrogation room looking like he had just encountered the ghost they said lived up in the Fifty-fourth Division, in the Lost Fifties. Kerry and Harriman were standing at the end of the hall talking with Captain Patterson. He had stopped by to see how things were coming along. The fate of his client, Ash Prudhomme, depended on Kerry breaking Rose. Even though they had Favro’s confession, if Rose didn’t give up something on the assault of Jacey and opted to go to trial on that charge, there was a chance that Ash would have to face a court-martial. What Patterson needed was even a minor admission by Rose that he had been involved in the assault on Jacey.
“Hi, Harper,” said Lamb without enthusiasm.
“How are you doing?” Patterson replied.
Lamb turned to Kerry and Harriman. “We’re ready.”
Kerry led the way back to the interrogation room. Rose was sitting right where he had been when they left. The look on his face had not changed. Even his body language was insolent. He had his arm slung over the back of the metal chair and his legs were crossed as if he were sitting in a club somewhere, instead of facing an interrogation in the basement of a Military Police barracks at West Point. Kerry had to restrain himself from spitting on him, his contempt for Rose was so overwhelming.
Harriman noticed Kerry’s attitude and stopped him. He closed the door and walked him down the hall. “Get a grip, Jimbo. It ain’t a game, but it ain’t a war either. We use guns in wars, remember? All we’ve got here is words, and you’re my word man with this punk. Keep it together. Can you?”
Kerry tried to shake it off. Harriman was right. He was just another shitbag. “Yeah. I’m all right.”
Harriman opened the door and they went in. Rose was still reclining in the chair. He gave Kerry a little grin. “Here’s the deal, asshole. You win and I win.”
“Doesn’t work that way, Mr. Rose,” said Kerry.
“How about you let me go and I wear a wire and talk to Gibson. You knock down the kidnapping on Jacey Slaight to unlawful imprisonment and drop the rape, and I’ll set him up for you in spades.”
‘‘Why should Gibson even agree to meet with you? The word is all over the Corps that you’ve been arrested. Gibson’s got to know that you’re facing serious charges. What’s in it for him?”
“You arrested me before and Percival let me go, and I went back to the barracks and got right back into my old routine. I meet with Gibson on the Honor Code nearly every day.”
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“It’s different this time. Favro and Ivar have both copped pleas.”
“So return them to the barracks and tell them to keep their mouths shut or their plea deals go down the toilet. Gibson’s got to meet with me. I know too much for him not to.”
Captain Lamb spoke up. “It’s a good deal, Mr. Kerry. Rose sets up Gibson for you. We’ll plead to negligent homicide, we’ll plead to all of the Honor Committee conspiracy charges, we’ll take the unlawful imprisonment, as long as you leave aside the rape. You’ve got him for twenty years on the charges we’ll plead to. Twenty years isn’t bad, considering you’re not looking at a trial. We can probably keep the whole thing quiet and West Point won’t suffer unduly. I think you should talk to your boss.”
Kerry found himself acting like a suspect, picking out a spot and staring. He was gazing at a pipe that took a funny curve around a floor joist. Looked like the nose on his first wife. He almost laughed out loud.
“You will excuse us. We’ve got work to do,” he said.
Harriman called Colonel Bassett, who in turn called the Supe. Slaight agreed to the plea deal, but he insisted on the advice of Colonel Bassett that Rose sign a stipulation admitting to the facts of the case.
Harriman and Kerry returned to the interrogation room. Harriman spoke rapidly. He was losing patience with the process, but most especially with Rose. “You’ve got your deal. We’ll throw out rape and take the unlawful imprisonment and the other lesser included charges. But we’re going to insist that Mr. Rose signs a stipulation admitting to the facts of the case as we’ve presented them.”
“What does that mean?” asked Rose.
“I will tell you what it means,” said Kerry. He leaned forward with his hands flat on the table, face-to-face with Rose. “It means you sign an affidavit admitting that you set it up for Miss Hamner to be dosed with a chemical substance. You conspired in every one of the Honor Committee charges, bar none. And you threw a blanket over Miss Slaight and hauled her off to the woods and tied her to a tree and beat her. Your stipulation will become a part of the permanent record of your case.”
“Does that mean I’ll be listed as a sex offender?”
“Not unless you commit another sexual offense. In that case, your stipulation could be used against you in another trial.”
“Will it be publicly released?”
“We’ll ask the military judge to seal it.”
Rose and his attorneys whispered for a moment. Captain Lamb responded: “You’ve got a deal, Major Harriman.”
“There is one further matter,” said Kerry. “We’ve told this same thing to the other two. We’re going to return these men to the Corps of Cadets until the disposition of their cases is complete, and until then, none of them, and that most especially includes Mr. Rose, will communicate anything that has happened here today to anyone. That applies especially to Mr. Rose. The only persons Mr. Rose will be permitted to speak with concerning this matter will be his defense counsels.”
His attorneys whispered to him for a moment, and then Rose slowly nodded his head.
“The stipulation and agreement to remain silent will be part of the written plea, Mr. Rose,” said Agent Kerry. “If you are found to have broken the agreement and have talked to anyone outside of this room, the deal goes out the window, and you go to trial on all charges with Ivar and Favro testifying against you. We’ll get you on rape, Mr. Rose. And we’ll insist on the maximum penalty for kidnapping, which is life without parole. Do you understand me and agree to this?”
Again Rose nodded.
“Speak up, Mr. Rose,” commanded Major Harriman.
“Yes, I understand, and I agree.”
“Then let’s get down to business,” said Agent Kerry.
Kerry and Harriman listened with a kind of horrible fascination as Rose folded back the thick blanket of secrecy that had covered the workings of the Honor Committee and his conspiracy with General Gibson to corrupt the Honor Code and make it do the bidding of the Commandant of Cadets. He admitted to drugging Dorothy Hamner, and he admitted to the assault on Jacey. By the time they were finished, it was late afternoon. Rose had dropped his aggressive air of defiance and had adopted the far more subdued manner of a man in the dock. Not many young men get an advance look at their future, but now Rose had his. He was going to the Federal Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth and he would emerge as a middle-aged man with a felony record and a dismissal from the Army.
RIGHT AFTER the deal with Rose was sealed, Colonel Bassett drove to the Provost Marshal’s office. There was one last bow that had to be tied in the package they were preparing for General Gibson.
Bassett walked to Percival’s door and entered without knocking. Percival looked up from his desk.
“Colonel Bassett. What a surprise. Come in. Sit down.”
“I don’t need a chair to say what I’ve got to say to you, Percival. I’ve just come from the Supe’s office, and I am speaking for him. We’ve arrested Cadets Rose, Favro, and Ivar. They have been charged with some very serious offenses, including manipulation of the Honor System, manslaughter, rape, and a passel of lesser charges. General Slaight ordered me to inform you that you will be relieved of your position as Provost Marshal within the month. In the meantime, General Slaight has ordered you to take an immediate leave and not return to your office for at least fourteen days. You are ordered not to communicate with General Gibson in any fashion whatsoever. You are ordered not to reveal the nature of the charges against any of the cadets. You are ordered to stay completely clear of the prosecution of these or any other cadets until you depart this post. If you violate any of the Superintendent’s orders, you will be charged with disobedience of a direct order, interference with an official investigation, and obstruction of justice. Do you understand the orders which the Superintendent has given you?”
Percival looked up at Bassett uncomprehendingly. “I don’t understand.”
“Allow me to clue you in, Percival. Slaight knows you’ve been a back channel for Gibson. He could court-martial you right now for dereliction of your duties as Provost Marshal and interfering with the investigation of the death of Dorothy Hamner. But he’s going to let you slide, Percival. I don’t why. He just is. However, if you violate either the letter or the spirit of his orders from now on, I will personally put you under arrest, and I will personally supervise your prosecution. Now do you understand?”
Percival’s hand shook as he took off his glasses. “Yes sir.”
“Good. Sit in that chair and keep your goddamned mouth shut and you’ll survive this thing. But if you breathe a word to Gibson, you are going to Fort Leavenworth, and not as a student.”
Bassett left Percival sitting behind his desk and walked outside. That felt good, he thought as he got in his old clunker.
CHAPTER 55
* * *
IT TOOK Gibson until the following day to learn that Rose, Favro, and Ivar had been put under apprehension and returned to their barracks under room arrest. The first thing he did was call Percival. He was surprised to learn that Percival had taken a fourteen-day leave. Then he called Colonel Lombardi, only to discover that Lombardi as well had taken a leave. He asked Lombardi’s secretary where he had gone, and she told him Lombardi had taken his family to Vermont to see the foliage.
It was the middle of the afternoon before he reached the point that the only person left to call was the Superintendent himself. He thought it over for only an instant before he decided not to. He couldn’t call Slaight after the humiliation he had visited upon Thrunstone at the hearing. One of Thrunstone’s aides had told him that Slaight’s friend Leroy Buck had seen him huddled with Embry during the hearing. There was no way Slaight was going to listen to his entreaties on behalf of his Honor Committee Chairman and Vice Chairman now. No way at all.
Things were closing in on Gibson. He didn’t have many places left to turn. He picked up the phone and called Cecil Avery. His old friend was very distant and cold with him on the ph
one. He told Gibson that Thrunstone was livid over the fact that Gibson had not informed him that female cadets now met physical standards that were tougher than the standards in Gibson’s day as a cadet. Gibson tried to make an excuse, but Avery cut him off.
‘‘You did not serve well the interests of Congressman Thrunstone and his committee, Jack. Your representations to Thrunstone and myself were full of holes which Slaight was able to exploit with impunity. I suggest that you lie low and bide your time and hope like hell that Thrunstone doesn’t tell his pals in the Senate to withhold their votes when you come up for your second star. If you get promoted, that is.”
Gibson tried to smooth the waters, but Avery cut him off, saying he had to take another call. It seemed as if his Washington patron was leaving him to fend for himself.
He went home that night and fixed himself a double manhattan. Helen Messick was history. His wife was down in Pennsylvania visiting her mother. Both of his kids were away at college. The halls of Quarters 101 echoed hollowly as he walked to his study at the rear of the house. He picked up The New York Times and scanned the front page. Congressman Thrunstone had addressed the Republican caucus on the negotiations regarding the defense budget. The story said that Thrunstone was digging in his heels, but Gibson could read between the lines. The Republicans had called him before the caucus because his hearings had turned into such a debacle. He was weakened, and the Speaker of the House was trying to prop him up. There was a photograph of Thrunstone and the Speaker down at the bottom of the page. They were standing out on the Speaker’s balcony at the Capitol, arms around each other, smiling. It looked to Gibson like a picture of the kiss of death for the congressman from Illinois.
Gibson was startled by the doorbell. He wasn’t expecting any visitors. He was heading for the front door when he saw Rose standing outside the side door on the stoop, wearing his dress gray uniform.
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