Guardian of Lies: A Paul Madriani Novel

by Steve Martini

  Harry and I approach, up the center aisle toward the swinging gate at the bar in front of the judge’s bench. The woman at the table turns and suddenly I recognize her. She is Kim Howard, the United States attorney for the Southern District of California.

  Harry and I become walking ventriloquists, put on our best smiles and try to suck it up.

  “What is she doing here?” whispers Harry.

  “I don’t know.”

  Apparently one of the reporters is wondering the same thing. Now that she has turned toward him, he’s leaning over the railing trying to engage her in conversation.

  She smiles politely and waves him off by shaking her head. If I’m reading her lips correctly, she can’t discuss it right now.

  “Maybe it’s the visa,” says Harry.

  For weeks now, Harry has been bounced back and forth like a Ping-Pong ball between the State Department and their Consular Services office, trying to get information on Katia’s visa, on how Pike managed to get her into the country so quickly.

  With the hushed announcement by Howard that we’ve arrived, the papers spread out on the counsel table in front of them vanish into a manila folder and from there into the single briefcase on the floor. By the time we get inside the bar railing, everything is clean and we are confronted with only smiling faces.

  Templeton looks like the bird that swallowed the cat. “I think the judge wants to do this in chambers today.” Having sprung an entire army on us, he does amazingly quick introductions. “I think you know Kim Howard.”

  “I do.” We shake hands.

  She gives me a smile, then quickly frisks me up and down with her eyes, the kind of appraisal you might expect if you were dead but had somehow misplaced your grave. Templeton has been talking.

  He does the honors with the two men. The younger one is the bellboy, a deputy U.S. attorney from Howard’s office in San Diego, brought along to carry the bag.

  The older one is gray haired and sober, with heavy-lidded eyes over thin lips, one corner of which turns up the slightest millimeter as he shakes my hand. Templeton introduces him as James Rhytag, deputy assistant attorney general. Howard should take lessons from him. You can’t tell what he’s thinking. Everybody’s dead to him.

  “Deputy assistant AG, that’s pretty high up,” I say. “Then I take it you’re not from these parts?”

  “Washington.” The lips barely move as he says it.

  “What division?”

  “We can talk inside.” He means the judge’s chambers. He gestures with his head toward the two reporters who are now leaning over the railing trying to collect business cards, like trained seals slapping for fish.

  It seems no one is carrying cards today, so the reporters open their notepads and shoot for full names and correct spellings. They keep pointing to Rhytag, asking for his title, and what he’s doing here. With all the federal firepower, they know they’ve stumbled into something. The only two people in the room who seem to be less informed are Harry and me.

  Templeton climbs down off the wheelchair, gets behind it, and starts pushing. He leads the assemblage past the bench, toward the hallway that leads to the judge’s chambers.

  Harry and I fall back to the rear. He leans over and says into my ear, “Why don’t you excuse yourself to the men’s room. Let me go in with the judge and find out what this is about.” Harry is worried.

  “If Templeton wanted to arrest me, he wouldn’t need the federal government to do it. Besides, we have the luck of the draw.” I nod toward the plaque on the wall outside the door, the one that says HON. PLATO QUINN.

  Once through the door and into the judge’s chambers, Templeton pushes his wheelchair right up to the front lip of Quinn’s desk, climbs aboard, and then invites the U.S. attorney and Rhytag to take the two client chairs on either side of him. This leaves Harry and me to share the couch against the back wall with the federal baggage boy.

  Templeton tries to chat him up, but Quinn sits there, imperiously waiting until everybody is inside and seated and the door is closed. The judge is tall and angular. He sits bolt upright in his chair behind the desk, sharp-angled beak nose, narrow face, and bald head. Quinn has always reminded me of the eagle on the great seal.

  Templeton edges in with the introductions. He starts with the U.S. attorney, but before he can get her name out, Quinn steps all over it. “Mr. Madriani, Mr. Hinds.” He looks at Harry and me seated on the end of his couch like orphan afterthoughts. “Good to see you both again. I hope everything’s going well.”

  “Your Honor, what can I say? We’re back in your courtroom again, so it can’t be too bad.”

  He laughs.

  A trial judge has not been assigned to Katia’s case as of yet, but criminal pretrial and law-and-motion matters are dished up to only two judges in the courthouse. One of them is Plato Quinn. Harry and I have tried cases before him. Toy with him and Quinn can exhibit the abrasive qualities of a drill sergeant. Do a trial in front of him and survive the experience and a kind of affinity is formed that you see in combat. If, for some reason, the federal government is about to crawl up our back, there is nobody I’d rather hand the scratcher to than Quinn. He is not likely to be pushed around.

  Templeton manages to get through the introductions before Quinn cuts him off again. “I guess I’m a little confused. And don’t misunderstand me, it’s not that I’m not happy to see you all, but why are all these people here?” He puts this to the Dwarf. “What I show in the file is a motion to produce under Brady filed by the defendant with no response or opposition, no points and authorities from the prosecutor’s office.”

  “That’s correct,” says Templeton. “The district attorney’s office offers no opposition, Your Honor.”

  “Your Honor, if I may.” With the sound of Kim Howard’s voice, the guy at the other end of the couch has the briefcase open and a thick file out of it.

  “I think we can cut through this very quickly,” says Howard. She reaches behind her without looking. Her assistant puts the file in her hand, like a relay runner passing the baton. Howard pulls a sheaf of stapled papers from it, maybe three or four pages, and hands it to the judge.

  “I have here a federal court order issued by the federal district court for the District of Colombia removing jurisdiction over this matter, to wit, the motion to produce six identified photographs seized from the defendant in the present case of People of the State of California versus Katia Solaz. Federal removal is grounded on federal question jurisdiction, under statute conferred on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in Washington, D.C.

  “As you can see, the order was signed and filed by the district court three days ago.”

  “Mr. Madriani, have you seen this?” says Quinn.

  “No, Your Honor. This is the first we’ve heard of it.”

  Howard snaps her fingers and her assistant produces two copies from the briefcase, one for me and another for Harry.

  “Excuse my ignorance,” says Quinn. “But what exactly is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court?”

  “Perhaps a little background is in order.” This comes from Rhytag.

  “Yeah, Jim, I think you’re best to handle that,” says Howard.

  “I don’t care who handles it. I just want to know what’s going on.” Quinn doesn’t like being stepped on, even by another judge wearing federal robes.

  “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 established a special federal court entitled the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. It also established a special court of review for appeals from the FISC, FISC being shorthand for the court. Since that time the law has been amended under the Patriot Act to change the size and composition of the court, but its purpose remains the same.”

  “Which is what?” says Quinn.

  “To oversee and adjudicate requests from federal law enforcement agencies for surveillance warrants against suspected foreign intelligence agents operating within the United States. They’re called FISA warrants.”

  “Excuse me,” says Quinn, “I know Mr. Templeton just introd
uced us, but exactly who are you?”

  “I’m James Rhytag, deputy assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s National Security Intelligence Division.”

  “That’s quite a title,” says Quinn. “In light of the federal district court’s order, I’m not exactly sure what my role is in this matter any longer. I assume I still have jurisdiction over the criminal case.”

  “As far as I know,” says Rhytag.

  “That’s big of you,” says Quinn. “So you’re telling us that these photographs, the ones Mr. Madriani and his client want access to, are off limits, under some kind of federal seal, is that it?”

  “In a word, yes,” says Rhytag.

  “You have anything you’d like to say, Mr. Madriani?” Quinn looks at me.

  “Yes, I’d like to know where the photographs are.”

  “I’m not at liberty to say,” says Rhytag.

  “Maybe I missed something,” I say. “What you’re telling us is that the jurisdiction of this special federal court is limited to the issuance of these surveillance warrants, for spies operating in the United States, is that correct?”

  “That’s right,” says Rhytag.

  “What do the six photographs have to do with surveillance warrants?” I ask.

  “That’s classified. You’re not entitled to know,” says Rhytag.

  “Your Honor, what we have here are two murders with a truckload of unanswered questions. We have questions concerning one of the victims, Emerson Pike, and what his background was, how he managed to expedite obtaining a visa to bring the defendant into the country, a U.S. visa that would ordinarily take months but which he was able to obtain from the United States consulate in Costa Rica in three days. You wouldn’t know anything about that?” I put the question to Rhytag.

  “Sorry,” he says, and just shakes his head.

  “We know that Emerson Pike was obsessed with the photographs in question,” I tell Quinn, “and that the pictures were taken by the defendant’s mother ”

  “Where? Where were they taken?” says Rhytag.

  I look at him. “If you want to share information, give me copies of the photographs and tell me what you know, and I’ll give you all the information I have, on one condition, that it doesn’t place my client in legal jeopardy.”

  “Why don’t you just tell me where the photographs were taken,” says Rhytag. “Costa Rica? It was Costa Rica, wasn’t it? Why don’t you just tell us what your client has told you and we can get past this very quickly.”

  “I assume you’re looking for Mr. Nitikin.” It’s a gamble, but it pays off. Rhytag’s eyeballs nearly come out of his head as he turns to look at me.

  “What has she told you?”

  What is even more interesting is the confused look on Templeton’s face as he sits there turned around in his chair, looking first at me, and then at Rhytag. Whatever the feds know, they haven’t shared the details with their friendly prosecutor.

  “Let us talk to her,” says Rhytag. “We’ll give her use immunity.”

  “On what, on the murders?” I ask.

  “Not a chance,” says Templeton.

  Rhytag leans over toward Templeton, while Kim Howard occupies the Dwarf’s other ear. Howard’s assistant quickly gets up off the end of the couch and stands directly behind the wheelchair to block Harry’s and my view. They huddle in front of the judge’s desk.

  “If you want to borrow my chambers to talk for a few minutes, you can have it,” says Quinn. “By the way, who’s Mr. Nitikin?”

  Templeton raises a hand to hold off the judge. They confer for a few more seconds before Templeton says, “Okay, all right. Your Honor, I’m not entirely sure what’s happening here, but maybe there is a solution that meets all of our needs. This is what I’m prepared to offer, and I should preface it by saying that I’ll have to clear it with my boss, but I think he’ll go along. Two issues,” he says. Templeton turns in the chair to look at me as Howard’s assistant steps out of the way.

  “If she cooperates”—Templeton is talking about Katia—“if she talks to the government and the information she provides is useful and, and this is a big point,” says Templeton, “if she gives up the co-conspirator, whoever helped her at Pike’s house, I’ll entertain an LWOP, reduction to a life term without the possibility of parole.”

  “In your dreams,” I tell him.

  “That assumes there is a co-conspirator,” says Harry. “How the hell can she give you something that doesn’t exist?”

  “We won’t know that until she tells us, will we?” says Templeton. “But I’ve made the offer. Your Honor,” he says, turning back toward the judge, “since the state has now made the offer, and I’ll put it in writing, the offer must be conveyed to the defendant. It’s not within the province of her lawyers to reject it. That decision belongs exclusively to the defendant. They can advise her, but they can’t make the decision for her. And I would ask, so that there is no misunderstanding or confusion as to the terms, that both Mr. Madriani and Mr. Hinds be present when the offer is explained to her.” Templeton looks directly at Harry as he says this. “And I’ll have it translated into Spanish so that she can read it as well. To avoid the death penalty is no trivial matter.”

  “No, it’s not,” says Quinn. “You’ll convey the offer, Mr. Madriani, Mr. Hinds.”

  “We’ll be happy to convey it,” I tell him. “But I can assure you she’ll turn it down.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Templeton turns around and looks at me.

  “Because I know my client, and if you pulled your head out of your ass, you’d be able to see the light of day.”

  “Mr. Madriani!” says Quinn.

  “Sorry, Your Honor, but two people have been murdered. Someone broke into Emerson Pike’s house that night. We know that because the police found pick marks on the lock at the back door. The only reason the killer didn’t get the photographs in question is because they belonged to the defendant’s mother. Katia Solaz convinced Emerson Pike to give the photographs back to her the night she left, the night he was killed. Katia Solaz got out of the house a heartbeat ahead of whoever killed him. Otherwise she would be dead and the photographs would be gone.”

  “Yeah, and we have your word for this, is that it?” says Templeton. “Your Honor, we think she killed Emerson Pike with the help of an accomplice.” He turns back toward Quinn. “And together they cleaned out the house, took the coins and the defendant’s computer.”

  “If robbery was the motive, why did they take only the computer and some of the coins?” I ask.

  “Because they couldn’t carry anything more,” says Templeton. “It’s called physics, the law of gravity.”

  “Wrong,” I tell him. “The computer was taken because it contained the original downloads of the digital form of the photographs. You didn’t know that, did you?”

  Harry gives me a shot in the ribs with his elbow, as if to say shut up.

  “Your Honor, it wasn’t a burglary in the conventional sense. Whoever came to kill came because of those pictures. That’s what they wanted. That’s why those photographs are at the heart of our case.”

  “What’s in the pictures?” says Quinn.

  “Ask them.” I point to Rhytag.

  “Can you give us even a clue?” says Quinn.

  “No, sir,” says Rhytag.

  “I have an obligation to assure that the defendant gets a fair trial,” says Quinn.

  “And I have an obligation to protect national security,” says Rhytag.

  “Find Pike’s computer and you’ll find the killer,” I tell them. “And it’s not my client.”

  “Then tell me where to start looking,” says Rhytag.

  “Seems we’re back where we started,” says Harry. “I have one suggestion.”

  Rhytag looks at him. “What’s that?”

  “The federal government has regulatory powers over most banks, correct?”

  “What’s that got to do with anything?” says Rhytag.

  “We have a name—John Waters. According to information, Mr. Waters received a cash payment in the amount of a hundred thousand dollars for the sale of one of the gold coins belonging to the
victim, Emerson Pike. It may be a long shot, but it’s possible this Mr. Waters may have deposited that sum in a bank account in this country. You could check your computers for the name John Waters and see what you find. I mean, he’d have to use a social security number or taxpayer ID number to open an account, right?”

  Rhytag thinks about it for a moment, then makes a note. “I don’t suppose you have a date of birth?” he says.

  “It’s an alias.” Templeton says it with scorn.

  “So what?” says Harry. “If someone opened an account under that name, we should find out. In the interests of national security.” He looks at Rhytag.

  “Mr. Madriani and I agree on one thing, Your Honor,” says Temple ton. “Find Emerson Pike’s computer and you’ll find one of the killers. Because the other one’s already locked up in the county jail. Convey the offer to your client.” He turns to look at me. “Tell her she has a chance to live. It’s the last one she’s going to get. Let’s see what she says.”

  He gives me a sinister smile.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  Yesterday afternoon after she hung up the receiver in the telephone booth at the jail, Katia realized she had forgotten to thank Paul. It was clear that either he or Harry had talked to the authorities at the jail, because things had become much better.

  Paul called to tell her about what had happened at the courthouse, the argument over the motion and the missing photographs. He told her they would meet at the courthouse in a few days. He had many important things to discuss with her, none of which could be talked about over the telephone. Katia was to be taken to the courthouse, where some of this was to be discussed in the presence of the judge, in the judge’s office, and with the prosecutor available outside in the courtroom. Katia asked him what was happening. Paul told her he could not talk about the details over the phone and the conversation ended. She would have to remember to thank him when they met at the courthouse.

  It was amazing how quickly things had improved. For the last several days, ever since the fight in the shower, all of her problems at the jail had vanished. The Mexican Chicas who had been badgering Katia since the day she arrived, particularly the big one with the pockmarked face and the scar on her cheek, were now leaving her alone and licking their wounds.