Riker glanced at Mallory. She was not the least bit annoyed with the little man for wasting her time. And he knew why, or so he thought, but then she surprised him.
Mallory put one hand on Victor Patchock's shoulder, nails embedding in the material, just a gentle reminder that she was in control of him. And her voice was a monotone when she said, "I know you're holding back. Big mistake, Victor. Don't fool with me."
"I have to go to the toilet again."
When the door had closed upon the little man and his warden, Hennessey turned from one cop to the other. "Did you guys believe any of that?"
"The rape happened," said Riker. "I believed that much."
"No way," said the agent. "Dr. Apollo never mentioned an assault in her complaint."
"Of course not," said Riker. "Who would've believed her? You didn't. There were ten people on the other side of that bathroom door and a bailiff out in the hall. How could Andy Sumpter be stupid enough to risk it? The plan is so stupid it's damn smart."
"It did happen," said Mallory. "Andy needed cash, and some people will do anything for money." She turned to Riker. "But Victor did lie."
I heard the noise in the bathroom," said Johanna. "The other jurors had gone selectively deaf. So I went to the door to get the bailiff. The hall was empty. That's when I realized that you'd bought him off. He was the one who carried your instructions to Andy Sumpter. You not only arranged the rape, but you timed it with the bailiff. You wanted him gone while that assault was going on." Johanna addressed all her words to the dark window.
Even the girl in the lighted booth was a believer now, turning that way as if peering through the solid walls that separated her booth from the producer's.
"Excuse me, Doctor." Zachary rose from the console, walked around the Japanese screen and jammed a small camera up to the glass, illuminating the booth with a bright flash.
No one there.
He returned to his chair, behaving as if that had been a perfectly normal thing to do. "Go on, Dr. Apollo. You were giving me credit for suborning the entire jury."
She studied his more relaxed face. He was enjoying himself again. What a pity. But she could fix that. "You won't get away with jury tampering. And you won't be a media star anymore."
"Let's talk about your crimes, Dr. Apollo. After the trial, I sent you roses every day for a month. I'm sure you know why. I never doubted that the verdict was your work. By your own account, you kept Andy Sumpter from beating up those people. You, more than anyone else, helped to sway that entire jury. Oh, and one other thing – you voted not guilty. I'd say you earned your roses, Doctor."
"You won't get away with it."
He smiled and threw up his hands. "Bring on the police. Let's have another trial. No, wait. What was I thinking? You have no proof."
"You misunderstood," she said. "I was alluding to all the people who want you dead. Those jurors you and your fans hunted down, they had husbands and wives, parents and children. Lots of wounded survivors. This is your new trial, right here, right now. If I'm believed, then you're a dead man."
"Just one moment, Dr. Apollo. If I understand you correctly, you're openly soliciting my murder on the radio."
Johanna's eyes turned back to the dark window of the producer's booth, and she sucked in a breath, startled by the image on the other side of the glass. What malicious creativity. She would never have anticipated anything on this level of sophistication.
"Fascinating."
Zachary lunged for the Japanese screen, knocking it down with his fist so that he could see the producer's booth. A sheet had been draped across the window glass, and two holes had been slashed in the fabric, two dark eyes slanting upward. And though there was no third hole to indicate a mouth, Johanna would later remember a complete face with an evil smile.
Upon the return of Victor Patchock, it was finally established, to the little man's satisfaction, that an FBI agent, not Riker, had been the last one to see MacPherson alive. And then Hennessey left the room to respond to a cell-phone call in private. Without missing a beat between words, Mallory picked up the rhythm of the interview. "Let's talk about the parking garage. What were the two of you planning that night?"
"MacPherson and me were going to scare the living shit out of Zachary."
"So your gun had blanks, too?"
"No, I was gonna shoot the bastard for real. Real bullets. I wanted to hurt him so bad, him and all his moron fans. I hate him more than the Reaper."
"You wanted revenge," said Mallory, "that much is true. But you told us a few lies, Victor. I warned you about that. You said Dr. Apollo was the last one to change her vote."
He lowered his eyes as he nodded, reaffirming his statement.
"You're lying to me," she said. "And such a stupid little lie." Mallory held up an old newspaper clipping. "This is an interview with one of the jurors. According to this, the last holdout on that jury was a man. So it wasn't Dr. Apollo, and I'm damn sure it wasn't you. If you lie to me one more time…" Her words trailed off, and she let his imagination do the work of frightening him.
"It was Mac," said Victor Patchock. "He was the last one to change his vote."
"And he's not the one who got raped in the bathroom," said Riker. "That was you."
"No! It wasn't me!"
"You're lying," said Riker. "That night in the parking garage, MacPherson only wanted to scare Zachary. Payment in kind. He wanted Zachary to know what it felt like to be scared. But you wanted a different kind of payback. You brought real bullets. Andy Sumpter was dead, killed by the Reaper – no satisfaction there."
"So you went after Ian Zachary," said Mallory, "your rapist by proxy. I warned you not to hold out on me one more time."
Riker leaned toward the little man. "Did you plan to shoot the bastard's balls off? You think you could've made a shot like that – while you were hiding in the dark?"
Victor Patchock's head rolled back, and he stared at the overhead lights. His nose had begun to bleed, and he wiped it with one hand, smearing blood across his face. "I was the first one to change my vote to not guilty. Not that I was scared. That wasn't it. I just wanted to go home. So I don't know why Andy did that to me. Why? I already voted his way." He used his coat sleeve to wipe the blood from his hand. "I'm a little man… I know that. Dr. Apollo kept voting guilty. It was just her and MacPherson. But after… I came out of the bathroom… Andy demanded another ballot. He stood next to my chair, one hand squeezing my shoulder – not hard, more like I was his girlfriend or something. And he was staring at Dr. Apollo. Everyone else, except maybe Mac, was looking the other way – if you know what I mean."
"So you were Andy's hostage," said Riker. "That's why Jo voted not guilty."
"He knew where I lived," said Victor. "Suppose I'd pressed charges? Who would've believed me? Nobody backed up Dr. Apollo. What chance did I have? The stupid ones were clueless, and the smart ones would never go up against Andy."
"Except for Jo and MacPherson," said Riker. "You could've – "
"Okay! All right! But what then? I'm a little man. And you damn cops, you can't keep criminals in jail for six minutes. Andy would've been back on the street in an hour. You know he would've…"
Raped you again?
"So the lady changed her vote for you," said Riker. Jo would have internalized all of Victor Patchock's fear and pain, then sought to end it.