“Counsel is right,” Judge Rosenthal said to Deegan. “I don’t remember any such testimony.”
“He said it to me,” Taj Deegan responded. “I didn’t want to make that fact public if I could help it.”
“He didn’t testify to it,” Rosenthal said. “So rephrase the question.”
Alex turned to Khalid, who looked like a ghost, his face reflecting betrayal and utter defeat. Alex needed to reassure him somehow. But what could he say? How much more would Khalid have to endure?
“Mrs. Mobassar, I understand that this is hard for you, but it is important that you tell the truth,” Deegan said. “Your son Ahmed was killed on a bombing mission inside Israel in 1996. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“And the authorities had to use DNA to identify him. Is that also true?”
Ghaniyah looked pained, her voice cracking and barely audible. “Yes, that’s true.”
“I want you to know that if I must, I will ask Judge Rosenthal to suspend this trial so that we might obtain those DNA results. But first, I want to ask you the question one more time-is Fatih Mahdi the father of Ahmed Mobassar?”
Ghaniyah’s facial expression went from contempt to shame. For an interminably long time, she didn’t answer. Then she blinked back the tears and rubbed her eyes. Hardly moving her lips, in a barely audible voice, she said, “Yes, Fatih Mahdi is Ahmed’s father.”
The revelation created a stir in the courtroom, and the judge banged his gavel. Ghaniyah gave Khalid a despondent look. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed.
Alex suddenly remembered that Nara was also in the courtroom, and he turned to look at her. She was sliding past the others in her row, trying to get to the aisle, tears filling her eyes. He watched as she walked down the aisle and out of the courtroom without once looking back.
“Thank you, Mrs. Mobassar,” Taj Deegan said. “I’m sorry this has been so difficult. I have no further questions.”
Alex put his arm on his client’s shoulder. The imam looked like he was in shock. “Did you know this?” Alex whispered.
Khalid just shook his head. The man’s eyes were wet, and he refused to look at his wife. The pain on his face was not something he could manufacture.
Alex didn’t bother to stand. He wanted the jury to look at him and see his client sitting next to him in obvious distress. He kept his tone low and understanding as he began his questions. “Had you ever mentioned this to your husband?”
Ghaniyah looked down at her folded hands. “No.”
“Did you have any reason to think that your husband knew about this affair?”
“No. It was something that happened in the distant past. I was angry because Khalid did not seem to care about my brother’s death. I made decisions that I still regret.”
Alex looked at Ghaniyah and felt nothing but sympathy. Regardless of how this trial ended, her relationship with Khalid would never be the same.
“No further questions.”
90
Taj Deegan rested her case, and for the second time, Alex was confronted with giving an opening statement that suddenly seemed irrelevant. This time he had no choice.
He stood and faced the jury, clutching his legal pad. He followed his notes and summarized the evidence in favor of Khalid Mobassar. But the question on everyone’s mind had now shifted. How does the affair fit into this puzzle? Alex felt like everyone had the same sense of the matter he did-the key to the mystery was right in front of them but somehow just out of reach.
He finished his planned opening, walked back to his counsel table, and left his notepad there. He turned toward the jury, contemplative, as if he had just thought of one more thing.
“I’m still trying to process the testimony we just heard, and you probably are as well. What does it all mean? I don’t have that figured out yet, but there is one thing I know for sure. When Ghaniyah Mobassar sat right there on that witness stand and told her husband that she was sorry, that was no act. It wasn’t technically part of her testimony, but I know some of you saw her say that.”
Alex was standing next to his client, and he put a hand on the back of Khalid’s neck. The imam was studying the table in front of him, too embarrassed to even look at the jury.
“And when I saw the look on my client’s face during this afternoon’s testimony, I knew it was the first time he had heard about the affair. Many of you glanced at him. Judge for yourselves. Was this the first time that Khalid Mobassar heard about this? And if so, how could Fatih Mahdi possibly be telling the truth?”
Alex took his seat, leaving them to ponder that question. Under the circumstances, it was the best he could do.***
After a brief smoking recess, the judge told Alex to call his first witness. There was only an hour left in the day, and Alex and Shannon still couldn’t decide whether they should put Khalid on the stand. Over the break, they had devised a stalling strategy that would give them the weekend to make that decision.
Alex would call Nara as his first witness. Fatih’s revelation and Ghaniyah’s testimony now made leaving her off the stand impossible. He could easily fill the hour or so until court adjourned for the week with background information about her father and his views on Islam. Then Alex would have the weekend to decide whether he wanted to ask Nara to testify about the events in Lebanon. Besides, he had to discuss that testimony with Shannon before he made the call.
But when Alex announced Nara Mobassar as his first witness, Taj Deegan objected, noting that Nara had been in the courtroom when Fatih Mahdi and Ghaniyah testified. Alex countered by explaining that he had decided not to call Nara as a witness until the surprise revelation about the alleged affair. The lawyers argued for about ten minutes in hushed tones at the judge’s dais, just out of earshot of the jury.
Rosenthal decided that Alex should have an opportunity to put Nara on the stand, but when the deputy went into the hallway to call her, she couldn’t be found. Cell phone calls proved futile, so finally Judge Rosenthal gave up and adjourned court for the weekend.
“You’d better have all your witnesses ready to go first thing Monday morning,” he warned Alex.
“I will,” Alex promised.
After court, Alex and Shannon fought their way through the reporters without making any comments. Shannon headed to Ghaniyah’s home to provide their client with some comfort. Alex headed home. He had a splitting headache, and the last thing he wanted to do was spend time with Khalid’s unfaithful wife.
He changed clothes and turned on ESPN. He tried in every way possible to distract himself from the day’s events but eventually ended up pacing around the condo trying to make sense of it all. It felt like the case was in serious jeopardy now, and he needed to pull out all the stops. Ghaniyah had corroborated Fatih’s testimony about the affair. And Fatih’s question kept churning through Alex’s mind- “Why would I make something up that is so publicly humiliating?”
Had Khalid really threatened to expose Fatih? That could explain a lot, including Fatih’s abrupt decision to stop criticizing his imam six months prior to Ja’dah’s death. But if that was true, Khalid was an incredible actor. The look on his face today was one of genuine shock and devastation.
Either way, Alex resigned himself to the fact that both Nara and her father would need to testify on Monday. If he held anything back and Khalid was convicted, Nara would never forgive him.
He couldn’t get Nara off his mind, knowing the heartache she must be feeling. He tried calling her and left messages. It was nearly eight o’clock when she finally returned his calls. She had been visiting her father at the jail. He had talked to her about forgiveness and tried to calm her down. She needed to talk. Could they meet at his condo?
Alex wanted to say yes, but he’d learned his lesson. The only thing worse than being seen alone in public with Nara would be to have her seen entering his condo. “Why don’t we meet at Catch 31? Do you remember where that’s at?”