‘As Major Latham correctly states, there were no charges against the assaulted party. I don’t believe any facts — facts supportive of your point of view, at least — have been established. The objection remains sustained. Try a different way.’
Cheung looked up from his notes. ‘Captain Ryder, you’re with OSI. You’re a special agent — police.’
‘Yes, sir,’ he said.
‘As a policeman, you keep a notebook?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Do you have here the notebook you used on that day?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Please go to the notes you made on the incident over which the accused stands charged.’
Ryder flipped through the book.
‘Please read your notes to the court.’
‘Arrived Camp. Cooper sees Lockhart. Goes to him, draws gun. Cooper says, “You’re under arrest.” Lockhart moves. Cooper restricts further movement, hits Lockhart with gun. Lockhart says, “Damn, Cooper. You still alive, motherfucker?” Sergeant Cassidy says, “Cooper! C’mon!” Lockhart attempts to evade capture and Lockhart reaches for his side-arm.’
‘Objection,’ said Latham, leaping to his feet, forgetting about buttoning his coat. ‘I have twenty witnesses who can testify that the victim of Cooper’s senseless attack never reached for his side-arm.’
‘Your Honor,’ said Cheung. ‘I have a number of witness who will state otherwise. We’re going to end up in one of those “he says she says” dead ends.’
‘Your Honor,’ Latham countered, ‘the testimony from his witnesses is surely cancelled out by the prosecution’s witnesses on this point.’
‘But, sir,’ said Cheung, ‘the issue of Lockhart reaching for his weapon underpins the accused’s innocence.’
‘The objection is sustained,’ said Fink. ‘Can’t help you on this point, Counselor. Got anything else?’
I hoped like hell that we did but from the looks of Cheung — frowning, hands on hips, glaring at the floor — probably not.
My attorney looked up. ‘Continue from your notes, please, Captain,’ he told Ryder.
Ryder read from his notebook. ‘Cooper strikes him again. Lockhart further resists arrest. Rwandan and American security forces arrive, detain Cooper.’
‘Thank you, Captain,’ said Cheung. ‘So, Cooper was merely trying to detain the contractor; that is, perform his duty.’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you know why he was attempting to do that?’
‘He thought Lockhart was dangerous.’
‘Did you agree with that judgment, Captain?’
‘Yes, sir, I did.’
‘Did the words, “Damn, Cooper. You still alive, expletive deleted?” have something to do with that belief?’
I glanced over at Latham. He was itching to jump to his feet.
‘Yes, sir. I believe so.’
‘Is that notebook dated and signed by you?’
‘Yes, it is.’
‘Do you need it?’
‘No, sir, I have no further use for it.’
‘If it please the court,’ said Cheung, ‘I’d like to enter the captain’s notebook as defense exhibit A.’
The bailiff stepped forward, took the notebook from Ryder and delivered it to the bench. Fink opened it, checked the entries, then handed it back to the sergeant, who took it to the colonel to flip through and pass on to the other board members.
‘Your witness,’ Cheung said to Latham and Blinkenspiel before he sat down.
Latham buttoned his coat. ‘Did you keep this diary the entire time you were in-country, Captain?’ he asked, standing up behind his bench.
‘No, sir.’
‘When did you acquire it?’
‘Around an hour after we arrived back at the camp.’
‘Where did you get it?’
‘From the infirmary.’
‘Someone in the hospital gave it to you to record your recollection of the, er, incident?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘So the notes you just read out to the court were made at least an hour after the fact?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘I also have some notes,’ Latham said, holding up a couple of loose sheets of paper. ‘This is the medical record of your treatment at the Camp Come Together medical center.’ He waved the sheets in the air above his head. ‘They treated you for cuts, abrasions, mild exposure, mild dehydration… and concussion.’
‘I was over the concussion by then,’ said Ryder.
‘Not according to this report. It says here that your brain was signif-cantly bruised. It’s a wonder that you could remember anything, given your state, let alone details of events and conversations that occurred more than an hour before you were able to write them down, don’t you think?’
Ryder looked like someone was about to step forward and offer him a blindfold and a cigarette.
‘Well, Captain?’ said Latham.
Ryder glanced at the judge. There was no refuge there.
‘Answer the question, Captain,’ Fink directed him.
‘What was the question, sir?’ Ryder asked.
A ripple of laughter filled the spectator benches.
Latham unbuttoned his coat. ‘I think he just has, your Honor. Your witness.’ He sat and gave Captain Pencilskirt a winning grin, which she returned. Someone was going to get lucky tonight; maybe someone in the Leavenworth shower block.
‘Any further questions?’ Fink asked the court, addressing the court president.
No one had any, except me. ‘That the best we got?’ I whispered to Macri as Ryder left the stand.
Macri shushed me, annoyed by my lack of confdence, as Cheung stood and called Sergeant Cassidy to the stand. Cassidy, followed by Rutherford, backed Ryder’s account, including the fact that Lockhart went for his gun. This horse was well and truly fogged, but then he called West and extracted yet another laboriously detailed account of the same few minutes in the mud of Cyangugu that had everyone, including Fink, yawning. Latham declined to cross any of these witnesses, clearly believing that he’d discredited our account at its heart with the cross-examination of Ryder, the only person who had kept a record of the incident. I found myself wishing that I were Latham’s client rather than Cheung’s.
‘It’s four pm,’ said Fink. ‘Before I decide whether to break for a short recess, any more witnesses, Counselor?’ he asked Cheung.
‘Just one, sir,’ said Cheung.
Fink sat back and gestured with his hand for Cheung to get on with it.
‘I recall Beau Lockhart to the stand.’
The bailiff went off to fetch him. The asshole swaggered in a dozen seconds later, and made his way to the witness box. He took his seat and turned to face the gallery and, suddenly, Leila screamed. Or maybe it was a shriek. Whatever, it was loud and piercing and it belonged in the front seat of a rollercoaster. The courtroom went nuts. My former principal stood and pointed at Lockhart in the witness chair, her voice breaking in her throat. ‘It’s him, him…!’
‘Silence,’ Fink boomed. ‘Remove this woman from the court,’ he demanded, galvanizing the bailiff into action.
‘It’s him. I can show you,’ said Leila, holding a gold iPhone high above her head. ‘I have photos. It’s him.’
I recognized that phone.
Fink hammered his pen on the edge of his bench like he was doing a drum solo. ‘Get that phone!’ he commanded, pointing at the bailiff. ‘And both counselors — in my chambers. Now!’
‘What’s going on?’ I asked Macri.
‘I don’t know,’ he said, but the curl of his lips told me something different.
I glanced over in Arlen’s direction. A couple of security police were on the doors. Lockhart was looking increasingly like a trapped animal, unsure whether he should, or even could, get up from the chair. He made the decision to stay put. Everyone in the courtroom was standing, talking, yelling.