“I saw on the TV about the governor’s offer to Clayton Burrow.”
“Yes,” said Alex matter-of-factly, “I think everyone in the state has heard about that alleged offer by now.”
“The thing that surprised me is that it was my mother who persuaded him.”
“She didn’t tell you beforehand?”
“I’m not in contact with my mother.”
Alex remembered that Esther Olsen had told him that she was estranged from her daughter. He didn’t know that this estrangement extended to her son.
“Is that by…?”
“By my choice, yes. We kind of fell out with Mom — both Dorothy and myself.”
Alex felt a pang of sympathy for Esther Olsen. It seemed as if the world was collapsing on top of her head.
“For the same reason?”
“More or less.”
Alex knew he had to tread delicately here. But then again, Jonathan had come to him, not the other way round.
“Is it something you’d like to share?”
“Let’s just say that Dorothy got a raw deal.”
The words “raw deal” suggested something financial. But this was unlikely — if it was purely financial it could have been easily remedied.
“From your mother?”
Jonathan shrugged.
“Let’s just say that there are sins of commission and sins of omission.”
Alex nodded. He knew that he wasn’t going to make any more headway if he cross-examined. But he sensed that Jonathan wanted to talk.
“Why did you want to see me, Jonathan?”
“I was wondering if Burrow has accepted Dusenbury’s offer.”
“You know that anything a client says to his lawyer is privileged.”
Jonathan squirmed uncomfortably.
“But I’d’ve thought that they’d have to make it public at some point. I mean, at least if he accepted the offer.”
“At some point maybe. But at this stage I can’t even confirm or deny that there was an offer.”
Jonathan seemed uncomfortable, as if he wasn’t sure himself why he was even there. He appeared to be looking round nervously, almost as if he was expecting something to happen.
“Can I ask you a question, Mr. Sedaka?”
“Of course.”
“Why did you take this case?”
“Well that’s kind of an open-ended question, isn’t it? Why did I take on this case?” Alex was buying time as he thought about it. “I guess, because I’m a lawyer. Because Burrow asked me to. Because one of my staff persuaded me that it was a noble cause.”
Jonathan looked like he was trying to hide the fact that he was smiling when he heard these words. But he said nothing.
“You think I’m a total cynic, don’t you?” Alex continued, trying to break the ice with a confessional tone and an amicable smile on his face.
“You said it yourself: you’re a lawyer.”
“Look, I don’t mean to be rude, Jonathan, especially in light of what you’ve been through. But is that the only thing you came here to ask?”
He wasn’t trying to hasten Jonathan on his way; he was trying to break down the barrier of reticence that was holding him back.
“When I asked why you took on this case, what I meant was: do you think he’s innocent?”
“I can’t say what I know or what he told me because that’s privileged communication. But I guess I can tell you, in a general sort of way, that a lawyer doesn’t have to believe in his client’s innocence to take on a case.”
“No, but I also know that lawyers are human — some lawyers.”
He smiled when he added the last bit. Alex returned the smile.
“And you want to know if I was motivated by idealism or if I’m just another slave to the almighty dollar.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, you know, when it comes to representing a penniless defendant, there are no almighty dollars on the table. We call it pro bono work.”
“I know all about pro bono work, Mr. Sedaka. But there’s more than one road to Rome, isn’t there?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Really?” asked Jonathan, with raised eyebrows. “There’s professional kudos and prestige. There’s book deals and Hollywood, there’s-”
“Now hold on a minute! I’m not planning on turning your sister’s death into a book deal or a Hollywood movie if that’s what you’re thinking … Or should I say, your half sister?”
He was monitoring Jonathan for a reaction. There was no sign of panic or anger or any other emotion on Jonathan’s face. He held his head back, but it was more like he was trying to remember something or just to concentrate.
“You know about that?”
“We have the DNA report. I was wondering if it affected your relationship with her … one way or the other.”
“I don’t think it really did. I mean, we were loyal to each other. We couldn’t have been any more loyal if we were full siblings. So I guess you could say it didn’t affect us.”
“But you did know about it?”
“It came out in the heat of a domestic argument. But after that it was never talked about — at least not by me or Dorothy.”
“You didn’t want to know more?”
“We knew all we needed to know.”
“So which of you … was…?”
Jonathan was shaking his head.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
A tense silence settled between them for a few seconds. Alex knew that he would make no more progress on this point. Not with Jonathan at any rate.
“Can I ask you something Jonathan?”
“What?”
“He used to bully her in high school.”
“That’s not a question” said Jonathan.
Alex surveyed Jonathan’s face for signs of emotion. There was none.
“I know. But what I wanted to ask was… was it physical bullying or verbal?”
“Verbal mostly. Like, he used to make fun of her name.”
“Dorothy?”
“Our name. He used to call her Al Jolsen — like that was funny.”
“Are you sure there wasn’t more to it?”
“Like what?”
“Well sometimes, when kids make fun of each other its because they… like each other, but don’t want to admit it.”
Jonathan scowled and his tone was a sneer. “You think he had the hots for my sis?”
“Did he?”
“Fuck off man!”
“You’re sure.”
“I…”
He trailed off, as if the first trace of doubt had set in.
“So it’s… possible.”
“No it’s not possible.”
“Look Jonathan… I’ve seen her picture. Your sister was not unattractive.”
“Clayton Burrow could have had any girl in the school — so why did he…”
Again he trailed off as if he had said too much.
Alex decided to press home his advantage.
“How did she feel about him?”
“How do turkey’s feel about Thanksgiving?”
“So is it possible that he killed her because she rejected him?”
“I think you’re talking a load of bullshit!”
Alex took a deep breath and tried again.
“What about the other way round?”
“What do you mean?”
This time Jonathan’s tone was defensive.
“Well if he bullied her that might have given her a motive to want to see him suffer.”
Jonathan scowled again.
“What are you saying? That she faked her own death and framed him?”
Alex hesitated. He chose his next words carefully.
“You’re the second person who’s raised that possibility today.”
Jonathan got up and reached for his jacket.
“Well before you get carried away with the idea, let me tell you that he did have a motive for killing her.”
“And what’s that?”
Jonathan was putting on his jacket as he replied.
“She got him canned over the bullying.”
And with these words, Jonathan angrily left Sedaka’s office.
Alex wasn’t surprised by what Jonathan had told him just now. But the hesitancy over the question of whether it was a “love turned to hate” opened up some interesting possibilities.