Ben & Nancy Ch. 19

Passion in James County XV: Ben and Nancy

Ben was still sitting in the interview room, manacled to the wall, when a police officer with sergeant's stripes on his uniform sleeves walked in. "Your lawyer's here," he said.

"My...my lawyer?" Ben said. He had been trying to figure out who to call and wasn't doing very well. Other than the old lawyer who used to do legal work for his parents, he didn't know any lawyers. Where had this one come from?

"Didn't you say you wanted a lawyer?" the sergeant asked.

"Ah...yeah," Ben said. "I-I did."

"Well, there's one here who says he represents you," the officer responded. "Will Rosenberg. You sure got a good one. He's the best we got around here. You want to talk to him?"

"Of...of course I do," Ben said.

"OK, counselor, come on in," the sergeant said.

A bulky, bearded man wearing wire-rimmed glasses and an expensive-looking dark blue suit and carrying a brown leather attaché case brushed past the sergeant, into the holding room. "Thank you for your help, sergeant," he said. "You may leave now, and please, make sure you turn off whatever listening and viewing devices you may have been using to observe my client while you've kept him confined here. I'd hate to have you forget to do that and wind up having to sue the sheriff's department for violating my client's civil rights. It's bad enough you've already arrested him without cause."

The sergeant frowned, seemed to be about to say something, then didn't. "Yeah, OK," he muttered and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Mr. Morris?" the lawyer said, moving toward Ben, extending his hand.

"Yes," Ben said, sticking out his left hand, the one not attached to the wall. "Who...who are you and who sent you?"

"My name is Will Rosenberg," the lawyer said, taking a seat on the bench next to Ben. "I am an attorney specializing in criminal defense, and I was asked to come over here by my dear friend, Nancy Dillon. She seems to believe in your innocence. Depending on how our interview goes, I may decide to represent you in this matter."

Ben was shocked by what the attorney had just told him. "Nan...Nancy...ah...Mrs. Dillon, she...she hired you to represent me?" he stammered. "How...how did she know I was here?"

"This case is the biggest news to hit Jamestown in years," Will said. "And, right now, you are the most notorious person in our fair city. If I decide to represent you, it will be my task to make sure you don't go to jail."

"I...I didn't do it," Ben said. "I really didn't."

Will made a gesture of dismissal with his hand. "Believe it or not, whether or not you committed the crime you're charged with isn't really the issue," he told Ben. "I don't need to know whether you're guilty or not."

"It...it isn't?" Ben asked. "You...you don't?"

Will shook his head. "There are two issues in a criminal trial, my boy," he said. "One is whether or not the police can provide the prosecuting attorney with enough evidence to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that you did it..." He paused. "...the second is whether or not I can convince one juror that there is a reasonable doubt that you didn't. It doesn't really matter whether you did it or not."

"Oh," Ben said.

"I take it you spoke to the police before I got here," Will said.

Ben nodded. "I...I did," he said. "I couldn't believe this was happening, so I didn't think I needed to worry."

"It's a common mistake people make," Will said. "One that occasionally lands them in jail." He turned, opened his briefcase, and took out a small tape recorder. "Now, my boy, I want you to tell me everything. Start with yesterday morning, and leave nothing out. Tell me what you told the police, what they told you, how many times you went to the bathroom, what you did there, even how many times you picked your nose."

"All right," Ben said. He took a deep breath and began.

When Ben finished, Will shut off the tape recorder and shook his head. "My boy, I asked you to tell me everything," he said. "You didn't."

"Yes...yes I-I did," Ben protested.

"You didn't. If I am going to represent you, I need absolute honesty from you," Will said. "I suspect that you were with someone at the time the crime occurred. Am I right?"

Ben had no idea how the attorney knew that, and didn't know how to respond. "What...what if...if...I...I was?" he asked.

"Then that person, and I assume it's a woman, can clear you," Will said. "Who is she, young man?"

"If...if I tell you, I will cause her problems," Ben said.

Will gave him an exasperated look. "And if you don't tell me..." he replied, "...your misplaced sense of honor could very well send you to prison for a long time." He paused. "And, God forbid, if the girl dies, the prosecuting attorney just might want to go for the death penalty. Is protecting this woman's honor that important?"

"I...I didn't do it," Ben replied. "I won't go to prison if I'm not guilty, will I?"

"You aren't listening to me," Will said. "If the state can develop forensic evidence to corroborate the physical and circumstantial evidence they already have, that is a distinct possibility. Especially since they have the girl's statement that you were the one who raped and beat her. If she dies, her statement becomes a witnessed dying declaration and they can - and will - use her last words against you. Believe me, young man, something like that goes a very long way to convince a jury."

Ben didn't know what to do. If he gave Marya's name to the lawyer, he'd be off the hook. But, if he waited, it was possible Marya would come forward on her own. He would if the situation were reversed. On the other hand, if he told the police her name and was cleared eventually, he'd have gotten her in trouble for nothing.

"You said Nancy Dillon hired you to represent me, didn't you?" he asked Will.

"Yes," Will said. "She seems to be completely convinced of your innocence." He gave Ben a wry smile and shook his head. "Personally, all I'm convinced of is your foolishness. That and your misplaced sense of honor."

"Can I see Nancy?" Ben asked.

"I'm not sure if she wants to see you," Will said. "I'll have to ask her."

"Do that," Ben said. "I need to talk with her. After I do, I'll decide whether or not I tell you who was with me last night."

"All right, my boy," Will said. He put the tape recorder back in his briefcase, closed it, and stood up. "I'll make the call right now and will return as soon as I can."

"Thanks," Ben said. He watched the lawyer walk to the door and knock on it. A uniformed sheriff's deputy opened it, and held the door while the lawyer walked out. As he did, he scowled at Ben.

"What did I do that for?" Ben wondered after the door again clanged shut. "Am I going to be able to tell Nancy what I was doing that night? What will she think of me if I do?"