Chapter 23 Section 22

Jackman kept his promise.By the time Hardy arrived at his office Monday morning, more than two written investigative materials on the Markham case had been prepared and laid out in front of him.He ordered himself a cup of coffee, sat down at his desk, and opened the first folder.Someone has apparently tampered with this copy, as several transcripts of investigative conversations were typed up, including those between Grisky and Kensen, and the conversation with the maid Anita Tung, and Bracco and Ankensen conversation between.He flicked through the files quickly.Everything was unlabeled, and it was a laborious and laborious task for him to consult these documents.But he was content to see so much of what he dreamed of: the first-hand accident report of the hit-and-run vehicle, the autopsy report from the hospital immediately after Markham's death, Strout said. The initial crime scene analysis of the Markham home was conducted with autopsy findings and official death certificate material.

He sat there for over an hour, not noticing the passage of time.His hand only mechanically reached out to the coffee cup occasionally, bringing it to his mouth to take a sip.The coffee in the cup was already cold.Suddenly, as if his body had been hit by some external force, he sat up straight.He looked up from the folder in front of him, looking in amazement at the familiar furnishings and decorations in his office, as if seeing it for the first time.At this moment, with the bitter taste of coffee residue still on the tip of his tongue, he pondered and analyzed the criminal evidence carefully in his heart, as if he felt that he was a district attorney again, and wanted to carry on this case instead of proceeding for it. defend.The feeling was totally unexpected and even inexplicably unsettling.

He stood up from the chair, feeling that the feeling he had just passed was a bit ridiculous, so he shook his head mockingly.He stood at his desk and threw a round of darts, then went to the window and looked down at Suter Street.Outside the window, after the glitz and glamor of the weekend had receded, San Francisco was back to its normal weekday face, littered with rubbish and debris dancing in the cool breeze from the bay. From time to time the shimmering sun peeked out from behind the clouds. He understood that this feeling was not stimulated by coffee, but that the real reason was that he himself was in the mindset of the prosecutor.Proving his client's innocence rested on the grim premise that he must prove that someone else had killed Markham, and presumably his entire family.That left him with only one requirement - to find the man and prove his guilt with evidence.

He knew, ironically, that he never thought of being a defense attorney in the first place.He was not drawn by nature to side with the accused.Between justice and forgiveness, he always falls on the side of justice.After leaving the Marine Corps in Vietnam, he served as a police officer for a few years, then with the down-to-earth notion of pursuing a career that puts bad guys on trial and behind bars -- and that's always been his goal. Orientation in life, both at work and in life—he went to law school.If the previous district attorney hadn't fired him over office politics, he could almost certainly say he was still working for Jackman down the hall with Marlene.Although he has joined the ranks of defense lawyers for a long time now, and has grown accustomed to this professional status, he still retains the pure desire to be a whistleblower deep in his heart.

Law, as David Sfreeman likes to say, is a complex and beautiful thing.And, Hardy argued, it couldn't be more complicated than that.On the one hand, a not guilty verdict does not always mean that your client is indeed innocent of the alleged crime; on the other hand, a guilty verdict means that your client is guilty.When Hardy, a defense lawyer, used a good argument or some legal means to get a client out of punishment, he certainly felt the satisfaction of having done his job and pocketed his commission.But this satisfaction is negligible, and he longs more for being able to prove a villain's guilt and cast him out of society.Because only in this way can he obtain the sense of justice that sublimates his soul.

He sat back at his desk, took another sip of cold coffee, and looked back at the folder in front of him.Here are some transcripts of conversations with several nurses at Portola Hospital.After a quick look, the conversations told him that Bracco and Fisk had done some basic peripheral investigative work and might save him some time.He noted, however, that they did not find out exactly who was present before and after Markham's death.He turned a few more pages, but found nothing related to this essential and extremely important information. He raised his head again, staring blankly into the air with angry eyes, his jaw was tense, his eyes were stern, and he didn't know where to vent the anger that was burning in his heart.

Jackman kept his promise and sent the case investigation information he had in accordance with the terms of the transaction.This is true, but the content of these materials is obviously incomplete.Hardy didn't think it was an accident, but he couldn't see how Jackman had rigged it up by not giving him the evidence he wanted.He understood that Griski had done it. When Bracco and Fisk entered the office that day, it was already late.Because Fisk ignored Bracco's objections and insisted that they continue to look for some kind of clue about the car that caused the accident.So they went to the area around the scene of the Markham crash, going door-to-door and interviewing people who weren't home during their previous visit.Although they all got the same result, they did the job tirelessly.No one saw what happened or noticed the speeding car.Next, Fisk in the driver's seat—he was the one driving today, making Bracco's head spin—turned around with "regular clients" involved in vehicle hit-and-run cases: at church Several auto detailing shops on Van Ness Avenue in Lombard.As early as last week, he wrote down the list of these beauty shops on the job notice board, and now he just visits them one by one according to the order.

One beauty shop did have a late sixties green Corvail parked in the workshop, brought in late yesterday afternoon with damaged front right front bumper and hood.The owner of the car claimed that the brakes loosened by himself when the car was parked on a well-known hill in the city, and he forgot to block the wheels with stones from the side of the road when parking.The car slid forward about twenty feet on its own, hit a tree, and a branch fell and hit the hood.After Jim Otis, the owner of the beauty shop, knew about the situation, he had been thinking about calling the hit-and-run crime team to report it before repairing the car.

But after spraying the fast luminous ammonia as a developer, the suspicion of accident on this car was almost completely ruled out.Luminol is a very simple and practical chemical agent used to show the presence of blood stains. Even if there is only a small amount of blood stains, even if they are washed afterwards, they will be fully revealed under the development of luminol.It turned out that there was not a trace of blood on the Cowell car.Still, Fisker meticulously took down the names and addresses of the owners.Before the matter is over, Fisk vowed to find out if the owner had an alibi at 6:30 a.m. last Tuesday morning.

After lunch, under Griski's instructions, they finally turned around and drove to Portola Hospital for a more extensive visit.The captain had reviewed what they had done between Friday and now, and wondered about the other two doctors who had been in the ICU the previous Tuesday.He also wants the nurses at the ICU nurses' station to do their best to recall the schedule of all who come and go. However, it turned out that finding out these situations was not as simple as they expected.In the new week, another group of nurses came on duty in the intensive care unit.Of the two nurses on duty when Markham and Laket died, Rayan Badan had been transferred to the obstetrics unit and was in the midst of a cesarean section.The other, Connie Lowe, was assigned to be on duty in the lobby downstairs, and she was having lunch outside now, so she wasn't there.

Braco asked Fisk if he would mind staying put and watching for a while while he went about his errands.After obtaining his consent, Bracco left his partner to wait for the female nurse alone, and went upstairs by himself. He returned to the nurse's station in the intensive care unit and introduced himself to the female nurse sitting in front of the workbench again.When he asked about it, she explained that the nurse she was on shift with was with one of the doctors on duty.If he needed to speak to either of them, they would both be back from outside soon. But after ascertaining that the doctor was neither Cohen nor Whattrip, Bracco told her that what he really needed was a few minutes in a quiet place and asked if she would mind if he went. Sit in the waiting room down the corridor for a while. After getting her consent, Braco went straight to the waiting room.A middle-aged couple sat on a bench holding each other's hands sadly, talking in low voices.Braco pulled a cushioned chair and sat down near the corridor, from which he could clearly see the entrance to the intensive care unit and nurses' station.Indeed, the other nurse and her shift doctor showed up a few minutes later.After a brief conversation in the middle of the corridor, they parted.The doctor turned and walked in his direction, and the nurse returned to the nurse's station to stay with her shift partner. After the doctor entered the waiting room, Braco stood up and walked back into the hallway.One of the nurses—he didn't know which one—was still standing at the far table, facing him, working on a computer.The other went nowhere. He walked ten steps, walked through the hall, and came to the door of the intensive care unit.Through the square glass on the door with a metal fence, you can clearly see the situation in the ward.He saw nothing but the hospital bed.He glanced back at the nurse typing at the computer one last time, and glanced around the waiting room to make sure no one was paying attention to him.In the blink of an eye, he was in the intensive care unit. He checked the time on his watch and started walking.He forced himself to time and measure around the bed at a leisurely pace, stopping every time he counted to five. This was the longest time he could keep at his normal pace, and he had to adjust his mood before moving on.It took exactly forty-eight seconds to complete a complete lap. He looked out again through the window pane in the center of the door, but no one noticed.So he pushed open the door and went back to the hall, closing the door behind him. When he came to the nurse's station, he deliberately coughed twice. The nurse who had talked to him before stopped working on the computer and turned to look at him. "Has your partner come back from outside yet? I noticed a doctor just entered the waiting room. I wonder if she came back from outside with him?" The nurse smiled meaningfully at him. "She just went to the bathroom, and she should be back soon." When she said this, she glanced at the hall where the doctor had just walked, "While she is going to the bathroom, you can just say what you want to ask us. The problem." "That's what I did back there." He motioned toward the waiting room. "It turned out I didn't think it was necessary to talk to them at all. But thank you for taking the time for me to bring you Sorry for the inconvenience." "It's all right," she said, "willing to oblige." Downstairs, Braco knew that Connie Lowe had returned from lunch, and that she and Agent Fisk had returned to the hospital cafeteria, where they could talk undisturbed.By the time he walked over to find them and sat down beside them, Fisk's conversation had already begun.They sat facing each other in a corner, and there was a small tape recorder on the table. While praying in his heart that Fisk would remember to turn it on, Braco pulled the chair in front of him and sat down. Q: Do you know Agent Bracco?Did you meet last week?Luo Wei and I were talking about her partner, Layan? Answer: Rayan Badan. Q: What is he like? A: As I told Agent Fisk, there's nothing really special about it.According to the way the shift is spaced, I only have the opportunity to work with him in the intensive care unit about a dozen times a year, but it seems that as long as he is on duty, accidents will happen. Q: Do you mean someone died? A: No, not all of them.People are always going to die there, because the patients usually come in in a critical condition.But at least last year, when Layan and I were on shifts, it happened every time.I don't mean to speak ill of him, but it's certainly creepy.He's really sneaky and hides his head and never talks to anyone. Q: Do you think he had anything to do with Mr. Markham's death? Answer: I don't know about this.This is a serious allegation.But did you also notice when you came here to question us on Friday that he hardly said a word?Doesn't it look like this to you?He knew as much about shift work as anyone else, and what happened that day, who was there, he knew it all. Q: Ms. Lo, with all due respect, when Agent Fisk asked you if there were patients dying in the ICU while Lajan was on duty, you said 'that's not always the case', right?What do you mean by that?Isn't it all? Answer: Not all the things of the dead. Q: But there are also dead people, right? A: Yes, but like I said, it happens every week.But there are some things -- I mean the patients tend not to take their medicines on time, and he's dangling and moving around.Do you understand what I mean?He is hiding and hiding, and his whereabouts are uncertain.Sometimes, just as you're about to go around a corner, he'll pop up out of the blue and just stand there, giving people goosebumps.No one can stand him like this. Q: Was he there last Tuesday?Was Markham in the ICU when he died?Is that what you said? A: Both of us were there because the status lights for those two patients were flashing green.I know that.Before that, I was sitting at my desk— Q: Are you working on a computer? A: I think so, now I don't remember exactly, but I think I was sorting out some orders and I don't know where he was at the time. Question: Ms. Luo Wei, when did you see that signal -- that green light -- come on?And when you got into the ICU, was he already there? Answer: Yes.Right next to Mr. Lecter's hospital bed was the other dead man. Q: Was there anyone else in the room at the time? A: Just Dr. Kenson. Q: Where was he at that time? A: With Layan, right next to Mr. Lykert.He was the first to light up the green light. Q: In other words, none of them were next to Mr. Markham. Answer: Yes.His monitor froze after a few seconds. At one o'clock in the afternoon, Hardy picked up the phone on his desk when he heard the forensic doctor's drawling voice. "You owe me a thousand dollars now. I figured you were in a bit of a hurry, because you just woke up early in the morning and you sent the dead body straight over, so I worked all day yesterday, and it was Sunday, And I called in my best lab staff. I wasted hours on her this morning. Mr. Lackert died of cardiac arrest, for no other reason." "No symptoms of potassium poisoning?" "Not at all, Deeds. I've had everything scanned from basic to advanced, all the way up to C. There's not even a trace of an aspirin overdose in his body that shouldn't be there." "It's not at all the outcome I had hoped to see." "I know, you've made it very clear. But think about it, and look at the bright side. Anyway, this can also prove that your client did not kill Mr. Rector." This sentence elicited a dry laugh from Hardy. "Thanks, John. That's been a huge relief from my worries." "You're welcome. Anything else, Deeds?" "there is none left." "There seems to be no loophole here for me, because I do love my job, and I can say that for sure. That's the kind of thankless thing you've had this year." ※※※ Rayan Badan spoke with evasive eyes, with a subcontinent accent, and his tone was hurried and monotonous. "That woman is an idiot," he said resignedly.At this time, he was alone in the nurses' lounge with Bracco and Fisk. "Since she's been here, I've had nothing but trouble because she's lazy and prejudiced against me. Now you're saying she's accusing me of killing these patients? That's unbearable and bullying Yes. I have to argue with her, maybe talk to the hospital." Due to his lack of experience in handling cases, Fisk had previously mentioned that they had talked to Ms. Luo Wei, and Bataan's name was mentioned during the conversation.Now, of course, Bataan was very annoyed with Luo Wei, and was eager to say something about her shortcomings as a nurse and human being, and pay her back, not what he did last Tuesday night.Badan naturally imagined that these policemen would repeat what he said to his colleagues.Doing it yourself is not the best way to deal with a police interview, not even an alternative to the best way. Seeing that the situation was not right, Bracco quickly took over the initiative of the questioning, trying to get the conversation back to the point. "Are you telling us that you weren't in the ward when the monitors stopped in Markham?" "Yes. I wasn't there when his monitor went wrong. I rushed in to check on Mr. Lackert. His monitor was the first to call the police." "So where were you before then?" Annoyance was written all over Badan's face. "You can believe it or not, but when the first monitor called, Dr. Ross just came out of the waiting room. I think maybe he saw me too. There were some wheeled beds parked in the hall at the time. I was standing next to one of the beds, right there. I'm sure two or three of them were pushed out. It was unbearable," he repeated. "Let me get this straight," Braco said without losing the moment, "are you telling us that when Mr. Lackert's green warning light went off, there was no one in the ICU but patients? " "There were people there before the green light was on. Dr. Kenson just went in again before that, and when I got to Mr. Lackert, the green light was on again." "And when Mr. Markham's monitors started to go wrong, were you both on Mr. Lackert's side dealing with the situation?" "They're making constant screeching noises. There's nothing unusual about the situation though." "Has no one approached him?" "I haven't seen it. No." Hardy and Freeman were walking uphill on Suter Avenue.The sun was hidden behind the clouds, and he refused to show his face completely.In the morning it had been only an intermittent breeze, but now it picked up and blew steadily.All in all, it wasn't a good day for a walk at all, but Freeman told Hardy he could only find time to talk to him, and only at the cigar supplier he went to Freeman to buy. We walked and talked along the way.His cigars were nearly empty.Hardy thought that by saying that he meant he had less than a dozen in stock. But even if Freeman said so, what could he do other than agree to accompany him for a walk? "The thing is, I really haven't found any other suspects," Hardy said. "Kara, the jealous wife, might have been a good bet, but she turned me off." .” Freeman giggled. "That would be a little difficult." "Then I thought there was something of value to be found in a guy named Rickett who died at the same time as Markham, but Strout said no, so I was hesitating whether to bother Wes Ferrell Get a license to dissect Rowling's body." "Who's there?" Just as they said this, they walked to the door of the Nob Hill Cigar Store.Freeman pushed the door and walked in, while holding the door for Hardy behind him.There is a strong and moist aroma here, and the overall atmosphere is far from the urban fashion style, which seems very outdated.Freeman bought cigars in bulk every time he came here, which had become his habit, so this time, he didn't even glance at the things displayed downstairs, but went straight upstairs.Hardy followed suit.It was definitely a Victorian men's club, when women were legally allowed in, but among the dozen or so patrons today, Hardy didn't see a single woman. After tasting cigars and chatting with the boss Martin for a while, they lay down on two leather easy chairs and enjoyed themselves, with a gift of French brandy produced near Cognac for them.This wine is not for sale, and even by law, it cannot be consumed in the store, but here, it has always been a special gift for VIPs.Not long after, Martin reappeared, refilled their drinks and lit a Cohiba, before retreating downstairs to prepare Freeman's order. Another important personal habit of David is that during the process of smoking a cigar, he will savor and enjoy this pleasure with all his heart, and wait until the first ash of the cigar is about to fall off before speaking to people.Sometimes, this process will take ten minutes, making people impatient to wait.But today, Hardy found that although he came here specifically to ask the old man for advice, he was still willing to just sit peacefully and think about his own problems carefully. What a weekend in Monterey.Hardy was always answering children's questions about sea creatures and their wonders.Also, the aquarium seemed to help the Harlans get back something they had lost.All of a sudden, he felt that what he had to do now was not just to support his family and earn a living. All those displaced people suddenly flooded into his mind, arousing his compassion, It also shook his soul.This woke him up. In the afternoon, he bought some swimsuits and trunks.They went to the beach, explored and played in the tide, frolicked in the icy water, and let out a frantic squeal of joy every now and then.They enjoyed sumptuous dinners in the old house and went out for a moonlit stroll out to the pier, where they hand-feed the seals.Back at the hotel, they managed to upgrade the single room Franny and the kids had stayed in last night into a suite, and when the kids fell asleep behind the door that connected to their bedroom, they made love twice, once with At night, once in the morning, with the passion of a newlywed. Upstairs in the smoking room, Freeman gently shook the ash off his cigars. "So who's there?" he asked. "I believe that's where we should be." Of course, he was right.Hardy wasn't surprised at all.However, he still gave the same answer as last time, which was also a question he himself wanted an answer to. "Where, David?" "The hospital. You told me you needed to find someone with a motive to kill Markham, but you don't know anyone with a motive other than your client. Well, let's just assume He didn't do it, although it makes me uncomfortable to think about it. Leaving the question at hand, and not even caring about the motive, all you need is the fact that someone was there at the time. I put it this way It means that we can connect all the links of this case by figuring out who were there at the time.” "I'll give you a dollar if you can illustrate the last sentence in a diagram." Freeman had only intended to give Hardy a glare in return for his taunting himself, but then he decided that there was no need for such charades, so he took a sip of his brandy and another puff of his cigar. "Sometimes," he said, "a good gift doesn't need to be neatly wrapped." It was after four o'clock in the afternoon when Hardy returned to the office.The effect of alcohol made his movements dull, and the effect of nicotine excited his nerves.He went to the window, pushed the two windows out and opened them wide, poured himself a large glass of water, and sat down behind the desk.During his absence from the office, three calls came in. The first one was from Jeff Elliott.He wondered if Hardy had made any progress with Kenson.He was working on another column on Parnassus, and maybe they could share whatever information they had that would be beneficial to both. Wes Ferrell called to let him know that he had finally persuaded Rowling's family to let officials exhume their mother.Now that he's facing pretty strong backlash from Strout, he thought Hardy had the Strout thing over with.What's going on here? The third and final call was from his client, whom Hardy had been thinking about calling all day.So I called him back first, and the first thing Kenson said to Hardy after receiving the call was that after the fight with his wife, he still took the children... "Wait a minute, Eric, tell me about the fight with your wife first." He explained the ins and outs of the matter in more detail, and finally mentioned Griski's unexpected visit last night in passing. "I got the impression he thought I was there to hurt her. Maybe he thought more." Hardy remembered that Griski had predicted that Kenson would do something like this. "But you didn't talk to him again. Tell me you didn't." "Yes, I didn't let him in. But I have already thought about it. Today I will avoid all disturbances and let myself be quiet and quiet." "That's probably a good idea. What have you done?" After dropping the kids off at school, Kenson made up his mind to really give himself a day off, to stop worrying and plan how he would spend the day.He walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, turned around, walked back, drove downtown, ate some dim sum in Chinatown, watched a movie to kill time, and returned to school to pick up the kids.He just called Ann.She's out of jail and wants the kids back to her place, but he doesn't think that's good and wants to know what Hardy thinks about that. "Do you think she is a danger to the child?" "Before Saturday, I would have said no. But I've never seen her like that day, and we both were responsible for the fight, trust me." "No physical contact at all? Are you sure?" That's always been the key question that has to be clarified.If the grand jury finds that Kenson used any form of violence against his wife, it will be against him.Better to get this out of the way now. "Did you never hit her, Eric? Not once?" "I'll have to think about it. I definitely didn't hit her, although she did hit me a few times." Hardy didn't want to hear that answer, but for Kenson's sake, it was better than hearing him say he hit her. "All right, then. What's the matter with Saturday?" "I guess she must have ended up believing that I killed Tim." "That's the answer that comes to mind, too. Would you like me to talk to her? Do you think she'll talk to me?" He heard Kenson breathe a sigh of relief. "That would be great. It doesn't matter if you want to talk to her or she wants to talk to you." Kenson's answer was not a clear answer to Hardy, but it clearly showed his approval.Hardy felt that he could dispel his worries and go deeper. "Eric, can you tell me who was with you at the hospital last Tuesday?" "Where? Do you mean in the intensive care unit?" "Anywhere near there, exactly." "Of course, I think so too. I am here, obviously, and the nurses on duty." He continued to say a prayer, even though it also indicated that Hardy would have a lot of work to be done.He didn't even know the names of all the people present at the time of the incident, which touched his heart greatly. Anger against Griski welled up in him again.What the hell is he up to?Maybe he has decided that this deal only includes Jackman and Hardy, but in fact he also has a share.Because without Griski's cooperation, the Jackman deal would be a dead letter with no substance. Although this thought passed in a flash, the anger and smoldering about this matter lingered in my heart for a long time.However, Hardy suppressed the anger in his heart and recorded the information provided by Kenson in detail.In addition to Kara, Kenson told him that Malachy Ross, Markham's assistant Brendan Driscoll (who Kenson seemed to hate), two nurses, and two other doctors, including Zhu Discohn, both in the intensive care unit.Hardy knew he now had another problem to figure out, and that was how long Eric had been dating Cohen.He had to find a way to talk to her. The first thing to do, though, is to talk to Ann after the call with Kenson.So he called Ann next.She said yes, of course she would love to talk to him, any time, she wanted the children back with her. It was only later that I realized that her house was on his way home.He told her he would be at her house in twenty minutes.