You can't be her lawyer!" Charlie Riggs thundered. "You're a witness."
"Socolow said he wouldn't object to my representing her in front of the grand jury," I said.
He harrumphed and packed his pipe with cherry tobacco. He was pacing on my back porch. "If I were you, I wouldn't take that as a compliment."
"Haven't we had this conversation before?"
"Lord yes, and I thought you'd have learned your lesson."
"Abe's gonna let me testify in front of the grand jury and represent Chrissy, too. I'll tell my story, she'll tell hers, and we'll try to head off an indictment. If they indict her, I'll get Ed Shohat to handle the trial."
Charlie aimed some smoke in my direction. "Let's take inventory," he said as usual. "She went to the house with a loaded gun, intending to kill her half brother, correct?"
"Yep."
"Guy armed himself with a weapon of his own?"
"Yep again."
"Which he had every right to do, correct?"
"Under the doctrine of self-defense, sure," I said.
"She stated she would kill him, didn't she?"
"Sure did," I admitted, "but he threatened her, too. And he tried to provoke her."
"Oral provocations are no defense to murder."
"That's true, Charlie."
"Two shots were fired, one by each of them, right?"
"Right again."
"Then it seems to me," Charlie said, "that your client is innocent only if she didn't fire first."
"Go on, Charlie."
"Well, if she had backed down from her threats and Guy became the aggressor, she would be justified in using deadly force to defend herself. But if she fired first, well, she just assassinated him, and it would be first-degree murder."
"You may be right," I said.
"So which way was it?" Charlie demanded.
I didn't answer.
"Jake! The grand jury's going to ask you, so you might as well tell me. And don't forget you'll be under oath. I always taught you to be committed to the truth."
"You also taught me to do what I believed was right."
"That advice was not contradictory," he said.
"Charlie, I've always sought the truth. I've never lied to the court."
"And never will?"
It took me a moment to answer. "Charlie, have you ever had a situation where the truth and justice don't coincide, where the truth will do more harm than good?"
He pointed his pipe at me. "That's not for us to judge. We speak the truth and let the system handle it."
"The system doesn't work, Charlie."
"Balderdash! It just worked. You walked your client out of a murder charge when it seemed you had no chance."
"You think I can do it twice?"
"That's not my concern. The truth is the ideal we strive for. The truth is all that matters. Veritas vos liberabit."
"No, Charlie. Sometimes the truth will imprison you."
Chrissy wore an ivory linen suit with a fitted jacket and fabric-covered buttons. The pleated skirt stopped just above the knee. It was an innocent outfit if I've ever seen one.
The clerk of the grand jury asked if I promised to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.
I allowed as how I would. My palms weren't sweaty and my nose didn't grow. Lightning didn't sound in the distance and the wind didn't rattle the windowpanes.
I sat on the witness stand and marveled at the different view, looking toward the gallery. Abe Socolow approached me and asked a bunch of preliminary questions, including whether he could call me Jake, inasmuch as we'd known each other all these years. I said he'd called me a lot worse, so he got down to business.
"And when you entered the home of Guy Bernhardt the night before last, what did you find?"
"Guy Bernhardt was aiming a shotgun at Chrissy Bernhardt, and she was aiming a Beretta 950 at him."
Abe had me identity the two weapons, the massive shotgun and the little pistol.
"Did either party threaten to shoot the other?" Abe asked.
"They each threatened the other," I said.
"What did you do, Jake?"
"I asked Guy to put down the shotgun, and he refused."
"Then what happened?"
"Two shots were fired, one by each of the parties."
"Who fired the first shot?"
Chrissy looked at me with haunting green eyes. Seeking, pleading. Abe Socolow stood a foot away, his hand resting on the witness chair. Twenty-three grand jurors, solid citizens all, waited for me to answer.
So I did.
I followed Charlie's advice.
Half of it, at least.
I did what I thought was right.