Double Tap by Steve Martini Page A

time when, as you say, the two of you were enjoying the moment. When passion was at its height, shall we say. That’s what the jury is going to see, and what they’re going to remember, not the rational attitude of two sober and mature adults after all the hedonism was over.” Harry pauses. “That leaves a lot of room for imagination. And therein lies a lot of room for mischief on the part of the wily prosecutor. Ordinarily I’d say they might not get the tape in, being as it’s so prejudicial. But in this case,” Harry reasons, “I might make an exception, because it may be the best evidence. In fact it may be the only evidence to substantiate their theory that you had an affair with the victim.”
    “Ordinarily I’d say you’d be right,” Ruiz says, “but in this case . . .”
    “What?” Harry sits up straight. “You’re not gonna tell us you had an audience!”
    “Not in so many words. But somebody did see us.”
    “Who?”
    “Chapman’s executive assistant. Gal by the name of Karen. I suspect that’s how the cops got the tape. I don’t know, but I suspect she probably gave it to them after the murder. She might have thought I had something to do with it.”
    “Can’t imagine that,” says Harry. “Your gun being used, your holding over in the house with her, doing security.”
    “You don’t think it’s looking too good,” says Ruiz.
    “Let’s just put it this way: I don’t think anybody would have to threaten me to get me to drop out of the case.”
    “You think Kendal took a hike because he didn’t believe he could win?”
    Harry gives him a look that concedes the point.
    Ruiz takes a deep breath and sighs.
    “Let’s change gears for a moment. What is your marital status?” I ask.
    “Why?”
    “Are you married?” In the eyes of many jurors, cheating on his wife would compound the problem.
    “Divorced,” he says.
    “How long?”
    “Almost six years.”
    “Children?”
    “Two. A boy and girl. My son is twelve, my daughter is seven. I don’t want them involved in this.”
    “Children sitting in the courtroom can be a big plus,” says Harry. “They don’t have to be there every day.”
    “You heard me: the answer is no. Besides, their mother is not gonna let you or anybody else put them through that.”
    “What about your wife?”
    “Ex-wife. Tracy is remarried. She was young when we got hitched. Military life did us in. I was always gone. Not that she wasn’t faithful, but you know how it is: she got lonely. I was away from home for months at a time. After a while it seemed like we didn’t even know each other anymore. She’s not gonna come sit in a courtroom, I can tell you that. And she’s not gonna let the kids do it. It’ll be hard enough what they see on television. If I know Tracy, she’ll be pulling the plug on the set and canceling the newspaper subscription to keep them from seeing it.”
    “Well, at least you didn’t have any ties at the time keeping you away from Chapman,” says Harry. “That’s something.” Harry makes the best of little favors.
    “I have to admit, Madelyn wasn’t what you would call discreet,” says Ruiz. “I mean, she didn’t tell the world or wear a sandwich board with pictures. But she didn’t lock her office door, either. I guess her attitude was she owned the place, so if people didn’t like it they could quit.
    “The secretary walked in on us.” Ruiz is talking about Chapman’s executive assistant. “What can I say? We both moved pretty quickly to cover up, but the secretary has to have seen what was happening. She walked in, looked, turned, and walked out. She seemed to look right through me like I was part of the furniture. Maybe she was just stunned. I don’t know.”
    “So it was the secretary who must have told the cops about the tape?” I say.
    “I don’t know,” says Ruiz. “My guess is word would have gotten around pretty fast. I didn’t know the camera was there. If it was being monitored we