The Client

VI - The Case Against Lester Crowe

I sat on the chair in the hall outside Circuit Court and watched the line of inmates march single-file through the large wooden doors. I followed them in and took my seat alongside the other attorneys. A moment later, the bailiff appeared from the door on the right side of the courtroom that led to the judges' chambers.

"All rise. The Honorable Judge William A. Stone, presiding," the bailiff announced, stepping aside. Everyone in the courtroom rose as Judge Stone emerged from the door and made his way to the bench.

"You may be seated," he said, grabbing a pair of reading glasses from the bench and placing them on his face. Judge Stone was in his early seventies, with a round face and a large, bulbous nose. His eyebrows were so bushy that his eyelashes would get caught in them sometimes and he'd have to wipe his brow to get them out. "Court will now come to order. I see we've got several arraignments to do and then some other motions this afternoon." He looked at the docket for the day and then shuffled through the red folders in front of him as he'd done every day for the last thirty years. "Court will call 15-BR-0056, State vs. Elliot Rubarger. Roo-barger? Is that how you say it?"

It had been exactly six weeks to the day since Lester was arrested, and now he was being arraigned on his Circuit Court indictment. I wasn't surprised at all to find they'd presented his case to the grand jury so quickly. If Lester had been tried and convicted for Disturbing the Peace for what happened at the jail with Captain Murphy—a crime I'd never had a client serve jail time for— *before* being indicted on the murder charge, the sheriff's department would've lost him. He would have walked right out that door and disappeared into the wind. But they'd beaten the clock.

The grand jury process is secretive, so I wasn't able to find out how it went, but I'm sure it had been an easy sell for the State. After all, the grand jury was made up of members of the community—the very same people who'd been following the case in the paper over the past several months.

My mind was elsewhere as the second defendant was called up by the Judge. It had taken Eddie two weeks to get back to me with information on Rabbit. We'd met late on a Friday night, at my place that time; Eddie didn't want to take any chances. If Rabbit found out he was asking around about him, Eddie's life could be in danger. He apologized when I told him about my close call with Ronald; he obviously couldn't have known he'd be there. He didn't explain how he'd come about the information and I didn't ask him to. It was better that way.

It turned out Rabbit was a drug runner for a New Orleans gang called the Young Mafia. They were notorious for dealing in guns and cocaine but had recently expanded into methamphetamine distribution. Eddie thought they'd moved into Coles Creek, which made sense: New Orleans was only two hours away.

Eddie didn't know of any ties between the gang and kidnappings or child trafficking though, which left me no closer to locating Sarah. The drug connection was all I had. Eddie did find out Ronald took a trip down to New Orleans once every two weeks to re-up on methamphetamine. If I could find out where he was going, maybe that would lead me to Sarah. Eddie hadn't been able to come up with an address and said he'd get back to me if he found one.

"Mr. Price," I heard someone say. I snapped out of my reverie. "Are you representing Mr. Crowe?"

It was Judge Stone. "Yes, your Honor," I said, jumping out of my seat and taking my place beside Lester, who was already standing in front of the bench. "Sorry about that."

Lester turned toward me and narrowed his eyes.

"Have you been served a copy of your indictment? Do you want the State to read it to you?" the Judge asked again.