Criminal Law Page #2

Law enforcers have been calling both

at the local and national level

for more personnel and more

sophisticated weapons.

On the local crime blotter, police

authorities issued a warning today

to women in the Westfield area

where a brutal murder occurred last night.

A spokesman said indications

of a possible serial killer

included the probability

that the victim was raped,

mutilation of the body, and

an additional bizarre touch.

She had been gagged

with a disposable diaper.

Now this...

The human eye focuses faster.

With Minolta Maxxum you even get

unexpected shots that would have...

have no leads yet in last night's murder

of 29-year-old Phylis Gilder

in Westfield.

Certain aspects of the case, however,

suggest that a serial killer may be at work.

And police tonight issued a warning

to women in the neighborhood...

AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Doctors from several states

have petitioned the Surgeon General's office

to release fact sheets...

Mr. Fischer?

Right.

I'm Ben Chase.

Right.

You play hard.

Right.

I've admired your work for a long time.

I've learned a lot from your cases.

It shows.

I've got too many cases.

Challenging, precedent

setting, important cases.

When you get tired of being

a big frog in a little pond,

you give me a call.

Right.

Telephone.

Yup.

Ben, I need you.

What do you mean?

I thought about you last week

when the news reports mentioned the diaper.

Martin, what do you want?

I want to retain you.

I think I'm about to continue

my education in criminal law.

You mean you're under investigation

in that Westfield case?

No. Not yet.

Meet me in the park at River Point

at 11:
00 at the picnic area.

Tonight? Are you nuts? It's pouring.

This can't wait.

Sh*t.

Sh*t.

Martin!

Martin!

Martin!

Anybody home! Hello! Hello,

please, I have to talk to you.

Who is it?

I have to use your phone.

Please, this, this is an emergency.

What emergency?

I just... There's a woman

been murdered!

She's been murdered in the park.

Please. Please... No!

Shut up.

I have to use your phone.

Just get the phone.

Just a second. There's one right here.

Dial 911.

Let me do that.

Tell them it's a woman.

She's been murdered.

Where?

Where?

In the park.

She's a Caucasian.

In her early 20s.

Very long black hair.

Or dark, anyway.

Janet.

Miss Falkner said the victim

left for the night shift

at her usual time.

10:
15, 10:20.

She left her car in the usual place.

Now, you pulled up here

about 10:
55.

That's about 40 minutes later.

And we need to fill in that time.

Now, what about the man walking his dog?

Running. Running with

his dog. That's all.

Was the man black or white?

White, I think.

You think?

It was dark.

Raining, you know.

How the hell should I know.

Was he tall or short?

I... I didn't notice.

Well, he probably lives around here.

What's his dog look like?

I mean, roughly.

I don't know.

Like a German Shepherd,

or more like a poodle?

For Christ's sake!

It was a peeing dog!

I don't know.

Stake out the lamppost!

I've done worse, Chase.

You any better on cars?

Any parked near here when you arrived?

There... there were two

over there.

The VW was there, right? Yeah.

What'd the other one look like?

Bigger, darker.

That's it? Bigger. Darker.

Well, that's great.

Do you know when they left?

I wasn't looking.

I was thinking about that girl.

Yeah.

Let's go over there.

The girl's gone.

Get over here, will you?

We need somebody

who can drive the goddamn thing.

Last week, I heard about a

woman murdered in Westfield.

She was also gagged with a diaper.

The report said mutilated.

Was she burned?

Why?

This is madness.

But there was some method, maybe.

The burning obliterated any

pubic hairs, traces of semen.

The autopsy probably won't

even prove she was raped.

Let alone provide identifying evidence.

You're pretty sure she was raped.

Come on, Mesel.

We both know about cases like this.

More or less.

I know why Carl's here,

and I know why I'm here.

He found the body.

I've got one more question for you

you kind of skipped over it before.

What were you doing here?

Taking a walk.

I used to jog here.

I like it.

In the rain?

11:
00 at night?

And why'd you keep checkin' your watch?

I don't know.

Doesn't seem to be a whole hell

of a lot you do know, is there?

Sonny,

it would please me mightily

to see you sweat for once.

And you will.

You will if you don't start remembering

something useful real quick.

Ben.

Here. Give me a hand, and we'll

let Peggy get back to work.

He's a hard master.

You're telling me.

You're giving these away?

Your collection of quotations?

"I hate quotations.

"Tell me what you know."

Emerson.

"The power of the quotation"

"is as dreadful a weapon as any which"

"the human intellect

can forge."

Chapman.

I don't need weapons anymore.

I'm disarming.

Besides, some of these books can't

be much good, they quote me.

I quote you all the time.

It's the only immortality.

Remember when I told you

I was going into defense?

You said it was a lot

tougher than prosecution.

Instead of just trying to get the bad guys,

I'd have to defend all sorts of people.

Some with very dirty hands.

I was never afraid of disillusionment.

I enjoyed the game too much.

Sometimes I worried about burning out.

Not about my conscience.

I always thought I was so damn smart.

You are.

I never held it against you.

Now I'm going to do something

that's not so smart.

We were meant to act,

even if we make mistakes.

That's why we put a sharp point on a pencil

and why we put an eraser on the other end.

This might be indelible.

There's no other course of action

that will satisfy your conscience?

No.

Then you don't need the advice

of an old man in a library.

Who said that?

About the pencil?

I did. Just now.

It'll be in here next edition.

What do you think of her?

It's beautiful.

A bit cramped for me, maybe.

It's like a little island.

Even in the shadow of the

city, a boat is very private.

Away from everything.

You should try it.

You can afford it.

It may take several generations

to work up a full appreciation of boats.

I've only got as far as the snazzy car.

You should come out with me sometime.

I'm sorry about last night.

Sorry?

The police gave you a hard time.

You could've just left. You know,

you didn't have to call them.

I think I did.

But I didn't tell them why I was there.

Well, they'll come to me anyway.

I need a good lawyer.

Even innocent people need good lawyers.

The price has gone up.

The retainer is twice what it was last time.

Don't disappoint me, Ben.

This isn't about money.

Take my professional advice, Martin.

You should formalize our relationship.

It's got a few spots on it.

They'll cash it anyway.

Wait till you taste the basting sauce.

That's my secret.

What we say here is between

attorney and client.

I can't reveal it.

So my recipe is safe.

Anything you tell me.

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