Jagged Edge Page #5

Mum, I don't understand this.

- Honey, why don't you go ask Jenny?

- I don't want to ask Jenny!

- I have a trial tomorrow, okay?

- I've got a test tomorrow!

- Honestly, David.

- You don't care!

Forget it!

I hope he did it! I hope he's guilty!

David, honey...

Come here.

David, honey, come on. I didn't...

Teddy, come here.

The tennis pro at the club,

a guy named Slade, Bobby Slade.

I talked to the bartender at the club.

Two weeks ago he disappears

when some guys...

...from the DA's office come to see him.

Krasny's going to spring him on us.

What do you have on him?

He worked along the coast at all the clubs.

We got La Jolla, Laguna,

Newport Beach, Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz?

I talked to 183 goddamned

club members about that knife.

Know what I get? "Nada", zilch.

I told you, you're dreaming.

What about former club members?

- People who quit after January of last year.

- That's a wild-goose chase!

Sam, he didn't do it!

Is that your head talking

or another part of your anatomy?

Okay, what the hell? F*** me!

You may call your next witness.

The People call Eileen Avery, your Honour.

Who's she?

Your Honour,

may counsel approach the bench?

This witness was not mentioned

in the discovery material.

The prosecution isn't complying --

She's a reluctant witness.

She was served a subpoena last night...

...on the basis of information

uncovered yesterday.

- Bullshit.

- Mrs. Barnes.

- I want it on the record.

- I'll be happy to put it on.

- You think it'll hold up in appeal?

- What appeal? You don't expect to lose.

Here's the subpoena, your Honour.

I'll allow her testimony.

Put the circumstances on the record.

Thank you, your Honour.

Let's continue.

Let the record show that Miss Eileen Avery

is a reluctant witness.

She was subpoenaed on the basis

of information uncovered yesterday.

Who is she?

A friend.

- What do you mean?

- A friend, that's all she is.

- State your name, please

- Eileen Avery.

How old are you?

I'm 26.

What's your relationship

to John C. Forrester?

He's a friend of mine.

Between July and December of 1983

what was your relationship?

He was my...

He was my lover.

You had an affair with him for six months...

...two years ago?

Answer the question, please.

Yes, I did.

You were in love with him?

Yes, I was.

And he was in love with you?

Yes.

Did Mr. Forrester ever speak to you

about divorcing his wife?

Please, Miss Avery.

He said he wanted to.

Yes?

He said he could never do it.

And why could he never do it?

Because, he said, he would lose everything

he had always worked for.

Your witness, Mrs. Barnes.

No questions.

Thank you, Miss Avery.

You may step down.

The People call Robert Slade.

Mr. Slade,

how did you meet Mrs. Forrester?

I played tennis with her at the club.

And you became friends?

She liked me...

...and I liked her a lot, too.

It went on from there.

You had an intimate sexual relationship

with Mrs. Forrester?

Yes.

For how long?

Let's see,

I got to the club in November of '83...

...until the time she died.

You knew she was married?

Sure.

- It didn't seem to bother her.

- What do you mean?

- She said he didn't care what she did.

- Objection as to form!

Sustained.

Did she talk about her relationship

with her husband?

Objection. Hearsay.

I'm trying to establish the state of mind

of Mrs. Forrester prior to her murder.

The testimony is irrelevant.

I think I can establish the relevancy

of the testimony.

You may proceed.

Did she ever speak to you

about her relationship with her husband?

- She said he didn't care what she did.

- Move to strike, your Honour.

Motion denied.

Please continue.

She said she knew

he was seeing someone, too.

Whoever he was seeing...

...Page said he'd take her riding

all the time.

Riding?

She joked about it.

She said those horses of his were...

...foreplay.

Did Mrs. Forrester ever talk to you

about divorcing her husband?

She was thinking about it.

She said the thing that stopped her

from getting a divorce...

...is that he was doing such a good job

running the company.

She said he had a million-dollar image.

I remember once, she said that...

...she knew he was using her,

but she said...

...she was using him, too.

She said that was his special talent.

He really knew how to use people.

Your witness.

Due to the lateness of the hour, we'll

adjourn and reconvene at 9:00 AM Monday.

That's it. lt's over.

You didn't think he'd find out?

Four years ago I walked away from all this.

I felt that I was drowning...

Over my head. The dirt, the slime.

You played me.

You played me so well.

No.

You set me up from the very beginning.

How did you find out about Styles?

- That's why you wanted me to defend you.

- What are you saying?

If you'd told me about Avery

I wouldn't have taken the case.

I had an affair with somebody.

That doesn't mean I killed my wife!

I couldn't tell you in the beginning...

...because you wouldn't

have taken the case.

Later on, l...

What?

I couldn't, because you wouldn't

have thought we were real!

- You lied to me.

- I had to lie to you.

Don't you understand? I had to lie to you!

Teddy, that stuff about Page.

I didn't know anything about it.

I didn't want to be used anymore.

I gave all this up because I just...

I wanted to clean myself off.

I'm dropping the case.

You can't. lt's my life.

It's my life, you can't!

I didn't kill her!

I don't believe you.

What did he say?

- I told you.

- I don't want to hear it.

We got another letter

from the 1942 Corona.

I'm sorry to disturb you, your Honour.

It's against all better judgement

for me to speak with you.

Please, your Honour.

Did this hypothetical client

confess his guilt...

...to his hypothetical lawyer?

Then...

...the defence counsel

has no real ethical dilemma.

He took an oath.

He must live up to that oath.

What if he finds that he can't?

Then he had no business

taking the oath in the first place.

What if someone came to you...

...under circumstances like these

and asked to be dropped from a case?

I probably would accede...

...to his or her wishes.

But...

...with great regret.

Teddy!

What the f*** are you doing in the dark?

Playing with yourself?

Everything okay?

You're going to love what we got

on Bobby Slade.

What the hell's the matter with you?

Come on, read it.

Are you okay?

No.

You're not okay. You look like sh*t.

I'm sorry. Come here.

I'm sorry, kid.

Hear ye, hear ye.

The Superior Court for the County

of San Francisco is now in session.

- The Honourable Clark Carrigan presiding.

- Will counsel approach the bench?

Do you have anything you want

to say to me, Mrs. Barnes?

Yes, your Honour.

The defence would like to recall

Bobby Slade.

Recall Robert Slade.

Where were you employed before coming

to the Hillsborough Country Club?

At the Oceanside Racquet Club

in Santa Cruz.

What were the circumstances

under which you left there?

- I don't understand.

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