Reversal of Fortune Page #7

seemed normal enough.

Not cheerful. But then, we didn't

usually giggle at mealtimes.

Despite her doctor's warnings

about sweets,

the only thing Sunny consumed

was a sundae.

After supper, I went to finish off

some work in my study.

The others decided to

chat in the living room.

That would be lovely, but first

I need to go to my room for just a minute.

After about an hour, I dropped in on them.

Darling, would you care for anything?

Mm...

lf... there's some...

chicken bouillon left.

I'll look.

There you are, darling.

Thank you.

How is your work coming?

I'm totally flummoxed. I can't

get the figures to make any sense.

- Why don't you call your friend Deborah?

- I doubt she'd be in Saturday night.

So, Deborah, I think you'll agree

that's 7-2-8. Right. Now...

But Deborah was home,

and we did talk for some time, until...

Claus, come quick. Mummy's not well.

Deborah, can I call you back

in the morning? Thanks.

Her voice got very weak, and she

almost fell down. I had to help her.

Somebody open a window.

I find the chill reassuring.

Now I must speak with Claus.

- Good night, Mummy.

- Good night.

Good night, darling.

Good night, Alex.

That is, if Claus has time to talk.

Or are you going to work every spare

moment right through Christmas?

Is your work so fascinating?

Or are you trying to drive me away?

Because if you are, you're succeeding,

because I don't want this.

I didn't marry you for this.

I could've had anybody.

With my money? Anybody!

Well? Say something!

Do something! Be a man!

I already have a butler.

Do something! I don't want this!

I don't! I don't want this!

I don't... I don't want this!

The same conversation as the previous

year, only this time with greater venom.

You've always been afraid of me.

It's not because of my money.

It's basically because you're a coward.

Your pitiful masculinity is so fragile,

you can't stand confrontation,

so you go off with Miss Botsky.

Good night.

As was usual,

I was awakened before dawn.

I let the dogs out, as was customary.

I went back through the bedroom

to my study as quietly as possible.

I did not notice if my wife was in bed.

I did not notice if the light was on

under the bathroom door.

Had it been on, I wouldn't

have given it a thought.

I did my exercises, showered,

and then I called Deborah Knowles.

Well, I mean, it's stable and it's profitable.

Can anyone really believe,

if I was trying to murder my wife,

that I would spend an hour

going over a tedious set of figures?

After the call, I passed through

the bedroom again. It was freezing.

By this time, Sunny

was certainly not in bed.

And I heard water

running in the bathroom.

I had breakfast, walked the dogs,

and, on my return,

asked the children where Mummy was.

Has Mummy had breakfast yet?

We haven't seen her.

Sunny?

Her bathroom was

her private sanctuary.

No one entered it. Except the maid,

of course, to clean up.

Sometimes she stayed there

for hours, or so it seemed.

One can only speculate

what goes on behind a closed door.

Sunny, are you there?

I hesitated even to knock.

Darling?

Sunny?

Oh, God.

Once I'd ascertained she was breathing,

I went to fetch Alexander.

- Why not call an ambulance first?

- Panic, Alan, panic.

I mean, I...

I needed to talk to somebody.

I wasn't worried if she was breathing

normally. It wasn't like the year before.

In retrospect it seems absurd,

but I looked at her upper lip.

She had blood on it. I thought she'd

broken a tooth. That was my concern.

And that's really all I can...

that's really all I can say.

- But is it the truth?

- Of course.

- But not the whole truth.

- I don't know the whole truth.

- I don't know what happened to her.

- I wish I didn't believe you.

It's very hard to trust someone

you don't understand.

You're a very strange man.

You have no idea.

- Everybody here?

- Macintosh says he's got bad news.

There he is.

Well?

I found out what the state has.

Their ace in the hole.

It's you.

It's me?

David Marriott taped

all his conversations with you.

Oh, great.

The scuttlebutt is,

if we win the case, you go to prison.

What did I say?

Good old corrupt Rhode Island.

A friend got me an excerpt.

The reason I'm here...

My affidavit is inaccurate.

David, this is bad. It looks bad.

What do you want? More money?

Can you get more?

Yeah.

- That is not what I said.

- It's on tape, Alan.

I don't care. That's not what I said.

- What do we do?

- I don't know.

I'll tell you what we do. We ignore it.

Alan, with that tape,

it's your whole career.

I now believe Claus is innocent,

so we've decided:

no tricks, no technicalities.

We are going to base our appeal directly

and explicitly on Claus's innocence.

- Appeals must be based on judicial error.

- The judge should've thrown out the case.

You can't say there wasn't

sufficient evidence. He was convicted.

- Good point.

- That's what we are saying.

If the rules don't work, you change them.

Red Auerbach changed the jump-ball rule

when the Celtics had a short team.

But it's dangerous politically.

If the judges feel insulted...

Wait. State supreme court shouldn't even

look at an appeal based on new evidence.

Hey, guys. I'll take care of that, OK?

You just leave it to me.

Look, I know you're all exhausted.

We got four days left.

What we do now will decide this thing.

Do you wanna win or not?

- Alan! We've got something.

- We've hit the jackpot.

Our needles that had

amobarbital and Valium...

But no insulin.

Both came back with

false-positive readings for insulin.

One was 93, the other 282.

We've knocked out every piece

of their medical case.

OK, now all they've got left is my neck.

Anybody know anything

about editing audio tapes?

Defense! Defense! Come on.

Come on, baby! Come on, baby!

- All right, Alan.

- Come on!

Pass it, Alan.

Wait a minute. I got it. Where's Raj?

- He's upstairs.

- Where are you going?

Raj. Raj, I got it.

I got it. Remember Maria?

She could have said it like this:

Insulin? For what, insulin?

My lady is not diabetic.

You see? "My lady is not diabetic."

She is assuming that the bag is Sunny's.

Her first reaction, not part of

a legal strategy devised later,

is that the stuff in the black bag

belonged to Sunny, not Claus.

Who'd know better than she?

Start writing.

You are not God! You are a prosecutor!

Alabama can't execute those Johnson

kids before the Supreme Court rules!

You heard me right.

- You got two hours to make Rhode Island.

- You want me to speed?

No. They'll stop you

and you won't make the deadline.

I'm telling you right now,

those kids fry, you're next!

You're damn right!

Some startling developments

in the von Bulow case.

Professor Alan Dershowitz had been

accused of paying for falsified testimony,

but those accusations were discredited

today by the attorney general,

who announced that

David Marriott's tape was doctored

and that Marriott is not a reliable witness.

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