A Young Law Student Learn English through story level 5
chapter one
three bodies
the man who was waiting on the shore
looked like a farmer
he wore the right kind of clothes and
his van which was parked on the dirt
road above the beach was suitably
covered in mud
it was midnight on the first monday in
october
and for the next 30 minutes he had to
wait there
he stared out to sea
he was alone as he knew he would be
it was planned that way
this beach was always empty at this time
of night
no cars drove along the dirt road
the clouds were low and thick
it would be difficult to see the boat
until it was close
that was planned as well
after he had waited 20 minutes he heard
the sound of a quiet engine from the
water
and then saw a black rubber boat low in
the water approached the shore
the engine stopped when the boat was
about 30 feet from the shore
the farmer looked around
there were no people
no cars
he carefully put a cigarette in his
mouth and started to smoke it
a man’s voice came from the boat on the
water
what kind of cigarette is that
lucky strike
the farmer answered
satisfied the man in the boat asked
look
sam
replied the farmer
the man in the boat was carmel
not sam and luke knew it
luke had often heard of carmel
but he was not sure that they had met
before
carmel had many names and many faces and
he spoke several languages
he was the most famous and most feared
killer in the world
he was the best
at first twenty years ago he had killed
four political reasons
but now he was kill anyone anywhere if
the money was right
luke was excited
carmel was going to be working in
america
he wondered who was going to die
whoever it was the killing would be
quick and clean and there would be no
clues
at dawn the stolen van stopped at a
hotel in georgetown part of washington
dc the political capital of the united
states of america
carmel got out of the van without a word
to luke
they had not spoken throughout the
journey and luke had been careful not to
look at carmel
he didn’t want to die
he didn’t want carmel to think he could
recognize him
the room in the hotel was ready of
course
the curtains were tightly closed
the car keys were on the table
the gun was in a briefcase next to the
bed
had received three million dollars
already for this job
he would phone his bank in three hours
to ask whether the next four million had
arrived
while he waited he practiced his english
in front of the mirror
the job would be over by midnight
tonight so another three million would
reach his bank by midday tomorrow
by then
he would be in paris
it was satisfactory
he allowed himself a short sleep
the supreme court is the highest court
in the usa
it consists of nine judges who hear only
the most difficult cases in the country
those cases which might actually
threaten the constitution
judges are appointed to the supreme
court by the government
so a republican government will try to
get republican judges appointed and a
democratic government will try to get
democrats appointed
judges become members of the supreme
court for life
they can retire if they want but if not
the job ends only with death
judge rosenberg was so old that he found
it hard to stay awake sometimes even
during trials
he was a liberal and proud of it
he defended the indians the homosexuals
the poor the blacks the mexicans and the
puerto ricans
some people loved him for it
but more people hated him
throughout the summer there have been
the usual number of messages threatening
death to the judges of the supreme court
and as usual rosenberg had received more
than the others
the fbi had to behave as if the judges
really were in danger
although they were threatened year after
year and it was very rare for anything
to happen
when it did
it was usually a single madman whose
daughter had died in a road accident or
something
the political groups made a lot of noise
but it was easier for them to bomb
buildings than people
and especially people who were as well
guarded as the supreme court judges
rosenberg refused to have fbi guards in
his own home
he had lived to be 91 and was not afraid
of death
judge jensen had different reasons for
not wanting guards in his house
he wanted to be able to come and go as
he pleased
both of them allowed the guards to wait
outside in cars or on foot
but they could enter the house only when
they had permission
a little after ten at night when the
house was dark and still
the door to a bedroom cupboard opened
and carmel came quietly out
he was dressed in running clothes
he had shaved off his beard and colored
his hair blonde
silently he went down the stairs
he knew there were two fbi men in a car
that was parked on the road outside the
front of the house
he knew there was another guard ferguson
walking around the house outside
rosenberg and his male nurse were asleep
in the downstairs bedroom
outside the door
carmel fitted a silencer onto his gun
he stepped inside
put the gun to the head of the nurse and
fired three times
the hands and legs jumped
but the eyes stayed closed and there was
no sound
carmel quickly reached across to the
grey old head of judge rosenberg and
shot three bullets into it
he watched the two bodies for a full
minute
and then went out to the kitchen
he opened the back door
waited until ferguson appeared in the
back garden and then called his name
he knew that the nurse often invited
ferguson in for a cup of coffee and
something to eat
ferguson obediently came into the
kitchen
carmel fired three bullets into the back
of his head and he fell loudly onto the
table
carmel left the gun there and went out
of the back door
as soon as he reached the road at the
back of the house he began running
he was just another american out for his
nightly run
in the dark of the mont rose theater
glenn jensen sat by himself
and watched the men on the big screen in
the front of the theater
he was dressed in ordinary clothes
clothes that no one would remember
and wore dark glasses too
nobody would know that he had been here
he came to this homosexual film theater
once or twice a week
and not even his fbi guards knew about
it
it was easy to get out of the house
there were several apartments in the
building and the two fbi men could watch
only one entrance at a time
all he had to do was change his clothes
and drive away in a friend’s car
he liked the montrose
because the films went on all night and
there was never a crowd
tonight there were only two old men
sitting together in the middle of the
theater and holding hands
jensen watched their backs
and wondered if he would be like them in
20 years
at 44 he was the youngest of the supreme
court judges
he was not a favorite of either the
republicans all the democrats
but had been a safe appointment for the
republican president four years ago
he was not particularly liberal
accepting cases involving homosexuals
and those where industry threatened the
environment
he usually tried to judge his cases
according to their rights and wrongs
rather than any political opinions
a fourth person entered the theater
where jensen and the two old men were
now enjoying a film in which several
young men were in bed together
he wore tight jeans a black shirt an
earring dark glasses and a moustache
carmel the homosexual
he smiled when he saw jensen there
the information they had given him was
good
at 12 20 the old men left the theater
arm-in-arm
jensen did not look at them
he was too busy watching the film
carmel moved like a cat to a seat behind
jensen
he pulled some rope from around his
waist and wrapped the ends round his
hands
he suddenly put the rope around the
front of jensen’s neck and pulled
backwards and downwards
jensen’s neck broke over the back of his
seat
just to make sure
carmel twisted the rope until it bit
deeply into jensen’s neck and held it
there for two minutes
an hour later he was waiting at dulles
airport for his flight to paris
chapter 2
political planning
the phone woke the president at 4 30 in
the morning
he listened to the voice for a minute
and then jumped out of bed
eight minutes later he was in the office
fletcher cole his chief of staff was
waiting for him
what the hell happened
the president asked
cole walked up and down in front of the
president’s desk
we don’t know much
he said
they are both dead
two fbi men found rosenberg at one am
his nurse and guard were also dead
three bullets each
very clean very professional
while the fbi were at rosenberg’s house
they heard that the police had found
jensen’s body in a homosexual club
voyles called me
and i called you
he’ll be here in a minute
rosenberg is dead
the president said
yes
at last
rosenberg and the republican government
had not been friends
i suggest you go on tv in two or three
hours time and tell the country about it
all
mabry is already working on your speech
we don’t want to leave it until later
because we want to be the first to tell
them
the press already have the news
i didn’t know he was a homosexual
there’s no doubt about it now
this is the perfect crisis
we didn’t cause it we didn’t do anything
wrong
the country will be shocked and they’ll
turn to you
you’re going to be more popular than
ever
and next year you’ll be elected again
for another four years
it’s
great
and i can get two new men into the
supreme court
exactly that’s the best bit they’ll be
your men and they’ll be there forever
you’ll have a first list of names by
tomorrow
are there any suspects
not yet
the president smiled
voyles’s fbi men were supposed to
protect the judges weren’t they
good
i want you to link that information to
the press
maybe we can get rid of boils too
when voyles arrived a moment later
the president and coal tried to look
worried
voyles told them that there were no
suspects yet
and the president asked for a list by
five o’clock that evening
they agreed that the killings must be
connected
voyals denied that his men had been
careless
rosenberg and jensen are dead because
they refuse to let us guard them
properly
he said
we’re guarding the other seven and
they’re still alive
at the moment
the president said
and looked at coal
they almost smiled
they could easily make voyals look
stupid and inefficient over this
business
voyles knew it too
he was going to have to be careful
the president or rather cole
who told the president what to think
wanted his head
and the press would eat him alive
back in his office he ordered a full
enquiry into the murders
derby shaw woke up a little before dawn
after 15 months of law school at tulane
university in new orleans
her mind refused to rest for more than
six hours
the work had not been so hard at her
first university in phoenix arizona
where she had specialized in
environmental science
then she decided to become a lawyer and
to defend the environment in the courts
the price was hard work and more hard
work
there were some rewards however
she turned over in the bed to look at
the man sleeping next to her
thomas callahan was one of the most
popular teachers in the university
he was 45 years old but seemed a lot
younger
he drank a lot wore jeans
drove a porsche lived in the french
quarter
and managed to make even constitutional
law interesting
he was also good in bed
and for the first time in his life he
had stayed with one woman for more than
a few weeks
darby and he had been together now for
several months
she smiled
and wondered what her fellow students
would think
only her very best friends knew the
secret
she turned the tv on and suddenly there
was the president
she listened for a minute and then shook
thomas awake
thomas
wake up
listen to this
she turned the sound up louder
callahan sat up and said at the screen
still half asleep
he understood what the president was
saying though
rosenberg
murdered
he said
darby knew that rosenberg was his hero
jensen too
she said
the president finished his speech and
derby switched the tv off
no suspects according to the president
callahan said
i can think of at least 20 groups who
wanted rosenberg dead
dobby said
starting with the ku klux klan
yeah but why those two judges
okay
lots of people wanted rosenberg dead
but why jensen why not mcdowell or yount
they’re both more liberal than jensen
maybe they both just got killed on the
same night by chance
darby suggested without believing it
no
i don’t think so said callahan
these are the first supreme court judges
ever to be murdered
and then two in one night
there must be some connection between
the murders
but you know the worst thing
that full president will be able to fill
their places
that means that eight out of the nine
will be republicans
we won’t be able to recognize the
constitution in ten years
this is awful
perhaps that’s why they were killed
thomas
someone or some group wants a different
supreme court
filled with republicans
but why jensen
he was appointed by a republican
i don’t know
but there must be some connection
maybe there’s a clue in the cases the
supreme court was due to hear this year
the library will have that information
i think i’ll spend some time on this
today
chapter 3
no clues
denton royals put eric east in charge of
the case
on thursday east reported back to voyles
with a list of their top suspects
there were a number of political groups
especially the underground army
the ku klux klan and the white defenders
but also some individuals who were rich
enough to afford the kind of
professional killer who had obviously
done this job
there was nelson muncie
who had lost his daughter in a sex
killing in florida
the police had caught the man who was
black but thanks to rosenberg the man
had walked free
there was clinton lane whose son was a
homosexual who had died of aids
the problem with all these suspects
however was that the killings were so
professional and clean
that there were no clues except for the
gun and the rope
there were not even any clues about how
the killer had entered rosenberg’s house
still
voyles and he agreed to have between
five and twenty men investigate each
suspect or group of suspects
in the law library and on the computers
of chilean university
derby shaw was gathering pages and pages
of information
what was the connection between
rosenberg and jensen
she could see reasons for killing one or
the other
but not both together
but there had to be a single reason
thomas callahan slept late and alone
darby had been too busy to see him since
wednesday
now it was friday morning
he made some coffee and as he drank it
watched the busy french quarter through
his window
what was it he had to do
oh yes
phone gavin
on monday he was going to washington for
a conference about constitutional law
he and his old friend gavin verheek were
going to meet and get drunk together on
monday evening
gavin had been a friend ever since law
school
he and callan were the only two in their
year who refused to go into private
practice and get rich
while callahan had become a teacher
the heek had joined the fbi as a legal
adviser
when the heat came on the phone he said
thomas how are you
it’s 10 30. i’m not dressed i’m sitting
here in the french quarter drinking
coffee and watching the world outside
what are you doing
well
here it’s 11 30 and i haven’t left the
office since they found the bodies on
wednesday morning
it makes me sick gavin
the president will get two nazis onto
the supreme court
i suppose you’ve already seen the list
i bet your office is already checking
that they’ve lived good clean lives
go on gavin
tell me who’s on the list
i won’t tell anyone else
no chance
i’ll only tell you this
your name is not on the list
i’m so disappointed
how’s the girl
which one
come on thomas
the girl
she’s beautiful and brilliant and gentle
oh
and rich
she has red hair and the longest legs
you’ve ever seen
wow
what’s her name
darby shaw
but i haven’t seen her for a couple of
days
she’s trying to solve the murders all by
herself
why don’t you tell me who did it and
then i can tell her and she’ll come back
to me
don’t you read the papers
we have no suspects not one
at least i tried
are we going to meet on monday
i hope so boyles wants us to work day
and night until the computers tell us
who did it
i’ll expect a full report on monday
gavin
not just the gossip
why don’t you bring darby
how old is she
19
24 and she’s not invited
i’ll see you on monday at 7 pm in the
usual restaurant okay
okay
see you
darby’s inquiries have brought her to
the court in lafayette
of all the supreme court cases due to be
heard in the next few months
there was one that could explain the
killings
she needed to see the court’s files on
the case
when the clerk brought them to her table
however
her heart sank
there were lots of files each inches
thick
the case was seven years old
only one person was involved but he had
hidden behind 38 different businesses
which had used no fewer than 15 law
firms over the last seven years
she pulled her chair into the table
and began to work
chapter four
ideas and information
the meeting east and royals have with
cole and the president did not go well
not only could they not report any
progress but they had to admit that
investigations like this could take many
months
then cole handed boyles a list of eight
possible members of the supreme court
two of whom would fill the places left
empty by rosenberg and jensen
we wanna report on these people in 10
days voyles
he said
and make sure the press doesn’t get to
hear about them
you know we can’t promise that
boyle said
we can’t guarantee no leaks as soon as
we start to dig around these people
someone will realize what’s going on
the fbi can’t guarantee secrecy
cole said
you better keep this out of the papers
boyles
listen cole
he shouted
why don’t you investigate these people
yourself
don’t start telling me what to do
the president tried to make peace
all we’re saying is do your best boyles
he said
these people are young and they’re good
republicans
they’ll be given the constitution shaped
long after i’m dead
so it’s important to me that the two who
become members of the supreme court are
clean
so that they can stay there forever
so no drugs no unusual sexual habits
nothing like that
okay
yes mr president
but we cannot guarantee total secrecy
i understand
just try your best
yes sir
callahan went around to derby’s
apartment with a pizza and a bottle of
wine
he hadn’t seen her for four days
he rang on her doorbell
who is it she called through the door
thomas callahan he said do you remember
me
the door opened and callahan stepped in
are we still friends
he asked and gave her a kiss
of course
i’ve just been busy
so what did the great detective find
she was opening the bottle of wine and
didn’t answer straight away
she poured wine into two glasses and
they went and sat together on the sofa
she put her legs up onto him and he
stroked them
he repeated the question
nothing really
i was following a path and it took me
somewhere
i even typed it up as a brief
but i don’t think it’s worth anything
what
you’ve been running around playing
detective for four days and refusing to
see me and now you’re just going to
throw it away
it’s over there on the table if you want
to see it
she said
i don’t want to see it now
he said
we have more important things to do
i’m going to be away in washington for a
few days remember
i’ll read your brief and then we’ll talk
about it
but not till we’ve been to bed
okay
she pulled him towards her and they
kissed long and hard
there was a cleaner in the white house
whom everyone called sarge
he was old very black and had white hair
he wore dark glasses all the time
and everyone thought that he was half
blind
in fact
sarge could see very well
he could see round corners
he had been working in the white house
for 30 years now cleaning and listening
cleaning
and seeing
he knew which doors stayed open and
which walls were thin no one ever
noticed him
his son cleve was a policeman
this is how it worked
cleve would contact grey grantham of the
washington post and arrange a meeting
sarge and grantham would meet
no one knew how grantham got his
political information
but it was always good and always
correct
sarge never talked to anyone except
grantham
and he didn’t tell even him everything
he found out
this time they met at glenda’s
a little cafe on 14th street
sarge was able to tell grantham two of
the people on the list of possible
supreme court judges
chapter five
an implausible theory
had drunk too much the night before with
callahan as he had known he would
what had he said
had he given away any secrets
he remembered explaining that the
connection between rosenberg and jensen
was not political
the connection was so obvious that for
several days no one in the fbi had seen
it
they were killed because the killer
could get to them it was as simple as
that
they weren’t guarded as well as the
others
of course this still didn’t answer the
question why someone wanted two supreme
court judges dead
he remembered that they spent most of
the evening talking about their student
days together in washington
and about women
callahan had given him a copy of the
brief his girlfriend
what was her name
darby had written about the death of the
two judges
callahan had said it was an interesting
theory
she didn’t believe it
nor did he
but it was worth reading
the heek pulled the brief out of his
briefcase now and started to read it
it was better written than most briefs
and he enjoyed it
the theory was implausible but no one
else had thought of it
it was worth considering
he would show it to eric east
the phone went four times
the answering machine came on but the
caller left no message
the phone went again
and the same thing happened again
the third time grantham climbed out of
bed and answered the phone
it was still dark
yes
is that gray grantham
of the washington post
it is
who’s calling
i can’t give you my name
okay why are you calling
i saw your story yesterday about the
white house
and the possible next two supreme court
judges
good
but why are you calling me so early in
the morning
i’m sorry
i’m in a pay phone
i’m on my way to work
i can’t call from home or the office
what kind of office i’m a lawyer
great
washington was home to half a million
lawyers
private or government
i’d rather not say
okay anyway why did you call
a hesitation
i may know something about rosenberg and
jensen
grantham sat up straight
what exactly
are you recording this
no
should i
i don’t know mr grantham
i’d prefer it if you didn’t record this
okay
whatever you want
i’m listening
can you trace this call
i could
but you’re at a pay phone
what difference would it make
you’re right
i’m just frightened
you see
i think i know who killed them
now grantham was standing
that’s valuable information
it could get me killed
do you think they’re following me who
don’t worry tell me your name
you can call me garcia
that’s not your real name is it
of course not but it’s the best i can do
okay garcia
talk to me
i’m not certain you understand
but i think i accidentally saw something
at the office that i was not supposed to
see
do you have a copy of it
maybe
do you want to talk or not
i don’t know
what will you do if i tell you something
first try to find out whether it’s true
we won’t print the names of the killers
of two supreme court judges in a hurry
believe me
there was a very long silence
garcia
are you still there
yes
i need to think about this
i might call you later
okay if that’s what you want
sorry i woke you up
the phone went dead
grantham pushed seven numbers on his
phone
waited and then pushed six more
another weight and then four more
the small screen on his phone showed him
a row of numbers
he wrote them down on a piece of paper
the pay phone was on 15th street
east and k.o lewis voyles’s second in
command met with coal alone because the
president was out of washington
they had two bits of information for him
first they told him that cameras at the
airport in paris had recorded the
arrival from dulles of the killer carmel
cole thought about this for a minute
what if camille was involved in the
killings
what does it mean
it means we’ll never find him
lewis replied
nine countries around the world have
failed to find him for the last twenty
years
it means that he was paid a lot of money
by someone or some people here to do the
killings
so we know or we think that kamal did
the killings but it doesn’t really help
us does it
no
you’re right
okay
what else have you got for me
louis looked at east
there is no real progress to report
except
except what
well
there’s this theory which has appeared
in the last 24 hours
a law student in new orleans wrote it up
as a brief
we call it the pelican brief
here’s a copy of it
boyle’s liked it but he was afraid it
could hurt the president
how
read it
you’ll see
this time garcia called grantham during
office hours
he didn’t tell him anything new
he was still frightened and uncertain
they agreed that he would call again at
lunchtime the next day
the call came from a pay phone on
pennsylvania avenue
later when the president returned
cole told him about the brief
the theory is implausible
he said
the voyles likes it
he probably doesn’t believe the theory
any more than anyone else
but we’ve made him look bad over these
killings so far
and he wants revenge
he’s going to investigate this new
suspect
if the press get to hear about the
investigation that could be bad for you
we better do something about it
is the suspect someone we know
yes
cole explained what was in the brief
did we get a lot of money from him
millions one way or another
said cole
but the president preferred not to know
the various ways in which money came in
especially when they weren’t always
perfectly legal
chapter six
hunted
thomas was drinking too much over dinner
she didn’t like it
and she told him so
he wanted to prove that she was wrong
so he drank even more
they had an argument
after dinner outside the restaurant he
pulled the keys to his porsche out of
his pocket
thomas no
you’re too drunk to drive
give me the keys
he held onto the keys and set off in the
direction of the car park
he couldn’t walk straight and his foot
kept slipping off the pavement into the
road
she followed him but stayed somewhere
behind
she was too angry and just wanted to get
back to her apartment alone
he shouted something over his shoulder
about how he could drive better when he
was drunk
she stood with her arms crossed on the
other side of the car park and watched
him put the key into the lock
it took him three or four attempts
then he was inside and she lost sight of
him between two other cars
she heard him start the engine though
the explosion knocked her to the ground
she lay there for a moment and then
jumped to her feet
the porsche was a ball of fire
derby ran towards it screaming his name
bits of the car were still falling all
around her and the heat stopped her 30
feet away
she screamed with her hands over her
mouth
a second explosion tore through the car
and pushed her back
she fell and her head hit the side of a
parked car hard
everything went blank for a minute
then there were people everywhere and
voices shouting
whose car is it
call 911.
was there anyone in it
she was repeating the name thomas
someone put a cold cloth on her head
she heard the sound of the police and
firemen coming
and then there were red and blue lights
everywhere
a black man was bending over her
are you alright miss
he asked
thomas
she said
where’s thomas
miss
who’s thomas
asked the man
was he in that car
she nodded and then closed her eyes
she could hear men shouting in the
distance
they were all over by the burning car
she sat up and was sick between her legs
then she felt better
she got up and walked away
she knew who the bomb had been for
her
and she knew why
she had to hide they were hunting her
were they behind her even now
she wandered deep into the french
quarter
found a cheap hotel and paid for a room
with her card
as soon as she was in the room she
locked the door and curled up on the bed
with all the lights on
mrs fahey answered the bedside phone
it’s for you gavin
she called into the bathroom where he
was shaving
he came and took the phone from her
hello
he said angrily
who could be calling this early in the
morning
this is darby shaw
do you know the name
yes
we share a friend
did you read the little theory i wrote
yes the pelican brief as we call it
and who is
we
the heek sat up straight
she was not calling for a friendly chat
why are you calling darby
i need some answers mr vege
i’m frightened to death
it’s
gavin okay
okay gavin
where’s the brief
why
what’s wrong
i’ll tell you in a minute just tell me
what you did with the brief
well i read it and then i passed it on
to someone else who passed it on to
dentonvoyels who liked it
has anyone outside the fbi seen it
i can’t answer that
then i won’t tell you what’s happened to
thomas
all right yes it’s been outside the fbi
but i don’t know exactly where
and i don’t know how many people read it
he’s dead gavin
he was murdered last night
someone put a bomb in the car
i was lucky
gavin was shocked
where are you
are you safe
new orleans
who knows if i’m safe
they must be after me too
it was me they really wanted
i’ll have some men come and get you
darby you can’t stay on the streets
then i’ll catch a plane and i’ll be
there by midday i don’t think so
thomas is dead because he talked to you
why should i want to talk to you
give me your number at work
i may call you later
okay
but darby just tell me
did he feel any pain
there were tears in her voice
no
it was very quick
then she put the phone down
she could let herself cry now
because there wouldn’t be time later
crying could get her killed
chapter 7
keep moving
it was nearly time for the president’s
daily meeting with royals
by now he was tired of the whole
business
he just wanted to get his men into the
supreme court
cole was telling him something but he
wasn’t really listening
voyles and cole hated each other so much
now that coal had to leave the office
whenever voyles came
they had nearly fought last time
it didn’t matter to cole whether he was
in or out of the office
there were enough hidden microphones and
cameras for him to listen and watch any
conversation there
the president felt better knowing that
cole was at least watching
he greeted royals warmly at the door and
led him over to the sofa for a friendly
chat
voyles was not impressed
dunton
the president said
i want to apologize for cole’s behavior
last time
he can be stupid can’t he
boyle said
knowing that cole was listening
yes
he’s very clever and works amazingly
hard
but he goes too far sometimes
anyway that’s all behind us now
i want you to tell me all about this
pelican brief
how seriously are you taking it
voyles tried not to smile
this was great
he had managed to get colin the
president worried
we are investigating all suspects mr
president
he replied
we have 14 men on this one
i don’t have to tell you denton
the president continued
how much damage this theory could do if
the press heard about it
we won’t tell the press mr president
i know
all i’m saying is that i want you to
pull back from this one
the theory is crazy anyway
and i could really get hurt
do you understand what i’m saying
are you asking me not to investigate a
suspect mr president
i’m just saying that you must have
better things to do with your men
the press is watching this investigation
closely
you know how they are
they don’t like me at all
so why don’t you leave this one alone
and chase the real suspects
is that what you’re asking me to do
i’m not asking you denton
i’m telling you to leave it alone for a
couple of weeks
if you need to go back to it later of
course you must but i’m still the boss
around here
remember
gavin stayed near voyles’s office until
the secretary let him in
he couldn’t believe it when boyles and
lewis told him that they were no longer
investigating the pelican theory
my best friend is dead because of that
brief
he said
he was killed by a car bomb
someone is worried about the brief don’t
you think
the brief has already been very valuable
to us gavin
lewis said
yeah it let you play some games with the
white house
gavin said bitterly
but there’s a girl out there running for
her life
what am i going to tell her
darby made sure she could not be
followed in the crowds in the shopping
district
she bought some new clothes and hid her
hair under a hat
she went into the sheraton hotel and
found a row of pay phones
first she called mrs chen who lived in
the apartment next to hers
no
she had not seen anything yes
there had been a knock at her door early
this morning
then she called gavin
where are you
he asked
let me explain something
for now i’m not going to tell you or
anyone else where i am clear
yes but don’t go home
i’m not a fool
they’ve already been there
what did mr boyle say
i haven’t been able to see him
you’ve been at the office for four hours
gavin
i expected you to do better
be patient darby
patience will get me killed i’ve got to
keep moving
she saw a face
he walked among the tourists at the
hotel’s front desk
he was trying to look as though he
belonged here but his eyes were
searching
the face was long and thin and he wore
round glasses
he was a little over six feet tall
gavin listen to me
she said
i have to go
i can see a man i’ve seen before about
an hour ago
okay
take care darby and call me again soon
i’ll try
chapter eight
photos and phone calls
the photographer’s name was croft
he was parked on pennsylvania avenue in
grantham’s volvo because it had a phone
the pay phone was easy to see
about 50 yards in front of the car
with his powerful camera he could almost
read the names in the phone book
a large woman was using the phone at the
moment
at 12 20 the woman put the phone down
and walked away
from nowhere a young man in a suit
appeared and walked over to the phone
croft felt sure that this was the man
he picked up his camera
and looked through it
the man was pushing numbers on the phone
and looked nervous
he kept looking this way in that
croft took a couple of pictures
the phone in the car went three times
croft didn’t pick it up
it was grantham at the office
signaling that this was their man
croft used a whole film on the first
camera
when the man had finished talking on the
phone
he walked straight towards the volvo
along the pavement
beautiful
croft took several more pictures with a
second camera and stopped well before
the man could possibly see inside the
car
an easy job
grantham got plenty of excellent
pictures from croft
garcia didn’t look spanish despite the
name he had chosen he looked like
thousands of other young lawyers up and
down the country
from garcia he got nothing
it didn’t matter
he let him talk about his wife and child
and how frightened he was
one day and one day soon
garcia would give him the information
whatever it was
from sarge
he got a copy of a white house document
naming carmel as the probable killer of
rosenberg and jensen
this was good
there was little in the office files
about carmel
and only two pictures which looked like
two different people
but he wrote it up into a story and they
decided to use both pictures in the
story on the front page the next day
the phone was going
after 24 hours on the run she drank a
bottle of wine the night before and
fallen asleep on her bed in the marriott
hotel
but first she had cut off her long red
hair and colored it black
they would be expecting blonde
they would also be expecting her to run
away
so despite her fears she stayed in new
orleans
they would be watching all the police
stations so she had stayed away from
them
the phone was still going
she picked it up and heard
darby
this is gavin
now she was awake
how did you find me
we are the fbi
we have our ways
wait let me think
of course
you can trace me when i use my cards to
pay for things
how stupid of me
but if you can find me they can find me
too
they could be outside the door now
stay in small hotels then
and pay with cash
now
listen
i’m coming to new orleans
it’s thomas’s funeral tomorrow
i think we should meet tonight
you have to trust me darby
what did boyle say
gavin hesitated
we’re taking no action at this time
that’s lawyer talk gavin
what does it mean
i don’t want to talk on the phone
that’s why we have to meet
no
tell me why voyles is doing nothing
about this
i’m not sure why
honestly
what do you think gavin
do you think thomas was killed because
of the brief
yes
thanks
if thomas was murdered because of the
brief then we know who killed him
and if we know who killed thomas
then we know who killed rosenberg and
jensen
am i right
probably
that’s good enough
probably means yes when a lawyer says it
but the fbi is still doing nothing about
my suspect
calm down darby
let’s meet tonight and talk about this
i could save your life
she carefully put the receiver of the
phone under the pillow
she threw her things into a bag and left
the room
she walked up two floors to the 17th
then took the lift down to the tenth
then she walked down the stairs to the
ground
floor she hid in the women’s room for
half an hour
and then left the hotel
onto main street in the french quarter
she found an empty cafe with a phone at
the back
she called vehic
where will you stay tonight
she asked him
at the hilton
i’ll call late tonight or early in the
morning
can you get the washington post down
there
you should read it today
i can’t wait
i’ll speak to you later
she bought a post and read it at another
cafe
if the report was right it fitted in
with her theory
the local paper had a picture of thomas
on the second page with a long story
about the explosion
the police were looking for a white
female whom several witnesses had seen
there at the time
she looked slowly at the photo of thomas
he was so handsome
tears filled her eyes
alice stark darby’s best friend
got the key to the apartment from mrs
chen and let herself in
she had been there plenty of times
before and everything looked alright
nothing was out of place
the whole apartment was tidy
the kitchen smelled of stale food
it was dark when she got there but darby
had told her not to switch on the lights
and certainly not to open the curtains
she used a torch to see her way around
she sat down at the computer and turned
it on
she looked for the files derby had
mentioned
but they weren’t there
by the light of the torch she looked in
the boxes of diskettes
they were empty
alice returned the key to mrs chen and
walked half a mile to where she had left
her car
she met derby as arranged in the
restaurant and she told her what she had
discovered
darby did not seem surprised
and refused to answer alice’s questions
the heek was
angry she had said she would call him
now it was midnight and she still hadn’t
called
he could save her life if she could
he had to do something
he decided to visit a few student bars
to find out if anyone knew her and had
seen her recently
he got back to his room at three in the
morning
there were no messages
she hadn’t called
was she still alive
chapter 9
searching for derby
another phone call from garcia
the man still wouldn’t talk
why was he calling him before dawn on a
saturday
they’d had the same conversation every
time
that he had to think about the safety of
his wife and child
that he had seen something in his office
but there was never anything new
grantham had just gone back to sleep
when the phone went again
hello
it was not garcia this time
it was a female voice
is this great grantham of the washington
post
he must get an unlisted telephone number
it is
and who are you
are you still in the story about
rosenberg and jensen
yes
have you heard of the pelican brief
the pelican brief
no
what is it
it contains a theory about who killed
the judges it was given to the fbi last
monday by a man called thomas callahan
suddenly on wednesday callahan is killed
by a car bomb
how do you know all this
i wrote the brief
he was wide awake now listening hard
where are you
new orleans
are you in danger
i think so
but i’m okay for now
i’ll call you again soon
see if you can find out anything about
the brief
she came early to thomas’s funeral
and she would stay late
she found an empty room on the third
floor of a student building that looked
out over the university church
she sat with her face to the window and
saw his parents and brother arrive
students and staff came in twos and
threes
she pressed a handkerchief to her eyes
then she saw him
it was the thin faced man with glasses
he was wearing a coat and tie
he walked towards the church looking
carefully in every direction
first they kill him
then they come to his funeral
ten minutes later he came back out of
the church
he looked sad as if thomas had been a
friend
he put a cigarette in his mouth and
walked past some parked cars and behind
the church
two minutes later another man got out of
one of the cars and followed him
the two of them reappeared after a
minute walking together now
then thin face disappeared down the
street while the other man who was short
returned to his car and waited for the
funeral service to finish
the cubans lowered the small rubber boat
into the water from their ship
they heard the sound of the little
engine as the man went west through the
darkness towards the coast
he would never use a commercial airline
again
the photographs in paris were
embarrassing for a professional like
himself
and his client was not pleased
now he was going to have to do two jobs
in a single month which he had never
done before
but this one would be easy
just a young woman
in the hotel room in new orleans he
spoke on the phone to a man calling
himself mr sneller
tell me about her
he said
there are two photos in the briefcase
kamel opened the case and took out the
photos
i’ve got them she’s beautiful
it will almost be a pity to kill her
yes
but all that red hair is gone
we found some hair on the floor of a
hotel room she’s colored it black
is she now
we don’t know
she has stopped using her cards to pay
for things
she took out a lot of money from her
bank and since then she has disappeared
we think she’s still in new orleans
though
someone was in her apartment last night
we just missed them
the bomb failed
we don’t expect you to fail
gavin was
tired he had spent two nights searching
the bars
and he was too old for these late nights
when the phone went he was still asleep
gavin
darby is that you
yes
why haven’t you called before
that doesn’t matter now
you should know that they’re here in new
orleans
i’ve seen two of them
a thin-faced man and a short man
they were at the funeral service
yesterday
where were you
watching
how long will you be in town
until we meet
when will that be
i don’t know yet
i’ll call again soon the phone went dead
gavin picked it up and threw it across
his hotel room
chapter 10
another body
the first thing she did when she woke up
on sunday morning was listen
was the door opening
was the floor outside making a noise
when she was sure she was safe
she thought about
thomas she remembered their times
together
she remembered how he loved her
it was a surprise for him
the first time he had really been in
love
and she loved him too
after a few minutes of thinking about
thomas
she thought about them
she had to think like them too to stay
alive
where would they be today
where could she go
was it time to move hotels again
yes
did they know that she was now a blonde
she felt hungry
she had hardly eaten for days
this hotel didn’t do breakfast on
sundays so she had to go out
she left by the back door through the
kitchen
he saw her when she reached burgundy
street
the hair was different but she couldn’t
change her long legs
he started to follow her
carmel was practicing his english when
the phone went
it was snella
she’s here
he said
one of our men saw her this morning
he chased her but she noticed him and
lost him in the football crowds
carmel said
so how am i supposed to find her
if your man can’t tell me where she’s
staying
it might not matter sneller said
there’s an fbi lawyer in town
the fool has been visiting bars and
asking questions about her spreading his
name around
he’s asked anyone who knows her to
contact him at his hotel the hilton
my men will continue trying to find the
girl and you can stay close to him
he’s in room 1909
he was callaghan’s best friend
she might call him
gavin was lying on his bed watching tv
it was eleven at night
he would wait until twelve and then try
to sleep
he had decided to go home tomorrow if
she didn’t call
he couldn’t find her
it wasn’t his fault
even taxi drivers got lost in this city
when the phone went he switched the tv
off and picked it up
it’s me gavin she said
you’re alive
he said
yes
but i was followed today
it was the short man
did he follow you from somewhere
no
he just happened to see me in the
streets
listen darby
i can’t wait here anymore i’ve got a job
to go back to
i want to leave new orleans tomorrow and
i want you to come with me
i’ll have three men guarding you and
you’ll be safe you can tell us all you
know
and then the fbi will finish the job
dobby thought for a minute
all right
behind your hotel there’s a shopping
area called riverwalk
i know it
good
find a shop called frenchman’s bend and
be there at the back of the shop at
midday tomorrow
i don’t know what you look like so wear
a black shirt and carry a newspaper
this is silly
no it’s not
i’ve had to learn fast how to stay alive
believe me this is the way to do it
okay
you’re the boss
that’s right
only you and i will leave the city
i don’t want anyone else knowing about
this do you understand
all right
how tall are you
about five feet 10 inches and how much
do you weigh
about 100 kilos
i usually lie about it
i’m going to start doing some exercise
i’ll see you tomorrow gavin
i hope so
he put the phone down and smiled
great
at last
he said out loud
he went into the bathroom for a shower
when he came out
the room was dark
dark
but he had left the light on hadn’t he
he started to walk over to the light
switch
the first blow caught him in the throat
he fell to his knees which made the
second blow easy
it landed like a rock on the back of his
neck
and gavin was dead
carmel switched on a light
he lifted up the body and put it on the
bed
he turned the sound on the television up
loud
opened his bag and took out a cheap gun
he held it to the right side of gavin’s
head and fired
then he carefully put the gun in gavin’s
right hand and curled the fingers around
it
it wouldn’t take a doctor very long to
find out how gavin had really died
but carmel didn’t need very long
by the evening of the next day he would
be out of the country
he opened up the receiver of the
telephone and took out the little
microphone
he pulled the recorder out from under
the bed
finally he checked that the cupboard
where he had waited was clean
then he left the room
no one had seen him enter
and no one saw him leave
cd 2
chapter 11
river walk
grantham couldn’t find out anything
about the brief
even sarge hadn’t heard of it
when derby’s call came through to his
office on monday morning he had nothing
to tell her
it doesn’t matter
i’ll tell you everything soon i think
i don’t want to die without telling the
world what i know
they’re following me here in new orleans
who
the same people who killed rosenberg and
jensen
if you read the report about callaghan’s
death
you know about the white female the
police want to talk to
that’s me
my name is darby shaw
thomas callahan was my teacher and my
lover
i wrote the brief
gave it to him
he passed it on to the fbi who took it
to the white house
and you know what happened next
are you recording this
i’m writing it down
grantham said
i’m going to leave new orleans i’ll call
you from somewhere else tomorrow
can you get a copy of the list of people
who gave large amounts of money to help
the president get elected
easy it’s public information
i’ll have it by the time you call
do you have a copy of the brief
no
but i remember it all
and you know who’s doing the killing
yes and as soon as i tell you
your life will be in danger too
tell me now
not so fast
i’ll call you tomorrow
after the phone conversation grantham
went in to see his boss smith keane
he explained the situation to him
keane was excited but said
even if she tells us what’s in the brief
we can’t print the story
we’ll need an independent witness
i’m working on it
grantham said
and told him about garcia
this is going to be big
king said
this is going to put the post right back
up at the top
she arrived on riverwalk at 11.
she sat in a restaurant and nervously
drank a coffee while watching the people
pass
she didn’t see thin face or shorty or
anyone else she recognized
at 11 45 she got up and walked towards
frenchman’s bend
if he wasn’t there by 12 15 she would
leave
but he was there
wearing the black shirt and carrying a
newspaper
he looked nervous too
she liked that
at exactly 12 o’clock he walked into the
shop and went to the back
she came up behind him and said
gavin
he had practiced gavin’s voice for hours
but wasn’t sure he had it exactly right
he turned around quickly and said
torby
then he pretended to cough
she wouldn’t expect the same voice from
someone with a cold
let’s get out of here
he said
follow me
she said
darby took his hand and led him out of
the shop and towards the river
have you seen them
he asked
no but they’re around somewhere
where are we going
just come with me
you’re walking too fast darby
it will look strange to people
let me make a phone call
i can have men here in 10 minutes and
there will be safe
he was pleased with himself
he sounded just right
no
she said
but she slowed down
they joined the queue for the riverboat
bioqueen
the boat will take us to wherever parked
a car
she explained
then we get out of here fast
carmel was uncomfortable
he was wearing a great many underclothes
so that he would look as fat as verheek
but he could wait an hour until they
were out of the city
and then
the man with the gun pushed his way
through the queue
he had killed before but never in such a
public place
the queue was moving but he was getting
through it
the man and the woman were just about to
step onto the boat when he reached them
he pulled the gun out of his pocket
held it to the man’s head and fired
he disappeared through the crowd
gavin was falling to the ground
darby screamed and moved back in horror
he’s got a gun
a woman shouted and pointed at gavin who
was on his hands and knees with a small
gun in his right hand
blood poured from his nose and chin and
formed a small pool under his face
his head was hanging down until it
nearly touched the ground
he was speaking some words in a language
derby didn’t recognize
he’s egyptian
someone in the crowd said
he fell forward dropping the gun into
the water
and died in a widening pool of blood
darby walked away as the crowd moved
forwards to see the dead man
and two policemen started to push their
way through
she left river walk after dark
she had bought new clothes and wore a
new coat as well
she waved to taxi
how much to take me to baton rouge
she asked
that’s a long way
the driver said you should go by bus or
train
how much
she asked again
150 dollars the man said after a
moment’s thought
here’s two hundred she said
get me there fast
thomas had talked to her about his
friend gavin the heek
she knew he wasn’t an egyptian
chapter 12
darby explains
voyel sent east down to new orleans to
learn the truth about the heek’s death
lewis brought the news to his office
denton
when are we going to start taking this
pelican brief seriously
he asked
people keep dying because of it
we’d better investigate it
it must be matisse
i know
boyle said
we’ll send down a team of men
but i don’t want the fool in the white
house or cold to hear that we’re
investigating it
i want to surprise them
when the president told me to leave the
brief alone
i was carrying a small recorder in my
i’ve got every word loud and clear
if we find that the brief is accurate
the press will love us
and we can let them know that the
president told us not to investigate it
that’ll be the end of him and coal
lewis said happily
i know
he’ll have no chance in the election
next year
we’ve got him
they smiled at each other
but what about matisse
lewis said
if he hadn’t killed all those people we
wouldn’t have thought the brief was
right
he must be crazy
there are rumors that he is
boyle’s replied
i’ve spoken to the cia
they had men in new orleans
they don’t know where matisse is
he’s probably not in this country
he owns houses all over the world
we’ll need their help to get him
they were following the girl too but
they lost her in chicago airport
she could be anywhere by now
she could be dead
lewis said matisse’s men are following
her as well
grantham traced two old photographs of
her
one from her high school one from her
first university
he pinned them up beside his desk
she was beautiful
she called him as she had promised
he had read about the killing of a
lawyer in new orleans and she told him
the true story
she also told him about the other
killing which had not appeared in the
newspapers
then she said
can you come to new york tomorrow
grantham
of course
it’ll only take a few hours
but please
call me gray
he looked at the photographs of her
i’ll ring tomorrow morning to tell you
where to meet me
and tomorrow
i’ll tell you who killed rosenberg and
jensen
do you know who did it
i know who paid for the killings
i know his name
i know his business and his politics
and you’ll tell me tomorrow
if i’m still alive
a pause
perhaps we should talk immediately
he said
they met in her room in the samaritz
hotel in new york
they chatted for a while getting to know
each other
it was the first normal conversation
derby had had for a week and it was a
great pleasure
they sent out for some food and after
they had eaten he switched on a recorder
and she told him a story
for centuries the mississippi river has
been carrying mud down to the sea
where the river meets the sea
marshes have spread out over an enormous
area
these marshes are the home for a great
many rare and unusual animals birds
reptiles and fish
then oil was discovered there in 1930
the oil companies began to destroy the
marshes
where the river mud had been creating
new land
now the sea was able to wash the land
away
since the discovery of oil tens of
thousands of acres of louisiana
marshland is gone
every 14 minutes another acre disappears
underwater
in 1979 an oil company owned by victor
matisse found a very rich oil field
worth thousands of millions of dollars
matisse wanted it all
he knew that others would buy the
surrounding land if they heard there was
a major oil field there
so he pretended that nothing had
happened
he stopped work there and waited
solely and patiently
as the years passed he bought the
surrounding land
he created new companies
lots of them so that no one would know
that he was the buyer
at last he was ready to begin drilling
then
a small environmental group called green
rescue made a legal request to the
courts to stop the drilling
the request was unexpected
because for so long louisiana had
profited from the oil companies
the court in lafayette agreed that all
drilling should stop until the case was
settled
matisse knew that this could take years
he was dangerously angry
he spent weeks with his lawyers making
plans
but every move they made was disallowed
by the courts
people were sympathetic to green
rescue’s case
a lot of wildlife was at risk
the marshland where matisse wanted to
drill was home to a great many rare and
beautiful seabirds including brown
pelicans
there were very few of these pelicans
left
when people thought about the case
they thought about the pelicans
at last the case came to trial
green rescue lost
and that was not surprising
matisse had spent millions of dollars
and had the best lawyers in the country
but the judge still forbade the drilling
to start
the pelican was a protected bird under
louisiana law
and green rescue weren’t finished yet
they would take the case all the way to
the supreme court
how long would it take to reach the
supreme court
gray asked
between three and five years
by then rosenberg would be dead anyway
yes
but it might be a democratic president
who was choosing the judge to take his
place
matisse couldn’t take that chance and
jensen was always soft on environmental
cases
matisse needed two republican judges in
there
both of whom were supporters of big
business
can you prove that all the companies
involved in buying the land in louisiana
are owned by matisse
it’s in the brief
and i’ve written it all out for you
and then there’s the photograph
tell me
seven years ago
before the president was elected
he was in new orleans getting money for
the republicans
although matisse stays out of the public
eye
he was there that day
and some clever photographer got a
picture of him shaking hands with the
president
both of them are smiling
and they look like old friends
it’s beautiful
i can easily find a copy of that
this whole thing is beautiful
it’s the biggest story since watergate
maybe even bigger
gray turned off the recorder and sat
back in his chair
they were silent for a short while
then he asked
do you think matisse himself chose
rosenberg and jensen
no
i’m sure he had advice from a lawyer
he’s got lawyers all over the country
gray set up again
does he have any in washington
yes
there are two firms there who do some
work for him
brim stearns and kidlow is one of them
the other is wyden blazevich a very old
republican firm
but why are you interested
grey quickly told her about garcia
maybe he works at one of those two firms
he said
that would make you much easier to find
him
they were both tired
she asked him to sleep on the sofa in
her room that night so that she could
get a good night’s sleep for the first
time for days
he agreed
she was so beautiful that he would do
anything to be close to her
he would even sleep on a five-foot sofa
chapter 13
washington
darby worked in the library all morning
and ran grantham at midday
she had been reading lists of the
members of both of the washington law
firms that worked for matisse
there was no one called garcia on either
list of course
there were four spanish names among the
190 lawyers who worked for brim sterns
and kidlow
but none among the 412 who worked for
white and blazevich
she ran grey with this information from
a pay phone in a cafe on sixth avenue
as she turned to leave she saw the short
man who had been looking for her in new
orleans
he was here
in new york
walking the
streets he didn’t look inside the cafe
however
for the moment she was safe but it was
time to leave new york
two hours later she was at newark
airport
when this was all over if she was still
alive
where could she go
she thought of the thousands of islands
in the caribbean
no one could find her there
she no longer wanted to practice law
all she wanted to do was reach her 25th
birthday and maybe her 30th too
croft spent a week waiting outside the
offices of brimstones and kidlow
there were plenty of lawyers who looked
as young as garcia and they all dressed
similarly in dark suits
but there was no garcia
he was sure of it
some of the people employed by the white
house didn’t work at the white house
some were so secret that their offices
were elsewhere and very few people knew
of their existence
matthew barr was one of these shadowy
people
he was riding in the back of the car
with coal
coal was silent while barr read the
pelican brief
when he had finished barr said
i’d love to know how much of this is
true
so away
co said
what did the president say about it
he agreed that the theory was
implausible
so he asked voyles not to investigate it
really
and what if it’s true
then the president has got problems
me too
they rode in silence for a while and
watched the traffic then cole said
we need to know if the brief is true
if people are dying it’s true
why else did callahan and braheed die
there was no other reason
and cole knew it
i want you to do something
find the girl
no
go to matisse and talk to him
it won’t be easy
he isn’t exactly listed in the phone
book
you can do it you’ve done more difficult
things for us in the past
you’ve done worse for us too
and you think victor will trust me and
tell me his secrets
why not
you’re not a policeman
you can help him
you can tell him that the press will
have the story soon and so it would be a
good idea for him to disappear
then it’ll trust you
what if it’s true
what will you do next
the first thing will be for the
president to appoint two nature lovers
to the supreme court
that will show people that we really
care for the environment
then
at the same time
he will get the fbi to start an official
investigation into victor matisse
barr was smiling with admiration
what about the photograph
he asked
easy
at seven years old
we say that in those days matisse was a
good citizen
not a madman as he is now
anyway by sunday i’ll tell you where he
is
i’ve got a man working on it be ready to
leave
darby called gray at 9 30 the next
morning at his office
i’m here
she said
where are you going from
gray asked
i’m staying at the tabard inn
i saw an old friend in new york and
decided it was time to leave
i hope i didn’t bring any of them with
me
i bought two plane tickets with my card
for them to follow
but i paid cash for the one i really
used
even then i changed planes four times
if they follow me here they must be
magicians
if i see any of them here
i think i’ll just surrender
when do we meet
meet me in the restaurant here at nine
tonight but gray
don’t use your own car
hire another one
and be ready to stay away from your home
and office for a few days
i’ve booked you a room at the marbury
hotel
surely the office is safe darby
i’m not in the mood to argue
if you’re going to be difficult gray
i’ll simply disappear
i’m sure i’ll live longer out of the
country anyway
i’ve got to go now
you’d be careful
the marbury was close to where his boss
smith keane lived and there were some
things they had to talk about
the next morning he rang keem from his
room and they arranged to meet outside
the front of the hotel in 15 minutes
while they drove around in keane’s car
they discussed various ways in which
they could use the information they had
they agreed that finding garcia was the
key to the whole story
without garcia they had little more than
rumor and an unlikely theory
they hoped that garcia’s information
really was as important as they were
guessing it was
she had told him to stay off the streets
and to eat in his room
after kean had left him near his hotel
he bought a sandwich and a cup of coffee
and returned to his room
an asian cleaning woman was working
outside his room
did you forget something sir
she asked
gray looked at her
what do you mean
you just left your room sir and now
you’re back
i left two hours ago
no sir a man left your room 10 minutes
ago
she hesitated and looked at his face
closely
but now i see that it was another man
sir
he walked quickly to the stairs and ran
all the way down to the ground floor
what was in his room
nothing important
just some clothes
nothing about darby
her phone number at the tabardin was in
his pocket
he had to find her
and quick
chapter 14
curtis d morgan
darby spent the day in the georgetown
law library reading and taking notes
about the members of the washington law
firms that matisse used
it was boring work and her mind often
wandered
she thought a lot about thomas
matthew barr went to new orleans where
he met a lawyer who told him to fly to a
certain hotel in fort lauderdale florida
he wouldn’t tell barr what was going to
happen there
but when barr arrived he found a room
waiting for him
a note at the front desk of the hotel
said he would receive a phone call in
the early morning
he called fletcher cole at home at 10
and told him the news
she stepped on the note when she opened
her door
it said
darby
i’m in the garden
it’s urgent
gray
she locked the door went downstairs
through the restaurant and out into the
garden
she found him sitting at a small table
half hidden behind a wall
why are you here
she demanded in a whisper
he told her what had happened and what
he’d done for the rest of the day
he had spent it riding around the city
in a dozen different taxis waiting for
dark
then he came to the tabard
he was certain that no one had followed
him
she listened
she watched the restaurant in the
entrance to the garden and heard every
word
i have no idea how anyone could find my
room
he said
did you tell anyone your room number
he thought for a second
only smith keen
but he didn’t have time to tell anyone
else
where were you when you told him
in his car
she shook her head slowly
i told you not to tell anyone didn’t i
you think this is all a game it’s not
gray it’s real
this isn’t just a great newspaper story
which is going to make grey grantham
famous and win him prizes
i’ve seen people die
god knows how many times i’ve been close
to death myself
these people are dangerous
and they’re professionals
they know about you and the washington
post
they’ve probably been listening to you
since you wrote the first story about
this matter
they’ll have microphones hidden in your
apartment your car
and your office
it looks as though they’ve got
microphones in king’s car as well
do you understand what i’m saying
last night at dinner we tried to pretend
we were two normal people getting to
know each other
but that wasn’t real
this is real
she was right of course
he felt like a school child in front of
an angry teacher
you can stay here tonight
she said
and tomorrow
i’ll find you another small hotel
after breakfast the next morning she got
on the phone
she rang the georgetown law school and
pretended to be from white and blazovich
she said that their computers were not
working
and that for the sake of her records she
needed to know which students had worked
for white and blazovich last summer
waited
with her hand over the mouthpiece of the
phone and looked at grey
the secretary from the law school came
back on the phone
seven of them
darby said
thank you
she wrote down their names
and do you have their addresses please
we need them for our records
she wrote down this information too
that was brilliant
grace said when she had finished
now all we need to do is find as many of
these students as we can
show them your photograph of garcia and
hope that one of them recognizes him and
can tell us his real name
why couldn’t we just wait outside the
firm’s building until he came out and
then follow him
that’s what croft was doing at brim
stearns and kitlow
too risky
it seems likely the white and blasovich
were involved in some way in the
killings
there are people who know my face
and we know they’re looking for you too
what if they’re guarding white and
blessed
they would see us
and then we’d be dead
they hired a car and began to try to
find the seven students
grey found two of them at home and darby
spoke to another as he was leaving a
class at the school
none of them recognized garcia
they met at 10 45 and compared notes
at 11
students were leaving their classes and
she found another of the seven students
but he too knew
nothing a fifth was working in the
library
she didn’t like answering derby’s
questions but she admitted that she
didn’t know garcia
only two left
edward linney and judith wilson
wilson was expected back at her
apartment at one o’clock
so gray spent the rest of the morning
trying to find linny
but he was not at home
and no one at the school seemed to know
where he was
they hadn’t seen him for several weeks
they drove together to judith wilson’s
apartment
she wasn’t there at one
so they waited
she arrived an hour later
gray jumped out of the car ran up to her
and caught her at her front door
he showed her the photograph
and darby saw her shake her head
lenny had better be good
he said as he got back into the car
but where is he
i hope we find him today
she said
because tomorrow
i leave the country if we don’t
back at the law school one of his fellow
students at last told them where he was
in a private hospital
he was well on the way to becoming an
alcoholic
and his parents had ordered him to spend
some time there the nurse at the front
desk of the hospital told grey that mr
linney was in room 22 but refused to let
him see him
gray asked to see the manager
and while the nurse was fetching him
gray whispered to derby
room 22
she left the waiting room and boldly
walked to his room
she knocked and went in
the young man looked surprised to see
her
i’m sarah jacobs she said i work for the
washington post
may i ask you a question
yes
but how did you get in
i just walked in
you worked at wyden blasovich last
summer didn’t you
do you recognize this man
she showed him the photograph
yes he’s
what’s his name
i can’t remember he works in the oil and
gas department
darby held her breath
lenny closed his eyes and thought
morgan yes that’s it his surname is
morgan
but i can’t remember his first name
what’s this all about
i’ll tell you later
darby said
and left
gray was waiting for her back in the car
she didn’t say anything but immediately
looked at the notes she had taken in the
law library
there he was
garcia is curtis d morgan
she said
let’s go
chapter 15
two appointments
after five hours at sea in the small
fast boat
every bone in matthew barr’s body was
aching and he was wet and cold
his only companion had been a man called
larry who was extremely tall and looked
very strong
larry had met him in fort lauderdale and
had not said a word to him since then
they landed in a country barr believed
was the bahamas
a car took them to a small airfield
where a lead jet was waiting
the flight took about 45 minutes
another car took them to a large house
bar had no idea where they were
bar was met by a man who called himself
emile
who led him round the outside of the
house to a sun room
i’m afraid you must take off your shoes
emil said with a polite smile
and be careful not to step on the towels
inside bar saw that towels were lying on
the floor of the sun room making paths
around the room
a door on the other side of the room
opened
and victor matisse came in
bar stared
matisse was an extraordinary
sight
he was extremely thin and had long grey
hair and a beard
he wore only a pair of black sports
shorts
his toenails were yellow and very long
he looked completely crazy
sit over there
he said
pointing at a chair
don’t step on the towels
when barr was seated matisse asked
what do you want
he was staring out of a window
the president sent me
bar began
he did not
fletcher cole sent you
all right
we need to know whether the pelican
brief is true
have you read it
have you
yes
does mr cole believe it to be true
i don’t know
he’s very worried
that’s why i’m here mr matisse
you have to know
what if it is true
then we have problems
matisse turned away from the window
looked at bar and said
do you know what i think
i think coal is the problem
he let too many people see the brief
barr could not believe what he was
hearing
the man who had ordered so many deaths
was blaming someone else for the
situation
is it true mr matisse
that’s all i want to know
behind bar
the door opened without a sound
larry in his socks and avoiding the
towels stepped silently into the room
matisse walked over to the door and said
softly
of course it’s true
he left the sun room and went into the
garden
now what
bar thought
larry put the rope around bar’s neck
and bar did not hear or feel anything
until it was too late
matisse did not want blood on the floor
so larry simply broke his neck
they reached the building where white
and blasivich’s offices were before five
o’clock
she was wearing a dress
and gray said she looked just right
she could tell that he liked the way she
looked and she found to her surprise
that she didn’t make her angry
just a little sad about thomas
she walked up to the secretary at the
desk who said
can i help you
yes
i have an appointment at five o’clock
with curtis morgan
my name is dorothy blythe
the secretary’s mouth fell open and she
said nothing
darby’s heart stopped
is something the matter
can you wait a moment
the secretary said she got up and
disappeared into another room
run
darby’s mind was telling her
run
there’s something wrong here
but before she had time to do anything
the secretary returned with a man
good afternoon
he said
i’m gerald schwab one of the partners of
the firm
you say you have an appointment with
curtis morgan
yes
is there a problem
there’s nothing in his appointment book
well that’s your fault not mine
and what was the meeting about
she felt weak
i don’t see why i have to tell you that
why can’t i see mr morgan
because he’s dead
she was in shock
dad
yes
schwab said
he was mugged in the street
i’m sorry
i can see this has been a shock for you
she decided to act really upset
she didn’t want them to ask any more
questions
she wanted them to think that she was
just a weak young woman
i’m sorry
she said
i think i’d better go
i’ll phone again for another appointment
schwab led her to the lift himself
edwin sneller knew that he and his men
had been wasting their time in new york
the place was just too big
then
at last she moved some money from her
bank in new orleans to grantham’s bank
in washington
stella’s client owned the bank so he
received any information he asked for
that meant that she was in washington
and that she and the reporter were
working together
he had two men with him
and he had asked for more
they had to do the job quickly
but he felt less confident without
carmel
the girl had escaped so far and she
could be hiding anywhere
he would start with the washington post
building
grantham had to come back there sometime
found curtis d morgan’s address in the
suburbs and they drove out together to
the house
mrs morgan’s father however refused to
let them in to see her
gray left his business card so that she
could call him if she wanted to
he told her father that morgan had
spoken to him three times just before he
died
is that the end of garcia
darby asked as they drove away
we’ll see tomorrow he said
how do you feel at the moment
do you feel safe
i’ll be glad to sleep in your room
tonight
just like i did in new york
but i don’t have a sofa here
she said
where would you sleep
she was smiling
and this was a good sign
but then she remembered callahan
i’m not ready gray i’m sorry
she rested her head on his shoulder
while he drove the car
i’m still frightened to death
she said
chapter 16
morgan’s story
beverly morgan called gray at four
o’clock the next morning
my father would be angry with me if he
knew i was calling she said
the reporters were horrible to us after
curtis was killed
but i need to talk to someone
she asked him how he knew her husband
and gray explained about his phone calls
and the murders of rosenberg and jensen
he spoke to her patiently for a long
time until he won her confidence
what do you think he knew
she asked
i have no idea
if he had written something down on
paper where would it be
in our lock box in the bank
but that’s where all his legal papers
were so i’ve already looked in there
i did find another key in his desk
though last saturday
gray held his breath
a key to another lock box
yes
a box at first columbia bank
that’s odd because we’ve never used that
bank
i wasn’t in a hurry to go to the bank
and look in the box because i already
had all his legal papers
maybe it was even something i wouldn’t
want to see
would you like me to look in the box for
you
gray asked
i hoped you would say that
yes please
i’ll come round and get the key now
he and darby drove to the bank the next
morning
mrs morgan had given grey written
permission to open the lock box
so the clerk let them into the strong
room
it didn’t take them long to empty the
box
all it held was a thin envelope
derby opened the envelope when they were
back in the car
inside was a document written by morgan
and properly signed by a legal witness
the document started
since you are reading this i am probably
dead
it was a powerful first sentence
in the document morgan described who he
was and where he worked
he said that he often worked for one of
the firm’s clients who was called victor
matisse
the partner in charge of mr matisse was
f sims wakefield
morgan explained the louisiana case and
how important it was to mr matisse
it was important to white and blazovich
too
since matisse had promised them a share
of the profits from the oil
on or about the 28th of september the
document continued
morgan had been in wakefield’s office
collecting some files
when he returned to his own office
he found that by mistake he had picked
up a note from wakefield’s desk together
with the files
a copy of the note was joined on to
morgan’s document
the note was dated the 28th of september
and was from marty vermano another
partner
it read
sims
tell our client that the court will be
easier on him if rosenberg is retired
the second retirement is a bit unusual
it is jensen
who as you know
has those other problems
the note amazed and frightened morgan
realizing its importance he made a copy
of it and returned the original to the
bottom of the pile of files
ten minutes later wakefield came into
his office looking pale and worried
they found the note under the files and
wakefield asked morgan if he had read it
morgan said no
wakefield looked at him very closely but
seemed satisfied
that night he left the papers on his
desk very tidy
the next morning he could see that
someone had searched his desk
he began to see valmano in wakefield’s
office more than usual
wakefield stopped him working for
matisse
then
rosenberg and jensen were killed
he was sure that matisse had ordered the
killings
he thought that people were following
him
he had decided to hide his copy of the
note together with this document in a
bank
in case he was killed
he was very frightened
that was the end of the document
the thin-faced man watched the car come
fast round the corner and park illegally
outside the post building
the man and the woman jumped out of the
car and ran past him into the building
he had a gun inside his jacket
but it all happened too fast
smith keane and the post’s lawyer
vincent litzky
read through morgan’s document
when they had finished gray said
well gentlemen
there’s your independent witness
can we print darby’s story now
keane and litzky looked at each other
keane left the office for a few minutes
to speak to the newspaper’s
owner when he came back he said
okay great
we do the story
how long will it take you to write it
i already know the shape of it
gray replied
i only have to write the details
it should take me about two hours
it’s eleven o’clock now
king said
try to finish it by three
litsky needs time to read it before we
with derby’s help he finished the story
on time
keane and litzky read it and made some
changes
derby was watching something out of the
window
when i rewritten the story
gray said when kean and litzky had
finished
i have to make some phone calls
we’ll be back at half past three
keen said
they’re outside
darby said softly when keane and litzky
had left the room
who are
i was watching a man standing on the
corner
he looks innocent enough
he’s just standing there drinking coffee
from a cup
but he’s been there a long time
i saw him earlier as well
and just now
when you were talking
i saw the short man who chased me last
week come up to the coffee drinker
they talked for a minute
and then the short man disappeared again
they’re just waiting for us to leave the
building
chapter 17
time to trust someone
the first phone call was to a friend of
grantham at the fbi
phil
this is great grantham
i’ve got the recorder on
that sounds serious
go on
we’re going to print a story tomorrow
about the rosenberg and jensen killings
we’re going to name victor matisse as
the man behind the killings and also two
of his lawyers here in washington
we’ll connect this story with the
killing of rahik in new orleans
we believe the fbi knew about matisse
early on but refused to investigate the
request of the white house we want to
give you the chance to comment
there is silence
phil
are you there
yes
i think so
any
comment i’m sure we will have a comment
but i’ll have to call you back
okay
i’ll look forward to it
in fact it was voyles himself who called
back about 10 minutes later
he demanded to speak to smith keane
what are you doing smith
he said we’re still investigating
matisse
it’s too early to be sure
what have you got
does the name darby shaw mean anything
to you king asked
yes
we have the pelican brief denton and i’m
sitting here looking at darby shaw
i was afraid she was dead
no she’s not
and she and grey grantham have an
independent witness to support the brief
it’s a big story denton
we need to meet
i’ll come round in 20 minutes
okay
keane put the phone down and smiled
he was amused at the idea of the great f
denton voiles coming round to his office
for a meeting
the next phone call grey made was to
fletch a coal in the white house
coal agreed that matisse had given large
amounts of money towards the president’s
election
but denied that matisse and the
president were close friends
he had to admit that he was familiar
with the pelican brief
when gray asked why there had not been
an immediate investigation of matisse
cole angrily denied that the white house
had tried to slow down such an
investigation
then voyles arrived with k.o lewis
keane took him into his own office and
gave him a copy of the story to read
while grey made the third phone call
he rang white and blazovich and was put
through to marty valmano
for the third time he explained that he
was recording the conversation
mr velmano
gray said
we’re printing a story in the morning
which names your client victor matisse
as the man behind the killings of
rosenberg and jensen
good
said valmano
we’ll take you to court
by the time we’re finished mr matisse
will own the washington post
mr velmano
we have a copy of the pelican brief
have you heard of it
science
we also have a copy of a note you sent
to sims wakefield on the 28th of
september
in the note you suggested that your
client’s position would be a lot better
without rosenberg and jensen on the
supreme court
silence mr velmano
are you there
yes
we wanted to give you the chance to
comment
do you have any comments
you’re going to destroy me
romano said
royals and lewis entered the room with
smith keane
keane introduced them to derby and grey
voyle smiled at derby and said so you’re
the one who started all this
no sir she said i think it was matisse
they sat around a table
royals had a piece of paper
he said i’m going to read you something
this is official
and you can use it in your paper
anything else lewis or i say is
unofficial and you can’t use it
is that clear
keenan grantham said yes
all right
foyle said
he received a copy of the pelican brief
two weeks ago and showed it to the white
house on the same day
it was personally delivered by k.o lewis
to fletcher cole
eric east was also present at the
meeting
we thought it was worth investigation
but nothing happened for six days until
gavin verhique was murdered in new
orleans
the fbi began a full investigation into
victor matisse involving over 400 men
we believe victor matisse to be the main
suspect in the murders of rosenberg
jensen
thomas callahan and verhick and we are
trying to find him
did the white house interfere with your
investigation of matisse grantham asked
this is now unofficial
boyle said
you can’t use it okay
okay
yes
the president asked me not to
investigate matisse
he said it could be embarrassing to the
government
i recorded the conversation
they could hardly believe what they were
hearing
he recorded the president
i will not allow anyone to hear that
recording
boyle’s continued
unless the president denies what i have
just told you
anyway
will you use the official story i’ve
given you
will you put cole’s name there on the
front page along with everyone else
yes i think he belongs there
keane said
good
said
can you give me some early copies of the
newspaper tomorrow morning
i want to take them round to him myself
and watch his face
he’ll take the blame
keane said it will be the end of his
career
but he’ll make the president look
innocent
yes
i think you’re right
said voyles
now
i’d like to speak to miss shaw alone
please if that’s all right with her
okay
she said
but grantham stays
alright
when everyone else had left the room
royals asked
what are you going to do next
first tell me who killed gavin verhique
she said
it was carmel
and carmel was the one who was shot in
the head as you were holding his hand by
the river
who killed him
we think it was someone from the c i a
we know the c i a were investigating
matisse in a small way
in his oil business matisse had
connections with some unfriendly arab
countries
so the cia were already keeping an eye
on him
when they saw a copy of the pelican
brief they sent a few men down to new
orleans to look after you
derby got up and went to the window
it was dark outside now
they didn’t do a very good job then
she said
there are men out there now who have
been following me for a week or more
one of them chased me in new orleans
so i don’t think he’s cia
matisse is so crazy that he’ll go on
trying to kill me even after he goes to
prison
if you catch him
we can help
boyle said we can get you out of the
country
it was time to trust someone
she took a deep breath
all right
she said
i’ll go and make the arrangements
boyle said
alone in the room derby walked into
gray’s arms
it’s going to be all right now
he said holding her it’s over
you’re safe
i’m going alone gray
she said
i’ll call you when i’m ready
chapter 18
away from it all
by 11 pm only four lawyers remained in
the offices of white and blazovic
they were valmano
sims wakefield
gerald schrab
and a retired partner named frank
courts courts finished a phone
conversation with one of victor
matisse’s staff
that was strider
he said
they’re in cairo
in some
hotel matisse won’t talk to us and
of course
he isn’t coming back over here
stryder says he’s behaving very
strangely
they’ve told the boys with the guns to
leave town immediately
the chase is over
so what are we supposed to do
asked wakefield
we’re on our own
said courts
matisse isn’t going to help us
there was silence around the table as
they all looked into the future
then velmano said
grantham only mentioned me and sims
you two may be okay
and i’ve got enough money saved to spend
the rest of my life hiding in europe
it’s all right for you
wakefield said
i can’t hide
i’ve got a wife and six children
i think you should go home and tell your
wife what to expect
therma said
i can’t do that
wakefield said
he got up and left the room
a minute later
they heard the sound of a single gunshot
from his office
after eight days in the sun of the
virgin islands her skin was brown enough
and her hair was returning to its
natural color
she walked miles up and down the beaches
and ate nothing except fish and fruit
she slept a lot the first few days
she looked at her wrist
and then remembered that her watch was
in a bag somewhere
she didn’t need it here
she woke with the sun and went to bed
after dark
but now she was waiting
so she had looked at her wrist
it was almost dark when the taxi stopped
at the end of the small road
he got out
paid the driver and looked at the lights
as the car disappeared back up the road
he had one bag
he could see a light from the house
between the trees at the edge of the
beach and he walked towards it
he didn’t know what to expect
he knew how he felt about her
but did she feel the same
she was waiting at the back of the house
looking out to see
with a drink in her hand
she smiled at him
put down her drink and let him come to
her
they kissed for a long minute
you’re late
she said
this is not the easiest place to find
gray said
even when you have directions
i know
she said
that’s the idea
it’s beautiful though isn’t it
it is
you are too let’s go for a walk
she said
he changed into a pair of shorts and
they walked together on the beach
hand in hand
you left early she said
i got tired of it
i’ve written a story a day since the big
one
and they kept wanting more
i was working 18 hours a day
yesterday i said goodbye
they haven’t seen a paper for days
she said
cole’s finished
the president will be okay
i don’t think he did anything really bad
he’s just stupid
he won’t get reelected though
you read about wakefield
yes
that was in the last paper i saw
they’ve got schwab
they want valmano too but he’s
disappeared
of course matisse is in deep trouble
and thereafter four of his men too
they walked in silence along the beach
she put her arm around his waist and he
pulled her closer
i’ve missed you
she said softly
he breathed deeply but said nothing
how long will you stay
she asked
i don’t know
a couple of weeks
maybe a year
it depends on you
let’s take it a month at a time
okay great
you