Lawrence Block - The Ehrengraf Reverse

I didnt do it, Blaine Starkey said.

Of course you didnt.

Everyone thinks I did it, Starkey went on, and I guess I can understand why. But Im innocent.

Of course you are.

Im not a murderer.

Of course youre not.

Not this time, the man said. Mr. Ehrengraf, its not supposed to matter whether a lawyer thinks his client is guilty or innocent. But it matters to me. I really am innocent, and its important that you believe me.

I do.

I dont know why its so important, Starkey said, but it just is, and He paused, and seemed to register for the first time what Ehrengraf had been saying all along. His big open face showed puzzlement. You do?

Yes.

You believe Im innocent.

Absolutely.

Thats pretty amazing, Mr. Ehrengraf. Nobody else believes me.

Ehrengraf regarded his client. Indeed, if you looked at the mans record you could hardly avoid presuming him guilty. But once you turned your gaze into his cornflower blue eyes, how could you fail to recognize the innocence gleaming there?

Even if you didnt believe the man, how would you have he nerve to tell him so? Blaine Starkeys was, to say the least, an imposing presence. When you saw him on the television screen, catching a pass and racing downfield, breaking tackles as effortlessly as a politician breaks his word, you didnt appreciate the sheer size of him. All the men on the field were huge, and your eye learned to see them as normal.

In a jail cell, across a little pine table, you began to realize just how massive a man Blaine Starkey was. He stood as many inches over six feet as Ehrengraf stood under it, and was big in the shoulders and narrow in the waist, with thighs like tree trunks and arms like well, words failed Ehrengraf. The man was enormous.

The whole world thinks I killed Claureen, Starkey said, and its not hard to see why. I mean, look at my stats.

His stats? Thousands of yards gained rushing. Hundreds of passes caught. No end of touchdowns scored. Ehrengraf, who was more interested in watching the action on the field than in crunching the numbers, knew nevertheless that the big mans statistics were impressive.

He also knew Starkey meant another set of stats.

I mean, the man said, its not like this never happened before. Three women, three coffins. Hell, Mr. Ehrengraf, if I was a hockey player theyd call it the hat trick.

But its not hockey, Ehrengraf assured him, and its not football, either. Youre an innocent man, and theres no reason you should have to pay for a crime you didnt commit.

You really think Im innocent, Starkey said.

Absolutely.

Thats what everybodys supposed to presume, until its proved otherwise. Is that what you mean? That Im innocent for the time being, far as the laws concerned?

Ehrengraf shook his head. Thats not what I mean.

You mean innocent no matter what the jury says.

I mean exactly what you meant earlier, the little lawyer said. You didnt kill your wife. Youre entirely innocent of her death, and the jury should never be in a position to say anything on the subject, because you should never be brought to trial. Youre an innocent man, Mr. Starkey.

The football player took a deep breath, and Ehrengraf was surprised that there was any air left in the cell. Thats just so hard for me to believe.

That youre innocent?

Hell, I know Im innocent, Starkey said. Whats hard to believe is that you believe it.

But how could Ehrengraf believe otherwise? He fingered the knot in his deep blue necktie and reflected on the presumption of innocence not the one which had long served as a cardinal precept of Anglo-American jurisprudence, but a higher, more personal principle. The Ehrengraf presumption. Any client of Martin H. Ehrengrafs was innocent. Not until proven guilty, but until the end of time.

But he didnt want to get into a philosophical discussion with Blaine Starkey. He kept it simple, explaining that he only represented the innocent.

The football player took this in. His face fell. Then if you change your mind, he said, youll drop me like a hot rock. Is that about right?

I wont change my mind.

If you get to thinking Im guilty

Ill never think that.

But

Were wasting time, Ehrengraf told him. We both know youre innocent. Why dispute a point on which were already in agreement?

I guess I really found the one man who believes me, Starkey said. Now where are we gonna find twelve more?

Its my earnest hope we wont have to, Ehrengraf said. I rarely see the inside of a courtroom, Mr. Starkey. My fees are very high, but I have to earn them in order to receive them.

Starkey scratched his head Thats what Im not too clear on.

Its simple enough. I take cases on a contingency basis. I dont get paid unless and until you walk free.

Ive heard of that in civil cases, Starkey said, but I didnt know there were any criminal lawyers who operated that way.

As far as I know, Ehrengraf said, I am the only one. And I dont depend on courtroom pyrotechnics. I represent the innocent, and through my efforts their innocence becomes undeniably clear to all concerned. Then and only then do I collect my fee.

And what would that be? Ehrengraf named a number.

Whole lot of zeroes at the end of it, the football player said, but its nothing to the check I wrote out for the Proud Crowd. Five of them, and they spent close to a year on the case, hiring experts and doing studies and surveys and I dont know what else. A man can make a lot of money if he can run the ball and catch a pass now and then. I guess I can afford your fee, plus whatever the costs and expenses come to.

The fee is all-inclusive, Ehrengraf said.

If thats so, Starkey said, Id say its a bargain. And I only pay if I get off?

And you will, sir.

If I do, I dont guess Ill begrudge you your fee. And if I dont, do I get my retainer back? Not that Id have a great use for it, but

Therell be no retainer, Ehrengraf said smoothly. I like to earn my money before I receive it.

I never heard of anybody like you, Mr. Ehrengraf.

There isnt anyone like me, Ehrengraf said. Ive thrilled to watch you play, and I dont believe theres anyone like you, either. Were both unique.

Well, Starkey said.

And yet youre charged with killing your wife, Ehrengraf said smoothly. Hard to believe, but there it is.

Not so hard to believe. Ive been tried twice for murder and got off both times. How many times can a man kill his wife and get away with it?

It was a good question, but Ehrengraf chose not to address it. The first woman wasnt your wife, he said.

My girlfriend. Kate Waldecker. I was in my junior year at Texas State. He looked at his hands. We were in bed together, and one way or another my hands got around her neck.

You engaged Joel Daggett as your attorney, if I remember correctly.

The Bulldog, Starkey said fondly. He came up with this rough sex defense. Brought in witnesses to testify that Kate liked to be hurt while she was making love, liked to be choked half to death. Made her out to be real kinky, and a tramp in the bargain. I have to say I felt sorry for her folks. They were in tears through the trial. He sighed. But what else could he do? I mean, I got out of bed and called the cops, told everybody I did it. Daggett got the confession suppressed, but there was still plenty of evidence that I did it. He had to find a way to keep it from being murder.

And he was successful. You were found not guilty.