"Charles L. Harness-George Washington Slept Here" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harness Charles L)

He nodded, then walked up to the bench. "Oliver Potts, Your Honor, replacing Mr. York."
Judge Roule scowled. "All right. Tell the reporter, Mr. Potts."
On his way back to his seat he gave his card to the court reporter and stopped by to introduce himself
to opposing counsel. He noted that Barton Badging was a prim-looking gentleman who wore gold-coin
cufflinks, a tie pin fashioned from a coin, and had a gold-coin watch fob dangling from a heavy gold chain
stretched across his vest. Opposing counsel stared up at him in grave distaste. "Barton Badging," he said.
He made no effort to accept Potts's outstretched hand.
The judge hammered with the gavel. "If the social hour is over, we have a trial in progress." He glared
suspiciously at the newcomer. "We know you by reputation, Mr. Potts. But let me tell you right now, I
like things clear-cut in my court. A winner wins clean. A loser loses clean, and no funny business. That's
it. Black and white. Do you understand, Mr. Potts?"
"I couldn't agree more, Your Honor."
"Good. So sit down, Mr. Potts."
Potts sat down beside his client.
"Motions?" asked Judge Roule.
Potts was immediately up again. His eyes locked with the judge's for one long moment. Patches of
goosebumps raced up and down his cheeks, his arms, his back. His biceps contracted. His veins were
awash in adrenalin.
It was happening to the judge, too. The lawyer read the body language clearly. The man behind the
bench fidgeted, hew wet his lips with a thick wet tongue. He fiddled with his gavel. He returned the
lawyer's stare uneasily.
In these milliseconds (while no one else in the room noticed) they measured each other like skilled
swordsmen. They circled like wolf and prey, like cobra and mongoose. Starfish and oyster. The question
was, who was who? Who was hunter, who was hunted? No way yet to tell. But Potts believed he would
know very soon.
He spoke, and as he spoke, he opened the lid of his attach├й case in a careless absent motion and
switched on the tekt-x cube. He said, "Your Honor, as you may be aware, I am absolutely new to the
case. So that I can familiarize myself with the issues, I request a continuance for one week."
Judge Roule stared down at the lawyer through wide-spaced eyes set deep under bushy brows.
Slowly, his smooth cheek pads pulled back, lifting his mouth into a fanged grin. "No, Mr. Potts, no
continuance."
So, thought Potts. Now we know. The roles are defined. You're the heavy. Just as I thought. Did you
send out that truck that killed Fenleigh? Okay, Roule. I expect to lose, but in the process, you're going
down. He said: "If I cannot have a week, Your Honor, could I have at least one hour with my client?"
"Oh, come now, counselor! Don't you read the papers? Surely you know this is the famous George
Washington Bridge case. It's been going on in this very courtroom for days. Look at the reporters behind
you, there in the first row." The jurist frowned, then sighed, as though unable to cope with the
incompetence of imported counsel. He leaned forward. "Listen carefully, Mr. Potts. You won't need a
continuance or a long rambling futile discussion with your client, because I'm going to brief you myself.
The Bridge Authority is building a bridge, known as the George Washington Bride. As a preliminary
necessary step, the state has taken by eminent domain certain access properties on both sides of the
river. Did the state have the power to condemn and take? That's the main issue, Mr. Potts. Plaintiff
claims the taking was improper, in that the parcel on one side of the river included the Sena Rock, given
by the United States to a foreign power as site for an embassy or consulate or trading post, or something
of the sort. Plaintiff also contends that the Sena Rock lacks the compressive strength to carry the weight
of the structures that will eventually rest on it. She tells us that as soon as another five thousand pounds is
added to the west cantilever tower-- the so-called "George" tower-- Sena Rock will collapse and the
tower will drop into the river. To prevent this, she asks that I order construction be suspended, and that
the bridge site be moved one quarter-mile upriver." He favored the woman sitting next to Potts with a
mocking smile. "Have I stated the case, Madame Plaintiff?"