"I don't like this plan," Sevita grumbled. Nella sighed and strained to see into the power plant's dark interior.
"You couldn't think of a better one," she said, giving up and turning back toward her friend. "Besides, what could happen? This guy is just a jeweler. Pazzo wouldn't have any co-conspirators. He's too controlling for that."
"Why couldn't I have gone instead of Christine?"
Nella laughed. "You're too well known. It would have been career suicide. If anyone, it should have been me and Christine that went."
"You're no good at lying. He would have seen right through you."
"I know, I know. This way no one gets caught."
"That's so boring," Sevita grumbled.
Nella laughed. Sevita tapped her fingers along her knee and Nella rolled the window down for some fresh air. "You're sure that's all he brought in with him?" Sevita asked.
"Hmm? Oh, Dr. Pazzo, yeah, three pens, an almost empty wallet and a dead cell phone."
"Well did anyone check the lab where he was found?"
"Yeah, I asked Frank that too. He says they took everything apart inch by inch for the investigation."
"What about weird places, like inside the vending machines or those tubes he pretended were feeding them?"
"You aren't going to rest until you see it for yourself, are you?"
"Frank must have access to it, as part of the defense team."
"Ask him."
"Can't you ask him for me? He's more likely to say yes to you. He'll say yes to anything you ask," Sevita smiled slyly at her.
"I doubt anyone will need much persuading. Go to Judge Hawkins and ask. They want you to document the case right? That's part of it I would assume."
"No, I asked already," Sevita pouted, "He said it would influence people's opinions unfairly. Too much gore, it would inflame emotions or something."
"Then don't get Frank in trouble!"
"I'm not! I just think we should check to make sure Pazzo didn't hide it there."
"He would've expected the place to be searched. Besides, I know he wants to keep those samples near him. He can't risk anyone finding them. But if you swear to me that nothing will get accidentally aired, I'll ask Frank if we can look around."
Sevita was satisfied and let Nella return to her worrying in peace. They didn't have very long to wait. Christine was blushing on her way back to the car and wouldn't meet their eyes. Nella was amused, thinking Frank must have kissed her to convince the guy. Frank was only a few steps behind and got into the car without saying anything. He looked nervous. Sevita leaned forward and picked up Christine's hand.
"Chris, you dope, you had my ring on the whole time. How's the guy going to believe you now?"
Christine glanced at Frank and he shook his head slightly. Nella just caught it. "We told him we wanted to upgrade," said Christine still blushing.
"Well? What happened?" asked Sevita impatiently.
Nella leaned forward, forgetting Christine's confusion and Frank's warning. Frank started the car. "Dr. Pazzo was very specific about what he wanted. He ordered gold plated fountain pens for the defense attorneys. Even Dr. Schneider's, although we hadn't found her yet," he said grimly.
Sevita glanced at her. Nella collapsed back into her seat, all the feeling draining into her feet. Sevita kept her voice low so Christine couldn't hear. "That's it, isn't it?"
Nella nodded.
"Then why don't we just go get the pens from his cell? That must be where he's keeping them."
"What if they aren't there? Then he'll know we're looking for them. He might release it right there and then."
"Can anyone get into his cell without him knowing?"
"Not until he's in court. And then we've all got to be there."
"You don't, as long as you've already testified."
Nella leaned forward, speaking over the whipping breeze that filled the car. "Frank, when is he supposed to deliver them? And where?"
"He said he was supposed to deliver them to court on verdict day. Those were Dr. Pazzo's express instructions." He paused and the despairing look he gave her in the rearview mirror made her heart ache. "That gives us about two weeks."
"That short?" asked Sevita.
"I can try to stall, but I can't do very much. The prosecution elected to skip survivor testimonies at the beginning of the process. The government thought it would be bad for morale to rehash what people had gone through, especially since we've all been through it. It isn't like other tribunals where the world needs to be educated about what happened. We all know too well. I thought I was doing the right thing by agreeing to skip that part. And then there is Ann's attorney, but I have a feeling Ann's case will be dismissed in short order, right Nella?"
"I filed a finding that she was incompetent and I haven't heard any protest from the prosecution's side, so it will be fast."
"That leaves Dr. Schneider's attorney. I don't know her, we've never met before. But I assume it's in her best interest to gloss over most of the evidence and concentrate on the work Dr. Schneider did on the Cure. So barring a sparring match between the two of us or between the prosecutor and Dr. Schneider's attorney, it will probably be pretty fast."
"I don't think Dr. Schneider is going to have it all her own way," Sevita said, "Ms Jacobsen and I had a long talk with Dr. Carton."
"Jesus," swore Frank, "You're lucky I'm not representing Dr. Schneider. I'm going back to manual labor after this. There's no way I can do this job with you around."
They pulled up in front of Christine's apartment. Nella got out and Christine hugged her, pressing Nella's keys into her hand.
"I'm glad I didn't need to use these. Frank's a wonderful person," she blurted out and turned away, quickly climbing her stairs and disappearing inside.
"That was weird," said Sevita. "Don't worry, I'll ferret it out of her before long."
"Nella, would you mind driving?" Frank asked suddenly.
"Sure," she said, stretching her bad arm to test it. She walked around to the driver's side and got in. She glanced over, but Frank had walked away from the car and was talking earnestly to Sevita in front of the building. Sevita glanced nervously at her and looked away quickly. Nella was confused. Frank returned to the car.
"What was all that about?" Nella asked.
"Hmm?" he asked with a cheerful smile, "Oh that? I was just telling Sevita to remember that this was all a secret and to be careful who she told what."
Nella didn't believe him, but she held her tongue. He leaned back into the seat and brushed wind whipped hair off her face. "Let's not think about it any more today. We can't do anything else yet can we?"
Nella shook her head. "Then let's pretend none of this is happening. Just for today. Let's just be us."
"Okay," she said and flashed him a watery smile before turning the car off and getting out.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"We're going to be us today. I thought we could walk to the Farm. Maybe see a guy about a boat."
He stuck his hands into his pockets and kicked a stone into the road. "You know a guy with a boat?" he asked.
"Mmhmm."
"And you settled for a guy like me?"
She laughed. "You have thicker, more luxuriant hair."
Frank rubbed the soft skin of his head. "Yeah," he sighed, "I've always been lucky that way."
He kissed her in the warm spring sun and they headed down the crazy cracked pavement toward the transformed park that now fed the last city in the world.
Opening Statements