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“No. I just move a little slowly.”
He pushed himself out of the chair and, using a cane, made his way to his bedroom.
Young followed and closed the door after them.
“Nice apartment.”
“It gets a little crowded with more than me in it.”
Young smiled dutifully, then said, seriously, “Matt, I won’t ask you if I can trust your discretion, but you didn’t get this from me, all right?”
“All right.”
“I heard yesterday that a charge has been brought that you have violated the civil rights of Charles David Stevens, and that Justice will ask us to conduct an investigation.”
“What?” Matt asked, incredulously.
“It’s becoming a fairly standard tactic. All it does as far as we’re concerned—in cases like yours—is waste manpower. From their standpoint, the only thing I can imagine is that they hope the very charge will sow a seed of doubt in some potential juror’s mind. If the FBI is investigating, the police, the police officer, must have done something wrong.”
“Who brought the charges?” Matt asked, angrily.
“One of the civil rights groups, I don’t remember which one. But it’s more than safe to say that Armando C. Giacomo is behind it.”
“What, exactly, am I being charged with?”
“Violating the civil rights of Stevens by taking his life unlawfully, or excessive force, something like that.”
“That sonofabitch was trying to kill me when I shot him!”
“Don’t get all excited. The investigation will bring all that out. There’s also a story that they’re going to take you before the Grand Jury. Is that right?”
Why don’t I want to tell him?
“I’ve heard they are.”
“Well, that may—more than likely will—take the wind out of their sails. I can’t imagine a Grand Jury returning a true bill under the circumstances. As I say, what I really think they’re after is sowing that seed of doubt. Where there’s smoke
, there must be fire, so to speak.”
“I will be Goddamned!”
“As well as I can, there’s an ethical question here, of course, I will keep you advised. More specifically, when I hear something I think you ought to know, I’ll have Matthews pass the word to you. He’s one of the good guys.”
“Jesus!” Matt said. “That’s absolute bullshit! He tries to kill me. I defend myself, and I’m accused of violating his civil rights.”
“It’s a crazy world. But don’t worry too much about it. Remember, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you play chess?”
What the hell has that got to do with anything?
“Yes, I play chess.”
“So does Matthews. That would give him an excuse to come here.”
Why is he doing this?
