The Reluctant Psychic Ch. 11

Since she didn't know I had read all this from her mind, she went ahead and explained it in polite terms. "I know the DA believes that you are a valuable consulting team, but I really don't think it's necessary for this case, especially not at your rates. Mr. Luzzi was caught with the murder weapon in his pocket, with gun shot residue on his hands. There are two witnesses who place him near the crime scene immediately before and another that places him there after the murder. His DNA was found on the victim. It is an easy case."

I turned to Bambi and asked, "Bambi, you've read the case files, is it really as open and shut as Christy seems to think?" Ms. Phelps could hardly suppress her smirk when she heard Bambi's name, she likewise could hardly suppress her grimace when I called her Christy. I felt a twinge of regret at that, but I could feel smug approval from Bambi, so I guess it evens out.

"There were three shots fired, and only one of them struck Ms. Turano. There is only evidence that Mr. Luzzi shot a gun, not that he shot the bullet that killed the victim. The DNA evidence is hardly credible evidence in this case. It was well known that Mr. Luzzi and Ms. Turano were lovers, and there was no evidence that they'd had a falling out. A competent defense attorney would argue that Mr. Luzzi came upon another man killing his lover. He wrestled the gun away, and took two shots at the man as he fled. Since Mr. Luzzi has a long criminal record, he knew he wouldn't get a fair shake with the police, especially since his fingerprints were now on the murder weapon. His only hope would be to catch the real murderer. Of course, he got arrested before he could even find a place to put the gun."

As Bambi was finishing her explanation, the bailiff brought the defendant in. He was one of the men who I definitely wanted out of my city. But one look at his mind convinced me that the scenario was much closer to what Bambi had described than what the ADA believed.

"Do you really think a jury would buy that? Mr. Luzzi is a menace. He has been a capo for more than a decade and is responsible for at least a dozen murders."

I looked at the ADA and motioned her to come closer. I spoke in a low voice, and used my powers to guarantee that nobody heard me, "You have to make a decision. Bambi is closer to the truth than even she realizes. The man who killed Ms. Turano is already dead, neatly arranged while Mr. Luzzi was in prison." I waved her to silence and clarified, "Let's just say it was an inside matter that wouldn't be good for the family."

She looked over at the defendant and seemed to reappraise the situation. I continued, "The decision you have to make is this. Will you accept my help in order to get a jury to convict this man of a murder he didn't commit? Or will you find an honest jury that will end up rightfully acquitting him of this charge and release that monster to kill again?"

"How do you know all this?" she asked. I waved my hand and she now believed what I said, even though I didn't answer her. I didn't, however, tamper with her ability to decide based on what I told her. She turned away from me and sat down to think about it. She was still thinking about it when the bailiff told us all to stand for the judge. We were all seated again and someone was reading something boring in a loud monotone.

Christy turned back to me and said, "I can't do this. If what you say is true, it would be a perversion of Justice. We'll find another way, a legal way to put him behind bars." I was actually surprised by her answer. I looked over at Bambi, and I knew it was the decision she would have made as well. Unfortunately for Mr. Luzzi, Christy and Bambi weren't deciding his fate, the jury I selected was.

Christy was still looking at me, wishing I would tell her that it was a lie, or a test. I smiled at her and suddenly she was once again certain that Mr. Luzzi had killed his lover, and now she knew what defense his lawyers were going to try to mount. With such a defense, jury selection was going to be critical.

* * *

The rest of the day was business as usual. There was another jury to select, a suspect that wasn't being cooperative and a bank that had a crooked clerk. Sixth months ago, there was a bank executive embezzling millions, now there was a clerk with sticky fingers. Crime just isn't what it used to be, at least not in my town.

Bambi and I ate lunch downtown. While we were eating I said, "You know, Luzzi is the last one."

"The last what?" she asked.

"He's the last crime boss in town. He has a few lieutenants left, but they aren't that bright and will likely get themselves arrested, if not killed, inside a year."

"You don't sound very happy about it. You've done a very good thing here."

"No, I am happy," I said, although I knew I didn't sound convincing. "It's just that I've been doing this so long, and now it seems to be over."

"There is still plenty of crime in town," Bambi said.

"There will always be crime, but it isn't organized anymore, it's the random stuff that happens any time people are around people."

Bambi thought for a while before responding. "So are you talking about retiring?" she asked.

I really hadn't thought of it that way. I just knew that with a diminishing number of exceptions, I wasn't accomplishing much that a good police force couldn't. A good police force could do a lot more, since I was only one man. "I guess I am, although I would always be around if something serious ever came around again."

She asked, "So, what would you do with all your free time?" But the unspoken question in her mind spoke to me more clearly, "Does this mean you've finally forgiven yourself?"

I kept expecting Anna to chime in with her two cents, but she didn't seem to care. I could feel her presence in my mind, but she was only observing. I gave her a few more seconds before saying, "I'll spend it with my family, if you and the girls can handle having me around all the time."

Bambi started crying. She grabbed my hand off the table and gripped it in both of hers. Her hands were trembling. I hurried around the table and knelt next to her chair, hugging her to me. I thought she might be happy to hear that, but I didn't expect her to be so happy she'd start crying. I didn't even need my powers to know she was happy, because she kept saying how happy I'd just made her, and how much she loved me.

Eventually Bambi calmed down and gave a bit of a giggle. "This is so embarrassing, everyone's staring at us." She might not have realized why they were staring, but I knew they all thought I'd just proposed and wanted to know if she said "Yes" or not.

"So is that a 'Yes'?" I asked.

"Yes!" she said in exasperation. She didn't quite understand until everyone in the restaurant starting applauding. She gasped when the realization struck her and whispered to me, "They think you just proposed to me, in the middle of the restaurant, at lunch!" For some reason, she seemed especially scandalized that I would propose during lunch.

"Does it matter what they think?" I asked.

She rested her forehead against mine and said, "I don't care what anyone thinks. I have you, and our family, that's all that matters." She gave me a gentle kiss holding my face in her hands. She stroked my face and my hair and said, "I love you."

"I love you too."

She glanced around, and saw that people were still looking over. "I must look horrible; my makeup must be a total mess!"

"You look beautiful," I said, "positively radiant."

"You better think I look beautiful," she quipped. "You're the one who got me this way." She seemed oddly amused when she said it. I instinctively reached toward her mind, only to be interrupted by Anna.

"You've done quite enough prying into her mind for one day!"

"So, now you've decided to weigh in on the subject?" I asked the voice in my head. Bambi was saying something about getting cleaned up and calling the girls. It was hard to hold two conversations at once; luckily the one occurring in the real world didn't require me to say anything. All I had to do was nod, stand and hold her chair as she went to the ladies room.

"She needed to hear the truth. Not the answer you'd give when you knew I was listening."

"But I knew you were listening."

Anna replied with a loud harrumph, and said, "You don't even believe I exist. You think I'm a figment of your imagination."

"Well, you only exist in my mind, so even if you aren't a figment of my imagination, it doesn't much matter to me, does it?"

"It matters to me!" she yelled, and slammed a door deep in my mind shut.

I gulped down the last of my water and wondered what in the world was going on. A week ago my life was so simple. Well, simple if you consider having an angry voice in your head and a veritable harem of women simple. But at least it was consistent.

Now the voice in my head seemed to be having a nervous breakdown, I found out the girls had hidden Magda's sister from me, and my old friend had died. I just hope it doesn't get any more confusing.

* * *

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