A Hole In One, Paul Weininger [top novels to read txt] 📗

me he quit and would leave the truck somewhere and let me know where he left it.”

“Do you know where he went?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Did you ever get your truck returned to you?”

“Yes, the police recovered it and after they went over it, it was returned to me within about four days.”

“Did Richard Straub work during the day that the Rabbi was arrested for murder?” she asked Rung.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure he did. He was pretty dependable.”

“Do you happen to keep invoices that would tell us where he was doing Greenery Landscaping work that day?”

“Let me check my records for a minute in my office.” He returned more like five minutes later, since his administrative skills left something to be desired. She saw his papers in disarray on his desk; it took him awhile to find what he was looking for.

Upon his return, he told her, “I had him do two lawns in Flagstaff on Bellmawr Street and a cobblestone walkway from the driveway to the front door on the same street but a couple of houses down.”

She asked, “Is it possible that while working on one of his assignments that he could have left for an hour or longer?”

“Sure, he could easily leave the worksite, telling the owners that he was going to get some lunch, make a phone call, run errands or whatever, and then go to a public bathroom to wash up before he returned. None of my workers are permitted to use the indoor facilities at our clients’ homes even if they permit it. So yeah, he could have been gone for a couple of hours and the client wouldn’t complain if the work got done.

“Thank you, Mr. Rung. I’ll send you a subpoena if I want you to testify in court as to what you told me today. I’ll also try and give you enough prior notice so that you can make plans before you are called to attend.”

“I’m not sure I want to attend if it involves Dick Straub. He might have something dangerous in his mental makeup, based on how he looks, dresses and sticks to himself.”

“Mr. Rung, you’ll have no choice if you’re subpoenaed by the court. You can’t say no to the court. You do understand that, don’t you? If you fail to show up when subpoenaed, the court will hold you in contempt and may place you under arrest.”

“Yes, I do understand, and hearing all that, I will definitely show up. Or perhaps I might be safer if they placed me under arrest.

◆◆◆

Upon his return from the skiing trip, Carol had told Jules about Pratt’s interest in finding him up on the slopes to question him. Jules said, “Fuck him. He has nothing to question me about and I’m not going out of my way to let him know that I’ve returned from my damn trip.”

Two hours later a marshal’s deputy arrived at their home. Carol answered the door and seeing a man in uniform asked him “What can I do for you, Marshal?”

“Are you Mrs. Jacobson?” asked the deputy.

“Yes, I am,” she replied.

“Mrs. Jacobson, I’m not the marshal, but as a deputy I’m here to serve you a court subpoena,” he said as he handed her the papers. “Is your husband home? I have a subpoena for him too.”

“No, he’s not home right now, he left to go skiing again.”

“Do you know where he went skiing?”

“No, I don’t. You see he always picks a different cabin in the mountains, pays the owner cash and doesn’t take his cell phone with him.”

“All right ma’am, when he returns please ask him to contact Marshal Whitaker’s office. We have a subpoena for him to appear in court, too.”

“All right, I’ll do that, deputy.”

She returned to the living room and approached Jules, who had been sitting on the couch, listening. She told him what she had done to help him delay having to appear in court. They still didn’t know what the court wanted from them, but he felt it was best the two not appear on the same day. As Jules put it, “So the lawyers don’t try and pit us against each other. Those accusations of you having an affair with the Rabbi is probably what they’re after.”

Now, Carol and Jules sat silently in their living room for a moment, both feeling incredibly nervous about having been subpoenaed to appear in court. Neither of them knew what they were going to be asked.

“Do you think that I have anything to be worried about, Jules?” Carol asked him.

“Why should you be worried, you did nothing wrong did you?”

“Of course not,” she replied.

“Then go into court when required and give them whatever answers you can give. As far as for my attendance in court, as far as they’re concerned, I went on another skiing trip. If they find me, I’ll comply with their subpoena and appear in court as required.”

“But what will people think when they hear that you went skiing again?”

“I don’t care what they think of my skiing habits.”

Twenty-Four

As the trial began, the court resembled all TV courtrooms, very quaint, as if Clarence Darrow were about to enter, yet bigger and more modern, with enough rows to hold one hundred people leaving standing room only. The paint on the walls was a light gray and there were two rectangular tables on each side of the front of the courtroom. The defendant’s table on the left side held four chairs, as did the prose-cution’s table on the right. Each table had two mics on it to enable the counselors to respond without having to stand up at a podium right in front of the judge. There was also a large tumbler of ice water and four glasses on each of the two tables.

The justice’s bench had three steps for the judge to climb up to his leather armchair, the back of it raised higher than his head. From this vantage point he could see the entire courtroom. The jury section had