The Diamond Syndicate

Shakeeda looked into the courtroom and into the face of her supervisor and friend. Joe narrowed his eyes at her and scowled, an indication to Shakeeda that she had better cooperate with the court system. She looked away from him. “I guess about two or three years ago.” Shakeeda was obviously avoiding eye contact with Diamond and looked everywhere but at her.

“What was it about Diamond Reed’s case that alarmed you and made you aware that she may have been committing fraud?” Prosecutor Swartz stopped and stood in front of the jury.

Shakeeda sat up straight in her seat. She avoided eye contact with Diamond, but she could feel Diamond staring at her. “Well, I got a call from the fraud department about a lot of doctor bills coming in for the client.”

“Are you referring to Dr. Ricci?” Prosecutor Swartz asked.

“Yes.”

“Go on. What did they notice about the doctor’s bills?”

“Well, just that it was an unusual amount of bill flowing in from the same doctor’s office. Plus, she told me at our last appointment—”

“Who told you? The defendant Diamond Reed?”

“Yes.”

“Continue.”

“Ms. Reed and I had a scheduled appointment to review her file and recertify her benefits. She told me at that time that she’d met a man she really liked, and thought that they might start going out.”

“OK.” Prosecutor Swartz leaned back onto the jury box and folded her arms across her chest.

“I remember congratulating her and asking her what his name was.”

“Did you know then that she was referring to Dr. Ricci?”

“No, because—”

“Objection!” Kyle interrupted. “She’s leading the witness.”

“Sustained.”

“What was the name of the man she said that she was dating?”

“She told me his name was Michael.”

“As in Dr. Michael Ricci?” Prosecutor Swartz shot a sarcastic smirk at the defense attorneys.

“Objection, Your Honor!”

“Sustained.” Judge Fritz warned Prosecutor Swartz with his eyes.

“OK, so you said the defendant told you she started dating a man whose name was Michael. So what did she tell you about Michael?”

Shakeeda remembered the day Diamond did indeed tell her about the doctor she’d met.

Diamond had showed up at the welfare office for an unscheduled visit. When Shakeeda got out to the lobby and saw her, her heart dropped into her panties. She was sure Diamond was there to kill her. She had dropped two of the claims without telling her.

When Diamond saw Shakeeda standing there, she got up and walked over to her. Shakeeda was trying to read her face, but couldn’t.

“Can we talk?” Diamond asked as she walked past Shakeeda and into the offices.

Shakeeda followed behind her, and then Diamond let her get in front of her so that Shakeeda could find an empty cubicle. They both sat down once inside the cubicle.

“So what’s up?” Shakeeda asked nervously.

“It’s all good.”