The Diamond Syndicate

“Come on, Ms. Bingham. You committed yourself to God? All of a sudden, you became holier-than-thou, when just a few weeks ago you were sitting here in the stands lying through your teeth. You were lying then, and you’re lying now!”

“No, I’m not lying now. It’s the truth!”

“Ms. Bingham, you are like the little boy that cried wolf. Do you honestly think because you bring God into this that it will make us believe you?”

“No!” Shakeeda was finding it hard to keep a handle on herself.

“Were you in fact jealous of my client, Diamond Reed?”

“No!”

“Yes, you were, Ms. Bingham! Don’t you remember, when you first took the stand, you told me you wanted to be like her?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” She cried.

“Yes, it is! You said you wished you could dress like her and get the men that she got! Don’t you remember? Or is it because you’ve become religious that you forgot?”

“I-I-I—”

“Ms. Bingham, you were jealous of my client, and because she allegedly cut you off, as you say, it made you angry. So now you’re back on the stand trying to sabotage my client.”

“No, I’m not!” Shakeeda yelled, tears streaming down her face.

“Yes, Ms. Bingham. You are as guilty as you try to claim my client is, and you’re trying to bring my client down with you with these unbelievable lies!”

Prosecutor Swartz stood. “Objection, Your Honor! The counselor is badgering the witness!”

“Sustained!” Counselor, you are out of line!” Judge Fritz had been wondering when Prosecutor Swartz was going to object. He didn’t like the way Kyle was making accusations against the witness.

“No more questions, Your Honor!” Kyle walked back to his seat.

Kendall stood and approached the witness. “Ms. Bingham, was my client, Dante Reed, involved with this alleged welfare fraud?”

“No.” Shakeeda was still crying. She wiped her eyes with a tissue that one of the bailiffs handed to her.

“Have you ever seen him around Diamond and her so-called henchmen?”

“No.”

“Ms. Bingham, do you know if my client Dante Reed is or was involved with any illegal doings with Diamond Reed?”

“No.”

“Thank you, Ms. Bingham. No more questions, Your Honor.” Kendall walked back to his seat. He glanced at his brother and could see the stress all over his face.

Kyle wanted to crawl under a rock. This was major. The witness had revealed that she herself was involved with the crimes Diamond was being tried for, so she made a very credible witness for the state. Diamond had caused a scene in the courtroom, which didn’t look good for her at all, and he had run out of witnesses. All he could do was ride it out on a wing and a prayer.

Kendall, however, was confident that he could plead temporary insanity for his client on the murder charge and get Dante off with minimal years.

THIRTY-FOUR

Surprise Witness

“Counselor, do you have another witness?”

“Yes, Your Honor.” Prosecutor Swartz looked down at her legal pad. “I’d like to call Waheed Akbar Dupree to the stand,” she said, mispronouncing his name terribly. She then looked into the audience, as she herself had never met the witness.

Kyle and Kendall looked around the courtroom, but when no one stood, the two men looked at each other, perplexed.