“He surely did,” Holloway said. He walked back to the table. “As you might imagine, there was a lot of blood when the man attacked the fuzzys, and the fuzzys attacked back. I had it tested. Most of it was fuzzy blood, of course, considering the gunshots and the vicious physical attack. But enough of it was human.” “Ms. Meyer?” Soltan said.
“The plaintiff is collecting and processing his own DNA evidence, Your Honor?” Meyer asked.
“I’m accusing a ZaraCorp security officer of arson and destruction of property,” Holloway said. “And it’s a small security detail here. I have good reason to doubt that any material collected and processed by them will be compromised. And in point of fact the DNA evidence was collected and processed by the same ZaraCorp biology lab that would process DNA evidence for the security office, not by me. I just eliminated the middleman.” “Was the blood taken from the floor of Mr. Holloway’s compound?” Meyer asked.
Soltan looked at Holloway. “Yes,” he said.
“The compound floor was flooded with fire suppressant,” Meyer said. “The chemicals in the suppressant would dilute and degrade the blood. Any DNA report from that source would be suspect.” “My colleague is absolutely correct,” Holloway said, and noted the slight flare Meyer had at the implication that he was her colleague. He reached under the table, where he had stored a sturdy cooler. He hauled it up on the table. “Fortunately, we also have DNA from tissue samples.” Holloway started undoing the lid latches.
“Tissue samples from what?” Soltan asked.
“Not from what,” Holloway said. He opened the lid. “From whom.”
And with that Holloway reached into the cooler and gently removed Pinto. He placed the fuzzy’s corpse on the table. Meyer gasped in spite of herself.
“Bringing a corpse into the courtroom was not necessary, Mr. Holloway,” Soltan said, sharply.
“With all due respect, Your Honor, I disagree,” Holloway said. “If I had not, I doubt Ms. Meyer would accept the authenticity of the evidence, of which there are two types.” Holloway held up Pinto’s small hand. “First, human skin and blood underneath the fuzzy’s nails.” Holloway set the hand back down, gently, and then reached into the cooler again, taking out a small jar. “Second, this bullet, taken out of this fuzzy.” He reached into his folder and extracted a third paper, then walked the bullet and the paper over to the judge. “Here’s my request to impound any and all handguns in Mr. DeLise’s possession, to perform a forensic analysis of their ballistics.” Soltan took both the bullet and the jar.
“That bullet could have come from anywhere,” Meyer said. “A bullet hole in the creature does not mean that particular bullet caused it.” “The bullet was extracted by ZaraCorp’s own biologist,” Holloway said. “She also ran the DNA tests and compared the results against samples in the employment database. I’m certain she would have been happy to testify.” Soltan looked up. “Would have been happy?” she asked.
“She’s been transferred Earthside,” Holloway said. “She’s on the same transport Mr. Sullivan was.” Soltan looked over to Meyer. “Ms. Meyer, is there any particular reason that the all the people who would be really useful to Mr. Holloway have suddenly been transferred off the planet?” she asked.
“I’m sure it’s coincidental,” Meyer said.
“Uh-huh,” Soltan said. “I’ll be having my clerks do another search and rescue so she can testify. In the meantime, Mr. Holloway, please put that body back into your container. I’m going to have to impound it for the time being.” “Yes, Your Honor,” Holloway said. He walked back to Pinto and gently returned the fuzzy to the cooler, the condenser of which hummed quietly after he closed the lid again. He walked the cooler over and set it down next to the judge.
“We should note that the biologist in question is Dr. Isabel Wangai,” Meyer said. “She has a past relationship with Mr. Holloway.” “Noted,” Soltan said. “It’s one reason I’m impounding the animal.” “Not an animal,” Holloway said.
“The creature,” Soltan corrected. “Happy, Mr. Holloway?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Holloway said.
“I will order an independent study of the DNA under the creature’s nails, and of the ballistics of Mr. DeLise’s weapons,” Soltan said.
“The body of the … creature has been in Mr. Holloway’s possession all this time,” Meyer said. “The evidence is almost certainly tainted.” “How?” Holloway asked, incredulously. “I somehow arranged to have Mr. DeLise’s flesh clawed off his body and then stuffed it under the fuzzy’s nails? That’s a little elaborate.” “The body is in my possession now and will be examined for any sign of tampering,” Soltan said. “Unless you have an objection with my doing so.” “No, Your Honor,” Meyer said.
“Now you see why I brought the body, Your Honor,” Holloway said. “Imagine what Ms. Meyer’s objections would have been without it.” “Stop grandstanding, Mr. Holloway,” Soltan said.
“Apologies, Your Honor,” Holloway said.
“We’ll take another half hour break while my clerk retrieves Dr. Wangai from the beanstalk,” Soltan said. She stood. “See you in thirty.” She returned to her chambers. Holloway sat at his table and watched Meyer and DeLise confer furiously.
Sullivan came up to the audience area directly behind the plaintiff table. “He doesn’t look very pleased,” he said to Holloway, nodding over to DeLise.
“That’s because he’s realized that the fuzzy he thought got eaten by a zararaptor has come back to haunt him,” Holloway said. “It’s finally getting into his thick skull that he just might have to go to trial on this, and if he actually goes to trial, he’s going to lose.” “And you’re enjoying that fact,” Sullivan said.
“Shit, yes,” Holloway said.
Sullivan smiled. “That’s the Jack Holloway I’ve come to know,” he said. “Always ready to revel in the cheap dig.” “It’s not cheap,” Holloway said. “It’s cost ZaraCorp six hundred billion so far.” “Not bad for a morning’s work,” Sullivan said.
“The day’s still young,” Holloway said.
“Here comes Janice,” Sullivan said. Holloway looked up. Meyer was standing over him.
“Let’s talk,” Meyer said.
“Of course,” Holloway said. He stood up, and the two of them walked out of the courtroom, leaving DeLise and Sullivan behind.
“This whole thing is getting out of hand,” Meyer said, as they stepped into a vacant conference room.
“You’re just saying that because I’m kicking your client’s ass with the evidence,” Holloway said.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Meyer said. “Making a show of an animal corpse in a preliminary hearing is one thing. But it’s the sort of thing I’m going to demolish in an actual trial. Shit, Holloway. You hanging on to that thing for a week? You really think I’m going to have a problem introducing reasonable doubt on that? Not to mention it’s morbid as hell.” “I see,” Holloway said. “So you want to do me a favor and save me the embarrassment of falling on my ass in a big-boy trial.” “Don’t do that,” Meyer said. “I know about you, Holloway. I know you used to do this for a living. I know you were good at it too, until you punched your client. And I know that you didn’t exactly punch your client out of passion, either. You did it for effect, and you got paid well for it, and that your time on this planet has been a sort of extended vacation for you. So, yeah, Holloway, I know you’re good. All right?” “Okay, better,” Holloway said.