Bonguard: “Right now, as you can imagine, everything is a bit sketchy. From what I understand the cops are still in the hotel room as we speak, looking for evidence. They’re being very careful. I don’t think anybody knows exactly what happened or why, at least not yet.”
Leno: “Except for the murderer.”
Bonguard: “Well, yes.”
Leno: “It’s just crazy. Do you have any idea why he might have been killed? Do you think it had to do with the book?”
The host props up a copy of Scarborough ’s book on the desk as the camera focuses in. Perpetual Slaves: The Branding of America’s Black Race. The camera cuts to the author’s photograph from the book’s dust cover.
Bonguard: “Certainly I think the police have got to be looking at that possibility. There had been a great deal of controversy over the work. I know that Terry had received death threats in the mail.”
Leno: “Really?”
Bonguard: “Oh, yes. Anytime you write a book that involves politics or social controversy, you’re bound to get some hate mail. But in this case it was more than usual, mostly anonymous.”
Leno: “Those would have been turned over to the police, right?”
Bonguard: “Oh, I’m sure. Most of them were in the hands of the publisher. But they would be turned over, if they haven’t already been.”
Leno: “It’s certainly a very important book. I read it last week before all this happened, and it’s stunning. I mean, I’m not a lawyer, but I never realized that the language of slavery was still right there in the Constitution. I’m sure most Americans don’t know that. I’m surprised that somebody hadn’t brought this to public attention before this.”
Bonguard: “Terry thought the same thing. He was surprised that it had never been exposed in this way. Of course, that’s only part of it…”
“This is the good part,” says Harry. “Listen to this.”
Bonguard: “There was more. He was going to do another book based on a historic document that went right to the core of the controversy over slavery. He didn’t write about it in this book because he was planning a follow-up, a sequel. He was preparing to expose some kind of deal that was cut at the time the Constitution was first written. According to what Terry told me, it involved slavery and a number of prominent historic figures, men who were involved in crafting the Constitution.”
Leno: “A deal? What kind of deal?”
Bonguard: “That, I don’t know. That’s why this letter was so important.”
Leno: “Do we know who wrote this letter?”
Bonguard: “Well, I don’t know that I can say too much more at this time-other than to say that the letter was important to an understanding of the history of slavery in America.”
Leno: “Well, that would be pretty important. How did your client, Mr. Scarborough, get this letter?”
Bonguard: “Again, I can’t say.”
Leno: “Do you have this letter?”
Bonguard: “No. In fact, I’ve not seen it. Terry referred to it several times in conversations that we had. According to what I understand, he had it in his possession, or at least a copy.”
Leno: “He had it with him when he was killed?”
Bonguard: “I don’t know.”
Leno: “So I assume the police must have it now?”
Bonguard: “I don’t know.”
“Wow.” Leno turns away from his guest to look directly at the camera. “Well, you heard it here first, folks. A real bona fide murder mystery. You will keep us informed?”
“Absolutely,” says Bonguard.
Leno rises from his chair and shakes Bonguard’s hand. “We’ll have to have you back.” There are a few muddled words exchanged between the two of them. The audience begins to applaud as the screen flickers and then goes dark.
“That’s everything,” says Harry.
“What about the letter?” I ask. “It sounds like the same thing Scarborough was talking about in his speech-the promise to deliver in the next book, the fiery rhetoric of some big secret.”
“The cops don’t have it,” says Harry. “No record of it listed in any of the materials seized from the hotel room or from Scarborough’s apartment in D.C.”
“Have the cops questioned this guy Mr. Bonguard?”
“More than that,” says Harry. He flips me two pages stapled together, what appear to be photocopies of some handwritten notes. “San Diego homicide sent a detective back to interview him, and the detective took notes. They never even typed them up, just ran copies out of his notebook and threw them in the pile with the other items from our first discovery request. Obviously they must have thought that it wasn’t very important. Otherwise they would have never taken notes, or sanitized them so we wouldn’t see them.”
Interview: Date: 7-26
(V)ictim: T. Scarborough
(S)ubject: R. Bonguard
“Second page,” says Harry. He reaches across the table and points with his pen. “Right here.”
S. told detective has no idea who might have killed V. Much hate mail following book. Racial orientation. Some death threats. Most are anonymous. Talk to publisher. Check to see if suspect is on record writing. See if any e-mails.
S. mentioned letter…(J letter). Unclear. S. says J letter impetus for entire book ‘Perpetual Slaves.’ S. says J letter what prompted V. to write book in first place. S. asked if we had letter. S. no idea of location of letter, never saw it.
“Am I understanding this? Bonguard is telling them that without this letter, the J letter, Scarborough would never have written Perpetual Slaves?”
“That’s what the cop’s notes seem to say,” says Harry.
“I don’t get it. The book made a fortune. There’s nothing about any letter in it, and yet according to Bonguard the letter is what drove the book?” I look at Harry.
“And Scarborough threatens to unveil the letter in the next book. The one he’ll never write,” says Harry. “And if the cops didn’t find this letter, could be that whoever killed Scarborough took it.”
“Why didn’t we see more in the press on this following the Leno show? Bonguard talked about the letter there.”
“Because by then the cops had already arrested our man, that afternoon, as Bonguard was sitting in the studio taping the show. The arrest took the edge off of everything else. The media wasn’t interested in any sideshow. The cops had their man. That’s probably why the police never followed up on any of this. Since they didn’t find the letter on Arnsberg or in his apartment, to them it’s irrelevant,” says Harry.
Certainly it didn’t fit the theory of the state’s case. “Get everything you can on this letter, who wrote it, when, its contents. Get a copy if you can. And find out if Scarborough made any notes referencing it. We’ll need to lay a foundation if we want to get it into evidence.”
“You’re thinking what I am,” says Harry. “Historic letter, probably a collector’s item. If so, it might have been worth a bundle.”
Like every good defense lawyer, Harry is centering on plausible alternative theories for murder.
“One thing is for sure. Our guy wasn’t found with any letter when they arrested him. Fact is, I doubt if he can read,” says Harry. “We might want to talk to an expert, find out what something like that might be worth if it were sold. The letter, I mean.”
Right behind passion, money is always the easiest motive to peddle before a jury when it comes to murder.
“It’s possible. It’s also possible somebody didn’t want the letter to see the light of day, if, as they both claim, this letter is a smoking gun giving rise to slavery in the land of the free.”
“You think somebody would kill to keep from tarnishing a burnished image?” asks Harry.