Read Online Glitsky 01 - Certain Justice, A by John Lescroart - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: John Lescroart
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in San Francisco. With me is a gentleman identifying himself as Paul Westberg, a freelance photojournalist, Caucasian male, born March 4, 1971. This interview is pursuant to an investigation of case number 950867731. Today's date is June 29, Wednesday, at 0825 hours on the AM.'
Glitsky was going to do it by the book, as a regular interview conducted in the course of a murder investigation. He sat across from Westberg at a small pitted wooden table, a tape recorder switched on between them. After walking through the standard battery of questions, again going over the basics of what Westberg claimed he had seen the night before, they got down to the crux of it:
Q: So the crowd was yelling 'pull, pull!' Something like that. And what happened then?
A: Well, this man was pulling on him, hanging on him, like in the picture.
Q: He was pulling on the hanging man, pulling him down?
A: Yes.
Q: How do you know that?
A: [Pause.] Well, it was obvious.
Q: That's my question, Mr Westberg. How was it obvious? Look at this picture. [Glitsky had the late edition of the morning
Chronicle
in the room.] The man has one arm around the victim, another holding up what appears to be a knife.
A: It
was
a knife. He had it at the guy's throat.
Q: Okay. Then what?
A: Then what
What
!
Q: Then what happened?
A: I took the picture. Two of them.
Q: In quick succession?
A: Yes.
Q: Have you seen the other one?
A: Yeah, sure. I developed them both at home. It didn't come out as good.
Q: Do you mean it wasn't dramatic, or there was some technical problem – focus, lighting, like that?
A: No, there wasn't a technical problem. It was only, like, two seconds away from this one. Basically the same picture, just not as good.
Q: All right, let's go on. After you took these pictures, what did you do?
A: I ran. The crowd reacted a little to the flash. A couple of guys started coming for me. I thought they were going to smash the camera, maybe me, too, so I ran.
Q: You used a flash? A: Yeah. It was in shadow, the street, near sunset, maybe right after.
Q: So how long in total were you there, witnessing all this?
A: I don't know. A minute, ninety seconds, something like that. It was pretty scary, crazy.
Q: And before you snapped your picture, did you happen to notice this man who you say was pulling on the victim?
A: He
was
pulling on the victim. Look, that's what the lady downstairs told me, too. She said stick by my story. I thought you guys were on the same side.
Q: The lady downstairs, Ms Wager?
A: Yeah, that was her.
Q: She told you to stick by your story? Which story?
A: That he was pulling down on the guy ...
Q: Well, is that a story or is it what happened?
A: [Pause.] It's what happened. It's what I saw. The picture shows it plain as day – look!
Q: [Pause.] If he was holding on with two hands and his feet were off the ground . . . but you're saying you
saw
him pull down. That's your testimony?
A: Well, what else could it have been? He was in the mob ... [Pause.] Yes, that's my testimony.
15
Melanie was crying. 'Cindy told them.'
'Cindy told them
what
, Melanie?'
'Who you were.'
'
What
? Why? Why did she do that?' But he knew. 'How did she...?'
'I called her, Kevin. Oh, God. I needed somebody, I just felt so bad, Kevin. I needed to talk to
somebody
...'
'I've told you a hundred times, Cindy is not your friend.' But this was a stupid discussion, he decided. 'Anyway, thanks for the tip—'
'Kevin, don't—'
'Don't! You tell
me
don't!'
She was crying. It tore at him, and he realized he still cared about her, didn't want to hurt her, but now she'd gone and done this ...
'Kevin, I'm so sorry. I love you, I still love you and I can help you. You can come stay here—'
'Why would I need to come stay there, Melanie?'
'Cindy ... Cindy told them where you live.'
He took the receiver away from his ear and stared at it. This was too bizarre.
Goddamn Cindy. Kevin, this is where the dick leads you. That one night
Glitsky was going to do it by the book, as a regular interview conducted in the course of a murder investigation. He sat across from Westberg at a small pitted wooden table, a tape recorder switched on between them. After walking through the standard battery of questions, again going over the basics of what Westberg claimed he had seen the night before, they got down to the crux of it:
Q: So the crowd was yelling 'pull, pull!' Something like that. And what happened then?
A: Well, this man was pulling on him, hanging on him, like in the picture.
Q: He was pulling on the hanging man, pulling him down?
A: Yes.
Q: How do you know that?
A: [Pause.] Well, it was obvious.
Q: That's my question, Mr Westberg. How was it obvious? Look at this picture. [Glitsky had the late edition of the morning
Chronicle
in the room.] The man has one arm around the victim, another holding up what appears to be a knife.
A: It
was
a knife. He had it at the guy's throat.
Q: Okay. Then what?
A: Then what
What
!
Q: Then what happened?
A: I took the picture. Two of them.
Q: In quick succession?
A: Yes.
Q: Have you seen the other one?
A: Yeah, sure. I developed them both at home. It didn't come out as good.
Q: Do you mean it wasn't dramatic, or there was some technical problem – focus, lighting, like that?
A: No, there wasn't a technical problem. It was only, like, two seconds away from this one. Basically the same picture, just not as good.
Q: All right, let's go on. After you took these pictures, what did you do?
A: I ran. The crowd reacted a little to the flash. A couple of guys started coming for me. I thought they were going to smash the camera, maybe me, too, so I ran.
Q: You used a flash? A: Yeah. It was in shadow, the street, near sunset, maybe right after.
Q: So how long in total were you there, witnessing all this?
A: I don't know. A minute, ninety seconds, something like that. It was pretty scary, crazy.
Q: And before you snapped your picture, did you happen to notice this man who you say was pulling on the victim?
A: He
was
pulling on the victim. Look, that's what the lady downstairs told me, too. She said stick by my story. I thought you guys were on the same side.
Q: The lady downstairs, Ms Wager?
A: Yeah, that was her.
Q: She told you to stick by your story? Which story?
A: That he was pulling down on the guy ...
Q: Well, is that a story or is it what happened?
A: [Pause.] It's what happened. It's what I saw. The picture shows it plain as day – look!
Q: [Pause.] If he was holding on with two hands and his feet were off the ground . . . but you're saying you
saw
him pull down. That's your testimony?
A: Well, what else could it have been? He was in the mob ... [Pause.] Yes, that's my testimony.
15
Melanie was crying. 'Cindy told them.'
'Cindy told them
what
, Melanie?'
'Who you were.'
'
What
? Why? Why did she do that?' But he knew. 'How did she...?'
'I called her, Kevin. Oh, God. I needed somebody, I just felt so bad, Kevin. I needed to talk to
somebody
...'
'I've told you a hundred times, Cindy is not your friend.' But this was a stupid discussion, he decided. 'Anyway, thanks for the tip—'
'Kevin, don't—'
'Don't! You tell
me
don't!'
She was crying. It tore at him, and he realized he still cared about her, didn't want to hurt her, but now she'd gone and done this ...
'Kevin, I'm so sorry. I love you, I still love you and I can help you. You can come stay here—'
'Why would I need to come stay there, Melanie?'
'Cindy ... Cindy told them where you live.'
He took the receiver away from his ear and stared at it. This was too bizarre.
Goddamn Cindy. Kevin, this is where the dick leads you. That one night
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