The TRIBUNAL by Peter B. Robinson Read Free Book Online Page A

replied, “We deal with these things all the time. There is no problem. It is most unusual for a witness to have counsel, however.”
        “I’m really just trying to help him out,” Kevin said in a conciliatory tone. “Perhaps you can explain how you will address his concerns and we can get on with the interview.”
        “Yes, well, I’ll have Mr. Stone come back here and do that. Good day.”
        With that, Oswald turned and left the room.
        Bradford Stone appeared a few minutes later. “I understand I’m to give you a lecture in witness procedures,” he said sarcastically to Kevin. He sat down and explained that Nihudian’s identity would not be revealed to anyone other than the defense lawyers and that he would be referred to in court by letter and not name. There would be no need to tell the Bosnian Embassy that Nihudian was testifying.
        Kevin was anxious to smooth over any feathers that were ruffled, and Nihudian appeared to be satisfied with the prosecutor’s assurances.
        Jacobson again opened the notebook. “Can we go ahead now, counselor?” he asked Kevin, a hint of bitterness in his voice.
        “Sure.”
        Nihudian identified his writing in the notebook and explained how the notebooks were prepared simultaneously while he was listening to the Bosnian Serb Army radio communications.
        Jacobson and Stone seemed satisfied, and ended the interview in half an hour.
        “You cannot go back into Courtroom 2 until after you’ve testified,” Stone instructed Nihudian. “You’ll be testifying a week from tomorrow. In the meantime, the defense attorneys might contact you for an interview. There’s no need to talk to them.”
        Kevin bristled. Where he came from it was unethical for a prosecutor to discourage a witness from talking to the defense.
        “We’ll make that decision if and when he’s asked,” Kevin asserted.
        Stone shot him a cold look. “Be in the lobby promptly at 8:30 in the morning next Wednesday,” he said to Nihudian.
        Kevin hoped that now that Nihudian had proven to be a useful witness, his own standing with the prosecutor would improve. He wanted to end their meeting on a good note. “I’ll just watch Nihudian’s testimony from the visitors’ gallery,” he told Stone as they were leaving.
        Stone stopped and turned to Kevin.
        “Yes, do that,” he said, his voice dripping with scorn. “You won’t be seeing the inside of the courtroom anytime soon. Your career here as a prosecutor is over before it even started. Pity.”
        With that said, Bradford Stone stormed away.
        

CHAPTER 4
        
        That night, Diane hurried to get ready to go out with some of her new friends from the library, so Kevin said nothing to her about his disastrous day at the Tribunal.
        After Diane left, Ellen insisted that they play Harry Potter. For more than an hour, Kevin pretended to be an eleven-year-old English boy, accent and all, while Ellen played the role of Harry’s friend, Hermione. After many miscues on Kevin’s part, which Ellen patiently corrected, they once again defeated the forces of the Dark Lord just in time for bed.
        “Daddy!” Ellen cried excitedly as he tucked her in. “The new Harry Potter book comes out tomorrow. You’ve got to get it for me! It’s over seven hundred pages!”
        Ellen was a voracious reader and the Harry Potter series was her absolute favorite.
        “I guess we won’t be hearing from you once you get your hands on that.”
        “Let’s have father-daughter talk,” Ellen said, snuggling under her covers.
        “Okay. What about?”
        “Let’s talk about how our days went.” Ellen bounced up in the bed. “I’ll go first. At camp, we made cranes and bats by folding paper. It was cool. It’s called origami. And we played a game called wood crick. It’s kind of like cricket. Then