DECKER MUNCHED ON his bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. Meanwhile, Jamison and Bogart were reading the articles on the laptop about Melvin Mars.
Bogart finally looked up and said, “Fascinating stuff, but that’s not really in our jurisdiction, Amos.”
Decker finished eating, took a final swallow of coffee, rolled up the wrapper, and made a three-pointer into the trash can next to the kitchen counter.
“What exactly is our jurisdiction, then?”
In answer Bogart opened up the briefcase and pulled out a large binder. He handed this to Decker. “I’ve already given Alex hers. These are the cases we’re considering. Read up on them. We’ll discuss them later at our meeting.”
“We’re here now. We’re meeting now.”
Bogart said, “There are two other members of the team.”
Jamison said, “I’ve met one of them, Amos, you’re going to like her.”
Decker kept his gaze on Bogart, who said, “So you knew this Melvin Mars?”
“I played against him in college. The only words I can remember saying to him were, ‘Sonofabitch, how’d you do that?’”
“He was that good?”
“He was the best I’d ever seen.”
Jamison said, “Well, he might be getting out of prison. That’s a good thing,”
“If he’s innocent,” amended Decker.
“Well, yes, of course.”
“I doubt they’ll release him unless they’re absolutely sure,” pointed out Bogart.
Decker gestured to the laptop. “Did you know that there are hundreds of people released each year from prison because they’ve been found to be innocent?”
“A small percentage considering the number of people incarcerated,” replied Bogart, who was looking a bit impatient.
Decker said, “It’s estimated that two and a half to five percent of all prisoners in the U.S. are innocent. That’s about twenty thousand people. DNA testing was first used in court cases in 1985. Since that time, three hundred and thirty prisoners have been exonerated by DNA. But DNA testing is possible in only about seven percent of all cases. And in twenty-five percent of the cases where it was used, the FBI was able to exclude the suspect, so the percentage of prisoners who are innocent might be higher. Maybe a lot higher.”
“I can see that you’ve done some research on this,” said Bogart dryly.
A long silence ensued.
“Decker,” said Bogart. “This is not really what we do. We investigate cold cases in order to try to find a killer.”
“What if Mars isn’t the killer?”
“Then this Montgomery guy is.”
“What if he’s not either?”
“Why would a man confess to a—” Bogart stopped and looked a bit embarrassed. “Okay, since that’s exactly what happened in your case, I can see your point. But still.”
“Can it at least be considered by the…team?” asked Decker.
Bogart mulled this for a few moments. “My plan was to let the team examine a number of possible cases and then vote on which ones to undertake. I have that flexibility.”
“And can we lobby on behalf of certain cases?” asked Jamison.
“I don’t see why not,” said Bogart. “I like democracy as much as the next person,” he added with a smile.
“I think we should take this case on,” said Decker stubbornly.
“And we can lobby the others to do that, Amos,” said Jamison quickly. “Like Agent Bogart said.”
Decker stared down at the laptop. Both Bogart and Jamison watched him.
They knew that Decker was stubborn and inflexible when he had made up his mind. They also knew he couldn’t help it. It was just who he was.
Bogart said, “Since you arrived early, I’ve changed the meeting time to two this afternoon instead of tomorrow.” He looked over Decker’s rumpled clothes and unkempt hair. “We’ll give you time to clean up and then we’ll pick you up about a quarter till and drive you over. It’s not that far.”
Decker looked down at his wrinkled clothes. He was about to say something, but then he nodded dumbly and stared back down at his laptop.
Bogart rose, but Jamison remained seated. When he looked at her inquiringly she said, “I’ll meet you back here.”
He glanced at Decker and nodded curtly. “Amos, it’s good to have you on board.”
Decker continued to stare at his laptop.
Bogart turned and left.
Jamison glanced at Decker. “Lots of changes,” she said. “In a short period of time.”
He shrugged.
“What is really fascinating you about the Mars case?” she asked. “Because you played football against him?”
“I don’t like people just showing up out of the blue and confessing to a crime.”
“Like what happened in your family’s case?”
Decker closed the laptop and leaned back in his chair. “Tell me about the other ‘team’ members.”
“I’ve only met one of them. Lisa Davenport. She’s a clinical psychologist from Chicago. She’s in her late thirties and very nice. Very professional.”
“How is all this going to work?” asked Decker.
“Like Bogart said, we vote on the cases to take.”
“But someone has to put the cases we’re going to vote on together. So there’s a preselection by someone.”
“Well, that’s true.” She pointed to his binder. “In there. Fascinating stuff. But you can add this Mars case. Bogart said so.”
“He didn’t actually say that. He said the case was out of his jurisdiction. He said we could lobby the others to take it. But if I get voted out, we don’t take it.” He looked at her. “Do I have your vote?”
“Of course you do, Amos.”
He looked away. “I appreciate that.”
Jamison looked surprised. Decker didn’t usually acknowledge things like that.
“Do you want to get cleaned up?” She added diplomatically, “I know it was a long drive. And you apparently drove straight through.”
“I did. And, yeah, I should clean up some. But I don’t have many clothes.”
“We can go shopping if you want, before the meeting.”
“Maybe after.”
“Anytime, Amos. I’m ready to help.”
“You don’t have to be this nice to me.”
Jamison knew that, unlike other people, Decker was being quite literal.
“I figure we both had big changes in our lives, and we need to stick together. There might be a case down the road I want to take. And then I’d need your support, right?”
Decker looked at her thoughtfully and nodded. “You’re more complicated than you make yourself out to be.”
“One can only hope,” she said, smiling weakly.