Fatal Conceit (48 page)

“How'd she react to that?”

“I don't think she believed me at first,” Lee said. “It wasn't like she was a call girl who knew the score. So my offer came out of the blue. But I knew she was hurting for money and also wanted to go to law school someday. I thought there was a chance she'd go for it. Ariel's a good-looking guy for his age, and rich. But she just laughed it off and went home.”

“Did she eventually agree to go out with Mr. Shimon?”

“Yes. He wooed her and she went out with him.”

“Did they eventually become lovers?”

“Yes, after several dates.”

“And was she paid?”

“I think it surprised her, but yes, I told her that the money had been deposited in her account.”

“Why do you think it surprised her? Wasn't that what she'd been told?”

“Well, yes, but I think she genuinely liked Ariel and went out with him for the fun of it.”

“And did she eventually report any of this ‘pillow talk' that the defendant, Rod Fauhomme, was interested in?”

“Yes. She wasn't comfortable doing that, but I convinced her it was harmless, like getting a tip for the stock market before everyone else.”

“And what would you do with that information?”

“I would tell Rod,” Lee replied. “He said that as soon as I heard from her—or any of the other girls, for that matter—I was supposed to tell him. He'd get angry if I forgot or put it off.”

“Why was Fauhomme interested in what Mr. Shimon had to say?”

Lee shrugged. “He didn't tell me specifically. But he had a
couple of drinks once when we were alone and he said that Ariel was a big-shot Israeli defense contractor and trying to get into politics. He said that Israelis have a big influence on Jewish voters in this country and it was important to keep him happy.”

“You said that Jenna Blair seemed shocked, or surprised, when you told her money was in her account. Did she give the money back?”

“No. She kept it. She told me later that she knew he was married and going back to Israel so she was just a fling for him and she got some money for law school and a good time out of it. It was a win-win for both sides.”

“And did Mr. Shimon eventually return to Israel?”

“Yes. I believe he was here for a few weeks, maybe a month.”

“And what was Miss Blair's reaction to his leaving?”

“I think she was hurt,” Lee said. “Especially the way he did it. He gave her an expensive bracelet and basically said, ‘Thanks for the good times, don't contact me, good-bye.' And that was it.”

“Did Miss Blair attend any more parties and agree to go out with any other men?”

“Not at first,” Lee said. “But eventually I talked her into it. She was sort of picky about the men she'd see; if she didn't like them or wasn't attracted, she wouldn't go out with them. I don't think she was ever really comfortable with it, but she wanted to go to law school and didn't see another way.”

Fauhomme was relieved when Karp walked away from the defense table to stand at the jury rail. “Did you know General Sam Allen?”

Lee nodded. “I knew who he was from television, and then I met him over the Fourth of July weekend at Rod's beach house on Long Island. Rod had a big party and Sam was one of the guests.”

“Was Jenna Blair also present at this party?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how she came to be there?”

“I don't know the specifics, but a little while before the party—
maybe a week—Rod asked me to have her stop by my apartment so that he could talk to her in private. He even made me leave. All I know for sure is that she was at the party and I didn't invite her.”

“Was she there to meet General Allen?”

“Yes. Rod did tell me to make sure they were introduced and seated next to each other at the dinner table. He also told me to let her know that Allen was going for a run on the beach in the morning and that she should use that opportunity to spend more time with him.”

“So you understood that this was a setup for Miss Blair to meet General Allen?”

“Yes. I knew what was happening.”

“And was this setup successful?”

Lee nodded again. “Yes, but in ways I don't think even Rod thought it would be. It was clear from the beginning that they liked each other. Sam was in great shape and Jenna runs and surfs and climbs mountains . . . just his kind of girl. And he was handsome, charming, smart, and, I think, lonely. If it wasn't love at first sight, it was close.”

“Did Jenna Blair and Sam Allen establish a relationship?”

“Yes. They began seeing each other . . . dating.”

“And was Jenna Blair paid for this as well?”

Lee shook her head. “No. She told Rod she didn't want the money and that she was done.”

“How do you know?”

“Sam and Jenna spent the second night together that weekend at Rod's beach house. After Sam left in the morning, Rod went to talk to Jenna to see how it went. When he came back to the main house, he was pissed off and swearing up a storm. He said, ‘That little whore has decided to develop a conscience at the wrong time. Talk some sense into her.' ”

“Those were his words? ‘That little whore has decided to develop a conscience at the wrong time'?”

“Yes. His exact words.”

“And he told you to talk some sense into her?”

Lee nodded. “Yes. So I met her for lunch. She said that after the night at the beach house she didn't expect to hear from Sam. She thought he wouldn't want to have anything to do with her now that they'd . . . now that they'd slept together. But he'd called a couple of days later, and they'd been seeing each other ever since. She was obviously head-over-heels. So I went back and told Rod that she wasn't going to spy for him and didn't want his money.”

“How did Rod—the defendant, Fauhomme—take the news?”

“He'd been drinking and got angry. He said it was my fault.”

As Karp continued questioning Lee, Fauhomme noted how the prosecutor had to tiptoe around one subject. He'd been charged with domestic violence for hitting Lee the night of the election. The District of Columbia prosecutor had put off going to trial until the New York case was over, but in one of the few “victories” won by his lawyers, Karp wasn't allowed to mention the assault charge.

“What, if anything, did the defendant, Fauhomme, do after that in regard to Ms. Blair's refusal to participate further in his scheme?” Karp asked.

“He thought about it for a little while. Then he said he had a Plan B.”

“Do you know what Plan B entailed?”

“Not exactly, except I know it involved Ray Baum.”

Karp walked over to the prosecution table and picked up a photograph. “Can you identify the man in this photograph, People's Exhibit 25?” he asked, holding it up so that she could see it.

“That's Baum.”

“What was Mr. Baum's relationship with the defendant, Fauhomme?”

“Basically, his right-hand man,” Lee answered. “He traveled with him. He'd stay in a hotel near my place whenever Rod was with me. He was sort of a bodyguard, but he did a lot of stuff. Anything Rod needed done, Baum did it.”

“You said you know that the defendant's Plan B involved Mr. Baum. How do you know that?”

“Because after he got done . . .” At a look from Karp, Lee changed what she was going to say to, “After he got mad at me, he called Baum and told him to come over. When Baum got to my place, they went back into the office. They didn't close the door all the way and I heard Rod tell Baum to get photographs of Sam and Jenna together.”

“Is that all?”

“That's all I heard. One of them closed the door the rest of the way.”

“When was this?” Karp asked.

Lee thought about it for a moment then replied, “Well, sometime after the Fourth of July party. I remember it took a little time before I could get together with Jenna, and by that time she'd been going out with Sam for . . . I don't know, a few weeks. So late July? Early August?”

Karp nodded. “Let me skip ahead a little bit to October,” he said. “Was there an occasion when you walked in on a conversation the defendant, Fauhomme, was having in the office of his home in Washington, D.C., with the defendant, Lindsey?”

Lee looked over at the defense table and frowned. “Yes. I knew he was talking to Lindsey and Ray Baum. They'd both come over about noon.”

“Was anyone else present?”

“Well, not in his office. But two of Lindsey's men were parked outside and one of them came to the door once.”

“Okay, so explain to the jury why you entered the room.”

“Well, I was walking past the office when I heard Rod yelling.”

“What, if anything, was he saying?”

“I heard him yell, ‘Wrong! They're not fucking Al Qaeda!' It got a little muffled but then I heard a loud bang, so I decided to poke my head in and see what was going on.”

“What, if anything, did you see?”

“I saw Rod, Tucker Lindsey, and Ray Baum watching the television.”

“Could you tell what they were watching?”

“Not exactly. It was black and white, maybe some green. I could see little white images of what looked like tiny people running around on it. I didn't get much of a chance to see it.”

“Why not?”

“Rod screamed at me to get out. He could be a real bastard sometimes and treated me like crap,” she said.

Fauhomme felt his face flushing and swallowed hard when his former girlfriend, the one he'd imagined crawling back to him, shot him a hate-filled look. “He thinks I'm stupid, but I'm not. I listened and I saw a lot of what was going on around me.”

“Did you leave the room?”

“After he screamed at me, yes, of course.”

“Was this about the time one of the men who'd been waiting outside came to the door?”

“Yes, it was right after that. He knocked on the door and said he needed to speak to Tucker Lindsey right away. I showed him to the office. He knocked on the door and Rod shouted, ‘Now what?' He probably thought it was me. But the guy opened the door.”

“Did you hear anything about what he had to say?”

“I was standing a little behind him where Rod couldn't see me,” Lee said. “I heard him say that he had a message or something about Chechnya, but then he went in and shut the door behind him.”

“Did he stay long?”

“No, just a couple of minutes. He left without saying anything, but he gave me kind of a funny look on the way out.”

Standing against the rail in front of the jurors, Karp looked over as Fauhomme shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “You said this man mentioned something about Chechnya,” the prosecutor said. “Was there something about Chechnya that you later associated with what you saw on the television?”

Lee nodded. “Yeah, that was the day that attack happened over there . . . the one where some Americans got killed and some others got taken.”

“By ‘over there,' do you mean in Chechnya?”

“Yes, Chechnya.”

“What was the defendant Fauhomme's reaction to the events in Chechnya?”

Fauhomme winced every time Karp described him as “the defendant,” which was just about any chance he got. It wasn't just a description, it was an accusation the tall man hurled at him.

“Oh, he was pissed off,” Lee said. “It was only a little before the presidential elections and I'd hear him muttering to himself about how all the ‘idiots were going to fuck it all up.' I was around a lot then—he liked to take me to all the dinner parties and events to show me off—and he was always having these little conversations, and I'd overhear things. Like about Chechnya. And Al Qaeda. He was real uptight if somebody brought up Al Qaeda. I remember we were having a small reception at my place and this tough-guy actor made a joke about the ghost of Al Qaeda attacking us in Chechnya, and Rod went through the roof. He told the guy to follow him out to the balcony, then closed the door; but me and all the other guests could see that he was yelling at the poor guy.”

Karp walked over to stand in front of Lee. “Did Sam Allen ever come up in the conversations about Chechnya?”

“Yes, Rod was mad because Allen was causing problems . . . that's what he said, ‘That fucker's causing problems.' ”

“What, if anything, did the defendant, Fauhomme, ask you to do in regard to General Allen?”

“He told me to call Jenna and find out what Allen was saying about Chechnya and who he was talking to.”

“And did you?”

“I called her and asked in a sort of roundabout way if Sam ever said much of anything about Chechnya. But she wouldn't say and
told me that if I wanted to stay friends, I'd quit trying to get her to spy on him.”

“Was there some other mention of Sam Allen in regard to Chechnya between the two defendants, Mr. Fauhomme and Mr. Lindsey?”

As he spoke, Karp walked back toward the defense table. Fauhomme watched him come over and tried to look defiant as his enemy approached.
Don't let them see you're afraid
, he thought.
But you are afraid
, the voice in his head replied.
You are very afraid.

“Yeah, there was some meeting he went to . . . I think at Lindsey's office. I could tell he was worried when he came back from that meeting.”

“How could you tell?”

“Well, for one thing he called Ray Baum to come over. I could tell Rod was sort of scared or nervous so I was paying attention. I listened at his office door when he told Ray to follow Allen. He said, ‘If he drinks a cup of coffee, I want to know about it, and who he's drinking it with.' ”

“How did you learn that Sam Allen had died?” Karp asked, looking from Fauhomme to Lindsey and then back at the witness stand.