“Fine,” Zach replied, “though I think they should have cut them up a lot more first. Those scum were trying to kill Susan! Fuck them. I’m sure that they’re rotting in the deepest depths of hell and that’s too good for them. I’m sure that you’re going to be joining them soon, asshole,” he said, looking directly at Quinn.
“Mr. Gary, please,” Judge Crenshaw said.
“What did you do next?” Mr. Smithers asked.
“Sheikh Hakeem gave us the use of his jet and we flew to The Gambia, to stay with a discrete friend of one of the sheikh’s business associates,” Zach replied. “After a couple of weeks there, it was time to fly back for this hearing.”
“And what happened when you got back here, Mr. Gary?” Mr. Smithers asked.
“I contacted an old MMA training buddy who is in the FBI, Liam O’Shea,” Zach replied. “That’s him in the back there. He met us at the airport and took us to a safe house and video-taped each of us telling our… tale. I convinced him that I could prove that Quinn had been behind everything and he got permission to assist me.”
“And what did you do?” Mr. Smithers asked.
“One of the foulest deeds of my life,” Zach replied, his voice almost breaking and tears forming in his eyes. “I-I cut Susan’s braid off so that I would have the bona fides necessary to meet with Quinn to get paid for killing Susan. Her hair had never been cut in her entire life. I’d kill you with my bare hands just for that, you fucking scum,” he shouted at Quinn, who quailed in his seat, his face devoid of color.
“Please continue, Mr. Gary,” Mr. Smithers said.
“I went to Quinn’s office and asked to see him,” Zach continued after getting his emotions under control. “I just told the receptionist to tell him that it was about a braid. The next thing I knew, this weasel of a man, Quinn’s chief of security, came to… greet me. I refused to tell him anything when he tried to question me and he led me to Quinn’s office. I then had Quinn kick him out of the office so that we could talk. When he left, I threw Susan’s braid onto his desk. I thought that he was going to cum in his pants, he got so excited. He couldn’t stop stroking it. He asked me where it had happened and I told him Oman, figuring that he had wondered what happened to his hit team there when he never heard from them again. Then I told him that I wanted my money, the $5 million. He called the weasel back into the office and told him to bring the bag. He came back with a gym bag full of bundles of $100 bills. I told him he could keep the briefcase and set it on his desk, then left.”
“Your Honor, this obvious fabrication is simply nonsense,” Mr. Jordan said. “There are no witnesses. By his own admission he had Mr. Kumms’ security chief thrown out of his office. Mr. Kumms categorically denies everything that has been alleged. It is all a lie, pure and simple. It seems further obvious to me, Your Honor, that Mr. Gary is very cleverly trying to set himself up for a handsome payday in return for his testimony.”
“Mr. Smithers?” Judge Crenshaw said when he noticed him raise a finger.
“Your Honor, if I could just recall FBI Special Agent O’Shea to testify, I believe that I can clear this up,” Mr. Smithers said.
“Agent O’Shea, will you please come forward?” Judge Crenshaw asked. “You are still under oath, sir,” he reminded him when he took a seat at the table, setting a large box on the floor next to him.
“Agent O’Shea,” Mr. Smithers began, “can you explain to this hearing how you assisted Mr. Gary in his plan to prove that Quinn Kumms was responsible for the attempted murder of his mother?”
“We wired Mr. Gary with an audio-visual wire,” Liam replied. “We also similarly wired the briefcase.”
There was a strangled cry and everyone looked over to see Quinn collapsed in his seat, his mouth hanging open, his eyes crazy, his whole body trembling.
“Mr. Jordan, is your client okay?” Judge Crenshaw asked.
“I-I don’t know, Your Honor,” Mr. Jordan replied, turning to Quinn and trying to get him under control.
“What else did you do, Agent O’Shea?” Mr. Smithers asked as Mr. Jordan continued to try to get Quinn to respond.
“We executed a second search warrant on the offices of the Kumms Corporation,” Liam replied.
“And were there any relevant results of that search warrant execution, Agent O’Shea?” Mr. Smithers asked.
“Yes, sir,” Liam said, reaching down and opening the box on the floor next to him. “We found the briefcase that we supplied Mr. Gary, and also this,” he added, placing Susan’s braid on the table.
“Oh, shit,” Mr. Jordan gasped, his face white.
“Mr. Kumms’ fingerprints are on the briefcase,” Liam said. “Also, I have brought with me the gym bag that Mr. Gary was given by Mr. Kumms,” he said, reaching down into the box and lifting it out and placing it on the table, then opening it to reveal all of the bundles of $100 bills. “Mr. Kumms’ fingerprints are also on this bag and on several of the $100 bills inside, which total exactly $5 million.”
Krista reached for Susan’s hand, feeling it tremble as she held it. Zach simply glared at Quinn.
“Your Honor, I would like to have Agent O’Shea play the results of the wire that Mr. Gary wore to his meeting with Mr. Kumms,” Mr. Smithers said. “I believe that will put to bed once and for all any suggestion of perjury on Mr. Gary’s part.”
“G-go ahead, Mr. Smithers,” Judge Crenshaw said, stunned. “You may proceed.”
Lauren came forward with a portable player with a color screen and placed it on the table so that everyone could see it before inserting a DVD and pressing the PLAY button. There was shocked silence as they watched and listened to exactly what Zach had experienced, the sounds of deep breathing the only thing that could be heard when the screen finally went blank. Brad Jordan was sitting back in his seat with his face in his hands.
“Your Honor, I believe that I have presented adequate enough evidence to ask for a ruling in favor of Mrs. Kumms’ petition to have Mr. Quinn Kumms removed from the Kumms Family Trust for reasons of moral turpitude as outlined in the Trust agreement,” Mr. Smithers said.
“Any objection, Mr. Jordan?” Judge Crenshaw asked, still visibly stunned by what he had seen and heard in the video.
“No-no objection, Your Honor,” Mr. Jordan replied with a sigh, shaking his head. “And I would like to apologize to all present for allowing this farce of a hearing to have taken place. I had no idea.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time a client has lied or not informed counsel of relevant information, Brad,” Mr. Smithers said. “You bear no fault because of your client’s actions.”
“The petition is hereby granted,” Judge Crenshaw said.