Murder in the Supreme Court

By Margaret Truman

Justice must be served when a chief clerk is killed in this mystery by the New York Times–bestselling author.
 
When Clarence Sutherland, chief clerk of the Supreme Court, is found dead, Lt. Martin Teller of the DC police and Susanna Pinscher of the Justice Department are pulled together to find the killer.
 
It turns out that Sutherland had a lot of confidential information on important people, and any one of them could be responsible for his death. But one startling clue seems to implicate the high court itself: Sutherland was found slumped over in the chief justice’s chair. Did the clerk know something that the top judge, and perhaps even the president himself, didn’t want revealed? Teller and Pinscher intend to find out . . .
 
From the daughter of President Harry Truman, an expert at depicting the details of life inside the beltway, Murder in the Supreme Court provides an intriguing peek into the world of Washington’s powerful justice system.
 
“Truman’s hints as to the real state of Washington are terrifying if true.” —Chicago Sun-Times
 
“A dazzling series.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9780795346187

Margaret Truman

MARGARET TRUMAN won faithful readers with her works of biography and fiction, particularly her Capital Crimes mysteries. Her novels let readers into the corridors of power and privilege, and poverty and pageantry, in the nation’s capital. She was the author of many nonfiction books, including The President’s House, in which she shared some of the secrets and history of the White House, where she once resided. She lived in Manhattan.

Book preview

Murder in the Supreme Court

Margaret Truman

Murder in the Supreme Court

Copyright © 1982, 2015 by Margaret Truman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

As Time Goes By by Herman Hupfeld is reprinted by permission of Warner Brothers Inc. ©1931 (renewed) by Warner Brothers Inc.

Electronic edition published 2015 by RosettaBooks

Cover design by Brehanna Ramirez

ISBN e-Pub edition: 9780795346187

www.RosettaBooks.com

Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

Other Books by Margaret Truman

CHAPTER 1

Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting. God save the United States and this Honorable Court.

As the marshal chanted the opening ritual, nine black-robed justices stepped through heavy burgundy drapes behind a winged Honduras mahogany bench and took their seats. Attorneys who would present the first set of oral arguments sat at a long counsel table in front of, and below, the bench. Before them were twenty ten-inch quill pens carefully crossed on writing pads, a tradition from the Court’s earliest days. An older attorney wore a morning coat; the rest were in dark, vested business suits.

Let’s begin, said Jonathan Poulson, Chief Justice, who sat in the middle of the bench. Bald except for tufts of white hair around the lower perimeter of his head, wire spectacles perched low on an aquiline nose, a long slender index finger pressed against his cheek, he listened as attorneys seeking admission to the Court were introduced.

Admission granted, Poulson said. The clerk administered the oath. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, Poulson said. "Let’s get on with the first case, Nidel v. Illinois."

A young attorney walked to the podium, cranked it higher, arranged long yellow legal sheets on it. His hair was thick and dark, and he had a sallow, slightly pockmarked face. Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court, he said in a strong voice, two years ago, in the spring, the plaintiff sought to seek an abortion in her home state of Illinois…

Poulson leaned back in his black leather chair and listened to the attorney’s introductory remarks while looking out over the huge, majestic courtroom. It never failed to impress him, the dignity and beauty of it, walls and columns of white marble from Spain and Italy contrasting with carpet and drapes as red as blood. Directly in front of him, high on the west wall, was one of four thirty-six-foot marble Weinman friezes. Poulson absently identified each of the symbolic figures; the winged female figure of Divine Inspiration flanked by Wisdom and Truth. To the left stood the Powers of Good: Security, Harmony, Peace, Charity and Defense of Virtue. Evil was represented on the other side; Corruption, Slander, Deceit and Despotic Power.

The room was filled with spectators, as it usually was when a controversial issue was being argued. Those with special interest gathered in front of a gleaming brass rail. The press was in a designated section to the left. Behind the rail sat the general public. Every seat was occupied, and the line outside was long.

The Chief noticed a small boy looking up at the ceiling, a vast expanse of gold-leaf lotus blossoms, symbolizing Endurance, set against brightly lighted red and blue squares.

He returned his full attention to the attorney’s words. He hadn’t missed any of them despite his mental wandering. Years on the bench had honed that skill, first as an appellate judge in the Ninth Circuit, then with the U.S. Court of Claims until being nominated a little more than a year ago for Chief Justice by President Randolph Jorgens.

Jorgens, a conservative, had been swept into office on a nation’s disenchantment with previous liberal, permissive administrations. He could have tapped an existing justice for the Chief’s job but honored the tradition of not doing that for fear of upsetting the delicate balance that existed on the Court. Instead, he reached out to his old friend Jonathan Poulson, who, like the new president, espoused conservative ideology, a hard-nosed Constitutionalist, fiscally sound and overtly disdainful of changes that challenged time-proven American traditions.

The attorney was interrupted by the Court’s only female justice, Marjorie Tilling-Masters, an attractive and brilliant woman who, besides bringing a moderate, reasoned philosophy to the bench, had been responsible, simply by virtue of being female, for changing the tradition of addressing justices as, "Mr. Justice Poulson, or Mr. Justice Brown." Since her arrival, the Mr. had been dropped, although an occasional slip of the tongue still occurred.

The justice to Poulson’s immediate right, Temple Conover, leaned close and said, The attorney has a lisp.

Poulson smiled. As the oldest justice and the one with the most tenure on the Court, Conover took advantage of his seniority to display irreverence at times Poulson considered inappropriate. Conover had become a media character, irascible and argumentative, brilliant, foppish in his dress, flamboyant in his life-style. He’d recently married for the fourth time. His new wife was twenty-six; he was eighty-two. He was a devout liberal.

The justice to Poulson’s left, Morgan Childs, leaned toward his microphone and said to the attorney, Mr. Manecke, it’s my understanding from your affidavits that the original appeal was based upon the refusal of the state to finance the plaintiff’s abortion. That strikes me as vastly different from the argument you’re presenting here today, that it is a woman’s right to determine the fate of her own body.

The attorney looked up from his prepared statement and said, Justice Childs, the issue is broader than simply one of fiscal decision making. That’s why this case has reached this level. We’re dealing with a basic issue of individual rights within a free society. To reduce it to…

Childs waved his hand and shook his head. That’s my point, Mr. Manecke. I simply wish to keep things straight. Either we’re arguing a woman’s rights or the balancing of a checkbook.

A few of the spectators in the audience chuckled. Chief Justice Poulson looked up, which ended the momentary mirth.

Childs pressed, We’re being called upon to decide a national issue, Mr. Manecke. It would help if we knew what that issue was.

The attorney tried to get back to his prepared statement but another justice asked a question.

Poulson turned to his chief clerk, Clarence Sutherland, who sat behind him, and asked, What is the substantive issue here?

Sutherland smiled and shrugged. Sex, I suppose.

Poulson drew a deep breath and returned his attention to the attorney’s comments. Clarence disappeared through the curtains, found a book he was looking for in a library housed behind the bench, returned and handed it to Poulson. Page eleven, sir. It has relevance.

When the plaintiff’s attorney had completed his hour, the older attorney in the morning coat stepped to the podium. He represented the state of Illinois. Poulson knew him well. They’d been classmates in law school.

Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court, he said, I stand before you today as a representative of a confused and troubled American electorate. Concepts that have withstood the test of time are being rewritten by those with special, self-serving motives. The values that have provided the linchpin of the American dream, the fabric from which the American cloth has been woven, are being placed in deliberate jeopardy. In the case that has been brought here today…

Justice Marjorie Tilling-Masters picked a piece of lint from her black robe. A security guard politely asked a spectator to remove his arm from the brass rail as the ancient Justice Conover mumbled to no one in particular, The point, get to the point.

Chief clerk Clarence Sutherland walked behind the justices and handed a note to another clerk, Laurie Rawls. She read it, looked up and pouted. The note said he couldn’t keep their dinner date. He shrugged and was about to return to his chair when a sharp, clear report crackled through the heavy silence of the room.

Get down! the marshal shouted.

All nine justices, robes awry, got down beneath the bench. Spectators looked around, and fell to the floor. Armed guards wearing white shirts and black ties ran to the bench. Clarence Sutherland had dropped to his knees next to Laurie Rawls. They looked at each other in shock.

Stay low, a guard yelled.

Clarence poked his head up above the bench and saw a security man walk into the courtroom carrying an unidentified object. He was smiling. A lightbulb, he said in a loud voice. Just a lightbulb that fell out of its socket.

A lightbulb, Clarence said to Laurie as he helped her to her feet.

It sounded like a gun, she said. God, what a scare. She slumped in her chair and blew a strand of hair from her forehead.

Clarence leaned close to her ear. Sorry about tonight but something came up.

Who is it this time?

Come on…

Have a nice night. Her words were formed of ice.

Order was restored in the room. The old attorney stepped to the podium, tugged on his formal coat, cleared his throat and said, Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court, as I was saying…

CHAPTER 2

Jonathan Poulson sat in his chambers on Friday morning, three days after the lightbulb incident. Where’s Clarence? he asked his other clerks.

I don’t know, one of them said. Traffic, I suppose.

Yes. Sutherland was often late, which always upset the Chief Justice. He believed in punctuality, felt those who didn’t were attention-seeking bores.

A buzzer sounded at 9:25, five minutes before the Friday conference was to begin. Of all the rituals of the Court, the Friday conference meant the most to Poulson. Thousands of potential cases were presented to the Supreme Court each year under the concept of the Court granting a writ of certiorari, from the Latin certiorari volumus, meaning, We wish to be informed. Most cases were dismissed by a clerk’s written evaluation. Of those that survived a clerk’s analysis, the Friday conference was crucial. Final decisions were made during it.

The nine justices gathered in a foyer off the main conference room where they engaged in the ceremonial act of helping each other on with their robes before shaking hands and entering the largest of four such conference rooms. Richly paneled in American quartered white oak, it contained a large conference table with a black leather inlay that was piled high with notebooks, memos and briefs. Poulson sat at the east end of the table, his customary place. Temple Conover, the senior associate justice, sat at the west end, again tradition. The junior associate justice, Morgan Childs, took his place nearest the door, where he would act as doorman and messenger, sending out for and receiving reference material.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, Poulson said. The first matter we are to consider is…

At ten minutes before ten there was a knock at the door. Poulson looked at the junior justice and raised his eyebrows. It was unheard of for anyone to intrude on the sanctity of the Friday conference. Temple Conover summed up every one’s feelings when he snapped, Who the hell is that?

We’ll see, Morgan Childs said.

The junior justice opened the door. Standing there was one of Conover’s clerks, Laurie Rawls. It had better be important, the Chief Justice said.

It is, sir. It’s… She began to cry.

"What is it?" Poulson said, standing and going to the door.

It’s awful—

"What is awful?" Poulson said. The eyes of the other justices were now on her.

He’s… oh, my God, he’s dead…

Who’s dead? Childs put in quickly.

Clarence…

Clarence Sutherland?

Yes… he’s been… And she broke down and collapsed against Poulson’s chest.

He held her for a moment, then released her and moved into the hall, followed by the others. Where is he?

In the Court.

Poulson briskly led the group down a broad hallway. They passed through the Great Hall’s vast expanse of Alabama marble and rows of monolithic columns, collective footsteps ricocheting off the hard floor, black robes flowing behind them. A security guard snapped to attention. He’d never seen all nine of them walking as a group through a public area before.

They passed through huge double doors leading into the courtroom. The doors closed behind them with a heavy sigh. They rose and looked toward the bench, then tentatively moved up one of two interior aisles. There, seated in the Chief Justice’s chair, was Clarence Sutherland. His head was cocked to one side, which caused wavy blond hair to droop in that direction. He appeared to be smiling, although it was more of a grimace. He was dressed in the same slate gray suit Poulson remembered him as having worn the previous day, green paisley tie neatly knotted against his Adam’s apple, pale blue lisle button-down shirt curving to the contour of his vest. The only thing unusual was his forehead. In the center of it was a small, crusted hole from which blood had erupted over his right eye and down to his upper lip, where the beginnings of a moustache had trapped it and kept it from flowing further.

He’s dead, Morgan Childs said, stepping closer and craning his neck to get a better look.

Murdered, Temple Conover said.

In the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Jonathan Poulson added, like a judgment.

CHAPTER 3

Lieutenant Martin Teller of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department took a bite of prune Danish. His phone hadn’t stopped ringing since Clarence Sutherland’s body was discovered. He’d just hung up on the head of security for the Supreme Court, who had cleared him for twenty-four-hour unlimited access to the court building until the investigation was over. Now, he was talking to a reporter from The Washington Post. You know more than I do at this stage, he said. Yeah, that’s right, it was a .22 and he was sitting in the Chief Justice’s chair when it happened. Other than that… what? Who told you that?… Your sources are privileged? Wonderful, so are mine. Sure, I’ll get back to you the minute we come up with something. How many times over the years had he said that?

He hung up the phone and finished the Danish, washing it down with the cold remains of a container of coffee. He opened a file folder on his desk marked SUTHERLAND, C. HOMICIDE, and read the only two pieces of paper in it, then closed it and lighted a clove cigarette. He’d discovered cloves six months earlier while trying to quit smoking, his rationalization being that they tasted so bad he’d be reluctant to light one up. It hadn’t worked. He was now a two-pack-a-day clove cigarette smoker.

The phone rang. Detective Teller, he said.

Good morning, a pleasant female voice said. This is Susanna Pinscher at the Justice Department. I’m calling about the Sutherland matter.

Matter? he muttered to himself. At Justice even a murder was a legal matter. What can I do for you?

Well, I’ve been assigned to the case over here at Justice. I was told you’d be handling it at MPD and thought we should touch base.

Touch base… boy, she had all the lines. Still, it made sense. Okay.

Look, Lieutenant Teller, could we get together this afternoon? I’d like to set up a system to pool information.

Do you have any?

Any what?

Information. I’m afraid I don’t.

Just background on the deceased, the circumstances of his being found, how he was killed.

We’re even.

Her sigh wasn’t lost on him. He’d try to be more cooperative. It’s been a tough morning, Miss Pinscher. Sorry if I seem short. Sure, let’s get together.

How about three this afternoon?

No good for me. I’m interviewing Sutherland’s family then. He silently debated it, then asked, Want to come with me?

Well, I… yes, thank you, I appreciate the offer.

I’ll meet you in front of Sutherland’s house at three. Know where it is?

I have the address. What kind of car should I look for?

Forget the car. You’ll know me immediately.

Really? How?

I’m the handsomest detective on the force, a cross between Paul Newman and Walter Matthau.

And modest as all get out.

Yeah, that’s me. See you at three.

He hung up, stood, stretched and looked out his window over a blustery October Washington day. Almost winter, he muttered as he rolled down his shirt sleeves. The right cuff flapped open. He’d noticed the missing button while dressing that morning but was running late. Besides, all his other shirts were missing buttons too. He slipped on his suit jacket and went to a small cracked mirror hanging crookedly near the door. Some days he felt younger than his forty-six years, but this wasn’t one of them. His reflection in the cracked glass didn’t help. He’d put on weight and was developing jowls beneath prominent pink cheeks. Loss of thin, brown, straight hair had advanced enough to cause him to start parting it lower so that the long strands could be combed up over the balding spot. Moonface, he’d been called in high school. He smiled as he turned to retrieve the Sutherland folder from his desk. No matter what age had done to him, he looked better now than when he was in high school. At least the acne was gone.

Five minutes later he was seated around a small, scarred conference table with his superior, Dorian Mars, four years younger and possessing a master’s degree in criminology and a Ph.D. in psychology. Also at the table were four other detectives assigned to the Sutherland case.

This is the most important case in my career in law enforcement, Mars said, puffing on a pipe. He looked at Teller. It’ll be a pressure cooker until it’s solved, Martin. They’re already talking bottom line. Which means our collective neck if we don’t handle things well…

Teller nodded solemnly and adjusted the buttonless cuff beneath his jacket sleeve. He opened the Sutherland folder and said, We’ll stay in the kitchen, Dorian, no matter how hot it gets, wishing he was able to curb a recent tendency to mimic his boss’s penchant for the well-worn phrase.

***

He was late getting to the Sutherland house, a huge and sprawling white stucco and red brick home set back on four acres in Chevy Chase. The original house had reflected the Federal style of architecture popular during its construction in 1810. Numerous additions and wings had transformed it into a more eclectic dwelling.

Parked in front of a long, winding driveway was an MPD squad car. Two uniformed officers stood next to it. Another car was parked twenty feet further up the road. Teller pulled his unmarked blue Buick Regal behind the second vehicle. The door opened and Susanna Pinscher stepped out, a nicely turned pair of legs leading the way. Teller was immediately aware of her beauty. He judged her to be about five feet four inches tall but she carried herself taller. Clean, thick, black, gently wavy hair with errant single strands of gray fluttered in the breeze. Her face was definite and strong, each individual component prominent yet in sync with the others. She was fair, with full, sensuous lips etched in red, large expressive green eyes defined by an appropriate amount of mascara, rouge so expertly applied to her cheeks that the color seemed to emanate from within.

She extended her hand and smiled. He took it and said, Sorry I’m late.

It’s okay. I just got here. You are Martin Teller?

You didn’t know me right off?

She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. Definitely Paul Newman. I don’t see the Matthau, though.

I think we can work together, Miss Pinscher. Come on.

They walked up the driveway. He allowed her to get ahead of him and took in her figure. A subtle pleated plaid skirt swung easily from her hips. She wore a blue blazer over a white blouse. She suddenly stopped, looked over her shoulder and asked, Coming?

Reviews for Murder in the Supreme Court

[huba.library · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ms. Truman's knowledge of Washington, DC neighborhoods, city customs, & how government is intertwined with all aspects of daily District citizens lives. As a resident I'm always how soit on she is on local details.