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It struck me on my latest birthday that I’ve now reached the same age at which my father left this life, much too soon. He was a physician who specialised in obstetrics, a five-foot-tall “baby doctor” in more ways than one. He was revered by his staff and colleagues, and absolutely adored by his patients. To this day, I run into people who, upon learning that his last name and mine are not mere coincidence, scream with delight, “Oh, my God. He delivered my children!” or occasionally “He delivered me!”

Not that my father was without faults, by any means. He was a driven over-achiever in everything he did, which meant getting the best grades in school, baiting a fishhook just so and running out a grounder on the baseball diamond at full speed. He was a true perfectionist, an early-day obsessive-compulsive.

He was, in a word, a Jaywalker.

Joseph Teller was born and raised in New York City. After graduating from law school, he spent three years working undercover for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. For the next thirty-five years he was a criminal defence lawyer. Not too long ago he decided to “run from the law” and began writing fiction. The Tenth Case, his first novel for MIRA Books, will be followed by further Jaywalker titles.

Also by Joseph Teller

The Tenth Case

Bronx Justice

Depraved Indifference

Overkill

The

Tenth Case

Joseph Teller

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indebted to my editor Leslie Wainger and executive editor Margaret O’Neill Marbury, as well as assistant editor Adam Wilson, for their faith in me and their excitement over my alter ego, Jaywalker. I am grateful to my literary agent and friend Bob Diforio for having been smart enough to put us together.

My wife, Sandy, deserves credit for nearly gagging when I told her about a terrific idea I had for a book, and making me trash it and write this one instead.

And to my friends and former colleagues down at 100 Centre Street, many of whom I still hear from, I thank you for the camaraderie you showed me in the trenches, and for the stories you shared with me over the years, some of which may even have crept into these pages.

1

A SPONTANEOUS ACT OF GRATITUDE

“We turn now to the issue of what constitutes an appropriate punishment for your various infractions,” said the judge in the middle, the gray-haired one whose name Jaywalker always had trouble remembering. “Disbarment certainly occurred to us, and would no doubt be fully deserved, were it not for your long years of service to the bar, your quite obvious devotion to your clients, as well as your considerable legal skills, reflected in your current string of, what was it you told us? Ten consecutive acquittals?”

“Eleven, actually,” said Jaywalker.

“Eleven. Very impressive. That said, a substantial period of suspension is still in order. A very substantial period. Your transgressions are simply too numerous, and too serious, to warrant anything less. Bringing in a lookalike for a defendant in order to confuse a witness, for example. Impersonating a judge to trick a police officer into turning over his notes. Breaking into the evidence room in order to have your own chemist analyze some narcotics. Referring to a judge, on the record, as—and I shall paraphrase here—a small portion of excrement. And finally, though by no means least of all, receiving, shall we say, a ‘sexual favor’ from a client in the stairwell of the courthouse—”