Chasing Suspect Three (5 page)

“Much to the consternation of the police
chief and the state attorney.”

“Well, this one’s a conflict with Chip. Did
you read about the Larena murder?”

“The morning newspaper is in front of me as
we speak. Is that Chip’s case?”

“Jaworski is the leader but Chip’s on the
team. Get this—he used to go with the sister of the victim.

“Hey, it happens. It’s a small town.”

“Here’s the kicker. They arrested the
victim’s wife, first degree. I agreed to represent her. We didn’t
exactly click at the first meeting, but I think she wants me.”

“Congratulations, Sandy. It could be very
good for your reputation—not to mention the money.”

“I talked with her at the jail. She was at
the murder scene and ran. She’s a certifiable flake. The problem is
I started interviewing her before I found out about Chip knowing
her sister-in-law. He doesn’t want me to represent her, and after
sleeping on it, I agree. I do believe the defense and the
prosecution should always get along. In this case, we’re rubbing
toes under the sheets. It might be difficult for him unless I give
her up.”

“You’d find other clients.”

“Not this big in this little town. This isn’t
a TV movie set with a new murder every Tuesday night at eight. In
fact, I’m wondering if there’s enough evil in this town to support
a defense attorney. I may have to get out there myself and stir up
trouble in my spare time.”

“My feeling is this will turn out to be a
sensational murder case.”

“I hope so, Jerry. It could be the criminal
defense case of a lifetime for me.”

“It would indeed help your reputation.
However, I predict you’ll have many important cases in your
lifetime. That said, I agree it’s just too close for each of you to
operate normally. I know how badly you want it, and I’m very fond
of Chip. Obviously, one of you must back down.”

“As much as I’d like to pursue her defense,
I’d rather break up with her than him.”

“You misunderstand. I believe
he
should be the one to back down.”

“You do? Why?”

“It’s not unusual for someone in the police
department or court system to know a victim’s family. Chip should
ask the chief to remove him from this case because of the conflict.
Once he’s out of the equation, they can proceed with their
investigation, and you can proceed with the defense of your
client.”

She thought it over for a moment. “He’s not
going to like it. I’m still thinking I should be the one to
sacrifice. Even so, you’ve convinced me. You came through for me
again, Jerry. If this case is a big as I think, I may be calling on
you again.”

She needed to face Chip with her decision as
soon as possible to smooth it all over, so she’d still be welcome
in his bed. She found her phone and hit Speed Dial. She told him,
“I sort of agreed with you last night that I should drop out, but
I’ve changed my mind again.” She waited for his argument.

“It’s fine, honey. This morning I explained
to the chief about my acquaintance with a member of the victim’s
family, and he took me off the case. No problem, he said it was
routine.”

“Perhaps he’d already heard I was
representing the vic’s spouse. News travels fast in this town.” The
office phone rang and she heard Martin pick up in his office across
the hall.

Chip went on, “Even if that went into his
decision, it’s not your fault. Just a coincidence that I know the
sister.”

“Does the chief know you saw her again three
days ago?”

“I told him, and that definitely was the
clincher.”

“That certainly went well,” she said
aloud.

“You want to come over today after work?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll let you know.”

Martin appeared in the doorway as she hung
up. “Line one, Sandy, I think the most important client in the
entire world wants you back.”

She picked up the phone and confirmed an
appointment at the jail for after lunch. She walked over and
relaxed in Martin’s office. “I’m back in business. I’m going to
enjoy running around investigating and aggravating all the
badasses.”

“When I heard your client’s name yesterday, I
called the police department and asked for the Incident Report to
be faxed over.”

“Thanks, I found it on my desk when I got
back. Who said you weren’t good with this crime stuff?”

“What did you think of her at your first
meeting yesterday?”

“She’s around forty, average height, average
weight, average everything—which is part of her problem. I wouldn’t
say she’s dumb as an ox, but she’s probably not any smarter either.
Brown hair in a ‘what on earth was she thinking’ hairstyle—curly
and frizzy. My guess is she’s looking for a good man to exploit her
sexually.”

“Good grief, I hope you’re never asked to
describe me.”

“Oh, I’m not through. I detected broad
indications of deception. As Jerry Kagan would say, the truth is
not within her. She admitted she lied to Jaworski saying she was
with her boyfriend at the time of shooting. So, she wants him as
her alibi but doesn’t want me to meet him. She needs mental
therapy, and I’ll need it before this deal is over.”

“So, the boyfriend is a new character in this
drama?”

“She gave me his name. I have to nail down
everything else about him. I’ll try again today.” She picked up the
police report. “Witnesses reported hearing shots fired in the condo
Tuesday night around ten. A witness saw Margo’s vehicle leave the
condo just as the police arrived. Neighbors recognized her car as
she used to live there.” She looked up at him. “That puts her at
the scene, not at her apartment, and agrees with one of the
versions she told me. Whoops, I wasn’t supposed to divulge what my
client told me. Forget she told me she was at the crime scene and
across town in her apartment at the same time.”

“I guess that’s one divorce case we won’t be
getting,” he said. “If wives keep shooting their husbands, the
divorce lawyers are going to starve.”

“How about if they shoot them after the
divorce, and then we’d both be busy.” She set her briefcase on her
desk preparing to leave. “I did a lousy job of interviewing her. I
don’t actually know what happened. I’ll do better this afternoon.”
She finished her lukewarm coffee. “I hear the fax. You expect
something?”

He retrieved the fax and slowly walked back
into her office reading it. “Another police report. I didn’t
request this one. Someone over there just sent it to me.” After a
minute of reading, he handed it to her. “It seems there was a
shooting incident at the Community Center around seven p.m. the
evening of the murdeer. No one was injured.”

“Ask me if I care.”

“One of the bullets hit a car registered to a
Margo Larena.”

A
t one o’clock the
same afternoon, a deputy ushered Sandy into one of the conference
rooms at the jail for her second meeting with Margo. She was
determined not to let the woman out of the room until she had
agreed Sandy would be her attorney, and would cooperate in her own
defense. She also needed to hear the woman say something positive
about paying.

On the drive over, she rehearsed what she
would say. Defending this evasive, uncooperative, and likely
guilty, woman would be a challenge. A successful defense would
entail difficult litigation; she’d earn every dime of her fee. Even
in simple murder trials, a defense attorney might charge hundreds
of dollars an hour. The total cost could be well over a hundred
thousand dollars, not counting the cost of expert witnesses. Yet,
she couldn’t point to any actual experience to command such a high
fee for herself.

Consequently, she had decided on a retainer
of eighty thousand. Enough to cover the expenses, if the trial
didn’t go on too long or get too wild, and give her something in
addition to invaluable publicity. Still, a lot of money for a
novice criminal attorney to be asking.

Margo was in the room waiting. “I think I’ll
take a chance on you, Sandy. I asked around, and the word is you’re
a kickass little bitch.”

“Isn’t that sweet? I’ll have that printed on
my business cards.” She wasn’t aware anyone had slapped her with
that particular tag. Pit bull, perhaps, but not kickass little
bitch. She didn’t mind. At this stage, she needed all the notoriety
she could get. Her reputation was beginning to spread and that was
one of her career objectives.

She put her briefcase on the floor and stood
with both hands on the back of the chair to give her more
reinforcement for asking for eighty thousand dollars. The moment of
truth. She looked seriously at Margo, opened her mouth, yet
couldn’t say “eighty thousand dollars.”

“Yes?” Margo waited expectantly.

The words wouldn’t come out. Sandy sat,
folded her hands in front of her, took a deep breath, and tried
again. “Margo...my fee is going to be—.” She couldn’t say the word
eighty. “Fifty. Fifty thousand dollars,” came out.

“You mean I still have to pay you?”

“What is that, a trick question?”

“Wow, how soon do you need it?”

“Immediately.”

“I don’t have it. I’d really have to scratch
around.”

Sandy didn’t want to lose her, so she added,
“Pay me ten thousand now, and we’ll talk about the rest later.”

“Make it a lot later.”

Sandy took out the police reports and her
yellow pad. “I need some background on you. Where you’re from, how
you met John. Stuff like that.”

“From Indiana, down here on vacation with a
girlfriend maybe...ten years ago. We came down here to go diving.
You know, scuba diving out on the reef? Well, we were all screwed
up. We got a lot of bad information back in Indiana. You can’t just
go put on a cute mask, go out in the ocean, and see things. You
have to take classes. It takes time and money. It’s a bunch of
serious stuff. No one in Indiana mentioned we had to rent any of
that other equipment junk. The guy that owned the dive boat had a
good laugh at all of it. Dennis. He was really built from working
the boat. Tanned and seldom wore a shirt. A real hunk. Said he’d
take us out after his regular trip and show us how to snorkel, so
we’d salvage something out of our vacation. So, we’re out in the
middle of the ocean...not actually the middle, you could still see
the shore. He showed us some stuff, and we had a lot of fun in the
water.

“He was seriously eyeballing Gloria like she
was some piece of candy, but she was beginning to feel seasick. So,
he grabs my hand and—.”

Sandy interrupted, “You’re telling me more
than I want to know. Want to cut to the chase?”

“Oh yeah, sure. So, Dennis led me down to the
little bunk he had below and—.”

“No. I meant later, much later, years
later.”

“Oh, Gloria and I flew home. But I kept
dreaming about how it was with hunky Dennis with his gorgeous
tanned body and skimpy Speedo trunks. Thinking about him kept me
busy for a month. Got to be too much, and I decided to fly back
here. After spending on clothes, airfare, and all that, he ignored
me. Can you believe it? Claimed he didn’t even remember me. I knew
he had to be kidding, because you know...we had done it.”

Sandy closed her eyes and slowly shook her
head. She motioned for Margo to continue.

“I had used a one-way ticket and couldn’t get
back. Well, to tell the truth, I didn’t have a job. I had to quit,
because my mean boss wouldn’t give me any more time off. So, I hung
around the dock and Dennis started letting me help him. After a
while, he let me take reservations for the dive boat and keep
things straight in his little office-shack at the marina. You might
say I lived with him. Those dive boat captains sure get a lot of
attention from silly girls on vacation. He was nice to me too, when
business was slow. After four years I began to wonder if he was
going to get serious about me.”

“You and John were married about three years
ago, you said. How’d you meet him?”

“First I met Claudia Mertens, his sister,
around the docks. She was seeing some local politician who had his
fancy yacht tied up there. His boat never left the dock. Married,
but his wife hated the water and boats and never came around.
Pretty cushy setup for Claudia. She practically lived on it, had
food and booze delivered right to the dock. Even had some woman
come in and clean up after their parties. I’d drink with her
sometimes and run errands. Anyway, that’s how I met her brother. We
didn’t hit it off right away. During that time I met Officer
Goddard...Chip.”

“Why are you mentioning him?”

“You told me yesterday you’re in a
relationship with him, that’s why. Lucky you.”

“Okay. Yes, he told me he had met you.”

“Yeah, he patrolled around the marina area
for a few months.”

Sandy couldn’t resist. “Were you friendly
with him?”

“Oh, sure.”

“I mean did you get to know him?” As soon as
she said it, she wanted the question back and didn’t want to hear
the answer. “Never mind.”

“Only in my dreams and I had plenty of those.
He wouldn’t know me from Adam, but I knew who he was. You ever
fantasize about men?”

“Your sister-in-law also knew him back
then.”

“I’m not sure if he met Claudia at the docks,
or not. I think they dated later. I forget the details.” Margo made
a twisted smile. “She never deserved him.”

“I thought you liked her. It sounded as
though you were in fact chummy.”

“Only Claudia likes Claudia. I guess we were
okay with each other back then. I never see her anymore.
Fortunately, John didn’t care for her. We didn’t have to spend any
time together. She probably won’t even come to his funeral.” She
leaned forward. “Come to think of it, who’s going to run the
funeral? I’d be happy to help throw some dirt on his coffin, but
I’m not paying one damn cent. Hey, you’re my lawyer. Can they make
me pay for the bastard’s funeral?”