“Because it’s easier than going to court.” Mary knew where he was going, but it didn’t make any difference. It wasn’t going to change anything she did.
“That’s what I thought. It saves everybody time. It saves the court’s time too. The same thing applies here. I know you’re with the Rosato firm and your combined experience in criminal defense is considerable. We can make a deal with your client and settle this matter, not unlike the deals that get made everyday in civil law, even the one you tried to make between your client and Todd Eddington.”
“Correction. The dispute, and any settlement, would not have been between my client and Mr. Eddington. It was between my client and his former employer.”
“That’s a technical difference.”
Mary thought of what Bennie had told her, borrowing the line: “I’m a lawyer, and the technicalities protect legal rights.”
“But there was clearly resentment between your client and his boss, with accusations and cross-accusations over his termination.”
“That seems argumentative, and I’m not here to argue.”
“I don’t want to argue either.” Detective Lindenhurst gestured at the closed door. “We could step outside and talk about the terms of the deal. I wouldn’t usually discuss that in front of your client.”
“We’re not interested in a deal, thank you.” Mary thought a minute. “Detective Lindenhurst, let me ask you a question. You’re telling me that you found Todd Eddington stabbed three times. That would suggest to me that whoever killed him probably got blood on their clothes and hands. Am I right?”
“Often, that’s the case.”
Mary gestured at Simon’s hands, still linked in his lap. “You can see for yourself that my client doesn’t have any blood on his hands or clothes.”
“He could’ve washed up and changed his clothes at the hospital. Like many parents, he keeps a change of clothes there. They even have a shower for parents. I know from my sister, from when my niece was there.”
“But he was wearing the same clothes this morning. I know because I met with him.” Mary flashed on the scene at the hospital this morning, when she had been given the locket. So much had happened since then, the world had turned upside down. But she kept her head in the game. “As his lawyer, I can’t be a fact witness, but I’m sure any nurse or doctor at the hospital could tell you that he had these clothes on, and so would their security cameras. Have you checked them?”
Detective Lindenhurst shook his head, his mouth a tight line. “Not yet, but we certainly will.”
“In fact, when we give samples later, I’d like you to photograph my client’s hands and clothes, to document that he had no blood on him.”
“We intended to do that, that’s standard operating procedure.”
“And in addition, I know that when there’s a stabbing, the killer can often wound himself, since blood can get slippery.” Mary suppressed her revulsion at the thought to make her point. “Simon, turn your hands over and show Detective Lindenhurst.”
“Okay.” Simon raised his hands and flipped the palms up, and there were no wounds or cuts.
Mary asked, “See what I mean?”
“I didn’t kill anybody, I didn’t kill him!” Simon blurted out, and Mary shot him a warning glance, though it was so spontaneous that it rang true. She could only hope that Detective Lindenhurst remembered it when incriminating physical evidence began to roll in.
“Detective, if you don’t have enough to arrest my client, and I don’t believe you do, then we will give the required samples and leave.” Mary stood up, cueing Simon to rise by touching his arm.
Detective Lindenhurst rose, with a frown. “So you’re ending the interview.”
“Yes.”
“Well, then, I hope we’ll be talking again, very soon.” Detective Lindenhurst turned to Simon. “And of course, I’m asking you not to leave the jurisdiction for the near future.”
Simon nodded, his expression shaken, but he didn’t say anything.
Detective Lindenhurst looked down at Mary. “We’ll go down the hallway to the nurse for the samples.”
“I’ll go with you,” Mary said, then she and Simon left the room with the detectives, who opened a door and led them down a back hallway to the police lab.
Mary’s thoughts raced, all the while. She worried it wouldn’t be long before Simon was arrested, and if that happened, she didn’t want to think about what would happen to Rachel. Murder wasn’t a bailable offense, so Simon would go directly to jail, leaving Rachel without her one and only parent. Mary could only imagine the heartbreak it would cause Feet, Simon’s cousins, and her own family.
Mary realized she had her work cut out for her. She had to find out who killed Todd, and the clock was ticking. While Simon was in the lab, she heard a text alert from her phone, so she reached into her purse and checked the screen. It was from Bennie:
at the office if you need me
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Bennie got off the elevator, brushing raindrops off her suit as she made a beeline for the two cardboard boxes stacked on the floor, expecting them to contain the files that were in hard copy. She had already checked her email in the car to find that OpenSpace had emailed her Simon’s emails for the past three years. She hadn’t had the chance to read through them on the drive, but she had saved the entire file to Dropbox. It had been surprisingly large, but she remembered that Todd and Ray had called Simon the Mad Emailer.
Bennie went to the first box, checking that the mailing label read OpenSpace, then cut the masking tape with her car key, opened the top box, and looked inside. It contained a stack of purchase orders from earlier in the year, which had evidently been photocopied from the originals. She rifled through the rest of the papers in the box, and determined that they were all POs. She went to the second box, opened it, and they were full of POs too. She went to the third and the fourth, which contained call logs, then closed the box.
Bennie straightened up, reassessing the situation. She had hoped to be able to read the documents and copy them herself, but that wasn’t going to work. She eyed the full boxes, estimating that it had taken the secretaries at OpenSpace a few hours to photocopy. Nate had said that he would send a courier to her office first thing tomorrow morning, and so there was only one thing to do: Call in reinforcements.
Fifteen minutes later, Bennie was standing at the Xerox machine outside her office, copying a purchase order, when Judy Carrier bopped down the hall, looking oddly energized for so late at night. Bennie turned slightly, but kept at her task. “Thanks for coming in.”
“Not a problem.” Judy smiled, reaching her, and the light from the Xerox machine flashed on her face like a corporate strobe. “Hey, you should close the cover when you photocopy things.”
“I don’t have time.” Bennie took the PO off the glass, set it aside, and reached for the next email, pressing the button. The photocopier light went off again.
“It’s bad for your eyes. Your skin, too. You could get photo-allergic dermatitis, I read that somewhere.”
“I’ll live.”
“It also uses up the toner.” Judy slid the photocopy out of the tray and placed it facedown on the pile, and Bennie placed the next PO on the glass, hitting the button.
“I’ll buy more.”
“It’s bad for the environment.”
Bennie looked over. “Why are you so wide-awake? Please tell me it’s not cocaine.”
“I’ve been weaving. It makes me happy. It’s a natural high.” Judy’s eyes flared slightly. “I saw Mary on TV. I assume she’s still at the Roundhouse. I texted her offering to help but she didn’t text back.”
“So did I.”
“You did? That was nice of you.” Judy slid the copy from the tray and placed it on the pile.
“I’m a nice person. I just get bad press.” Bennie put another PO on the machine and hit the button. “I’m copying the first box of documents, and there’s four more in the reception area. If y
ou could get started on a box, that would be great. They’re going back to Dumbarton first thing in the morning.”
“Because Nate fired you?” Judy slid the copy from the tray.
“Yes.”
“Does he know you’re copying them?”
“What do you think?” Bennie hit the button to photocopy another PO.
Judy smiled. “How did we get them in the first place?”
“Your basic corporate miscommunication.”
“Why do we want them?”
“Because Nate doesn’t want us to have them. I don’t know if they’re useful or meaningless. I’m hoping there’s something in them that can help Mary.”
Judy met Bennie’s eye with hope. “Does this mean that you guys made up?”
“We weren’t in a fight.”
“You’re getting a divorce.” Judy slid the copy from the tray.
“I wanted to save the marriage, she didn’t.” Bennie started another photocopy.
“Maybe she will now.”
“Let’s worry about Pensiera. That’s the priority. She’s going to have her hands full with the murder case, and the other case is going to take a backseat.”
“What other case?” Judy frowned. “I thought there was only the one case, the ADA case.”
“They filed a retaliatory suit for defamation.”
“Yikes!” Judy slid the copy from the tray. “How do you know that? I didn’t even know that. It must have happened when I was out this afternoon. I had to be home for the loom delivery.”
“I read the pleadings online. We can put our heads together when she gets here.” Bennie hit the button on another PO.
“Can we order lo mein? We always order lo mein when we work late. It’s our food reward.”
“Yes, fine, whatever. Could you please go start Xeroxing? Use the copier in the coffee room. I really don’t need you to help me Xerox. I have a J.D.”
“Okay, but I’m closing the cover.” Judy hustled off.
Half an hour later, Bennie was still feeding copies into the Xerox machine, with Judy doing the same thing in the coffee room, except that her ears were plugged with earphones while she listened to music. It meant that Bennie was the only one to hear the ping coming from the elevator lobby, signaling that Mary had arrived. Bennie turned from the machine and went to meet her, and Mary appeared at the head of the hallway, carrying her belongings and a big brown bag with grease spots in the bottom, the Chinese food.
“Hi, Mary.” Bennie forced a smile. She felt awkward, which surprised her. Seeing her soon-to-be-ex-partner provoked emotions in her that she thought she had put away today. She briefly considered telling Mary that she’d been fired by Dumbarton, but that wouldn’t have helped anything, as a legal matter. Bennie had worked for Dumbarton, so her being fired by them, especially for disloyalty, didn’t cure her conflict of interest. Plus if Mary really wanted to leave the firm, Bennie didn’t want to guilt her into staying. Besides, they had a murder case on their hands.
“Hi, Bennie,” Mary called back, and to Bennie, her smile seemed equally forced. Mary looked around quickly. “Where’s Judy?”
“She’s in the coffee room.” Bennie put her hands out for the Chinese food bag, which smelled like curry. “Here, I’ll take that bag and I’ll bring it in the conference room, so you can go get her.”
“Sure, thanks.” Mary handed her the bag, and Bennie accepted it, turned away, and entered the conference room. She unpacked the white containers of rice, plastic tubs for the noodles and other entrees, chopsticks, and paper plates and napkins, then made place settings around the table, as she heard Judy and Mary talking excitedly in the coffee room.
Bennie stood around, waiting for them, and realized why she felt so awkward. It was disorienting, not knowing her role. She had a partner, but then again she didn’t. She also had an associate, but the associate might become her partner. She was here to work on a murder case, but for the first time ever, the case was Mary’s and she was working for Mary, like an associate. And she didn’t even know if she was wanted. Maybe Declan had been right.
“Hey, guys, listen—” Bennie blurted out, as Judy and Mary came into the room together.
“Yes?” Mary asked.
“What is it?” Judy blinked.
“I just wanted to say, I guess to Mary, that I’m here to help. I don’t know if you feel like you need my help, or if you want my help, but I’m here. If you don’t, just say so, and I can just go.” Bennie realized she was practically babbling, but Mary started smiling in a soft way.
“Bennie, no, don’t go. Thank you so much for being here. I should’ve said something right off, but I was so touched when I got your text. This is really above and beyond, especially after, well, what I said about leaving the firm. I’m glad you’re here and I can use the help.”
“Good, because a murder defense takes some doing, and if he’s just a person of interest, you only have a small window of time that you can work in. You need to move quickly and back them off”—Bennie caught herself taking charge, so she dialed it back—“anyway, that’s why I’m here. I’m assuming it’s all hands on deck.”
“It is, that’s exactly what it is.” Mary nodded, looking relieved. “I appreciate the help and I need help, I just didn’t want to ask for it in the circumstances.”
“So let’s not even worry about our partnership right now. This time we really can agree to disagree.” Bennie sensed it had to be said, and if so, it had to come from her. “Let’s worry about the thing that really matters, your client, your friend Simon.”
“That would be so great!” Mary brightened.
“And the thing is, I recognize this is your case, so I’m at your disposal. You run it and you’re in charge. You tell me how you think I can help you best.”
“That’s so nice of you.”
“Good.” Bennie’s chest felt oddly tight, but she ignored that too. Emotions could be such pesky things.
Judy smiled, then pulled up a chair. “So does this mean we can eat?”
“Yes,” Bennie and Mary answered in unison.
Mary added, “Why don’t you both start eating, and I’ll bring you up to speed on everything that happened at the Roundhouse.”
“Good. I’ll get some coffee.” Bennie went to the credenza and started brewing herself a cup.
“Mph,” Judy said, her mouth full of noodles.
Bennie drank her coffee and Judy ate lo mein as Mary recounted the events of the day, starting with something about a locket and ending with the interview at the Roundhouse, after which Simon had given bodily samples and surrendered his phone to the police. Bennie listened carefully, and when Mary was finished, she seemed to look at Bennie across the table, with an uncertain smile.
“Well, Bennie? What do you think? I had to make a lot of decisions on the fly and I’ve never really represented a person of interest.”
“I think you did terrific,” Bennie said, meaning it. “I wouldn’t have made any decision differently.”
“That’s good to hear.” Mary sat straighter.
Judy paused between mouthfuls. “Bennie, what’s the deal with a person of interest versus someone who was arrested for the crime?”
“There’s differences in the rights accorded each of them, but for our purposes, that’s not critical. The critical difference is that with someone already under arrest, the police, DA, and the entire law-enforcement mechanism has bought in. He’s their guy and they’re invested. They throw the full weight of the Commonwealth against him, all of their resources.”
“Okay.” Judy nodded, digging through the rice.
“But when you’re representing a person of interest, you have a golden opportunity. The police are still gathering evidence and trying to make a decision. They want to do the right thing. They don’t want to get the wrong guy, not only because they care, but because the DA wants a conviction. So as defense counsel, right from the beginning, I try to make them doubt their original theory. That’s exactly
why Mary did the right thing in pointing out the lack of blood on Simon’s clothes and his hands.” Bennie gestured to Mary. “Same thing going forward. Normally, we might not give them information as we learn it, but with a person of interest, I would funnel to them every single fact we uncover that suggests Simon is not guilty. It will make them think, slow them down, and force them to keep the scope of their investigation as broad as possible.”
“That makes sense.” Judy glanced up from her plate.
Mary brightened. “So what do you think about their case?”
“I think you’re right to be concerned. They have a strong case against Simon, assuming the physical evidence comes in the way you think it’s going to, which I think it will. When they look in his phone, they’ll see that he called Todd. Given the surveillance video, any jury would believe that Simon initiated a meeting with Todd, met with him, and killed him.”
“I know, right?” Mary’s face fell again.
“Don’t look that way. Buck up. Don’t let a little opposition throw you.” Bennie felt her juices start flowing, as if the battle had been joined. “Worst-case scenario, he’s arrested, but not convicted. You have to fight to win, but we’re going to win. He didn’t do it.”
“But his daughter’s in the hospital, and she’s waiting to get a transplant. He’ll want to be there for her. She might, well, she might not survive.”
Bennie hadn’t thought of that. She felt the weight of the words in the conference room, which went suddenly silent. Mary swallowed hard, her Chinese food untouched. Judy even stopped chewing.
“Mary.” Bennie met Mary’s worried gaze. “Don’t be upset. Everything is going to be all right. Let me tell you what Judy and I are up to, and what I learned today. But believe me, after we have gathered all of our information and understood every detail, we are going to fight and we are going to win.”
“You think?”
“I know,” Bennie answered, then filled her in. As she spoke, she could see Mary regain her emotional footing, nodding as she listened. When Bennie was finished, she reminded herself again that she wasn’t in charge and had signed on to be second-chair to Mary’s first. “So Mary, got any theories?”
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