Major Crimes Team owed its existence to the District Attorney's
insistence on sufficient investigative support for cases carrying
mandatory minimum sentences.
"That's going to be a problem too. Look, since it's you, I'll give it
to you straight. When we saw the lieutenant this morning, he told us
that any overtime on Jackson needed to go through him."
"Did he say why?" The bureau could be stingy on overtime, but I'd
never heard of an order to run each minute through the supervisor.
"I got the impression someone had put some extra time into the case
after it was cleared. But I know it wasn't me, and it also wasn't
Jack. You know anything about that?"
"Chuck went with me to pick up the key from Clarissa's assistant, but
it only took a few minutes."
"And why didn't you call me or Walker? We're the leads."
"I did call you, but you weren't in." He didn't respond. "Look, do we
have a problem here?"
"Just remember how you felt when I went around you for the polygraph.
You've got my pager number."
"I didn't go around you, Ray. It was a quick walk across the street,
and Chuck happened to be in." Again with the silence. "If you want to
say something, just say it."
"I just think it's funny how you say your old buddy just happened to be
in when you wanted something done on a cleared case. Maybe part of you
knew I wouldn't be too happy about doing work that's going to bite me
in the ass down the road."
"And how's that?"
"When you tell me three months from now that you're pleading the case
down because of something the defense attorney's twisting around. You
know, it's always those little extra details stupid things like a safe
deposit key or the occasional extramarital roll in the sheets. Stuff
that we both know or at least I know doesn't change the fact that
Melvin Jackson's guilty."
"I don't know what to say, Ray. I wasn't trying to hide anything from
you, or I wouldn't have called you just now. And I wouldn't ask you to
do something if I didn't think it was important."
"If you want to call the LT, that's fine with me," Ray said. "But for
now, we're not supposed to be working a cleared case. I don't want to
get stuck between my boss and your office."
Neither did I, I thought, as I hung up. One thing was for sure: I
wouldn't be getting any more help from the bureau.
The notes that Clarissa stashed in her safe deposit box mentioned a
case she referred to as Grice. It still felt familiar.
I found my own notes from the review of Clarissa's files. It didn't
take long to realize where I'd seen Grice's name before. It was in the
list of cases from which Clarissa had recused herself. According to my
notes, Grice Construction was the company that had complained that the
city had unfairly denied its request to rehabilitate some Pearl Street
buildings. The date of Clarissa's recusal was the same day she had
apparently talked to DC about both the Grice case and the case
involving Gunderson's own rehabilitation program. If DC was Coakley,
that might explain what Nelly overheard at City Hall.
I didn't know the details yet, but it was becoming clear that Gunderson
had some kind of connection to Clarissa.
Good thing I knew who his lawyer was. I even had his home number.
I was surprised when a woman answered. When I asked to speak to Roger,
she asked who was calling. I was tempted to tell her she was right to
be suspicious, but I gave her the boring answer instead.
"It's for you," she hollered. "Someone named Samantha Kincaid."
I wasn't sure which was worse, to be known as the evil ex-wife or not
to be known at all.
"Hello?"
"Is that company, Roger, or a roommate?"
"Something in between, actually, but I assume the point of the question
was more in the asking than the answering. If you're calling about
Townsend, yes, we plan on being there tomorrow."
"Nice to know, but that's not why I called. I want to talk to Larry
Gunderson."
It always feels good to show another attorney you know more than he
thought you did. But this time it was especially rewarding.
"Why would you be calling me about that?"
There were lots of bad things to be said about Roger, but lawyering
skills were not among them. His question was perfect in its ambiguity,
neither denying nor confirming knowledge of Gunderson.
"Because you said Dunn Simon represented him. Remember? That's how
you got Melvin Jackson's name? If you're saying you're not Gunderson's
lawyer, that's fine. I'll contact him directly." I read Gunderson's
street address from my PPDS printout.
"I'm not actually Gunderson's lawyer. One of my partners is, Jim
Thorpe."
I remembered seeing his name on Gunderson's appeal. "Fine. I'll call
him. What's his home number?"
"Jesus, Samantha. What's your problem? Can't this wait until
tomorrow?"
"XT
Nope.
Roger might have come into the firm as a partner, but he was still
junior to a corner office guy like Thorpe. Junior partners who hand
out home phone numbers to government lawyers stay in the middle of the
hallway.
"Fine. Tell me what you want to know, and I'll talk to Jim and get
back to you."
I could hear his house guest slash live-in beginning to whine in the
background. Apparently Roger had found what he never had in me someone
who needed his undivided attention to be happy.
I didn't show him all my cards, just enough to ensure I'd get
Gunderson's attention. "It turns out that in addition to being Melvin
Jackson's employer and the owner of the property where Clarissa's body
was found, Gunderson also had a case in front of Clarissa a few months
ago. In light of that, I think we should at least talk to him about
how Jackson happened to find himself on Gunderson's radar."
"I'll get back to you, but don't hold your breath. Given the
insinuation, he's more likely to be insulted."
It had to have been one of the fastest decisions ever made by a lawyer
who gets paid by the hour. Eleven minutes later, my phone rang.
"It's Jim's call, and he advised Gunderson to enjoy the rest of his
weekend. If you want to work something out for this week, get in touch
with Jim at the office tomorrow."
"Unbelievable, Roger. I've got the rest of the preliminary hearing
tomorrow, and you guys think it's a good idea to tell your client to be
uncooperative. Does Thorpe know enough about criminal practice to
understand how suspicious it makes Gunderson look?"