“When Charlie suggested your name…at first I was going to say no, but I couldn’t. Larry has to have the best lawyer. I can’t let him…”
She stopped. David turned his chair slightly so she would not be in his line of vision.
“Do you love him?”
She looked up but didn’t say anything.
“I asked you if you love your husband.”
He didn’t really want to know. He had asked the question to hurt her. He felt confused and betrayed.
“Please don’t,” she said. Her voice was almost a whisper, and he was afraid that she would cry.
“Do you love your husband?” David repeated forcefully.
“Does it matter? Do you ask that of every wife who comes to you for help? Isn’t it enough that I’m asking you for help?”
He still could not face her. She was right and he saw that. He was being a fool. A child. And she was asking for help. But to give her that help, he would have to build a barrier between them that might never come down. He swiveled the chair back toward her. She was sitting erect and watching him.
“I could give you the names of several other attorneys. All very competent.”
“No, I want you. I believe in you. I know you can clear Larry.”
“Who is Valerie Dodge?” he asked. She blushed and smiled.
“Dodge is my maiden name. The other one…Valerie…There’s a TV show I watch. I didn’t know what to say and that was the first name I thought of.”
David laughed. She hesitated a second to make sure that his laughter was real; then she laughed. A nervous laugh. Grateful that the tension had been broken.
“I tried very hard to find you. Called Senator Bauer’s campaign committee, scoured the phone books.”
“I thought about you, too. There were times I wanted to…But I couldn’t. Larry and I…we’ve had problems. He works very hard and…What happened that night. It just happened. But you can’t let that interfere with Larry’s case. Whatever I feel for him, if it’s love or…he is my husband and…”
She stopped and they looked at each other. Now it was his turn to avert his eyes. He felt very tired.
“I want to think, Jennifer. I’m mixed up now and I want some time to clear my head.”
“All right.”
“I’ll call you in the morning and let you know what I decide.”
He stood up and she followed. He held open the door and she started to leave. They were close. Within inches of each other. His hand poised on the doorknob, the scent of her all around him. He wanted to hold her. She sensed it and pretended not to notice. The moment passed and he opened the door. When she was gone, he sat at his desk without moving for a long time.
3
David had not slept well. There had been clear skies and a bright slice of moon, and he had watched the stars from the darkness of his living room when he found he could not sleep. What was there to it? A woman he had slept with one time. Why should she matter, when none of the others he had taken to bed had mattered? He knew he would not find the answer with logic, the lawyer’s tool.
What should he do? The answer was obvious. Get out. Obvious on paper, that is. But not in his heart, where the decision was being made. And it was not all that obvious, anyway, because one factor muddied everything over. What if Larry Stafford was innocent? Charlie Holt had told him that Jennifer said she had been with her husband the night Darlene Hersch was murdered, and Jennifer had told him when they were walking to his office from the court-house that Larry was innocent. Stafford had said it too, and David believed him. On the other hand, was the man who had cuckolded the defendant the best man to represent him?
David had to give that a lot of thought. Now that he had found Jennifer, he did not want to let her go. He wanted to know if there was anything more possible between them. He had sensed that possibility when they had parted at his office.
Did he want the case because of Jennifer? Did he care about Larry Stafford at all? If it was just Jennifer, he knew he would have to give it up. But it wasn’t just Jennifer, David told himself. If Larry Stafford was innocent, David could not stand by and see him convicted. There was more to this case than just a chance to see Jennifer again. Hadn’t he felt the excitement when Charlie Holt had told him that Stafford might be innocent? David thought about Ashmore and Gault and Anthony Seals. When their cases had concluded, he had felt a sense of guilt, not pride. This was a case he could be proud of. He was the best criminal lawyer in the state and one of the best in the country. It was about time he started using his abilities the way they were meant to be used.
There was a note from Monica in his message box the next morning. An indictment had been returned, and a date for the arraignment had been set in circuit court. David made a note to himself to set a time for a bail hearing. The first thing he did when he reached his office was call Jennifer Stafford. She answered after the first ring.
“I’ll represent Larry if you want me to.”
“Yes,” she answered after a brief pause. “Thank you. I was afraid you wouldn’t… Larry is very high on you. We talked about it yesterday evening.”
“You didn’t tell him I was thinking about not taking the case?”
“Oh, no. He doesn’t know anything about us.”
There was silence on the line.
“You haven’t…?” she started.
“Of course not.”
There was another pause. Not an auspicious beginning. They could not relax with each other.
“Larry said that you have his appointment book at home,” he said.
“I think so. I’ll look.”
“I’ll need it as soon as possible. And the fee,” he added, feeling uneasy about asking her for money.
“Of course; Charlie told me. I’ll go to the bank.”
Again, dead air. Neither of them knew how to fill the space.
“I’ll let you know when the bail hearing is set,” David said, unwilling to let the conversation end.
“Yes.”
“And don’t forget the book. It’s important.”
He was repeating himself.
“If…if I find the book, should I bring it down this morning?”
Did that mean she wanted to see him? He felt very unsure of himself.
“We can set an appointment.”
“I could leave it with your secretary. If you’re busy.” She hesitated. “I don’t want to bother you. I know you have other cases.”
“No. That’s all right. If you find it, come down. I’m pretty open this afternoon, and I have to talk to you anyway for background.”
“Okay. If I find it.”
They rang off. He leaned back, breathed deeply, and composed himself. This was no good. There was too much adrenaline involved. He wasn’t thinking straight. Like some high-school kid with a crush. Stupid. When he felt he had himself in hand, he dialed Terry Conklin, his investigator.
“How you doing, Terry?”
“Up to my ass. And you?”
“Same thing. That’s why I called you. I have a real interesting one. It’ll probably take a lot of your time.”
“Gee, I don’t know, Dave. I hate to turn you down, but I just picked up Industrial Indemnity as a client, and I’ve had to hire another guy just to handle their caseload.”
David was disappointed. Terry had been an intelligence officer in the Air Force and a policeman after that. When he got tired of working for someone else, he quit the force and started his own agency. David had been one of his first clients, and they were good friends. As Terry’s reputation grew, he acquired several insurance companies as clients. The money end of his business was in investigating personal-injury claims, and he had little time now for criminal investigation, his first love. But he and David had an understanding if the case was big enough, and he had never let David down yet.
“It’s the policewoman who was murdered at the Raleigh Motel,” David said. He was laying out the bait.
“Oh. Yeah? Some of my police friends were talking about that. They got someone, huh?”