"Trial?" I asked the lawyer, reaching a hand over to shake his.
"Looks that way. Trial is set a month from now and there's plenty of evidence from what Detective Donahue produced. Allan Dale of White and Dale. Call me Allan," he added, shaking my hand in a firm grip. I'd heard of the firm. They had expensive offices a few blocks from Solomon's agency, but I never conducted any business with them. For Juliet to have called in one of those partners, she had to be paying top dollar.
"I didn't do it," Juliet sniffed as Rob led her to the couch, sitting beside her, their hands entwined. "But everything says I did. All the online trades have my access codes and there's paperwork with my signature on it. You have to believe me that I didn't do it."
"We do, honey," said Rob as Juliet shook her head, looking miserable.
"And you?" she said, lifting her eyes to me.
I didn't hesitate before answering. "I think you're being set up."
"If you can't prove that, we'll lose this house. I had to put it up as collateral for the bail. I also had to surrender my passport. I'm under curfew! Look." Juliet pulled up her pant leg, revealing a slim bracelet around her ankle.
"What is that?" I asked, peering at it.
"It's an ankle bracelet to monitor her movements and location. Bail conditions stipulate that Juliet remain at home until the trial," said Allan.
Juliet dropped her pants leg over the cuff. "I'm being treated like a criminal! I could go to prison."
"Could she?" Rob asked, looking from me to the lawyer.
Allan nodded. "Yes, it's very possible."
"How possible?" I asked.
"Let's not put odds on this one," he said, his voice as uncomforting and grave as it could possibly be.
"Tell me straight. What's going to happen?" asked Rob.
The lawyer took a deep breath, preparing to deliver the bad news, I thought, although he didn't seem to take any pleasure in his words. "Based on the evidence, Juliet could be facing ten to twenty."
"Months?" asked Rob.
"Years."
"Oh, God!" Juliet dropped her face into her hands. Rob wrapped an arm around her shoulder as she began to shake. "Why is this happening to me?"
"Juliet, is it at all possible you made those trades? Maybe you took advice from someone you shouldn't have? If we enter a guilty plea..." started Allan.
Her head shot up. "I didn't do it!"
"We could claim you were pressured, but you never intended to hurt anyone. I could get your sentence reduced by nearly half. You could be paroled in ten."
"And miss ten years of my baby's life? It would be born in prison!"
"I can get you sent to a low security unit designed for women prisoners in your predicament."
"No!" Rob ran his hands threw his hair, his face filled with alarm. "No. If she didn't do it, she won't plead guilty and miss half our baby's childhood. You need to find the evidence to exonerate her!"
"It's not looking good..." Allan started.
"I'll find it," I said, reaching to touch Juliet's knee. "I believe in..." Before I could finish, or offer her a little hope, the door handle rattled and a woman stepped inside.
"Yoohoo!" she called with a cheery wave as she shut the door behind her. Her other arm held a wicker basket, with a checkered cloth lying over the top. She looked around the room, nodding to the lawyer and me, smiling at Rob, then noticing Juliet. Her cheery smile wavered just a moment before she beamed. "It's only me. I brought muffins. Ohmygosh! Juliet! Honey, you're home. That's wonderful! How? I mean... what? I heard what happened but..." she trailed off.
"I'll fill you in later," Juliet said, sighing as she looked at the woman. "This is our friend, Penelope Cera," she said. "Penelope, this is Lexi Graves, the PI I told you about."
"Oh, sure, I remember. Hi!" She set the basket on the coffee table and reached over to shake my hand, her expression warm. "Juliet said she was going to hire you. Does this mean you've taken her case?"
"Yes, I have. I left a message for you. I was hoping to talk."
"We sure will. I'm so pleased she's got someone on her team. Asides from Rob and me anyway. And you are?" she asked, stretching her hand towards the lawyer, shaking his as he introduced himself. "I am so glad I baked a whole batch of muffins now that there's a houseful. I'm sure they'll cheer everything up!"
Privately, I thought it would take a lot more than muffins to cheer anything up in the Harvey/Hart household, but Penelope seemed so solicitous, and so cheerful, that I didn't say anything. Instead, I recalled all the times Lily turned up on my stoop, coffee in hand, determined to make my day.
"I'm going to get started," I told my client as Penelope began to fuss with the basket. "I'll call you soon and make sure you call me if anything happens."
"What are you going to do?"
"Surveillance to start, and some background checks." I didn't mention my plan to grill Solomon some more about his part in the case. I figured it wouldn't help Juliet's peace of mind if she knew I was, literally, sleeping with the enemy... or, at least, working with the enemy's team. Perceiving Solomon as the enemy was, of course, ridiculous. Like me, he simply took a job in good faith. Now that our jobs were intersecting, it was problematic, but could end up being an advantage if he became a valuable resource. Like I told him yesterday, it could behoove us both to have our eyes on the case, eyes that came from different perspectives. Being as convinced of Juliet's guilt as I was of her innocence would hopefully not impede that. I wished my hopes were higher for the lawyer's confidence in the case.
I rose just in time for Penelope to press a napkin-wrapped muffin into my hand. "Lemon surprise," she said with a giggle. "The lemon is the surprise. Surprise!"
"Thank you." It didn't seem like a giggling occasion to me but Penelope looked like the type of person who was determined to be happy, no matter what. Also, my stomach gave a little grumble of anticipation.
"You two sit there. I'll see Lexi to her car," Penelope said, waving Rob back down. "I'll be right back. How's the muffin?" she asked me, guiding me towards the door. I just had time to grab my purse before being ushered outside.
"Smells delicious."
The door shut with a click and Penelope shook out her hair, smiling up at the sun as it edged its way through the clouds. "It's going to be a beautiful day," she announced. "Isn't it terrible?"
"The day?"
"No, Juliet."
"The stalking?"
"The arrest! Rob told me yesterday. How amazing that she's home. They must be so relieved."
"They are, but worried too. You're Juliet's close friend?"
"Yes, and Rob's too. Rob and I have known each other years; then I met Juliet when they got together." Penelope stepped forward, leaving me no choice but to follow her. She was a similar height to Juliet, and a similar build, but her hair was a little longer and it had highlights where Juliet had none.
"I like your highlights," I told her.
Penelope preened. "Thank you. I had them done just last week. So Juliet told me she hired you to look into this stalking thing? I told her, I don't think she has anything to worry about."