view from the sun porch at his apartment in the city. His art studio. He could see the park outside, figures moving down the sidewalks like shadows.
“Have you ever done any portraits?” Teddy asked.
“I’ve tried, but they don’t come out right.”
“You still having nightmares?”
“Only when I sleep,” Holmes said.
Teddy caught a faint smile on his client’s face. The first he’d ever seen. His sense of humor was subtle, but there. Teddy handed the sketchbook back.
“What about your memory of the day Darlene Lewis died?”
Holmes face went blank again. “That’s the nightmare. The day she died.”
“What about before this, Holmes. Before Darlene was murdered. How’s your memory? Are there any other blank spots?”
Holmes thought it over as if he hadn’t considered it before. After a moment, he shook his head at the discovery.
“Tell me about that day,” Teddy said.
“No,” Holmes said.
“How bad can it be if you don’t remember what happened?”
“I remember touching her,” Holmes said. “Doing things to her with my hands.”
“What’s her face look like in the dream?”
Holmes lowered his gaze and shook his head. “Her eyes are bulging,” he whispered after a moment. “She’s dead.”
THIRTY-NINE
Teddy stood on the sidewalk beside his car, smoking his first cigarette of the day and keeping an eye on the building. His fuse was burning. Once he saw Carolyn Powell, he was afraid he might explode.
He crossed the street, ditching the smoke and entering the building lobby. Security in the district attorney’s office was tight. Three male receptionists worked the desk behind bulletproof glass. They looked like ex-cops, real bruisers. Beside the desk on the left were the metal detectors. You couldn’t pass without going through.
He pulled his cell phone out and entered her number. When her assistant picked up, he gave her his name and told her he was in the lobby. A moment later, Powell came on and said she’d be right down.
Benches were set up like church pews off to the side. Teddy took a seat and waited, unable to appreciate the ornate wood paneling or moldings that lined the walls of the old building. There had been a leak and it came from this office. Although Teddy had let Barnett make his point from his hospital bed without a response, the evidence seemed less important than what he was packing in his gut. District Attorney Alan Andrews had the wrong man. And now Holmes was tarnished beyond resurrection, his ability to defend himself ruined.
Powell entered the lobby carrying a file folder. When she spotted him, she passed through the security gate and walked over.
“You want to come up?” she asked, handing him the file.
“I don’t have time.”
“It’s the toxicology report,” she said. “Let’s go in here.”
He followed her into the empty press room and watched her close the door without switching on the lights. She looked upset as she crossed to the window. It read like guilt.
“We didn’t leak the story, Teddy.”
“If it wasn’t you, who else is there?”
“We’re trying to figure that out,” she said. “We’ve been working on it all morning.”
“Let me give you a hint. His name’s Alan Andrews and he’s a politician. Now you can stop wasting your time and get back to work on making the biggest mistake of your life.”
She took the blow and looked disappointed. Teddy didn’t move.
“We’re back to this,” she said after a moment.
“Not Andrews himself. He’s smarter than that. You know who’s working the case better than I do. You’ll have to figure out who’s talking yourself. Maybe it’s his scary cop friend, Michael Jackson. By the way, Jackson drinks from a flask. Not the one I saw the night Barnett was run over. He’s got another one now.”
She gave him a look and sat down. “Do you know what you’re saying?”
“I know what it looks like, Carolyn.”
She turned to the window without responding.
“It was in the papers before the Lewis murder,” he said. “An overzealous prosecutor with political ambition screws up and needs a big case to get himself out of a deep hole. That’s the context. The specifics get better. The lead defense attorney is in a hospital bed and may not walk again. Details of the crime scene have been leaked to the papers killing the jury pool. Prison guards working the night shift are taunting the accused and trying to get him to talk.”
She was staring at him, her eyes burning in the dim light and measuring his anger. “The evidence against Holmes is overwhelming. What you’re implying is ridiculous. You’re spending too much time with Nash.”
She stood up and turned to the door, reaching for the handle. She’d written him off and was ready to leave. Teddy pushed the door closed and could feel her breath on his face.
“What about Rosemary Gibb?” he said.
“Refresh my memory.”
She didn’t know who Rosemary was. He tried to get a grip on himself.
“You said you spoke with Ferarro in missing persons,” he said. “There’s another girl and I can’t even get a look at the missing persons report.”
She flashed a reluctant smile, remembering. The kind of smile that said Rosemary hadn’t made the cut. Even worse, it seemed clear that she’d written off Teddy’s motives as some sort of cheap defense tactic. Teddy felt his pulse smack the ceiling and steadied himself against the door.
“You said at breakfast the other day that you regretted what happened between us,” he said in a low voice. “I’m sorry we did it, too.”
She was staring at him. She was dressed in a turquoise suit that brought out the color of her eyes. Teddy ignored what he felt for her. He tried to, anyway, and moved on.
“You’re dangerous, Carolyn. You’re just like Andrews. Maybe you’re in it with him. Is that what happened? Were you keeping me busy that night? Did we get drunk and fuck so the hatchet man could get a clean shot at Barnett on his own?”
She seemed stunned. Her eyes suddenly looked glassy. What he was saying was outrageous, even vicious. Still, he needed to break the flow. One way or the other, he needed to change things.
“You really fooled me, you know it?” he said. “I thought it was more than that. I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since it happened. But you’re playing on another level. You’re in another league. You and the city’s next mayor. You don’t give a fuck about anybody just as long as you chalk up another conviction. Another win for the record books. You want it so bad you’re blind to what’s really going on. You can play follow-the-leader all you want. But keep your guards away from my client. We’ll deal with the leak next time we’re before a judge.”
She didn’t say anything. She didn’t move. Teddy opened the door, leaving her in the empty press room where the lights were out.
FORTY
Her tits were too big.
Eddie checked his canvas, then peered back at Rosemary slumped in the chair before him in his basement studio. The light was right, the sun hitting the greenhouse and feeding the room with a soft, steady haze that
