them and I'm here for you.'
'I know, Matt,' Abbie said softly, 'and I appreciate that.'
'Please, don't give up hope. Promise me you'll call anytime you feel all this getting the best of you. Anytime you need someone to talk to.'
'I will. I promise.'
Barry turned his Jeep Cherokee onto Macadam Boulevard and headed toward downtown Portland. The road ran along the river and they had occasional glimpses of pleasure boats cruising the Willamette. Barry envied the weekday sailors and watched them longingly, but Tracy seemed oblivious to the scenery.
'What's bothering you?' Barry asked.
'What?'
'What's bothering you? You haven't said a word since we left the house.'
Tracy shook her head.
'Come on, we're a team. What's on your mind?'
'It's our client,' Tracy said.
'What about her?'
'I don't trust her.'
'Matt sure does.'
'You've noticed, have you?'
'I didn't have to be much of a detective to pick up on that,' Barry said.
'I mean, it's like a mutual admiration society,' Tracy went on.
'I don't think she gave either of us more than a glance the whole time we were at the house.'
'So?'
'Barry, Matthew Beynolds is a brilliant attorney and a nice man, but he is not the type of guy a woman like Abigail Griffen makes goo-goo eyes at.'
'Hey, don't put down the boss.'
'I'm not. I really like him. I just don't want to see Abigail Griffen take advantage of him.'
'How would she do that?'
'By using her obvious attractions to convince a vulnerable man she's innocent when she's not.'
'You think she did it?'
'I think it's possible.'
'Based on the statement of a scumbag like Deems?'
'Based on what I know about Justice Griffen. This business about his affairs... I don't buy it. If he was seeing other women, I'll bet she drove him to it.'
'Why does Mrs. Griffen have to be the bad guy?'
'Laura respected the judge.'
'Laura is . . . ?'
'I'm sorry. Laura Bizzatti. She was his clerk. She was murdered just before I left the court.'
'That's right. You found the body. Sorry, I didn't recognize the name.'
'That's okay. I don't talk about it.'
'Do the police know who killed her?'
'No. I call the detective in charge of the case occasionally, but she says they don't have any leads.'
'Let's get back to our client. Talk it out. If you've got something, we need to know. You were saying that Laura respected Justice Griffen.'
'She did. I don't think she'd feel that way if she knew he was a womanizer.'
'Maybe she didn't know. She only saw him at work. He might have been very different around his law clerk.'
Tracy stared out the window without speaking for a while.
They rounded a curve and the Portland skyline appeared, tall buildings of glass and steel dwarfed by the green hills that loomed behind them.
'You're right, I guess I really didn't know Justice Griffen. I only saw him at work, too. It's just . . . Barry, he was a really nice guy.
He was so concerned about Laura. I just don't see how he could be the way Mrs. Griffen portrays him.'
'What I'm getting from this is that you don't know the truth about Justice Griffen, but you don't like Abigail Griffen, so you don't want to believe what our client is saying. That ain't the way it works, Tracy. Nothing you've told me disproves anything Mrs. Griffen told us.
We represent Abigail Griffen and our job is to save her butt. So until we learn otherwise, we've got to assume the worst about the deceased and the best about our client. If evidence turns up that convinces us otherwise, we'll deal with it.
But for now let's operate on the theory that Justice Griffen was a cheat and a slime-ball and see where that leads us.'
Chapter SEVENTEEN
've got good news and bad news, Barry Frame told his boss as soon as Reynolds walked through the front door. 'Which do you want first?'
'The good news,' Reynolds said as he headed for his office with Barry in tow.
'Christenson set up a time for us to view the physical evidence. He's bringing it to a conference room at the DA's office on Friday at ten.'
'Good. What's the bad news?'
'Geddes talked Judge Baldwin into issuing a protective order for Deems.
They don't have to give us his address.' Reynolds looked furious.
'That's preposterous.'
'Yeah, but Geddes convinced the judge to do it. The affidavit in support of the order is sealed, so I've got no idea what story Geddes cooked up to convince Baldwin to issue the order. The bottom line is I'm going to have to find another way to get the address.'
'Do it, then. Whatever it takes. We have to talk to Deems.
He's the key to their case. I'm certain Deems is framing Abbie.'
'Why would he do that?'
'For revenge, of course. She put him in prison.'
'I know that's Mrs. Griffen's theory, but it doesn't make sense. Now that he's off death row, why risk going back to prison for perjury or worse, if he killed Justice Griffen?'
Matthew thought about that. 'Could someone have paid Deems to kill Griffen and frame Abbie?' he asked Barry. 'Sure, but why?'
Matthew shook his head. 'I don't know. We have to look deeper into Justice Griffen's background.'
Reynolds paused. Barry waited patiently.
'Barry, see if Deems has a bank account. If someone paid him to kill Griffen, it would have been a substantial amount. He may have put the money in an account.'
Barry laughed. 'You're kidding. A guy like Deems doesn't deal with banks, unless he's robbing them.'
Reynolds flashed Barry a patient smile. 'Humor me.'
'Sure thing. Oh, before I forget. Neil Christenson and I engaged in a little small talk. He let it slip that Geddes is really pissed at you.'
'Oh?'
'You did insult him when he arrested Mrs. Griffen. Then there's the business with Mrs. Griffen's release. Geddes blames you for getting the Attorney General involved. We won't be getting any breaks from him.
He's determined to get a death sentence in the case and he's going to fight us every step of the way.'
'Is that so?' The tiniest of smiles creased Reynolds's lips, as if he was enjoying a private joke. 'Well, back to work.'
Reynolds turned abruptly and walked away. Frame was about to go to his office when a thought occurred to him. When Deems was arrested for the Hollins murders, he tried to hire Reynolds to represent him. Barry was certain Matthew had talked to Deems two or three times before declining the defense, and he wondered if there was a file on the case with phone numbers and addresses for Deems and his acquaintances. Barry walked toward
