would know that her father was someone very important. So many doors would open for her. He might even win the respect of his father.
Kerrigan no longer felt the cold. He was no longer aware of where he was. It was as if he was on the border of a world far different from the one he had known his whole life. One step and he would be over that border and in a new world without limits, where he could do anything he wanted to do without fear.
The judge was right about so much he'd said. Ally Bennett was a whore--a whore with the power to ruin his life. And how was she using her power? She wanted Tim to set free an unrepentant killer. There was no way that Tim could do what she wanted anyway. That meant that Ally Bennett was going to destroy his life and make his lovely, innocent daughter go through her life carrying the burden of her father's shame.
Kerrigan looked up. The stars no longer wavered, his sight was sharper, and his mind was clearer. No longer was he asking himself if he should kill Ally Bennett. He was contemplating a new question: Could he kill Ally Bennett?
Chapter Thirty-Four.
Ben Dodson was in a good mood when he arrived at his office on Monday morning. He had a full schedule of patients, but his secretary told him that his four o'clock had canceled, which meant he'd be able to go home early. As Ben went to his filing cabinet to find the file for his first patient of the day, he noticed a slip of paper that was half hidden under his desk. He picked it up and discovered that it was a note that he had scribbled to himself about Amanda Jaffe during one of their sessions. Dodson frowned. The note should have been in Amanda's file. What was it doing on the floor?
Dodson found Amanda's file and opened it. Everything looked in order. He put the paper back in the file and replaced the folder in its proper place. He took out the file for his nine o'clock and sat down to review it. After a few minutes, he paused, distracted by thoughts of the slip of paper from Amanda's file. In his mind's eye, Dodson could see himself placing the slip in the file and replacing the file after Amanda's session. He buzzed his secretary and asked her if she had taken the file from the cabinet. She had not.
Dodson was certain that he had not reviewed Amanda's file since their last appointment, which was when he'd written the note. Amanda had come to see him on Friday. Was it possible that the paper had lain unseen under his desk all day? That had to be what happened because the only other explanation would involve someone breaking into his office.
* * *
As soon as she was at her desk on Monday, Amanda phoned the Portland Police Bureau's police report requests number. A recording told her that all requests for police reports had to be in writing, but it gave her a phone number for Records. A woman answered the phone.
'I'm Amanda Jaffe, an attorney, and I'm trying to get my hands on some old police reports from the early nineteen seventies.'
'Gee, we only keep records for twenty-five years. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have them.'
'Even in a homicide case?'
'Oh, that's different. Those we don't destroy, because there's no statute of limitations.'
'So, I can get them?'
'You might be able to, but I couldn't give them to you. Those reports are in a locked cabinet in a locked room. The only people who can get them are Records techs.'
'Can I talk to one of them?' Amanda asked.
'You could, but they won't give you the reports. They have to be authorized to get them.'
'Who can do that?'
'The detectives who handled the case.'
'They're probably retired, don't you think?'
'Yeah.'
'So?'
'Any homicide detective can authorize the request if the original detective isn't available.'
'Thanks.'
Amanda dialed Homicide and asked for Sean McCarthy.
'How's my favorite mouthpiece?' McCarthy asked.
'Hanging in there.'
'Is this call about Mr. Dupre?'
'Sherlock Holmes has nothing on you, Sean.'
McCarthy laughed. 'What can I do for you?'
'I'm trying to get my hands on some police reports from the early nineteen seventies. Records won't give them to me without the authorization of the detective who worked the case or, if he's not available, another homicide detective.'
'Are the reports connected to Dupre's case?'
'They might be. I have to read them to be certain.'
'What do you think you'll find?'
