The Kills

'Tiffany thought she had it in her pocketbook when she got locked up. Thinks the police gave the bag to her mother when she came to the station house after the arrest.'

'Does it sound like a photo of anything we need?'

'Nah. She can't even explain why she took it. It's the deceased-McQueen Ransome-and a young boy. Like an adolescent. Tiffany called him 'a little white boy.' She thought he looked real pretty.'

'Could be Queenie and her son, Fabian. She had lots of pictures of him in the apartment. Guess we ought to get it if we can, to corroborate her story. And to make sure we didn't miss anything else in the handbag. Give Helena Lisi a call and ask her to have Mrs. Gatts bring it in,' I said.

'I forgot to tell you yesterday. You know, when I was talking to you while Mr. Battaglia was in your office? I could tell you were trying to get me off the phone,' Will said with a nervous giggle. 'Helena Lisi doesn't represent Tiffany anymore.'

'Well, lucky you. That should make your life easier. Who's her new lawyer?'

'Josh Braydon.'

'Big step up. Maybe you'll get some real cooperation now. Did Lisi put up a fight when the family fired her?' I asked. 'Hope she got her money up front. Mrs. Gatts is in for quite a struggle if she thinks Helena Lisi won't kick back and scream for her retainer.'

'Helena's not exactly out of it yet, Alex.'

'What do you mean?'

'I hope you don't mind what I did. I didn't want to get in a hassle with you while Battaglia was sitting in your office, so I just went ahead and used my judgment.'

'To do what, Will?'

'When Tiffany Gatts called and asked to talk to me, I could tell she was really frightened. She thinks her life is in danger. Her mother's, too. She begged me not to tell Helena Lisi.'

'So how'd you get to Josh Braydon?' I asked. 'How'd he get into the case?'

'I had the court appoint him, Alex. I know you're not going to like this. Josh Braydon? He's shadow counsel.'

32

'U.S. Airways announces the departure of flight 3709 to Martha's Vineyard. Boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes, through Gate Five.'

I paused while the gate agent repeated the information, trying to control my temper.

'What the hell were you thinking, Will? Shadow counsel? How dare you jeopardize a homicide investigation with that kind of idea?'

'I read the leading case, Alex. People Against Stewart. I'm pretty sure-'

'Don't cite cases to me,' I said, trying to keep my voice down as it resonated through the terminal's seating area. ' Stewartonly speaks to the dismissal of the indictment. The court never reached the issue of the propriety of shadow counsel. If you had bothered to read the dissent, Will, you would have seen that one of the jurists not only called the concept distasteful, but in violation of all ethical prosecutorial considerations.'

Will Nedim was getting defensive. 'Well, I'm sorry to disagree with you, Alex, but the appellate courts haven't-'

'This is no time to argue. That kind of ruse is not proper and it's not fair. I'd never think of doing anything like it.'

'You weren't exactly available to check with and-'

'I've got to catch my plane now, and you've got to undo this. Where will you be tonight? I'll call you when I settle in at my house in a couple of hours, okay? I want to know who Tiffany Gatts claimed to be afraid of and everything else you told the judge to allow this sham to happen.'

I scribbled his home number on the back of my ticket and trudged down the steps, out onto the tarmac, and up the steps of the small plane.

This was one more critical thing that Mike and Mercer would have to attend to. Who was funding Tiffany Gatts's defense? If her mother wasn't paying the bills, and if indeed she was fearful of letting her lawyer know her intentions, then we had to find out who was pulling the strings on this puppet.

I ducked my head to get through the entrance, which was several inches shorter than I was. I waited while the woman in front of me stowed her tennis racket in the overhead compartment, and then I sat in the second row, making notes about what I needed to do in response to Nedim's phone call.

'You writing a brief, Alex?'

I looked up and saw a familiar face. Justin Feldman, a prominent litigator in the city who also had a home on the Vineyard, sat opposite me across the narrow aisle.

'No, only a list,' I answered. 'I'm just letting off steam. I'm afraid I unloaded on one of the young lawyers in the office. Now I'm trying to repair the damage.'

'Nothing terminal, I hope.'

I respected Justin and had sought his advice in the past, especially on situations that involved ethical considerations, since he had chaired the bar association's prestigious committee. 'Depends on your point of view. You know anything about shadow counsel?' I asked.

'Never heard the term.'

'That's because you practice in a better place,' I said, referring to the federal courts, where judges rarely tolerated the shenanigans that were commonplace stateside. 'I'm only aware of one decision on point.'

'What jurisdiction?' Justin asked.

'A Manhattan case a few years back. The perp was incarcerated, pending trial or plea. One day, he calls the prosecutor out of the blue. Claims he's ready to cooperate and give up his codefendants, but his lawyer has refused to let him do it.'

'What was the lawyer's beef?'

'Turns out the defendant claims his lawyer was hired and paid for by somebody else-a major drug kingpin. When the defendant decides to accept the prosecutor's deal, he tells the judge that his lawyer actually said that the head of the drug ring would have him killed if he cooperated. That word would go back through the lawyer.'

'What did the judge do?' Justin asked again.

'Set up this charade, this complete fiction. He made the defendant create a record in court saying that he feared for his life if he fired his lawyer and played ball with the prosecution. So the case actually went forward with two defense attorneys.'

'Two? And the first one never knew the second one existed?'

'Exactly,' I said. 'There was the original lawyer, who was being paid by the kingpin and who told her own client that his life and the life of his family were in danger. The judge kept her on the case, but completely in the dark about the truth of the transactions. Then he went ahead and assigned someone new to do the deal with the prosecution.'

'The so-called shadow counsel?'

'Yes. The judge used the lawyer he appointed to take the real plea, which was a deal with cooperation, all the while continuing to pretend that what happened in the presence of lawyer number one-a mock plea allocution, a sentence, and a resentence-was true.'

'Creating a complete illusion. Violating all your disclosure obligations, derogating your ethical responsibilities, communicating with the court ex parte to set this up, and falsifying the judicial process all along the way.' Justin ticked off every repugnant feature of the arrangement.

'I'm not totally crazy, am I, to tell my colleague I won't go along with something like that?' I asked, as the pilot started up the starboard engine.

'You'd be insane to do it,' Justin said, shaking his head back and forth. 'I wonder where some of these lawyers lose their senses,' he said. 'You know Marty London, don't you?'