Show of Evil

premeditation. And I thought Stoddard was determined to cop a plea?'

'I never was.'

'She's the client.'

'And I'm an officer of the court charged with giving my client the best advice and defence possible. That's what I'm going to do. You want to settle for involuntary manslaughter?'

Vail laughed. 'I can't do that, I'd be disbarred for incompetence. Either she's not guilty or she's guilty of something.'

'Then I guess it's Parver and me,' she said. 'Unless you're going to step in.'

'I don't step in on my prosecutors' cases,' he said. 'I'll send St Claire and Parver over to investigate the secret room. Then maybe you and Parver can have a sit-down.'

'What do you think she'll do?'

'Go for the jugular.'

'Trained her well, huh?'

'Didn't have to, it comes naturally with her. Thanks for telling me.'

'You wouldn't have told me?'

'Sure. But it still had to give you some bad moments, considering the options, I mean.'

'There weren't any options and you know it.'

'Ain't ethics hell?' He grinned.

'Yeah, ain't they,' she said, and after a moment, 'You never cease to amaze me, Mr Vail.' She was obviously relieved.

'Why? Did you expect me to throw a temper tantrum?'

'I know some men who would.'

'Look, we'll both do what we have to do, Janie. Hell, in a way, I got you into this.'

'In a way?' she said, raising her eyebrows. They both laughed.

St Claire tapped on the door and Vail waved him into the office.

'I just figured out what my nudge is,' he said. 'Something you said about Vulpes's phone calls strikes me as odd.'

'What's that?'

'You said he made a phone call and got a bad connection?'

'That's what Morris told me.'

'Well, if he got a bad connection, how come he didn't try the call again?'

Vail stared across the room at him, then looked at Venable.

'He's right,' she said. 'It's not like he didn't have time to dial again. If I made a call and got a bad connection...'

'You'd either call the operator or try again, right?' St Claire finished the sentence.

Hicks entered Shoat's elegant two- bedroom condo first. He flicked on the lights and walked down the short entrance hall to the living room. He put Shoat's briefcase on his desk. Shoat had bought the condo after his wife died, preferring to get rid of the old house near Loyola University with its painful memories. The two-bedroom condo near the lake was convenient, was in a proper neighbourhood, and was on the ground floor. It suited his purpose perfectly. It had a small deck at the rear that was secluded by a high redwood fence. He enjoyed sitting on this rustic terrace, reading cases and writing out his opinions in longhand. Hicks pulled back the thin, white cotton drapes, flicked on the lights, and slid open the door, checking the deck then closing the door and pulling the drapes closed again. He checked the living room, the master and guest bedrooms and baths, all the closets, and the small sitting room the judge used as an office. 'All clear,' he told his boss.

'Very good, Hicks,' the judge said. 'Don't know what I'd do without you.'

'Look, you want I should maybe spend the night in the guest room what with all this hoopla over…?'

'Don't be silly.' Shoat said, waving him off. 'I'm going to get in bed and watch Court TV for an hour or so. I'll be sound asleep by ten.'

'Right, sir. Seven o'clock in the morning?'

 'As usual.'

He followed Hicks to the door, pulling on the night chain and