'No matter. We can check the phone records.' He gave the Columbo wave. 'Have a special day.'
Chapter 26
There were four more cop cars outside the Coldren house. Myron walked to the door on his own and knocked. A black woman Myron did not recognize opened it.
Her eyes flicked at the top of his head. 'Nice hat,'
she said without inflection. 'Come on in.'
The woman was about fifty years old and wore a nicely tailored suit. Her coffee skin looked leathery and worn. Her face was kind of sleepy, her eyes half-closed, her expression perpetually bored. 'I'm Victoria Wilson,'
she said.
'Myron Bolitar.'
'Yes, I know.' Bored voice too.
'Is anybody else here?'
'Just Linda.'
'Can I see her?'
Victoria Wilson nodded slowly; Myron half expected her to stifle a yawn. 'Maybe we should talk first.'
'Are you with the police?' Myron asked.
'The opposite,' she said. 'I'm Mrs. Coldren's attorney.'
'That was fast.'
'Let me put this plainly,' she ho-hummed, sounding like a diner waitress reading off the specials in the last hour of a double shift. 'The police believe that Mrs. Coldren killed her husband. They also think that you're involved in some way.' .
Myron looked at her. 'You're kidding, right?'
The same sleepy expression. 'Do I look like a prankster, Mr. Bolitar?'
Rhetorical question.
'Linda does not have a solid alibi for late last night,'
she went on, still with the Hat tone. 'Do you?'
'Not really.'
'Well, let me tell you what the police already know.'
The woman took blasT and raised it to an art form.
'First' -raising a finger in the air seemed to take great effort -'they have a witness, a groundskeeper, who saw Jack Coldren enter Merion at approximately one in the morning. The same witness also saw Linda Coldren do likewise thirty minutes later. He also saw Linda Coldren leave the grounds not long alter that. He never saw Jack Coldren leave.'
'That doesn't mean '
'Second' another finger in the air, making a peace sign 'the police received a report last night at approximately two in the morning that your car, Mr. Bolitar, was parked on Golf House Road. The police will want to know what you were doing parking in such a strange spot at such a strange time.'
'How do you know all this?' Myron asked.
'I have good connections with the police,' she said.
Again bored. 'May I continue?' .
'Please.'
'Third' yep, another finger-'Jack Coldren had been seeing a divorce attorney. He had, in fact, begun the process of filing papers.'
'Did Linda know this?'
'No. But one of the allegations Mr. Coldren made concemed his wife's recent infidelity.'
Myron put both hands to his chest. 'Don't look at me.'
'Mr. Bolitar?'
'What?'
'I am just stating facts. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't interrupt. Fourth' final finger 'on Saturday, at the U. S. Open golf tournament, several witnesses described you and Mrs. Coldren as being a bit more than chummy.'
. Myron waited. Victoria Wilson lowered the hand, never showing the thumb.
'Is that it?' Myron asked.
'No. But that's all we'll discuss for now.'
'I met Linda for the first time on Friday.'
'And you can prove that'?'
'Bucky can testify to it. He introduced us.'
Another big sigh. 'Linda Coldren's father. What a perfect, unbiased witness.'
'I live in New York.'
'Which is less than two hours by Amtrak from Philadelphia.
Go on.'
'I have a girlfriend. Jessica Culver. I live with her.'
'And no man has ever cheated on his girlfriend before.
Stunning testimony.'
Myron shook his head. 'So you're suggesting-'
'Nothing,' Victoria Wilson interrupted him with the monotone. 'l am suggesting absolutely nothing. I am telling you what the police believe that Linda killed Jack. The reason why there are so many police officers surrounding this house is because they want to make sure that we do not remove anything before a search warrant is issued. They have made it crystal clear that they want no Kardashians on this one.'
Kardashian. As in 0. J. The man had changed law lexicon forever. 'But . . .' Myron stopped. 'This is ridiculous. Where is Linda?'
'Upstairs. I've informed the police that she is too grief-stricken to speak to them at this time.'
'You don't understand. Linda.shouldn't even be a suspect. Once she tells you the whole story, you'll see what I mean.'
Another near yawn. 'She has told me the whole story.'
'Even about . . . ?'
'The kidnapping,' Victoria Wilson finished for him.
'Yes.'
'Well, don't you think that kind of exonerates her?'
'No.'
Myron was confused. 'Do the police know about the kidnapping'?'
'Of course not. We are saying nothing at this time.'
Myron made a face. 'But once they hear about the kidnapping, they'll focus on that. They'll know Linda couldn't be involved.'
Victoria Wilson tumed away. 'Let's go upstairs.'
'You don't agree'?'
She didn't respond. They began to climb the staircase.
Victoria said, 'You are an attorney.'
It didn't sound like a question, but Myron still said, 'I
don't practice.'
'But you passed the bar.' `
'In New York.'
'Good enough. I want you to be co-counsel in this case. I can get you an immediate dispensation.'
'I don't do criminal law,' Myron said.
'You don't have to. I just want you to be an attorney of record for Mrs. Coldren.'
Myron nodded. 'So I can't testify,' he said. 'So everything I hear falls under privilege.'
Still bored. 'You are a smart one.' She stopped next to a bedroom door and leaned against a wall. 'Go in. I'm going to wait out here.'
