my beer and scarf my pizza?”
“You begged us to come,” Tai Curtis said. “Look, we’ve got to straighten up here. We apologize, Bobby. Now, guys, Danny’s dead, and these agents didn’t come here to listen to us laughing about bathrooms.”
Sherlock nodded to Tai. It was time to bring things back on track. “Let’s continue, then. Now, Bobby, you spoke to Eliza, she blew you off, and you ran out. But you didn’t remind her about the Friday meeting?”
“No, I guess I didn’t,” Bobby said, looking down at his banged-up Nikes. “I was upset at her, I’ll admit it.”
“Stop being a masochist, Bobby,” Sonya said, not unkindly. “Stop asking her out. Eliza could eat you for breakfast.”
Bobby turned a dull red and chugged down some beer.
This was going nowhere fast, Ben thought. “Did you see Justice Califano after the Friday meeting in the Chief Justice’s chambers?”
“No. The Justices rarely ever hang around together when they’re not in conference.”
Callie said, “Do you know what Eliza had planned for Friday night?”
“Nah, she didn’t say. I asked her, but she gave me this look, like what’s it to you, jerk face? That’s when I left.”
“Fleurette heard you two arguing,” Savich said. “What was that about?”
“The capital punishment case coming up. Eliza said I should consider trying to let some air into my brain, a little air couldn’t hurt, and a new idea might find its way in. Can you believe she said that? Just because she didn’t agree with me?”
Sonya rolled her eyes. “Oh no, Bobby, I simply can’t imagine that.”
Bobby said suddenly, “Wait, I do remember I saw Justice Califano and Justice Wallace talking on Friday afternoon, outside the gift shop on the basement level. The Justices were seldom down there, so it surprised me a little. I was on my way to get some soda from the cafeteria for Justice Alto-Thorpe, and there they were, standing there, real close, and neither of them looked happy.”
CHAPTER
19
N OW THIS WAS a kicker, if, that is, Bobby was telling the truth, Savich thought. “Did you hear anything they were saying to each other?”
Bobby shook his head. “No, but Justice Califano was intense. I remember he pulled some papers out of his jacket pocket, held them rolled up, and gestured with them in front of Justice Wallace’s chest, as if he were punctuating each of his words.”
“You heard nothing at all?” Sherlock said.
“I saw Justice Wallace rear back, like it was an attack and he looked surprised and indignant, but there were lots of tourists milling around, a big crowd of them, finishing up a tour in the gift shop to buy souvenirs, and I couldn’t see them any longer. I wondered what it was about, but they disagreed sometimes, all of them. I didn’t pay that much attention at the time.”
“Okay,” Sherlock said. “Let’s get back to Eliza.” From what Sherlock could tell, Eliza was well liked among the law clerks. Bobby Fisher would do well to watch his mouth. She said, “What do you think Eliza thought of Justice Califano?” She looked directly at Bobby, but the other three clerks knew the question was coming to each of them, and it set them to thinking. Too bad, but who knew what they’d say in response to another’s comments?”
Bobby said, “Justice Alto-Thorpe thought Eliza and Justice Califano didn’t get along all that well, but you know, I don’t believe that. I know she admired the old guy. She tried to protect him and his time from anything she didn’t think was important.”
Sonya McGivens agreed. “Eliza practically worshiped him. The thing is, Justice Califano treated her like an equal in a way none of the other Justices do with their law clerks. Justice Wallace sure has never treated me or Tai like that. Justice Wal—” Her voice dropped off. She turned red, seemingly embarrassed, about what she’d almost said.
Dennis Palmer nodded in agreement. “That’s true. It isn’t at all like Justice Gutierrez treats me.”
“And how does he treat you, Dennis?” Sherlock asked.
“He’s always nice to me, don’t get me wrong, always listens politely to what I have to say. But I always feel like he’s ready to pat me on the back. I rarely feel he really wants to talk to me.”
“So you think Justice Gutierrez treats you that way because you’re black?” Sherlock asked.
He smiled at her. “No. I’ve never thought Justice Gutierrez is prejudiced. He hired me because I was law review, at the top of my class at Maryland, interviewed well, and presented him two topflight recommendations. But I really do think it made him feel warm and fuzzy to hire a black man, because he’s a minority himself, although I doubt he’s ever thought of himself in that way.”
“All right,” Savich said. “Tell me about Danny O’Malley. Bobby, when you were in Eliza’s office on Friday morning, what was Danny doing?”
“Okay. All right.” Bobby took a deep breath. “Danny was at his desk, working on something, I don’t know what. He looked up, saw me, and kind of winced. He did that whenever I came in. He never said anything nasty to me, not like Eliza did, he’d just sort of wince. Maybe he didn’t like it that I’d ask Eliza out on dates. Maybe he wanted Eliza too, sort of a dominance thing.”
“No,” Sonya said. “Danny really liked Eliza, he looked up to her. He wasn’t interested in her that way. He was going out with Annie Harper, you know, the girl he met over at the Department of the Interior.”
Sherlock asked, “Bobby, did you see Danny go into Justice Califano’s office?”
Bobby shook his head.
Tai Curtis said, “I wasn’t anywhere close that day. You guys weren’t either, were you?”
Dennis and Sonya shook their heads.
Ben said, “Bobby, did you see Danny at any other time on Friday?”
Bobby thought a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I saw him and Fleurette go out to lunch. They had their heads together, talking real low, about what, I don’t know. I didn’t see Danny again. What did he have on the murderer, Agent Savich? What could he have possibly known, found out?”
“We don’t know yet, but we will soon.”
Callie said to Sonya McGivens, “Could I come with you to the kitchen, Ms. McGivens? I need a glass of water.”
“Sure.” Sonya shrugged, tugged her lacy white top over her bare stomach, where it hovered for perhaps two seconds before slipping back up, and wandered out of the living room. She’d been here before, Callie thought. Why? Certainly not to hang out alone with Bobby.
“None of us are stupid, Detective—I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name?”
“My name’s Callie Markham.”
Sonya stopped dead in her tracks, stared up and down at Callie. “I thought you looked familiar. You’re Justice Califano’s stepdaughter. I was thinking maybe you’d given me a parking ticket or something, but that’s not it at all. You’ve visited your stepfather before in his chambers, haven’t you? And you’re not a cop, you’re a reporter—for
“Yes, I am. But I’m not here to do any story, Ms. McGivens. I’m on leave from the paper. I’m here because I think I can help with this investigation, a sort of an inside eye, someone who knows many of the players. I really want to find out who killed my stepfather. Can you tell me what you nearly said out there about Justice Wallace?”
Sonya rolled her eyes. “Please keep this quiet, Callie. Can I call you Callie?”
“Of course.”
“And call me Sonya. Okay, I’ll tell you, not that you’ll believe it—Justice Wallace tried to come on to me once, in a subtle sort of way. I must have looked so horrified, he tried to laugh it off as a joke. He looks at me sometimes, I’ll see him from the corner of my eye, looking. I have a good figure and I like to show it off, but to have a Supreme Court Justice staring at you, well, it’s enough to put you off your feed. But who really knows what old guys are thinking anyway?”
