Hannah looked at her husband tenderly. Tears stood in his eyes. He had devoted his life to their family. The most illegal thing he had probably ever done was to get a parking ticket. He was completely lost in this maze of crime and legalities. ‘I know,’ said Hannah. She slipped her hand through his arm. ‘I feel the same way.’
Adam nodded and sighed, wiping his eyes.
‘There’s some explanation,’ said Hannah. ‘There has to be.’
There was a sound of the front door opening and suddenly they heard Sydney yell out, ‘Mommy.’ They hurried back into the living room to see Lisa on her knees, holding the toddler close. Marjorie Fox stood behind them, her hands clasped over one another on the handle of her briefcase.
‘Lisa,’ Hannah cried, and rushed to her child.
Lisa shook her head, as if in warning. She looked down at Sydney. ‘Must be past your bedtime,’ she said calmly. Then she straightened up. ‘I think I’ll take Sydney up to bed,’ she said. ‘Marjorie, can you fill them in?’
‘I will,’ said Marjorie.
Sydney offered each of her grandparents a kiss, and then climbed cheerfully into her mother’s embrace. Lisa carried her off.
Hannah indicated a chair and the attorney sat down. ‘Can I get you anything?’ Hannah asked.
Marjorie shook her head. She was a striking brunette, about forty, with a strong jaw and penetrating brown eyes. ‘I’m fine,’ she said.
Adam turned off the TV with a remote and sat down in the other chair. Hannah sat on the sofa. ‘Okay. What’s the bottom line?’ he asked.
‘Well, as you know, they’re charging her with murder in the first degree. Second degree larceny.’
‘Oh my God.’ Hannah doubled over, devastated anew at the gravity of the charges.
Marjorie shook her head. ‘Don’t despair. The fact is, these outrageous charges are actually going to work in our favor. I don’t know how much you follow local politics but we have a district attorney who is embattled. He’s new and somewhat inexperienced and he has lost several of his biggest cases in this town. He’s hoping to hit one out of the park and redeem himself with this case but he’s seriously overreaching and he’s made a very poor decision in my opinion. He is never going to be able to prove first degree,’ said Marjorie calmly.
Hannah looked up at her, skeptical but hopeful. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Well, this is my job. I’m pretty confident. No guarantees, of course.’
‘We understand,’ said Adam grimly.
‘Everything went smoothly with the bail bondsman,’ said Marjorie. ‘There are certain conditions, which I explained to Lisa. She can continue to go to school and do her rounds. Otherwise, she has to stick pretty close to home. No alcohol. No drugs. Not so much as a traffic violation. She has to report for every court appearance. The normal stuff . . .’
‘She will,’ said Adam firmly.
‘I don’t understand this,’ said Hannah. ‘Why would they blame Lisa for this horrible thing?’
Marjorie said, ‘Well, I haven’t looked at the evidence yet. I’ll have the results of discovery in the next few days. I’ll be able to tell you a little more then. I had a brief consult with the prosecutor. They’ve got her dead to rights on this check-cashing charge. Security-camera footage that shows her doing it. So we have to explain why she did it. Show that there was no criminal intent.’
Hannah’s face flamed. The thought that her daughter would do such a thing filled her with shame. ‘What did she say about that?’ Hannah asked grimly.
‘You’ll have to ask her that yourself. Everything she tells me is privileged.’
‘Even though we’re paying the bill,’ Adam observed angrily.
Ms Fox did not blink. ‘Regardless,’ she said.
‘And the . . .’ Hannah could not bring herself to say it. ‘Troy’s death.’
‘Well, the prosecution maintains that the explosion was not an accident. And that apparently, Troy had been knocked unconscious before it occurred.’
‘That doesn’t mean that Lisa had anything to do with it,’ Hannah protested.
‘No, it doesn’t,’ said Marjorie.
‘And beyond that?’ Adam asked.
‘I’ll know more tomorrow. I will have my investigators on this right away. We have to find out if Troy had enemies. I don’t know yet if he had a record. But there has to be someone else who would be more likely to blow up his house than his medical-student girlfriend.’
‘Right,’ said Hannah. ‘Of course.’
‘From what I know so far, this case sounds very circumstantial,’ said Marjorie reassuringly. ‘I feel fairly confident that we can beat them on this.’
Lisa returned to the living room. She had changed into her jeans. Her curly hair looked matted and lifeless, and she had twisted it up into a lopsided bun. She wore no make-up, and her gray eyes looked faded behind her glasses.
‘Is she OK?’ Hannah asked.
Lisa nodded and sat down at the other end of the sofa.
‘I’ve been explaining to your parents what will happen next. You know the rules about bail.’ Marjorie pointed an index finger at her client. ‘Don’t mess it up.’
‘No way,’ said Lisa with a shudder. ‘I had enough of that jail this evening.’
‘Good.’ Marjorie stood up. ‘I better run. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.’
Adam and Hannah thanked her, shaking her hand, and Adam walked her to the door. Hannah sat down again beside her daughter. She wanted to reach out and pull her into her arms, but Lisa had always resisted physical affection. It made her uneasy. Hannah settled for patting her hand.
‘Are you OK?’ she asked.
Lisa shrugged. ‘Not really, Mom. I still can’t believe any of this.’
‘Ms Fox seems to think that their case isn’t very strong.’
Lisa shook her head. ‘Whatever. They seem to have something to prove, and for some reason they are focused on
