them to go there just to poke around. I called one of the community
safety liaisons out in Gresham, to be safe. He's leaving the
department as we speak to relock the house on the city's dime. I'm
just pissed that I didn't put it together sooner.'
'It's my fault. I'm the one who Andrea talked to about getting the
keys out of the purse. I should've made sure they were in there.'
'No use blaming anyone now. Luckily it turned out OK.' With our
temporary panic out of the way, he moved the conversation back to the
new evidence. 'So, you happy about the case now?'
'Happy doesn't begin to describe it. I'm ecstatic.'
'You want to grab a bite tonight? Celebrate the good news?'
'I was going to stop by Dad's tonight.'
'Alright, some other time.' He sounded disappointed, and I was
surprised to find myself feeling the same way. When we didn't want to
kill each other, I truly felt at home with Chuck. We'd known each
other so long that we were comfortable together in a way we didn't feel
with anyone else. At least, I didn't. From what I'd heard, Chuck was
never lonely for company in the evenings, but given how often his name
passed through the rumor mill, it didn't seem like he'd kept anyone
around long enough to get serious.
'You want to come with me? Dad always likes seeing you,
you know.' The words were out of my mouth before I reminded myself
that, when it came to me and Chuck, there was a cloud for every silver
lining.
'Sure. Sounds great. Pick you up at seven?'
'Only if I get to drive the Jag,' I said. If I was going to play with
fire, I may as well get some warmth out of it.
Just as I hung up the phone, it rang again. Maybe it was Chuck, having
second thoughts too.
'Kincaid,' I said.
It was Judge Leeson's clerk. Maria Leeson had the unfortunate
privilege of being the presiding judge for the Multnomah County Circuit
Court, meaning she had to deal with all the miscellaneous shit that
none of the other judges had time for.
'The judge wants to know why you're not down here,' she said.
'Because I'm here. And not there.'
'You better get down here.'
'What's going on?' I asked.
'You've got a case on the docket. State v. Derringer.'
'For what?'
'Call,' she said. Cases were on the call docket when they were about
to go to trial. Before a judge and courtroom were set aside, the
parties were supposed to show up and report the status of plea
negotiation and whether they were ready to go to trial. We usually
sent one DA to the call docket to report information for the entire
office. Poor Alan Ritpers was the current call DA.
'I gave all my trial information to Ritpers. The Derringer case just
got arraigned the other day,' I said.
'Yep, and that's why you need to get down here,' she said. 'Lopez
called yesterday to have the case added to the docket, and Ritpers is
clueless. The judge wants you down here. Now.'
I headed straight down, skipping the antiquated and over-stressed
elevators for the four flights down to Judge Leeson's courtroom. Lisa
was waiting near the defense table and rose when I entered the room.
'My apologies, your honor,' I said. 'I wasn't aware of the
appearance.'
'Check your docket, Ms. Kincaid.' Maria Leeson peered down at me over
the top of her half-moon glasses. 'Alright, Ms. Lopez, now that we've
got a DA here who's heard of your client, tell me again what you're
asking for.'
'Thank you, Judge Leeson. My client is currently in custody, unable to
meet bail imposed by Judge Weidemann during the arraignment. He wants
a speedy trial, and I'm requesting the earliest available trial
date.'
Leeson pointed her glasses down at me again. 'Ms. Kincaid?'
'The defendant waived his speedy trial rights at arraignment, your
honor. In light of that waiver, the State requests a trial date in the
usual course.' Translation: let the defendant rot for a year while I
finish getting the goods against him.
'Did you waive at arraignment, Ms. Lopez?' Leeson asked.
