testimony about the pethismograph.' I had a tough time holding back
tears as I heard myself admit how bad things had turned in just one
day. 'That's why I really need to know where Andrea got that purse.
How's it looking so far?'
'It's a long shot. I finally got hold of Andrea at work. She's not
supposed to get calls at the restaurant, so she was distracted and I
was having trouble explaining to her why it was important. Add the
fact that she freaked at the mention of Dress You Up, going off about
how they falsely arrested her well, you get the picture. Anyway, she
thinks she bought the purse at Meier & Frank. If not there, one of the
other big department stores, not Dress You Up. Problem is, she doesn't
have any credit cards and usually just pays cash.'
'Any chance she's still got a receipt?' I asked.
'That's what I'm doing now. She says she usually just throws them out,
but sometimes she tosses them into a couple different drawers around
the house. I'm going to go through them. If I don't find anything,
I'll swing by the restaurant on the way home so she can sign a consent
form for me to get her old checks from the bank, just in case she
happened to pay by check. Other than that, I can't think of anything
else.'
Neither could I. 'OK, let me know if you find anything.'
'You going to be OK tonight, Sam?' he asked.
Darn blasted tears were back again. 'I don't know. It's just too
much, you know?'
'Then let me help you. If you need follow-up, I'm free.'
What I really wanted was company. 'Will you stay with me tonight when
you finish up?'
'Definitely. Easiest request I ever got from a DA. I'll call you on
my way out.'
'And can you bring some pancakes?' I added. 'The Hot-cake House makes
them to go.'
Twelve.
It was almost midnight by the time Chuck got to my house, and we were
both exhausted. Not too exhausted to talk about the case while I
devoured my pancakes, or to have as good a round of hot and steamy sex
as a post-pancake lull will allow, but we were pretty exhausted all the
same.
Chuck had looked through the junk drawers at the Martin house, but, as
Andrea had thought, there was no receipt for the purse. Andrea signed
a release for her account information, and Chuck was going to check
with the bank in the morning for any checks that might match with the
purchase. He was also going to contact Meier & Frank to make sure they
stocked that purse before Christmas. That would at least verify
Andrea's recollection, and I could recall her to the stand along with a
Meier & Frank rep in rebuttal.
I must've killed the alarm the next morning, because I overslept. Even
though I let my hair dry in the car and parked at the expensive garage
across from the courthouse, I didn't have time for Starbucks. Now I'd
be having my ass handed me in trial with bad hair and office coffee.
Terrific.
When I ran into my office to grab my trial notebooks, I was greeted by
a nice big Post-it note on my chair: Sam Where are you? Don't bother
calling Lesh he knows you'll be late. Get down to Duncan's office
ASAP. TOD.
Now what? I grabbed my notebooks and took the stairs down two flights
to Duncan's office. I'd doubled my total number of visits there in
just two days. Not good.
When I arrived, Duncan's secretary waved me in and hollered, 'Samantha
Kincaid's finally here.'
Duncan sat alone at his desk. 'Tim took off. Have a seat,' he said.
'Sir, I'm sure this is important, but I'm still in trial,' I said,
gesturing down with my head at the stack of books I was carrying for
court.
'Please, Sam, just have a seat. We called Lesh earlier.'
I did as he said.
It was the first time I'd ever seen Duncan Griffith without a smile. He
looked worried. And mean. 'Why didn't you tell me yesterday you had a
rotten case?' he asked.
My heart started to race as I struggled to collect my thoughts. Why
was he asking about my case again when we'd resolved everything
yesterday?
'First of all, I don't think it's a rotten case. The defense has had
some surprises, so it's no slam dunk, but I've still got a good enough
case to fight. Second, I was under the impression that we met
