attorney specifically because of the subpoena, or are you telling me
that you've retained counsel to defend you in all matters involving
Clarissa Easterbrook?'
Caffrey was savvy enough to know that, as I had worded it, the latter
sounded bad. It sounded well, guilty. By now, he may even have heard
the news about witnesses taking the Fifth at the prelim. In the news,
they always make that sound like a confession.
I was taking advantage of a loophole in the rule against contacting a
represented party, but I was squarely on legal ground. And I had no
respect for a guy who was more worried about his own political future
than the murder of a woman he'd been sleeping with.
'No,' he said, without hesitation. 'I thought I should have a lawyer
for the courtroom proceedings, but I've got no problem speaking to you
informally. Within limits, that is. I've only got about ten
minutes.'
He was giving me a warning signal. I needed to be gone before the wife
came home. Press too far, and I'd be out of here. With the rules of
the game defined, he asked me in.
'Since time is short, I'm not going to waste it pushing you to answer a
question I think we both know is pointless.' As I spoke, he folded his
hands in his lap and looked down at them. At least he seemed to have
some shame about his cowardice. 'I think Clarissa got herself in
trouble on one of her cases at work, something to do with Gunderson
Development. And I also think she talked to the City Attorney about
it.'
'Gunderson Development had a case in front of Clarissa?'
I told him about the file, including the note about Clarissa's
conversation with DC. The skin on his hands creased as he tightened
the resistance in his fingers. I was on to something, and he was
surprised by it.
I went for broke. 'Clarissa also had a videotape of the two of you
leaving the Village Motor Inn, and it was in an envelope addressed to
this house. She was blackmailing you, wasn't she?
Was it so you'd leave your wife, or was she trying to pressure your
vote for Gunderson?'
He was no longer surprised. He was downright flabbergasted. He was
looking at me like I had just invited him to a fund-raiser for Satan.
'No?' I sounded pitiful.
He shook his head, then said what his expression had already made
obvious. 'Clarissa was not blackmailing me.'
'But you do know something that might be related to her death.' I
could state the obvious too.
When a few moments passed and he realized that I wasn't going to
interrupt the silence, he finally spoke up. 'Clarissa wasn't perfect.
No one is.'
'Is that why you haven't said anything? With all due respect, making
sure we get the guy who killed Clarissa is a hell of a lot more
important than preserving her reputation.'
'I've been tearing myself apart. When she first disappeared, I didn't
know what to do. But then it sounded like the evidence against Jackson
was so strong, I felt I'd be dragging Clarissa through the dirt for no
reason.'
The fact that he got to keep his own name clean may have factored in as
well.
'Look, the case against Jackson is strong, but the defense is arguing
that someone set him up. I started to believe it myself, but it looks
like whatever Clarissa had going with Gunderson wasn't involved in her
death. But I think it did have something to do with your upcoming vote
on the urban growth boundary.'
'If it's not related to her death, why does it even matter at this
point?'
'I hope I don't need to explain to you, of all people, that if
Gunderson was blackmailing or bribing a public official, he should be
punished.' The argument seemed to fall on deaf ears.
'And if we don't find out for ourselves what was going on between
Clarissa and Gunderson, then the defense attorney can use innuendo and
speculation to confuse the jury at trial. I don't want Jackson to
walk.'
The possibility of Clarissa's murderer going unpunished seemed to be
more persuasive. 'It doesn't have anything to do with my vote.' He
was clearly insulted at what he perceived as the insinuation. 'Clarissa
never talked to me about that. Just like I never tried to tell her
what to do on her cases. But I think she did have a connection to this
Gunderson you're talking about.'
He stopped, but I did nothing to disturb the silence.
