'I didn't realize the two of you were so close.'
'We're not,' she said with a laugh. 'But that's what Susan's like an
open book. Hell, she seemed proud of it, and why shouldn't she be? She
was sticking up for her husband. The sad part is, I heard later that
the husband got wind of what she'd done and had the nerve to take her
to task for it. Rumor is, Susan got so pissed at the ungrateful fuck
she flung his humidor of Cubans into the fireplace.'
'I guess I'll try not to make her mad,' I said. 'She's worried that
the trial's going to turn into an attack on Clarissa's character.'
'And, of course, there's no chance of that, right?' Grace asked
facetiously.
'Let's just say between Susan Kerr and you the other day at Greek
Cusina, I've gotten the message.'
She touched my forearm and smiled. 'I'm just giving you a hard time,
sweetie. I know you do what you can. What else has been going on? Oh
my God, I almost forgot to ask any run-ins with Shoe Boy?'
I gave her a blow-by-blow of Roger's visit to the office.
'You had quite the busy day today, didn't you? Have another
martini.'
A second wouldn't kill me. 'He's screwing up my judgment. I feel
total confidence in my case against Jackson. Then he pisses me off,
and I find myself wanting to complicate things, just so we're not on
the same side.'
'Sorry, hon, but it doesn't sound like there's much to complicate. I
believe this one's what your buddies call a slam dunk.'
I told her what Mrs. Jackson said about her son's sudden employment at
a well-funded suburban construction site.
Grace shook her head. 'That's probably not unusual. Development out
there has gotten so out of control it's attracting some pretty low-rent
people. I wouldn't be surprised if some little outfit got in over its
head and tried to trim the budget by hiring the cheapest labor it could
find.'
'Well, I'll tell you what complicates things. One of Griffith's
political cronies has been subpoenaed by the defense and is going to
raise a stink tomorrow.'
'Holy shit, Samantha. If this case gets any hotter, you're going to
wind up on Court TV.'
'No, Grace, you can't give me a new haircut.' She was disappointed
that I'd seen right through her. It takes more than a martini or two
before I let her get too creative.
'So who's the crony?'
'I really can't say, Grace.'
'Oh, yes, you will. You can't tell me a little, then not disclose.
Against the rules.'
It was pretty sensitive information, but, hell, this was Grace. We
told each other everything. I even told her about my most embarrassing
trial story, the time I reached into my suit jacket for my Sharpie pen
and pulled out a Tampax instead. She never told a soul.
I leaned in so close to her ear that I almost fell off my bar stool.
She was shocked.
'Oh .. . my .. . God. And he's supposed to be such a do-gooder.'
'Maybe they're all pigs.'
'Don't be bitter,' she said, throwing her maraschino cherry stem at me.
Chewing on another french fry, she said, 'Now if you're looking for
coincidences, he'd be what you're looking for.'
'Maybe I should have passed up that second drink, because I'm not
following.'
'You know. The thing with the Metro Council.'
I didn't know.
'A second ago, you said it was a coincidence that a fringy guy like
Jackson was working on the Glenville site. But the real coincidence is
that your defendant dumped the victim on a property that's smack dab in
the middle of a Metro controversy.'
'What's that office park got to do with Metro?'
'I told you all about this at Greek Cusina. Remember? The second
Lockworks I was going to open? Not to be rude, Sam, but sometimes I
could swear that you can't chew and listen at the same time. And given
the way we eat, that could be a major problem.'
'Hey! I was listening. You weren't sure if the growth was going to
continue, but prices were already high, so you backed off.'
