she was going to give him a reprieve before pulling the trigger.
Slip caught up with me on the staircase. 'What'd you think about
Caffrey?'
'He's a skunk, Slip, but he's not your murderer. For your sake, you
might want to reconsider your Plan B before trial.'
'Maybe Plan B is for the two of us to sit down and talk. Got time for
a drink after work?'
'Sure. Right at five?' I'd been up late enough the night before
working on the prelim. I wasn't about to spend my entire Friday night
talking about the case.
'Meet you at Higgin's. You still drinking martinis straight up?'
'Damn straight.'
'You're my kind of woman, Kincaid.'
'Let's see what you've got to say after we have our little chat.'
Whatever Slip's plan had been for the prelim, it had clearly failed.
Prescott may have thrown him a line, but we both knew he was in no
position to grab it. I was sure the meeting at Hig-gin's would be a
fish for a plea.
I had three new voice mails back at the office. The first was from
Jenna Markson. 'It's Jenna again about your question on the property
adjacent to your crime scene. You were right. Gun-derson Development
owns another hundred and twenty acres west of the property he's
building on. Gunderson purchased all the land at once as four separate
parcels. You probably already know this, but the other parcels are
mandatory rural. That's probably why he's not building on them.'
At least, not until they were re designated as ripe for development.
'I'm sending my printouts about this to you interoffice mail,' she
said. 'Let me know if you need anything else.'
The next message was from Nelly. 'This is Nelly Giacoma. Judge
Easterbrook's clerk? I testified today in the hearing you had on
Jackson?'
I've noticed that the people I remember assume I don't know them, while
the people I've forgotten think we're best pals.
'I overheard something after the hearing and think I should talk to you
about it. I'm at City Hall right now, but I'm leaving in a few
minutes.' She had left her home telephone number and asked me to call
over the weekend. I noted the time of her message, only fifteen
minutes ago. Maybe I could still catch her.
The third call was from Russell Frist. 'I just got done with my grand
jury. Looks like you're still out, so I'm assuming you're still in
your prelim. Jesus, with Prescott running the show, she might hold you
over until Monday. Anyway, I was calling to see if you were up to
having a drink after work. Let me know how it went.'
As much as I was warming to my new boss, fifty-plus hours a week at the
courthouse is enough time for me to talk with my coworkers. I'd update
him on the case, but we'd do it on the clock.
First, I was calling Nelly. The voice that answered sounded flustered.
'Oh, I'm glad you caught me. I was just about to leave, and I was
worried you'd call while I was out running around.'
'Well, it sounded important.'
'I don't know whether it is or not, but I really can't talk about it
here. Can you meet me somewhere?'
I looked at my watch. If I was going to make my meeting with Slip, it
was going to have to be quick. 'Can you leave right now? The SBC
behind the courthouse?'
Seattle's Best Coffee isn't my usual choice, but it was only steps
away.
'Meet on the other side of the elevators in the building lobby,' she
said. 'It's less likely someone will see us there.'
I dialed the general number for MCT. Nelly might want to sneak around
like the Spy Kids, but I'd need a witness for whatever was about to go
down. It was probably nothing, but attorneys can't testify in their
own cases. With my luck, Nelly would show up and confess.
'Forbes.'
'Chuck, it's Samantha. Is Ray around?'
'That's all I get? I never heard from you last night.'
'Sorry. When I got back from dinner, I still had a bunch of work to
do. And right now I really need to talk to Ray. Is he around?'
'Nope. Might've left already.' Their usual shift, which they rarely
could stick to, ended at four.
