'How'd he know where she lived?' I asked.
Slip looked down then looked back to me. 'Let's just say that part
doesn't help me so much.'
'I'm going to assume he did something stalkerish, like follow her home
at some point.'
Slip's silence was enough.
'So what happened when he knocked?' I asked.
'Nothing. No one was home. After he left, he realized that showing up
on her front door was probably not the wisest litigation strategy.'
'But threatening letters are?'
'I never said Melvin was rational,' he said, 'just innocent. By the
way, he tells me he mailed that last letter Monday morning,
and I believe him. And, I know you can explain it away if you need to,
but you've got to admit that Melvin as a sex offender doesn't ring
true. That leaves you having to explain how your vie got dressed after
she died. Come on, Samantha, part of you has a hinky feeling about
this.'
I let the comment go. I didn't need him telling a judge down the road
that I had supposedly expressed doubt about the prosecution. 'How come
I haven't heard anything about an alibi?'
'That part doesn't help either,' he said.
'Slip, that's usually shorthand for sitting alone by himself, with no
one to verify it.'
'The kids go to church with Grandma on Sundays. You know those
Baptists; it's an all-day thing.'
'And I assume under your theory, someone planted the hammer,' I said.
'There are no prints on it. And you heard Johnson. He tried to call
Caffrey before he homed in on Melvin. If Caffrey was doing your
victim, he'd know about Melvin. That's plenty of time to dump the
hammer. And, hell, Caffrey's powerful enough to have someone do it for
him. Melvin was at the mall with the kids from six to nine that
night.'
Now that I heard Slip's attempt to explain the things that had been
nagging at me, it sounded ridiculous.
'How does someone get inside the apartment? My cops didn't see any
sign of a break-in.'
'Melvin doesn't bolt the door, and you should see the locks on public
housing. It took my investigator about four seconds to slip it with a
credit card.'
It still didn't sound right. The framing of a defendant is rare
enough, but the way Slip spelled it out, this one involved not only
someone from the property site but also an elected official. It didn't
fly without a connection between the two.
not
Maybe Slip would find one. I fished the property receipt out of my bag
and scribbled my home phone number on the back.
'Here's a present,' I said. 'Don't say I never did anything for you.
I had some work to do this weekend too, but first I needed to track
down the envelope that Jenna Markson had sent interoffice.
Searching for it in my office, I remembered that I still hadn't
returned Susan Kerr's call from the morning. Better to do it now than
to call her over the weekend or let it sit until Monday.
She thanked me for calling. 'I feel stupid bothering you when you're
in the middle of the hearing, but I '
'Don't worry about it, Susan. What's up?'
'I was just wondering how Townsend was at the hearing today.'
'He was there with his lawyer, but as it turned out he didn't need to
testify.'
'Is that good?'
'Sure. Court proceedings are always difficult for victims.'
'But when you first said he didn't need to testify, you said it in a
way that suggested you were particularly appreciative. Was there a
reason for that?'
I wouldn't normally run down my victim's husband, but Susan and Tara
had already expressed concern about Town-send's recent appearance, so
it wasn't like I was saying something new. 'Well, quite honestly, he
didn't look like he was up to it.'
