‘I remember reading about that. OxyContin, wasn’t it? That’s hard. Was it an accidental overdose?’
‘Medical examiner said it could’ve been. No suicide note. Heather had some kind of pain problem, and she got hooked on Oxy. It happens every day. Sad, but Sofia and Heather weren’t close, even though Heather was only eight years older.’
I finished my plate, the waitress refilled our coffee. Sofia’s family story was tragic. Two clear accidental deaths and now her father’s murder. I wondered how I would hold up if I had to go through that kind of nightmare. The hum and buzz of life continued in New York City just outside the window. A traffic cop was arguing with a dumpster truck driver while a homeless man danced around them, making faces at both men. A young girl holding her mother’s hand joined in by sticking her tongue out at the cop as they passed the scene on the sidewalk. A female jogger, her hair covered in a cap, dressed all in black, ran by the window.
‘Motive isn’t everything, you know? Do you think Sofia could murder someone like that? Frank was ripped up pretty bad.’
‘I think we’re all capable of unspeakable things,’ said Harper. ‘I’ve put men down because I had no choice. I’ve no regrets about any of it. There are bodies in the ground right now because you put them there. Here we are – two educated, rational people having a civilized breakfast. No one would think we were capable of taking a life.’
‘But the way Frank was killed. Neither of us could do that. At least I hope not. Do you think Sofia could have done it?’
‘I don’t think she did it. Why would she? This was a frenzied, rage kill. She’s got anger inside her, but I can’t see Sofia doing that to her daddy. Any violence in Sofia is targeted at Sofia. Did you see her arms?’
I nodded. Something Harper said made me think. I was missing a big piece in this case. There was an element of this crime that just didn’t fit. Two sisters. A father murdered and mutilated and each one blames the other. Both had the opportunity to do it. Neither of them seemed to have a reason. There was a forty-nine-million-dollar inheritance and the cops seemed to think Frank was going to cut one of them out of the will. They don’t know which one and hadn’t been able to track down Frank’s attorney. The cops thought the motive was financial. One of the sisters felt betrayed – they were going to be cut out of the will so they killed Frank before he could destroy their inheritance. That was the prosecution case. It made sense, and yet, it didn’t. Both sisters had money. I was missing something.
The jogger I saw earlier ran by the window, again. At least I thought she did. It might have been the same one, but maybe not. New York is full of joggers. I shook my head, drained my coffee to ward off the déjà vu. I needed a good night’s sleep – I was seeing glitches in the matrix.
‘I want you to look at the forensic evidence. Dreyer gave us preliminary reports this morning. Take a close look at the ME’s report. There’s something in that which isn’t fitting right – in my head. This trial is going to move fast so we need to be ready. Also, Dreyer is pushing for a joint trial.’
‘He can’t do that, not when they’re blaming each other?’ said Harper.
‘He thinks he can avoid a motion for a split trial. He might be right. I need help with that. Someone who knows the law. Legal argument has never been my strong point.’
Harper snorted, ‘You can say that again. If there was an argument for breaking the law you’d be all over it.’
I had needed someone to help me manage my practice for a long time. An attorney I could trust. Someone who wouldn’t rob me, or steal my clients, or – worse still – clean up the office. For a while I’d been keeping an eye out at court looking for a young attorney who might have the skills. I hadn’t seen anyone I liked. Now I had no choice. I needed help with this case. Harper was a great investigator, but I needed another legal mind.
‘I think I know a lawyer who could join your firm,’ said Harper.
‘Who?’ I asked.
‘I’ll ask if he’s interested first. We’ll talk at Harry’s party, later. I’ve got to go. There’s a shitload of work to do.’
‘Who’s the lawyer? Come on, give me a clue.’
‘Well, he can’t practice law anymore,’ she said.
I knew, instantly, who she was talking about. I didn’t think he would go for it, but I had to try. Harper was right. This person was perfect, even though he couldn’t say a word in court.
I thanked her, told her she was right, and said, ‘I’m going to see Sofia. Catch you later.’
Harper left the table with the papers I’d handed over. I took my time watching her leave. There was a playful side to Harper that I was only just getting to know. Through the large windows at Blooms, I watched her cross the street. The crosswalk was crowded, and I saw a woman in black jogging Lycra and a baseball hat walking behind her. The woman wore a skull cap, or something like that, beneath the cap, because I couldn’t tell the color of her hair. As Harper got to the other side of the street, the jogger turned and ran in the other direction.
Probably a different jogger, or maybe someone doing laps of the same block, at worst. I pushed the jogger out of my mind again – I really was beginning to sound paranoid.
My mind wandered and I thought again about the autopsy report. I thought for a second I had realized what was bothering me about it. Then, as quickly as it came, the thought vanished. I tried calling Sofia but she didn’t pick up. I left a message asking her to call me. Just as I was taking the steps down to the subway my phone rang.
‘Mr. Flynn, sorry I missed your call. What’s happened?’
It was Sofia. She sounded rattled – out of breath.
‘It’s okay. Nothing too major but we need to talk. You sound breathless, are you alright?’
‘Yes, I’m fine.’
‘Oh, good. Can we meet?’
‘Sure. Around five o’clock? I have a few errands to run.’
TWELVE
KATE
In the ladies’ bathroom on the fourteenth floor of the building that housed Levy, Bernard and Groff, Kate tucked the collar of her blouse beneath the lapels of her jacket. It was coming up on two o’clock in the afternoon and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She was hungry, but too focused to stop for food.
Checked her reflection.
She hit the faucet, washed and dried her hands.
Checked her reflection again. She touched up her lipstick. Breathed out, nodded and left.
Kate made her way to the conference room, which had been commandeered for the attorneys working on the Avellino case. Levy had described this as the ‘war room’ and sure enough a battle was raging when Kate opened the door.
A long table filled with open law books, case reports, laptops, coffee cups, legal pads and pencils took up the center of the room. The group had been working all morning, discussing the discovery and potential strategies. They had to be ready to present their ideas to Levy the next morning. Levy let it be known, none too subtly, that whoever had the best work would likely be awarded second chair at the trial. Kate wanted that seat more than anything. This was her moment, and she wasn’t going to let it pass. All the shit that came with the job would be worth it if she was sitting beside Levy in that trial. It was all that she could think about. The group in the room already had a head start as Kate had missed the morning session. She had now read the discovery and was up to speed. It didn’t pass her by that Levy had deliberately kept her out of the office by giving her the morning off to collect her thoughts. While this put her behind in terms of work, seeing Bloch and her dad that morning had been exactly what she’d needed.