Page 101 of The 1 Lawyer

For the first time in a while, Rue spoke. “He wants to throw Stafford Lee off the scent. It’s a trick, a ruse.”

Jenny asked, “What do you think of his alibi, Rue? He had a patient in labor and had to perform an emergency C-section.”

Rue said, “Doctors come and go, right? He doesn’t have to punch a time clock. Besides, he could’ve killed her before he left for work. The coroner’s time of death is just an estimate.”

She lapsed back into silence. I was considering her words when I heard the rattle of the lock to the front door. Had to be Mason Burnett. I’d recently entrusted him with a set of keys.

“Stafford Lee?” he called.

“Back here,” I replied.

He walked in, pulled out a chair, and tossed his briefcase onto the conference table. He looked grim.

Jenny said, “Glad you’re here, Mason. I want you to weigh in on something.”

Mason just slouched over the conference table.

Jenny continued anyway. “I was telling Stafford Lee and Rue that we need to open this up wide, all the way. I want the statement you took from Germain Whitman, the shrimp-boat worker whose wife was murdered; we need every detail on that case. And we should add the other cold case with the same MO. You remember the one I’m talking about?”

Mason sat up and shrugged. He opened his briefcase and pulled out two file folders.

“Come on, Mason,” Jenny said. “It’s a good theory, right? Tell me what you think.”

He groaned, a sound that came from deep in his throat. “I think we need to narrow our focus, not broaden it. You can start by tearing all that shit off the wall.”

Affronted, Jenny said, “I don’t get it. Why are you acting like this?”

“We need to concentrate on keeping their butts out of prison. That’s the goal.”

“I respectfully disagree.” Her words were tart. It was clear that Mason had raised her ire. “The murder walls are important. They show the whole picture. We can’t isolate the Iris Caro death, can’t separate it from the others. They could all be related.”

Mason grabbed the files he’d just pulled from his briefcase and shoved them across the table, one toward me, the other to Rue. “I just got discovery from the DA’s office.”

“How did you get it?” I asked.

“Called in a favor. This is the whole prosecution file, everything they’ve got—reports, statements, exhibits, photos. I received it as counsel for Rue Holmes, but I made a copy for you, Stafford Lee.” He slumped down in his chair.

I picked up the file. We’d been anxiously awaiting the information, but I couldn’t bring myself to open it up. The prospect terrified me. Gripping the file, my hands betraying me with tremors, I asked Mason, “How bad does it look?”

I caught Mason’s eye. When he glanced away, I figured I could predict what he was about to tell me.

Mason said, “I think you need to ask yourself why someone is trying to frame you for killing Daniel Caro’s wife. They have forensics that tie both you and Rue to Iris’s bedroom. And they’ve got Iris Caro’s blood on items seized from the search of your house.”

He slid even lower in his seat. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you did it.”

PART IV

MAY

CHAPTER 80

I SAT alone at the counsel table, waiting for my trial to begin.

It was a speedy trial setting. Only thirty-one weeks had passed since my arrest for the murder of Iris Caro. I could’ve bought some more time, demanded a continuance. But it was important to have my case heard before Rue went to trial. This way, Mason would have the benefit of seeing the State’s evidence, hearing the testimony, and watching the way the DA laid out his case.

I shifted around in my chair to check out the spectators, wondering whether my friends were present. I saw Mason sitting at the end of the bench in the very last row. He sat alone too.

He acknowledged me with a somber nod, and I continued searching, scanning every face in the courtroom. I would have sworn Jenny would be there for the first day of trial. Would have staked my life on it.

---