Page 41 of Lion & Lamb

“Yeah, but this is your first Francine Pearl Hughes case. Besides, that’s not the point. I want you to stall until I can figure out a way to keep your client from being paraded in front of the cameras. Once that happens, she’s as good as guilty.”

“Hold on,” Lisa said. “You work forus,remember? I need you to chase something down.”

“Whatever you’re about to tell me,” Cooper said, gently leading Lisa by the arm toward the house, “I can guarantee it’s not as important as the next five minutes.”

“Just let me say this! The rumors about the chef are true.”

Cooper Lamb stopped dead in his tracks. “Tell me quick.”

“Roy Nguyen was up to his puffy white chef’s hat in debt. The man was a serious gambler.”

“We’ve all had bad nights at the poker table,” Cooper said, pretending like he was hearing this for the first time.

“You don’t understand. I’m talkingepiclosses in Atlantic City. To the point that he started stealing from the Hughes household.”

“Damn,” Cooper said, wondering how long he should feign shock before urging the lawyer inside the house.

The tendons in Lisa’s neck were standing out; she was clearly exasperated. “Don’t you get it? This is the whole case right here. It was an inside job, engineered by Roy Nguyen. What’s more valuable than a Super Bowl ring? Forget that—what’s more valuable thanArchie Hughes’sSuper Bowl ring?”

“You really think Chef Roy would kill a legend for a hunk of gold?”

“No. I think it was a heist that went horribly wrong, and for some reason, the Philly cops are super-eager to pin it on my client.”

“Speaking of…”

Letting the lawyer delay things had obviously been a mistake, because here was Francine, perfectly coiffed and handcuffed, being led by Detective Mickey Bernstein down her own neatly manicured garden path, lush even in January.

Chapter37

REPORT TO C. LAMB BY V. SUAREZ

Wednesday, January 26

(Sent with encryption and red-flagged, with delivery confirmation)

You’re going to want to read these two documents right away, boss—but let me walk you through them. I yanked them from the police servers just a few minutes ago.

The first document is the full report on the gun the police found at the Hughes home. Ballistics has positively linked the weapon to the bulletin Archie’s body. Nothing shocking there. I scanned it for obvious mistakes or technical missteps, but it looks solid; I’m confident this is the murder weapon.

The second document, however…now, this one took a little more digging because someone tried to erase it earlier today. But I saved the doc, and I’ve authenticated it. Hang on to your hat, but the murder weapon? It’s been in police evidence before.

That’s right. The gun that was used to murder Archie Hughes spent the past six years in police-evidence lockup. I don’t know when it was removed from the evidence room or who checked it out. Give me some time. But the attached should be enough to make it clear that someone who had access to the evidence room was involved in this murder.

Chapter38

Transcript of encrypted message exchange between Veena Lion and Janie Hall

JANIE HALL: OMG.

VEENA LION: You know I hate that, Janie. Skip the drama and just tell me what you found.

HALL: Sorry, V. Mistook you for a human being for a moment there. Human beings, as you may recall, enjoy a dramatic buildup to earth-shattering developments in an ongoing case.

LION: Hate sarcasm even more than dramatic buildups.

HALL: You’re no fun. Anyway, guess who lives in a penthouse apartment she can’t possibly afford on the salary she earns as a high-profile yet humble nanny?

LION: Maya Rain.

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