Damaged (41 page)

“I followed up with Officer Diamond. Evidently you know his mother from some case you handled for her. You called in a favor and asked him to wait to call DHS to pick up Patrick. You said you wanted Patrick to spend a night alone in the house with you, after Edward died. Why, so you could coach him on his story? You're a lawyer. You knew what he should say.”

Mary could see how every single good thing she did was getting turned against her and Patrick. She had to nip it in the bud before Detective Randolph dug in his heels.

“So you're clearly very involved with Patrick after the murder. It's reasonable to assume that you were involved before, since you were the one who made the phone call. I have to suspect you, if only because there's so much information that only you have. For example, I don't know why you told the 911 dispatcher that Edward died in his sleep.” Detective Randolph started to count off on his fingers. “I don't know what time you arrived at the house or why you were there. I don't know if you discovered Edward's body or Patrick did. I don't know if anyone else was present. I don't know your whereabouts at the time of Edward's death.”

Mary felt her heart sink as he continued. It was even making sense to her that the police suspected her.

Detective Randolph was still talking. “I don't know what you did to clean up the scene. I don't know why you cleaned up the scene. I don't know why you threw away the insulin cartridge.” Detective Randolph kept counting on his fingers. “We noticed the dust was unsettled on Edward's night table and dresser. It looked as if some items had been taken. I don't know who took them. If it was you, I don't know what you took or why. I don't know why you would wash sheets from a bed that no one was ever going to sleep in again, if you weren't trying to destroy evidence.”

Mary sensed that Detective Randolph had stopped talking only because he was running out of fingers. She took a deep breath, because she knew she had a chance to clear this up. “So bottom line, there's a lot you don't know, but I can assure you, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything. I didn't cover up any crime because there was no crime to cover up. If Patrick injected Edward that night, he did so at Edward's request, because that was what they did when Edward's hand got too shaky to inject himself. Patrick is a wonderful ten-year-old boy and he's innocent of any murder,
completely
innocent.”

“Now it's time for you to put your cards on the table.” Detective Randolph leaned forward. “Still want to talk?”

“Yes,” Mary answered, without hesitation.

“First I'll Mirandize you, and then we'll get started.” Detective Randolph recited her Miranda rights, then turned to the form on the table, presented it to Mary, and took her through each of the questions that she had just read to herself, asking her to answer each one in writing, then sign the bottom of the form, so the waiver of rights was knowing and valid. Mary signed her name, knowing she was doing the right thing for Patrick.

So she began a detailed account of everything that had happened, starting from the morning that Edward had hired her and stopping at the day that the police had taken Patrick into DHS custody. Detective Randolph interrupted only to ask questions and he listened without apparent judgment, while Detective Jimenez took notes nonstop. When Mary was finished, she took a stab at getting them to close their investigation, though she knew it was a longshot.

“Detective Randolph, I hope that makes it clear to you that there was simply no crime in this case. If Patrick injected Edward, it was at his request, and Patrick wasn't abused by Edward, so he had no motive to kill him. Now that you know the facts, I would expect you to shut the investigation down.”

“Well.” Detective Randolph's expression remained impassive. “Mary, thank you so much. That was very complete. You answered many of the questions I had.”

“So I take it that's a yes?”

“No.” Detective Randolph pursed his lips. “My partner and I will have to talk it over and get back to you. But you know that one critical piece is missing. I have to be able to talk to Patrick and ask him if he injected Edward that night.”

Mary hadn't wanted to tell them about her visit with Patrick tonight, but she came clean. “I just visited him at his foster family's home and asked him that question. Unfortunately, he's been put on anti-anxiety medication, and there's something wrong with the dosages. He was so lethargic that I couldn't be sure he was understanding my questions. But if he injected Edward that night, it was clearly with Edward's permission.”

“You may be correct, but we can't take your word for it. We can't close this investigation unless and until we talk to Patrick.”

“I have to think about whether I would allow that. Let me get back to you.” Mary had anticipated the request, but when it came to Patrick, her lawyerly instincts were taking over. Or maybe it was her maternal instincts. She picked up her purse and rose.

“One last question.” Detective Randolph stood up, hitching up his pants. “Don't take this the wrong way, but how are you still Patrick's lawyer? I understood that you weren't declared his legal guardian today.”

Mary had anticipated that question, too. “I'll get back to you about that, as well,” she said, opening the door.

Luckily, she knew the best criminal defense lawyer in the city.

 

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Mary closed the door to the conference room for her emergency meeting with Bennie and John. She had called them both as soon as she left the Roundhouse, asking Bennie to represent Patrick and John to represent her. John had immediately agreed, but Bennie had agreed only to the meeting. Mary crossed to her chair but remained standing, to plead her case. Both of them were still dressed from work, though they were in completely opposite moods. John was supportive, but Bennie was cranky. Mary had her work cut out for her, to persuade Bennie to represent Patrick. Mountains had been moved more easily.

Mary cleared her throat. “Thanks for coming. Let me just explain why I called you here and why I need you both.”

“No.” Bennie crossed her arms, sitting in her typical seat at the head of the table. “DiNunzio, I don't want to represent your ten-year-old. You have to find him somebody else.”

“Please hear me out, partner.” Mary had never called Bennie that before, but she was pulling out all the stops. “You agreed to meet with me, so at least give me a chance. Fair enough?”

“Fine.” Bennie sighed theatrically, then sipped coffee from her favorite mug, which read
I CAN SMELL FEAR
.

Mary began again. “I lost the shelter care hearing, and that means I'm not Patrick's guardian. Now, Patrick is suspected of murdering his grandfather, but I can't act as his criminal defense lawyer because I have a conflict of interest with him, in theory. For all the police know, I could've injected Edward with a fatal dose of insulin and I'm presently under some ridiculous suspicion of covering up evidence. I asked John to be my criminal defense lawyer and he agreed.”

John nodded. “I've done some criminal work, and I'm happy to represent you, if they don't close the investigation.”

“God bless you,” Mary said, grateful. “So that means Patrick needs a criminal defense lawyer. He can't be represented in a criminal case by Abby Ortega, his Child Advocate, because representation by a Child Advocate is confined to proceedings in Family Court. The same is true of Michael Harris, Patrick's
guardian
ad litem
, who should burn in hell anyway.”

John chuckled, but Bennie checked her watch, already impatient.

Mary faced Bennie, directly. “So this is where you come in. Patrick needs a criminal lawyer and I'm begging you to do it. You're the best—”

Bennie frowned. “Hold the flattery. Rewind a minute. Why would the police close the investigation, like John said?”

“I went to the Roundhouse tonight and spoke to the detectives. I told them what I knew.” Mary hadn't mentioned that in her phone call because she didn't know how her former boss would react. Or rather she did know how her former boss would react, which was why she kept it from her.

“You did
what?
” Bennie asked, aghast.

“Let me tell you why, briefly.” Mary put up a hand, cutting off a tirade. “The police have major proof problems with Patrick's case and they know it. I mean, consider how high the standard is in a criminal case, reasonable doubt—”

“I know the standard. Why would you ever walk into the Roundhouse and start talking? Have I taught you
nothing
?”

“How can they prove that Patrick injected Edward with the intent to kill him? They can't. Even if they could suggest that Patrick's motive was that Edward was abusing him, which he wasn't, they can't prove motive beyond reasonable doubt. I met with Cassandra Porter at the Philadelphia Children's Alliance and I know that she believed that Robertson was the abuser, so she will be vulnerable to cross-examination.”

Bennie rolled her eyes. “I don't know who any of these people are—Cassandra, Robertson, whoever. I'd have to get completely up to speed on the case, yet another reason I don't want to take it, and still, none of it explains why you went to the police—”

“Let me just finish,” Mary interrupted Bennie, probably for the first time ever. “I knew the police would have major proof problems and I also knew that a lot of their theories about me were based on a lack of information. I went to them to fill in the information, which rang true because it was. And I hope that given what they know about their proof problems, they'll close the investigation, but not until after they talk to Patrick.”

Bennie thought a minute. “Okay, DiNunzio. I see why you went to the police and amazingly, I don't think it's legal malpractice.”

“Thank you,” Mary said, uncertainly.

“I agree.” John sipped his coffee. “I know that our go-to is not to cooperate with the police, but this is one case where it makes sense.”

“Thank you, John.” Mary smiled. “You're the best.”

“What's going on with you two, by the way?” Bennie frowned in confusion, looking from John to Mary and back again. “When did you get to be such good friends? The last time we were in this conference room together, you were at each other's throats.”

“We made up,” John answered with a smile.

“I apologized,” Mary added. “I was completely wrong about him. John did an amazing job representing me in the shelter care hearing.”

“Yet you lost,” Bennie said flatly, eyeing them both.

“We got surprised by the murder allegations,” Mary said, for them both. “So now the only problem is that they want to talk to Patrick, and he needs a great criminal lawyer. That's you.”

“Sucking up to me won't work.”

“I'm trying everything.” Mary didn't say,
But it has before.

“I'm too busy to take the case.”

“It won't take long.”

“I don't like kids. I have a dog.”

“So get your dog a kid,” Mary said, even though she was pretty sure it was the other way around.

“Still, I don't want it. Count me out. I want to go home.”

“Bennie, if you met this little boy, you would be totally on board. He's the sweetest kid and he's had the hardest time in life. He's been physically and sexually abused, then his grandfather died, and now he's in a foster home. You wouldn't believe how much he's been through, and he's got nobody in the world to look out for him but us.”

“Sympathy doesn't work for me.” Bennie sipped her coffee.

“What
does
work for you? What do I have to do to get you to take his case?”

“There's nothing you can do. I don't want to take it, and I won't. I hate stepping into a case that was somebody else's. I like to control things from the beginning.”

“It is the beginning of the criminal case,” Mary told her, urgently. “The investigation started only yesterday. Even the detective admitted that it's preliminary, they said it in open court.”

“DiNunzio, who you kidding? I saw an article about the kid online. Somebody's already trying to taint the jury pool on you.”

“That was leaked by opposing counsel, Nick Machiavelli.”

“Machiavelli!” Bennie's eyes flashed with recognition. “Machiavelli, that bogus pretender to some nonexistent throne?”

“Yes,” Mary answered, surprised. “How do you know him?”

“First, it's not a name you forget, and secondly, I had a case against him once and he annoyed the crap out of me. Is he really your opposing counsel?”

“Yes.” Mary saw an opening, knowing that Bennie was insanely competitive. “He's representing the teacher's aide who abused Patrick and he's been pulling the strings against us. He's the one who got the
guardian ad litem
hired in the shelter care hearing, and the
guardian ad litem
testified against our Child Advocate, which was one of the reasons we lost.” Mary watched Bennie begin to simmer, then realized she had a trump card left to play. “And I never intended to tell anybody this, but he attacked me in his office today.”

“
Attacked you?
” Bennie's mouth dropped open in outrage.

“Mary, are you serious?” John asked, appalled. “When?”

“After the shelter care hearing.” Mary felt shaky, talking about it now. “I don't want to go into details because it's creepy, but he has this thing against me and he's vowing to take it out on Patrick. He tried to kiss me, but I hit him and got away but—”

“Say no more!” Bennie smacked the table, incensed. “Why didn't you tell me that? That should've been the first thing you said! You're my partner, and I'll be
damned
if I'll let anybody get away with that!”